M2`s [Archive] - ASSEMblergames.com

zappenduster

03-18-2005, 02:20 PM

nope to clear things up

1 full 3do m2 dev with cdrom emulator card is running now on ebay somewhere around 1600$ or so

1 full 3do m2 dev was on ebay ended at 2650$ but first 2 bidders jumped away and the system was sold to the 3rd bidder i think

the same system is now up on ebay again (checked 2mins ago) so maybe the 3rd seller couldnt use it
1 3do m2 hardware card without driveunit and anything (ok some cables) is on ebay right now with 8 days or so running

oh and i own a additional complete 3do m2 dev including cdrom card and drive unit

i know that at least one drive unit exists (just cdrom drive no m2 chipsset) and was sold on ebay last year at 600$

one member of this forum has a cdrom drive unit with a uncomplete chipset maybe its the one that was sold on ebay for 600$ iam not sure

then i read that maybe one more units exist that are in the hand of some of the old developers this one is running and the guy has software/ games working

and last but not least i think assembler had a drive unit or so a 3do m2 console iam not sure

and in the hand of a other member in this board is also a 3do m2 dev card but without cdrom card and no drive unit

so that makes know to the world

2x 3do m2 complete developer system (includes 3do m2 card, cdrom card, cdrom drive unit, documentry and the software toolkit
1x 3do m2 maybe developer maybe early console kit running with software / games
1x 3do m2 developer system (3do m2 dev cart, cdrom drive unit, documentry and software toolkit
2x 3do m2 drive unit
2x 3do m2 developer card

iam not sure i think i lost at least one complete / uncomplete devloper system so maybe one more is around must check my ebay archive

g_sepp

03-18-2005, 02:37 PM

man i want one bad but i don't know about 2650 .. my woman would kick my ass..

bitrate

03-18-2005, 03:27 PM

Hi guys,
The newest 3DO M2 system up on Ebay is mine (auction # 8178664862). I was the high bidder that won the system a month ago. I am selling it because I am in a bit of a pinch for money right now, and I also do not have the time to tinker with it as I was hoping I would when I purchased it.

bigsexyolli

03-18-2005, 07:13 PM

I remember that old post, wasn't it like 200 m2 for 10 grand? Can't find it anymore though.

bitrate

03-18-2005, 07:20 PM

I don't think that those were M2 (FZ-DR21). I believe those were FZ-35S's. Big difference.

zappenduster

03-18-2005, 10:25 PM

I don't think that those were M2 (FZ-DR21). I believe those were FZ-35S's. Big difference.

maybe those mysterious kiosk systems someone here talked already about ?

Paulo

03-19-2005, 05:27 AM

they are well known and i think a few people have it here... dint they sell for like $35?

Quality picture page (however in french)....

http://www.tuvgm.com/3do/pages/6_2.php

zappenduster

03-19-2005, 09:27 AM

they are well known and i think a few people have it here... dint they sell for like $35?

Quality picture page (however in french)....

http://www.tuvgm.com/3do/pages/6_2.php

cheap clone =)

yeah now i know what you mean they go from 30-40$ on ebay so maybe someone bought the 200 and sells them one by one

iam thinking about buying one but dont know if its even worth 40$ since i havent seen any software for it

Greatsaintlouis

03-19-2005, 05:30 PM

FZ-35S is indeed the oft-mentioned 'kiosk system'; of all the members I know both madhatter and myself definately have one. They include a standard IDE DVD-ROM drive and 20 GB IDE hard drive, which apparently stores all the boot information. Upon turning the machine on, you are just met with a "Please insert disc..." message that does not respond to CDs, DVDs, you name it. Apparently, there were only a few applications written for this kiosk - there was a car/parts preview program installed at Chevrolet car dealerships to let you get an idea of how your car would look with custom extras, and then there was apparently some sort of home-design software released in Japan.

Apparently the kiosk either doesn't have any sort of bios, or just not one that is programmed for a GUI, as you don't get anything onscreen when the hard drive is disconnected. It also has a really weird filesystem - I hooked it up to my computer to have a look, and while apparently 2GB of space was taken up on the drive, there was only a single directory witha single text file in it that weighed 3kb. The filenames were garbled, and I'd often get an error or have the system hang if I attempted to get properties on the file. Just in case (as M2 dev was done on a Mac and it sports dual PPC processors) I loaded TransMac (my Macintosh filesystem reader) and got even less results than on the PC.

An odd thing I noticed opening the kiosk up is that it has a NUBus slot onboard! NUBus was a sort of general expansion slot found on pre-PowerPC Macintoshes, and was replaced by IDE in the PPC models.

I am pleased, however, to say that I finally found a use for my FZ-35S: The 20GB hard drive formats to NTFS just fine and is helping me store anime videos and game installs. :-D The kiosk itself is a pretty but useless addition to my collection, as it's nearly impossible to sell the damn things for a price that would make the cost and hassle of shipping worthwhile.

PrOfUnD Darkness

03-21-2005, 09:11 AM

So, no one has any software for this kioski thing? Now I have some bad news for a friend of mine who got one of those :P

subbie

03-21-2005, 09:37 AM

yikes. thank god i did not buy that one on ebay a few days back.

Blur2040

03-21-2005, 10:43 AM

I think assembler has some software.

zappenduster

03-21-2005, 11:39 AM

I think assembler has some software.

lets see i ordered my mac for the 3do m2 card yesterday or so lets see if you can get something compatible from the 3do m2 to the fz35 =)

and i think also assembler is one of the lucky ones who have software but he didnt answer my pm on that =(

Greatsaintlouis

03-21-2005, 06:30 PM

I think Assembler auctioned his software off on eBay last fall/summer; I thought he had the Chevy/Pontiac software. I know myself and madhatter were both watching it, but I don't think it sold to anyone on the board.

Not to say that he might not have extra copies, but I do know he did sell some 35S software back then.

madhatter256

03-21-2005, 07:49 PM

GigaDrive

03-22-2005, 12:54 AM

for the gamer (and not the serious collector i suppose) would it not be better to get some of these:

http://img77.exs.cx/img77/759/m2arcadetop3uq.jpg
http://img77.exs.cx/img77/80/m2arcadebottem9mk.jpg

so that you could at least play some completed M2 games

Battle Tryst
like http://img77.exs.cx/img77/7938/battletryst8rv.jpg

samael64

03-22-2005, 03:29 AM

for the gamer (and not the serious collector i suppose) would it not be better to get some of these

What exactly are they?

zappenduster

03-22-2005, 04:03 AM

What exactly are they?

the arcade version of the 3do m2

and iam already on them but this month dont know i just realized one of the hdds from my server is nearly dead so i have to buy also a new one, so next month i think i buy one

Greatsaintlouis

03-22-2005, 06:41 AM

There were three arcade games released by Konami that used M2 technology - Battle Tryst, Polystars, and another one that I can't remember. Polystars, a nifty 3d shooter, was apparently the best one - from what I hear, Battle Tryst wasn't that good, and the other one was so bad I can't remember it. The games (or at least Polystars, it's the only one I'm sure on) were I believe CD-based, so just having the Jamma board won't net you a working game - you have to have the CD as well. I believe like Konami's later Bemani series, you could use a stock IDE CD-ROM drive on the boards.

There may have been a HDD involved as well, but don't quote me on it.

GigaDrive

03-22-2005, 11:08 AM

What exactly are they?

Konami's M2-based arcade board. the game shown is Battle Tryst

GigaDrive

03-22-2005, 11:18 AM

the 4 known M2-based arcade games

Polystars

http://img166.exs.cx/img166/5019/poly15eq.jpg
http://img218.exs.cx/img218/7620/poly28vj.jpg
.
.
.
.
.
Evil Night aka Hell Night

http://img218.exs.cx/img218/5470/m2evilnight2lp.jpg
.
.
.
.
.
Battle Tryst

http://img76.exs.cx/img76/260/m2battlet8eh.jpg
.
.
.
.
.
Total Vice

http://img218.exs.cx/img218/8526/m2totalvice9jp.jpg

a nice review of Polystars with some nice pictures
http://www.classicgaming.com/shmups/reviews/polystars/

Topper

04-01-2005, 09:10 AM

they are well known and i think a few people have it here... dint they sell for like $35?

Quality picture page (however in french)....

http://www.tuvgm.com/3do/pages/6_2.php

Hey that is my site. Thanks for linking. ;)

zappenduster

04-01-2005, 11:20 AM

Hey that is my site. Thanks for linking. ;)

ahh cool site is there also a english version avaiable ?

Topper

04-02-2005, 02:54 PM

No ... sorry. I have a poor english so I can't translate theses pages in a good english. :(

WolverineDK

04-02-2005, 03:36 PM

the_steadster

04-02-2005, 03:51 PM

It's in french, but would be nice to get translated...

WolverineDK

04-02-2005, 04:08 PM

It's in french, but would be nice to get translated...

smacks himself silly and gives an apology.

the_steadster

04-02-2005, 04:31 PM

smacks himself silly and gives an apology.
Hey come on, i very much doubt anyone here could differentiate between swedish, Danish, Finnish or norwegian (except the scandinavians, of course)

zappenduster

04-02-2005, 05:20 PM

babelfish or the google translater worked pretty well on toppers site (much better then on the japanese coffee maker =) some nice infos i found there i hope i can use some on my site regarding the 3do m2 (after i asked for permission but the site is far from finish=)

idrougge

04-02-2005, 06:32 PM

An odd thing I noticed opening the kiosk up is that it has a NUBus slot onboard! NUBus was a sort of general expansion slot found on pre-PowerPC Macintoshes, and was replaced by IDE in the PPC models.

Nubus was kept in the original PowerMacs (x100 series), but was then replaced with PCI. IDE is just for connecting disks.
Also, I dare guess that that isn't a Nubus slot. It is a DIN connector, that's true, but it's probably used for some 3DO-specific expansion.

zappenduster

04-02-2005, 06:41 PM

Nubus was kept in the original PowerMacs (x100 series), but was then replaced with PCI. IDE is just for connecting disks.
Also, I dare guess that that isn't a Nubus slot. It is a DIN connector, that's true, but it's probably used for some 3DO-specific expansion.

but the 3do m2 developersystem card for emulating the 3do m2 hardware is also based in a powermac nubus slot so maybe its a nubus slot

looks like its time i get one of those kiosk systems also =)

WolverineDK

04-02-2005, 07:35 PM

Hey come on, i very much doubt anyone here could differentiate between swedish, Danish, Finnish or norwegian (except the scandinavians, of course)

not to offend the finnish people but you CAN see difference between danish and finnish and the other scandinavian languages

Finnish is related to hungarian in some strange way i can´t remember

so Finnish and the Sami Language is the two non scandinavian languages in scandinavia

the scandinavian "family" of languages is Norwegian, Swedish(heisan idrougge :-))
Icelandic and the Faroe Islands language and Danish offcourse.

steadster: i smacked myself (not you)

XerdoPwerko

04-02-2005, 10:33 PM

Topper i don´t know if it is portugese or spanish your site but i think there are some friendly people on this forum who could translate the page (or some of it) Xerdopwerko for an example if it is spanish and i think Paulo could translate it if it is in portugese

just my two cents :-)

Unfortunately, my french is quite rusty. I did study french for two years, though, and can read it with moderate success. Combining my rusty and quite basic knowledge of this language (though it is very similar to mine), and some help from internet translators, I can render a rather limited translation of the text.

_____________________________________

Panasonic FZ 35S

Analysis.

The Panasonic M2 was, apparently released in an official manner in 1998 in the United States. The machine pictured in this page is originally from Japan, but intended for commercialization in this country. The presence of a documentation that includes both French and English transaations, however, makes one thinkt that it was perhaps intended for the Candian market. The comercialization of this unit was performed under an air of indifference, and it's quite difficult to obtain information.

(Picture)

The box contains the central unit, documentation and a standard shaped power cord, intended for the 110 Volt standard of the american continent

(two pictures)

The FZ35S model of the Panasonic M2 presents a disconcertantly "sober" (simple, perhaps?) design. The Panasonic firm had accustomed us to more innovative design, especially in earlier consoles, like the 3DO or the earlier prototypes of the M2.

(picture)

A simple button upon the face of the unit controls the power (on/off). Another, on the DVD drive, is intended for opening or closing the uinit. A dial, towards the left of the drive, allows the control of volume, like many of the readers of the time.

(picture)

In the rear of the unit, one can find several ports that are pleasant to see. A switch to toggle an RGB out for a monitor, or S-Video or RCA Composite output.

(picture)

Two PS/2 ports allow to connect a keyboard, a mouse, or a PC trackball. Two serial ports are equally present and intended to connect a touchscreen or an external modem. A parallell port is also present, that allows the user to connect a printer. The presence of a "controller" port is somewhat perplexing, however. The documentation states that this port is intended for a connection to an input/output low speed peripheral. This port is exclusively for the "interactive multimedia reader". It seems to be the exact same shape of a 3DO joypad port, but since the documentation states the danger of fire or damage to the unit, this was not tested.

(picture)

When the unit is powered up, a "please wait" screen appears during the first seconds of the start-up process. The hard drive then boots up and the reader attempts to locate a compatible DVD media. Since the processors are not cooled by ventilators, one can expect the machine to operate quietly. However, the extractor fan located in the rear of the unit proves to be quite noisy.

(picture)

Several types of media were tested. Audio CD, Video CD, Video DVD, and 3DO CDs, for example. None of the media was booted by the unit, however, either original or copies. A screen requesting a disc ("please insert disc") appeared, instead.

(picture)

Summary

The FZ-35S model Panasonic M2 is a media-reader with a dream-like quality of manufacture. However, the design is rather arid, and thus, it does not make a very impressive object to display. And it is not much more than a display object, since the lack of compatible software on DVD, also, reduces this machine's usability to almost nothing. The machine does appear to be greatly powerful, and the characteristics of the market at the time make this unit seem a very "general purpose" machine. One could compare it to the Amstrad GX4000. This console also has a variety of impressive features. It makes one wonder if the availability of too many impressive features reflects the developer's inability to market a properly directed, task-specific unit - thus making it commercially unviable.
Taking these characteristics as a whole, the FZ35S is recommended only for collectors.

Borman

04-03-2005, 01:05 AM

Evil Night...I think I played that game! Was awesome too, if i remember the right game. Was the middle gun a shotgun thing? Man, i know exactly the place that has/had it, might need to throw an offer at them for the system lol.

Topper

04-03-2005, 02:38 PM

Unfortunately, my french is quite rusty. I did study french for two years, though, and can read it with moderate success. Combining my rusty and quite basic knowledge of this language (though it is very similar to mine), and some help from internet translators, I can render a rather limited translation of the text.

Thank you a lot XerdoPwerko. I will create the english page. :)

Topper

04-03-2005, 03:16 PM

I must translate the caracteristics but I have them on the documentation.

Here the page translated :
http://www.tuvgm.com/3do/pages/english/6_2.php

XerdoPwerko, if you want I can put your e-mail on the bottom of the page.

XerdoPwerko

04-03-2005, 10:05 PM

Thanks, Topper. It would be great, dude.
Is it alright that if instead of the email you would link to my webpage?

Here's the link

http://xerdo.monkeysensei.net

Topper

04-04-2005, 02:14 AM

No, sorry. It is only a contact link.

XerdoPwerko

04-04-2005, 09:48 AM

Ah, no problem, sir.

Then it's

xerdo@monkeysensei.net

Topper

04-06-2005, 04:38 PM

That's done. Thank you a lot !!!!

Don't hesitate to traduct other pages ... ;)

XerdoPwerko

04-06-2005, 05:47 PM

Alrighty, sir.
Thanks a bunch.

Ask me whenever you need anything regarding the Spanish language, as well. Not that my french is very up to date, but hey, it's great practice.

Yakumo

04-07-2005, 01:41 AM

As requested a few posts before this one, here are a few pictures of the poor fate that lay in stall for the M2

I bring you the Nescafe Drinks Machine :D
http://img8.exs.cx/img8/5185/m2drink19hg.jpg (http://www.imageshack.us)
http://img8.exs.cx/img8/1827/m2drink24am.jpg (http://www.imageshack.us)

The power of the M2 is able to bring you hot or cold drinks be simply spinning a disc. Hot drinks come from the CD drives motor's heat while the cold drinks are produced by the amazing ice cold wind that comes from the spinning CD. The M2 is everything you could have ever wanted :p

Yakumo

the_steadster

04-07-2005, 06:28 AM

Wow! Japanese coffee machines are so much cooler than western ones!

ASSEMbler

04-07-2005, 07:06 AM

Yeah I have the software. I'll probably do some downloadable isos for thew FZ-35 owners.

If you're in russia and use an atm, you're using an M2 btw

Topper

04-07-2005, 09:04 AM

I'm searching for FZ-35S CDs or ISOs since a lot of month. If you can, I need some of them for a french video games convention. I'm exposant for 3DO and M2 stuff. I would like to present some M2 FZ-35S softwares. The convention is on 22, 23, 24, 25 April. It could be so great if you can share your M2 ISOs before that.

zappenduster

04-07-2005, 10:35 AM

Yeah I have the software. I'll probably do some downloadable isos for thew FZ-35 owners.

If you're in russia and use an atm, you're using an M2 btw

would be cool btw. do you have the software development kit already ?

hmm now i get in trouble i guess getting a japanese coffemachine is harder then let some russians bring me a atm over the border :smt042

virtual alan

04-13-2005, 10:46 AM

Don`t flame me MODS

http://members.sparedollar.com/ebestdeals/PICT1776.jpg

As for M2`s...I know ebay finds also

Edit

Will post there also!

zappenduster

04-13-2005, 01:39 PM

Don`t flame me MODS

[IMG]http://members.sparedollar.com/ebestdeals/PICT1776.jpg[IMG]

As for M2`s...I know ebay finds also

Edit

Will post there also!

what do you try to tell us with this ?

Paulo

04-13-2005, 01:45 PM

It was an ebay link.

zappenduster

04-13-2005, 01:56 PM

It was an ebay link.

ahh my fault sorry then

but i would love to see some pictures of the car dealer m2 if someone have them or the atms assembler mentioned

virtual alan

04-14-2005, 07:34 AM

Sorry it was to show that there was yet "another" one appeared....unless it is the same one someone keeps trying to sell!

GigaDrive

04-15-2005, 07:32 AM

Yeah I have the software. I'll probably do some downloadable isos for thew FZ-35 owners.

If you're in russia and use an atm, you're using an M2 btw

whoa, ATMs in Russia use M2 ?

LeGIt

04-15-2005, 08:09 AM

whoa, ATMs in Russia use M2 ?

Whoa, Russia have ATMs?

hehe

AntiPasta

04-15-2005, 08:14 AM

This just in: as of late, the formerly indepent country of Tannu Tuva has got *one* ATM installed in the capital of Kyzyl.

(yes it's actually true!)

zappenduster

04-15-2005, 08:40 AM

This just in: as of late, the formerly indepent country of Tannu Tuva has got *one* ATM installed in the capital of Kyzyl.

(yes it's actually true!)

does it use a m2 ? if yes then iam thinking about robbing the country of its only atm (shouldnt be hard to find =)

AntiPasta

04-16-2005, 08:58 AM

As of the summer of 1998, there is an ATM in Kyzyl - in one bank only, for now. It is in a main street backyard establishment (ask for it, in front of OVIR and Bank of Tuva). It works with Visa cards.

good luck :-)

virtual alan

04-17-2005, 04:26 PM

This has been posted under ebay links

Also here as so many people probably read this more as for M2`s

http://www.xdk-team.com/images/auction_photos/auction_3dom2_t5.JPG

http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&category=49221&item=8185983367&rd=1

zappenduster

04-17-2005, 04:58 PM

my guess is this is just the normal dev unit that was soled now 5-10 times on ebay from rigua (dont know if i spelled that right) under the ebayname ebestdeals

this guy did the same like me i think he bought a fitting powermac and installed the card

question is how much did he pay for the dev unit prices where btw. 1500-2500 add to that the 20$ for the powermac (they are really cheap you just have to find the old models) and then you know what that system is worth

and how do you think i know that this isnt a real used dev system ?
in his pictures you can see the drive unit still sealed and thats how they where sold on ebay...

RPA

04-17-2005, 07:38 PM

i know that at least one drive unit exists (just cdrom drive no m2 chipsset) and was sold on ebay last year at 600$

one member of this forum has a cdrom drive unit with a uncomplete chipset maybe its the one that was sold on ebay for 600$ iam not sure

Sorry I missed this. Yes it is the same one.

Plus I know someone who has a complete M2 but he didn't have any software to test it and I think a drive unit too. It might even be you? Is your screen name justice_is_blind on Atari Age?

zappenduster

04-17-2005, 09:21 PM

Sorry I missed this. Yes it is the same one.

Plus I know someone who has a complete M2 but he didn't have any software to test it and I think a drive unit too. It might even be you? Is your screen name justice_is_blind on Atari Age?

no thats not me never been a member of a forum called atari age

but iam sitting also on a 3do m2 dev but its complete with documentry and the software toolkit and i even bought my own cheap powermac but i didnt had time to install the cards and software

RPA

04-17-2005, 10:28 PM

Cool. Are you going to try and write some code for your M2?

zappenduster

04-17-2005, 10:33 PM

Cool. Are you going to try and write some code for your M2?

iam definatly looking into this thing but right now i gather more software and documents

if anyone can point me to a old version of metrowerks codewarrior for mac i would be very happy

RPA

04-17-2005, 10:55 PM

iam definatly looking into this thing but right now i gather more software and documents

if anyone can point me to a old version of metrowerks codewarrior for mac i would be very happy

Very cool. If you come across anything or write something I would greatly appreciate it if you would share. I just won the auction for the complete and supposedly working M2 on ebay. I would love to try and get something to run on it.

RPA

04-17-2005, 11:14 PM

Hmmm so that is not you. So I think there is 4 known complete M2's then.

1.Yours
2.Mine
3.A guy that goes by the name justice_is_blind
4.A guy that goes by the name of Zangardo (I think that is how it's spelled)

I wonder how many are out there.

zappenduster

04-17-2005, 11:31 PM

there must be more but i lost track of the other units when i had my m2 at home =)

what i would like to checkout is how much difference is in the 3do m2s and in the 3do m2 arcade units (right now battle thryst is in the mail from usa to me =)

ahhh you overbid me :die

just joking gratulation to this unit

RPA

04-17-2005, 11:40 PM

LOL....you must be the binary code guy? I thought you were going to win this. I was surprised that I won.

zappenduster

04-18-2005, 12:05 AM

LOL....you must be the binary code guy? I thought you were going to win this. I was surprised that I won.

nope my bidding didnt show up cause i waited till last minute and when i bid my bidding was some $ to low at that time =)

the binary guy must be legit acording to the ebay thread =)

Paulo

04-18-2005, 06:08 AM

Yeah thats legits silly name... How the fuck he logs on to ebay with that username i dont know.

virtual alan

04-18-2005, 07:39 AM

Yeah thats legits silly name... How the fuck he logs on to ebay with that username i dont know.

Whats that

00000111000111100001111100000111100000011111000000 11111000001111100001111000000111111000011111000001 01010110101010101010

Or something like that :smt082

Topper

04-18-2005, 07:46 AM

I'm searching for M2 FZ-35S softwares. I need one to present the hardware in a french convention this next week-end. Does somebody can make one ore more ISOs I can download this week ? :(

LeGIt

04-18-2005, 08:55 AM

hehe yeah I'm 01100111011001010110010101101011 -> Binary for geek ;)

zappenduster

04-18-2005, 12:02 PM

I'm searching for M2 FZ-35S softwares. I need one to present the hardware in a french convention this next week-end. Does somebody can make one ore more ISOs I can download this week ? :(

right now there is no software out in the open

the only one who i think does have software is assembler at least for those kiosk/ demonstration things from a car dealer since he sold that stuff last year or so maybe he has still a copy of it around (question is if its compatible to the normal 3do m2)

Paulo

04-18-2005, 12:09 PM

He does have them and i think that he might share them sometime in the future but i wouldnt bug him about it.

RPA

04-18-2005, 01:18 PM

The kiosk discs wont work with a real M2 because they are DVD's. Unless if its possible to swap the 4x CDROM drive with the DVD drive in the kiosks.

HI_Ricky

04-18-2005, 01:34 PM

RPA

04-18-2005, 07:59 PM

zappenduster,

I was just wondering if you had a controller? I know there is a bunch of different proto's that were made. If you have one can you post a pic?

Also, about a year ago I was talking to this guy who was trying to get software to run on his M2 and he was telling me that you need the M2 ROM in order to play software. Do you know anything about this? I think he was talking about the memory card but I'm not sure.

zappenduster

04-19-2005, 12:52 AM

bitrate

04-19-2005, 01:36 AM

Here is what I have been able to get so far...

http://us.f2.yahoofs.com/bc/42609476_131fa/bc/3DO+Blaster/DSC00167++30%.jpg?BCOjKZCB3aLjSRLs

http://us.f2.yahoofs.com/bc/42609476_131fa/bc/3DO+Blaster/DSC00182++25%.jpg?BCOjKZCBObyaMgX0

zappenduster

04-19-2005, 02:31 AM

Here is what I have been able to get so far...

http://us.f2.yahoofs.com/bc/42609476_131fa/bc/3DO+Blaster/DSC00167++30%.jpg?BC3dJZCBjnFISRLs
http://us.f2.yahoofs.com/bc/42609476_131fa/bc/3DO+Blaster/DSC00182++25%.jpg?BC3dJZCBHAfgMgX0

whats all the electronics on the table ?

could you give us a little description ?

AntiPasta

04-19-2005, 06:44 AM

Pictures don't work :-(

Paulo

04-19-2005, 06:51 AM

same here.

zappenduster

04-19-2005, 08:22 AM

i mirrored the pictures looks like yahoo is not the best image space =)

http://www.8ung.at/zappenduster/bitrate/DSC00167.jpg
http://www.8ung.at/zappenduster/bitrate/DSC00182.jpg

Paulo

04-19-2005, 08:54 AM

... is that an actual m2 running?!

zappenduster

04-19-2005, 09:22 AM

depends on how you define actual m2 the grey box is just the cdrive unit i think cause the production units (cdrive with actual m2 board) had blue buttons instead of the grey ones

but the motherboard behind the drive unit looks rather interesting dont known maybe its a 3do m2 board

btw. i found something interesting about the 602 powerpc

iridum satelite

The sattelites
The satellite contains 7 motorola PowerPC 602 processors running at roughly 200 Mhz. Processors are connected by an unwieldy custom backplane network. One processor is dedicated to each cross-link antenna ("HVARC"), and two processors ("SVARC"s) are dedicated to satellite control - one being a spare. Late in the project an extra processor ("SAC") was added to perform resource management and phone call processing.

200mhz ? that sounds like fun looking at the 66mhz in the m2

RPA

04-19-2005, 01:44 PM

my setup is photographed and posted in the collection forum but some things are mission which i aquired later

i dont have a controller thats why i was behind the production unit rpa but maybe you can help me out when you have your unit received

from the pictures on ebay the controller looks like a standard 3do controller (connectors could be different) so i hope to just get a normal 3do controller and change it if needed to a 3do m2 controller, it all depends on you production unit =)

to the memory card yes my unit has such a little card i was wondering my self for what it is thougt its maybe for savegames or so

on my software kit cd is a bios i think which should be with no problem flashable to the 3do card maybe it can also be flashed to your unit if it doesnt have a bios (if it does have one i hope we can find a way to get that out of the unit)

I'll definetly help you with the M2 controller. I'm going to help M2 owners as much as I can. If we are going to get the systems up and running we will have to work together. Unfortunetly a lot of M2 owners don't visit web forums anymore it seems like.

The controllers are definetly different though. From the picture I can tell that the M2 controller has atleast 3 extra buttons compared to a regular 3DO controller. When I get home from work today I will compare the 3DO controller to the M2 controller ports. If the connector is different then I'm sure I can make an adapter to make a 3DO controller work on your M2. The only thing though is that I wouldn't be able to test it without the BIOS loader and some software (both I'm working on attaining right now. I will let you know if I get them).

Regarding the memory card: I figured that the BIOS data would be on the dev CD so it's good that you confirmed this. I also figured that the easiest way to put the BIOS in the M2 would be through the memory card since it's a read/write device. I could be wrong though becuase there is also the PCMCIA slot.

bitrate

04-19-2005, 03:33 PM

i mirrored the pictures looks like yahoo is not the best image space =)

http://www.8ung.at/zappenduster/bitrate/DSC00167.jpg
http://www.8ung.at/zappenduster/bitrate/DSC00182.jpg

Thanks for the mirror zappenduster! I was trying something with Yahoo's briefcase thingy and it sucks.

RPA

04-19-2005, 06:53 PM

Bitrate,

Details on your M2 set up please!

zappenduster

04-20-2005, 12:46 AM

btw. guys guess whos having a new set of m2 documentry =)

RPA

04-20-2005, 11:14 PM

I have good news for you zappenduster. I received my M2 today. I tested the M2 controller on a 3DO and it worked so a regular 3DO controller should work on your M2. The system unfortunately did not come with a BIOS though.

Couple of interesting notes on the M2 controller:

- The top "L" and R" buttons on the face of the controller are the same as the left and right triggers ( I figured that is what they would be). The P button was different than I thought it would have though. It is actually the pause button! It's really weird especially considering that the second pause button does not pause the game. There is also a piece of electrical tape over three holes that would be used for buttons in the middle of the controller. The buttons read "Turbo", "Turbo", and "Glow"- I think it says glow its kind of hard to read.

- There is a daisy chain but instead of on the controller like 3DO controllers it's on the cord next to the connector to the system.

- As you can tell from the pic the M2 controller is significantly bigger and it feels a lot better.

- You can't tell from the pic but in the middle of the D pad there is a threaded hole. Probably for a joystick, I wonder if any of them were made.

zappenduster

04-21-2005, 12:56 AM

maybe i can help you with the bios but i have to figure out if it can be put on one of the memory cards and then loaded or if it has to be loaded via a cable into the m2

but right now iam crushing my head on the vga adapter that should make my 17" pc monitor run with the powermac but of course it does not work =(

RPA

04-21-2005, 01:27 PM

RPA

04-23-2005, 02:57 PM

Hmm...I was looking at the M2 today and found what looks like a PCMCIA slot underneath the mobo in the back of the unit. That got me thinking of a pic that I saw of a functional M2 and I noticed that there was a PCMCIA looking device sticking out of the bottom of the unit. I'm thinking that, that is where the BIOS loader goes and if this is the case then it should be fairly simple to copy the BIOS information to a PCMCIA harddrive through the M2 dev unit.

zappenduster

04-23-2005, 03:01 PM

zappenduster

04-23-2005, 03:03 PM

RPA

04-23-2005, 03:18 PM

look what i found and going to buy =)
http://www.hundi5.privat.t-online.de/3do2.JPG

so if the wiring isnt different on the proto and the old production pad that might even work =)

Sweet man that looks very similar to the prototype!

RPA

04-23-2005, 03:25 PM

ahh you mean the thing on top of you picture didnt notice that on my unit must check =)
i thougt you meaned the memory card thing on the botton of your picture

Yea as soon as I saw it, it just hit me like a ton of bricks. That has to be where the BIOS loader goes. On the dev units there is not one on the bottom only on the top (the plastic case is covering up the slot). You probably have to program the card through the top PCMCIA slot.

vespertillio

04-25-2005, 07:50 PM

Hey all, I just picked up one of the FZ-DR21's. I need a power supply for this beast. Does anyone have power alternatives I could look into? Thanks.

Fred

RPA

04-25-2005, 10:36 PM

Hey all, I just picked up one of the FZ-DR21's. I need a power supply for this beast. Does anyone have power alternatives I could look into? Thanks.

Fred

You should be able to find one at Radio Shack.

Just make sure it's:

15 volts DC
At least one amp
Center prong is positive

Did you get anything else with the drive unit? If not then there isn't much that you can do.

zappenduster

04-26-2005, 10:14 AM

Hey all, I just picked up one of the FZ-DR21's. I need a power supply for this beast. Does anyone have power alternatives I could look into? Thanks.

Fred

do you mean the real console unit or just the cd drive ?
blue front buttons mean console and white/grey front buttons mean cd drive

vespertillio

04-26-2005, 12:57 PM

The buttons are the white and grey ones, so I guess it isn't going to do much for me. Is this the unit where I need the bios loaded from the front flash port? That and thank you for the info on adapter. I doubt I can do much with this thing and will probably be selling it. While it is pretty cool, I would like to see it go to someone who would actually do something with it lol. Cheers.

Fred

zappenduster

04-26-2005, 02:05 PM

i think the flashport is a pcmcia port but iam not sure since i didnt check out my unit so much (time is a killer)

the most important thing you need is the m2 hardware card or a working full stacked console unit

RPA

04-26-2005, 07:39 PM

Hey vespertillio where did you get yours at?

Well I found out some bad news. I tried putting my Laptops PCMCIA card into my dev unit and it didn't fit :( It's too wide. Some good news though is I acquired some dev docs so when they get there I'm going to check out this BIOS loader.

vespertillio

04-26-2005, 09:28 PM

Hey there RPA, I received it from a fellow member of Atari Age. Thats a bummer about the pcmcia slot. I was hoping that would be the way to get it booted up. I still have to find a power supply tho lol.

RPA

04-26-2005, 10:42 PM

vespertillio

04-26-2005, 10:58 PM

It was a PM. It was not advertised.

zappenduster

04-26-2005, 11:03 PM

Hmm interesting. I didn't know anyone else besides justice_is_blind had a M2 at Atari Age. Was it a PM deal or did the seller start a thread in the marketplace? Anyways I still feel confident in the PCMCIA HDD BIOS loader idea. I didn't try to put it in my M2 console, just in the CD drive box. This just means that it can't be programmed with the CD drive box....at least I don't think. Until I get the dev documents these are all just theories =)

could you get a little more specific on what dev documents you get ?

i have right now:
3do m2 hardware installation guide
3do m2 release 3.0 manual
and in the mail to me is the full 2.7 manual

just saw there is a chapter 3do m2 link / dumb programmers guide maybe thats the bios thing must check out later

RPA

04-26-2005, 11:13 PM

The 2.7 version from the same guy you got yours from. I emailed the guy after I lost the auction and asked him if he had any other M2 products and he said he had one more complete 2.7 manual left that he was going to put on ebay. He sold it to me for what I bid on the one that you won. If he shipped on Monday then I should be getting them this week.

RPA

04-26-2005, 11:22 PM

It was a PM. It was not advertised.

Ahh well stick around! The more M2 owners here the better. Need as many people to bounce ideas off of as possible.

Paulo

04-27-2005, 06:00 AM

Yeah i wanna see the m2 do pretty things!

zappenduster

04-27-2005, 11:28 AM

RPA

04-27-2005, 01:32 PM

iam getting a little angry on this type of trades but ok =)
you will get your manual probably earlier then i cause mine hase to travel around the ocean

just tell us what you get on the pcmcia thing btw. wherent there different type of cards i remember something on the line of pcmcia 1 and 2 ?

I'm not sure what you mean by the first sentence.

I do believe that the M2 uses Type III cards but Type I to Type III are all the same width. The PCMCIA card that I used was the same width as them but it was definitely to wide to fit in the drive unit. Might fit in the M2 console though I just haven't tried yet.

bnwim

04-30-2005, 07:31 AM

M2 FZ-55:

http://www.elsenordelasmoscas.com/pics/POP%28fz55_c%29.gif
http://www.elsenordelasmoscas.com/pics/POP%28fz55_l%29.gif
http://www.elsenordelasmoscas.com/pics/POP_right.GIF

M2 (FZ-22 ???) model 2:

http://www.elsenordelasmoscas.com/pics/Panasonic%20M2%20%28Model%202%29.jpg
http://www.elsenordelasmoscas.com/pics/m2panasonic11.jpg
http://www.elsenordelasmoscas.com/pics/M2-2.jpg

Paulo

04-30-2005, 03:47 PM

Anyone got video of that racing game that was shown?

zappenduster

04-30-2005, 06:55 PM

Anyone got video of that racing game that was shown?

there you have to clear which you mean

the last picture on your message is of a demo/ intro scene (scifi themed race) which is a 3-5 sec movie and is on the release 3.0 cd from the 3do m2 software toolkit as mpg i can load it up if you want
but there was another racing game of which i only have some images no moving pictures some kind of formula 1 game i think

oh and i got hold of 2 mags that reported on the 3do m2 prototypes in 1995/6 will scan them this week, they have much clearer pictures of the prototypes

btw. was the fz-55 ever released ?

Topper

05-01-2005, 05:02 AM

The FZ-55 is on the russian Panasonic website :

http://www.panasonic-solutions.ru/bank/terminal/product.htm ;)

bnwim

05-01-2005, 02:15 PM

btw. was the fz-55 ever released ?

I think it´s a part of this drinks machine:

As requested a few posts before this one, here are a few pictures of the poor fate that lay in stall for the M2

I bring you the Nescafe Drinks Machine :D
http://img8.exs.cx/img8/5185/m2drink19hg.jpg (http://www.imageshack.us/)
http://img8.exs.cx/img8/1827/m2drink24am.jpg (http://www.imageshack.us/)

The power of the M2 is able to bring you hot or cold drinks be simply spinning a disc. Hot drinks come from the CD drives motor's heat while the cold drinks are produced by the amazing ice cold wind that comes from the spinning CD. The M2 is everything you could have ever wanted :p

Yakumo

zappenduster

05-01-2005, 05:17 PM

I think it´s a part of this drinks machine:

nahh with those buttons on the site i would say it fits a atm more and we talked already about them in russia

could anyone get a translation of the russian panasonic site babelfish doesnt work =(

Paulo

05-01-2005, 07:27 PM

erm both then!

zappenduster

05-01-2005, 08:15 PM

erm both then!

yakumo next time you walk by that coffeemachine take a screwdriver and get the m2 out of it so we can be sure :death

bnwim

05-02-2005, 05:17 AM

could anyone get a translation of the russian panasonic site babelfish doesnt work =(

(under "Plasma displays" section ...)

DESCRIPTION (http://www.panasonic-solutions.ru/bank/terminal/main.htm)

Information terminals

The system of information terminals located in a lobby, gives expecting clients useful interactive information.

Advantages:

Expecting clients are cognitively borrowed.
Raising a level of information services, involves potential clients.
Improves image of the company, using modern IT technologies.
Opportunity of access to local both global financial parameters and the data through the Internet.
http://www.panasonic-solutions.ru/bank/terminal/img_main/terminal.jpg

EXAMPLES (http://www.panasonic-solutions.ru/bank/terminal/sample.htm)

Example of realization - Information terminals

http://www.panasonic-solutions.ru/bank/terminal/img_sample/terminal_sample_s.jpg (http://www.panasonic-solutions.ru/bank/terminal/img_sample/terminal_sample_b.jpg)

EQUIPMENT (http://www.panasonic-solutions.ru/bank/terminal/product.htm)

FZ-55

The ZHKI-TERMINAL (¿?):

http://www.panasonic-solutions.ru/img/product/FZ-55_s.jpg (http://www.panasonic-solutions.ru/img/product/FZ-55_b.jpg)

Compact design
Bright display

RPA

05-04-2005, 07:54 PM

I received the dev docs today but I haven't looked through them yet. Have to go get some binders for the mountain of paper first.

That white M2 looks sweet! They were probably the empty ones. I wonder how many of those were made?

zappenduster

05-21-2005, 05:50 AM

just found another aplication for the m2 the real estate thing maybe dont know if anyone elso knew what it could produce

vizhouse (http://www.dcaj.org/bigbang/mmca/works/04/04_058.html)

http://www.dcaj.org/bigbang/mmca/works/04/images/04_058/title.jpg

http://www.dcaj.org/bigbang/mmca/works/04/images/04_058/tachiage.jpg
http://www.dcaj.org/bigbang/mmca/works/04/images/04_058/interior3.jpg
http://www.dcaj.org/bigbang/mmca/works/04/images/04_058/m2x.jpg

and as little special a quicktime movie showing the 3d result (5mb)
http://www.dcaj.org/bigbang/mmca/summary/04_58/vhmov5.mov

Yakumo

05-21-2005, 10:00 AM

thanks for that info zappenduster, just downloading the movie now. It's just a shame that we never saw anything as far as real games go. I'd love to see Warps D2 in action.

Yakumo

zappenduster

05-21-2005, 06:13 PM

thanks for that info zappenduster, just downloading the movie now. It's just a shame that we never saw anything as far as real games go. I'd love to see Warps D2 in action.

Yakumo

with all those dev systems floating in the open market maybe some of the old developers join back to bring m2s to live again

right now iam gathering anything thats needed to get this bitch running in its whole glory just got hold of one of the joypads =)

RPA

05-21-2005, 08:02 PM

with all those dev systems floating in the open market maybe some of the old developers join back to bring m2s to live again

right now iam gathering anything thats needed to get this bitch running in its whole glory just got hold of one of the joypads =)

Yea you got a more complete one than mine. With the middle joystick adapter! There also appears to be a headphone jack on the bottom.

I've been looking through the dev docs and I can't find anything about the BIOS : (

zappenduster

05-21-2005, 08:49 PM

i found at least 2 bios i think one was on the floppy with the cdriver 3.5" one and the other is some where on the cd of the 3.0 toolkit

btw. we did talk about the pcmcia drive on one of the m2s heres what i found from short looking into the manuals:

The FlashRomTool is a Macintosh application that lets you store
information, usually an image of the development ROM, into the Development
Card's onboard flash ROM or a PC Card (PCMCIA Flash Card)

important word is flashrom OR pc card so there is maybe a way to flash the one real m2 with a debug bios =)

RPA

05-21-2005, 10:22 PM

RPA

05-21-2005, 10:25 PM

thanks for that info zappenduster, just downloading the movie now. It's just a shame that we never saw anything as far as real games go. I'd love to see Warps D2 in action.

Yakumo

You might be able to some day. There is at least one copy of D2 out there.

zappenduster

05-22-2005, 03:40 AM

Hmm...interesting. I wonder how you get the data on the PCMCIA card? On a PC it would be no problem but I have never owned a Mac. I still have to get a 8100 series.
I can't use the dev CDROM so that is probably why I can't find any BIOS information.

I noticed that Lingjr. put his M2 dev environment back up on ebay. Looks like the deal fell through. He probably wouldn't have a problem selling the lot if he accepted more payment options than Western Union. I wish he would sell everything separate because all I need is the card and cable.

you dont need a mac to read the cd just search the web for a program that reads mac cds under windows (or linux if you prefer) i for example used transmac

on the cd you find mostly code examples and the whole handbook which you have in paper but i think its a little older then the printed one

oh and which cable do you miss ? to my controller i got also some cables which where from the sellers old m2 setup maybe i can help you

RPA

05-22-2005, 01:36 PM

you dont need a mac to read the cd just search the web for a program that reads mac cds under windows (or linux if you prefer) i for example used transmac

on the cd you find mostly code examples and the whole handbook which you have in paper but i think its a little older then the printed one

oh and which cable do you miss ? to my controller i got also some cables which where from the sellers old m2 setup maybe i can help you

Cool. I'm downloading Transmac now. The cable I need is the Nubus card to M2 dev unit.

zappenduster

05-22-2005, 01:43 PM

Cool. I'm downloading Transmac now. The cable I need is the Nubus card to M2 dev unit.

must check the extra cable i get has some audio plugs and a dataplug with 9 pins or so on one site and a data plug only on the other could be the one you need but i can check only in 1-2weeks when the thing arrives

RPA

05-22-2005, 07:31 PM

That sounds like the right cable. The Transmac program isn't working for me. Can't read the disc for some reason. Gonna try a different program.

zappenduster

05-23-2005, 03:10 AM

That sounds like the right cable. The Transmac program isn't working for me. Can't read the disc for some reason. Gonna try a different program.

you have to insert the disc and then somehow mount it in the lower window wasnt really easy to findout (there was a tutorial or so at the homepage of the programm i think)
but it worked very nice =)

bnwim

05-23-2005, 06:50 PM

I'd love to see Warps D2 in action.

Did you see this (http://www.elsenordelasmoscas.com/sfiles/D2.rar) D2 video? (I only can play this video on Nero ShowTime, QuickTime doesn´t work)

Also Snow Job (http://www.elsenordelasmoscas.com/sfiles/Snow%20Job.rar).

Yakumo

05-24-2005, 07:19 AM

Thanks for the links bnwim but I don't have Nero Show Time :( I wonder if it's possible to convert the file?

Yakumo

bnwim

05-24-2005, 09:32 AM

Thanks for the links bnwim but I don't have Nero Show Time :( I wonder if it's possible to convert the file?

Yakumo

Try this one (http://www.elsenordelasmoscas.com/sfiles/D2%20-%20avi.rar) (AVI - Xvid).

Yakumo

05-24-2005, 12:01 PM

Thanks bnwim :smt023 that one worked fine. D2 on the M2 sure does look as if it's pulling off better visuals than the Saturn or PSX could. It seems to be moving at a good frame rate too. I wonder just how many frames it ran at? One day I hope this game comes to the fans. By the way, what ever happened to WARP after they became Super WARP? Surly they would have infor about the M2 version of D2 on their site (if they had one).

Yakumo

bnwim

05-24-2005, 01:40 PM

By the way, what ever happened to WARP after they became Super WARP? Surly they would have infor about the M2 version of D2 on their site (if they had one).

Warp ... they didn't announce a new game after D2 and disappeared. Warp had two webs, but neither of them are online now:

http://www.warp-jp.com

http://www.superwarp.co.jp

Paulo

05-24-2005, 02:10 PM

Also i think that they canned that version of D2 while on the m2 and had already started to work on the Dreamcast version ON the m2.

Either that or they had some very very early versions of the DC kit.

Yakumo

05-25-2005, 01:25 AM

I saw a documentary on Kenji Endo on Japanese TV years ago. It was very interesting but didn't really go in to too much detail about his games. He did however say that thanks to his decision to move Enemy Zero to the Saturn from the PSX, he made some very good connections within Sega. It's therefore very possible that he could have had Dreamcast dev tools just as early as Sega7S own programmers.

Yakumo

ddp72984

05-25-2005, 03:42 AM

where there actually games for this system created?

Paulo

05-25-2005, 08:35 AM

However they do look terrrible. Its the pictures of the starting FMV but in game gfx instead... Cant find them now!

RPA

11-13-2005, 07:18 PM

Hey Zappenduster did you try Battle Tryst in your black M2 yet? I'm dying to find out if it worked or not!

Do you have any new M2 info? I've hit a wall for the last 6 months.

irata2004

03-08-2006, 12:34 AM

_skitzo_

03-08-2006, 01:07 AM

Awsome, thanks for sharing!!

zappenduster

03-08-2006, 06:41 AM

http://my.1up.com/media?id=2740684

http://my.1up.com/media?id=2740696&type=lg

http://my.1up.com/media?id=2740698&type=lg

I managed to flash one of the ROM demos in the Dev CD (version 3.0) onto the development board. I need to hook up the external drive box and a controller to see what else it does. I'll keep tinkering and post my findings...

did you find any insight on how to burn your own m2 cds since all i found from a quick checkout you should send you finalized project to 3do or whoever and they create that cd for you (which sounds a little complicated to me but in a time when cdwriters cost as much as a cheap car maybe plausible) ?

about the battle tryst didnt have much time to try it since iam stuck in tons of work at my fab (changing from 8hour shift to 12 hours got me 4 of 9 people sick)

but i just ordered a supergun so maybe we see at least a movie how it looked in reality when i put that together

irata2004

03-09-2006, 12:53 AM

did you find any insight on how to burn your own m2 cds since all i found from a quick checkout you should send you finalized project to 3do or whoever and they create that cd for you (which sounds a little complicated to me but in a time when cdwriters cost as much as a cheap car maybe plausible) ?

about the battle tryst didnt have much time to try it since iam stuck in tons of work at my fab (changing from 8hour shift to 12 hours got me 4 of 9 people sick)

but i just ordered a supergun so maybe we see at least a movie how it looked in reality when i put that together

I haven't run across anything having to do with CD duplication - maybe 3DO wanted to charge royalties per copy of the game produced (like Nintendo did with carts) though that sounds like a complete reversal from thrir open policy with the Opera/3DO I.

Regarding Battle Tryst - If you bought that FZ-21 unit that was on Ebay last year, I got a tip from a source I can't name that all Konami arcade games should work on it without modifications. Let us know if that's true when you finally do try it out...

zappenduster

03-09-2006, 07:43 AM

I haven't run across anything having to do with CD duplication - maybe 3DO wanted to charge royalties per copy of the game produced (like Nintendo did with carts) though that sounds like a complete reversal from thrir open policy with the Opera/3DO I.

Regarding Battle Tryst - If you bought that FZ-21 unit that was on Ebay last year, I got a tip from a source I can't name that all Konami arcade games should work on it without modifications. Let us know if that's true when you finally do try it out...

could you specify a little more which unit you mean ?

my fz 21 wasnt bought of ebay i think (cant remember right =) its the left one in the picture here fz 21 cd drive + fz 21 retail (http://zappenduster.7sky.de/zappenduster/3do-m2/3do%20m2%20twins.jpg)

but iam still on the lookout for a fz 35 interactive mediaplayer from panasonic those big desktop pc like units

irata2004

03-09-2006, 01:11 PM

could you specify a little more which unit you mean ?

my fz 21 wasnt bought of ebay i think (cant remember right =) its the left one in the picture here fz 21 cd drive + fz 21 retail (http://zappenduster.7sky.de/zappenduster/3do-m2/3do%20m2%20twins.jpg)

but iam still on the lookout for a fz 35 interactive mediaplayer from panasonic those big desktop pc like units

Last year some guy from North Carolina (STFlynn, I think) found an M2 unit at a local flea market and got it for $20, including a prototype controller. The unit powered up, and played VideoCDs - it was a black M2 like the one in your picture (the white one is just the development kit drive box, like the one I have). He sold it to someone from this board (not through Ebay - sorry about the mistake) - maybe it was you? Anyway, that unit, accoding to my source, should play every piece of M2 software out there, including alphas, betas and the Konami arcade games. In fact, the only things it won't play are the programs designed for the FZ-35s (which are DVDs anyway.)

zappenduster

03-09-2006, 01:26 PM

Last year some guy from North Carolina (STFlynn, I think) found an M2 unit at a local flea market and got it for $20, including a prototype controller. The unit powered up, and played VideoCDs - it was a black M2 like the one in your picture (the white one is just the development kit drive box, like the one I have). He sold it to someone from this board (not through Ebay - sorry about the mistake) - maybe it was you? Anyway, that unit, accoding to my source, should play every piece of M2 software out there, including alphas, betas and the Konami arcade games. In fact, the only things it won't play are the programs designed for the FZ-35s (which are DVDs anyway.)

if you could check back with your source for more infos of that black unit i would be very happy

and yes thats stflynns unit which bought and when the m2 car demo from assembler arrives i try that too

and for the arcade battle tryst game (konami you mentioned) gotta order a 220/110V converter first before i can put those into the m2

irata2004

03-11-2006, 01:33 PM

Anyway, yesterday I was stuck at this boring seminar at a local hotel. After lunch I wandered the hotel to explore a bit, and found the hotel arcade, filled with ancient games like Hydro Thunder and such. An lo and behold, stuck in a corner, a hidden jewel - a mint-condition Konami "Total Vice" game, one of a few based on 3do M2 hardware. I had my trusty Treo 650 with me (best cellphone/PDA there ever was/is) and took some pictures and videos. The games is pretty fun for a circa 1996 title, and let me tell you, the graphics were about Nintendo 64 quality, maybe with better textures due to the extra storage the CD provided, and the extra 4 MB RAM the M2 was supposed to have. The sound was good, but then again 3DO sound was always great. After seeing this, I think Matsushita decided against releasing this because it was not as good as 3DO led them to believe - I mean, it was a bit better than PSX-level visuals (it had bilinear filtering, the blurry effect the N64 had to mask the low-res nature of the textures) and perspective correction, and hardware MPEG1 decoding, and that's it. People who have posted the M2 had Dreamcast or PS2-quality viseuals have no idea what they're talking about.

http://www.1up.com/do/imageDisplay?id=2747047

http://www.1up.com/do/imageDisplay?id=2747051

http://www.1up.com/do/imageDisplay?id=2747049

pitsunami

03-11-2006, 01:53 PM

well it doesnt seem soooooooo bad but indeed its bad. :-(

i hoped it would be better, but maybe its the first games, maybe it had potential...

zappenduster

03-11-2006, 03:01 PM

irata2004

03-11-2006, 05:26 PM

ok iam a bit biased on that subject but what do you await of a consoles first generation that got canned before even released not many people had the time to work into it
total vice is from 1997 if iam not wrong at least the eu release

and the idea with the 2x602 powerpc hmm multiple cores/cpu have been most time be difficult to programm for

so and now i need the adress and phonenumber of that hotel/arcade to buy it of their hands =)

Don't get me wrong - I love 3DO, and I've always been fascinated by the M2. When I made my post I'm accounting for the fact that few people worked on the hardware, and that it was 1996-97 (when the PS1 ruled, and N64 had just come out.) Even with all those caveats, and accounting for the fact that maybe "Total Vice" was just a bad game, what I saw could not match the power of those first 3DFX 3D cards (those were out when, 97-98?). Granted, I wish I'd seen more games to make a more fair assessment...

irata2004

03-29-2006, 10:38 AM

I'm posting what could be a dirty little secret of 3do M2 collectors'. Remember those black FZ-35 Panasonic Media Players that were sold on Ebay awhile back for about $25-$50 apiece? I bought one of them for a somewhat higher sum, and since I also own a complete M2 development system I was negotiating with a source to get some software. The deal fell through, but what the source had to say astounded me. This source is "in the know", although I can't divulge the identity, these people were/are working on an M2 emulator for the PC... Anyway, I'm posting the emails:

Me

"Hi,
>
> I recently purchased a Panasonic FZ-35s multimedia player on Ebay. I
> know that this units are not real 3DO M2's, even though they operate on
> the same hardware. I also know that since Panasonic used these units
> for video kiosks and car dealer demos that the software for the unit is
> extremely limited and scarce. However, I read somewhere you guys might
> be working on an M2 Emulator, so I decided to contact you to see if you
> have any software for this unit, and if so, if you were willing to share it?
>
> In addition to the FZ-35s (which hasn't been delivered yet - I bought it
> yesterday) I also own an M2 development system with the external drive
> box, 2 M2 Hardware emulator cards (Revision H) and M2 Development
> Software versions 2.7 and 3.0. I just want something to run on the
> FZ-35 that will at least give me an idea of what the M2 hardware could
> have been capable of if it had been released as a game system back in
> the 90's. Thanks in advance."

Source:

"Hi,
1. those are real 3do m2 :) and without any modification runs beta and released m2 games.
2. yes, i have 12 titles (3 for kiosks, and 9 games) which runs and installs (yes you can install them on build-in HDD) perfectly on FZ-35.
3. will you be able/want to sell one of those rev.H cards?"

The Source even gave me a list of his titles:

"Well, i have complete V2.7, V3.0 and V3.2 SDK and Docs (in printed form), dev cdrom box (actually it's not really necessary for rev.H cards) and burned out rev.H board (mac had fire in it's power supply so board was damaged too)
as for software -- i have Cadillac 2002, Chevy 2002, Ford 2003 dvd roms.
and :
D2 beta (dvd-r), Speed Race beta (cd-r), Polystars (consumer edition japanese),
Hell Night beta, Total vice consumer edition, Arosen, Total control alpha, Heat of 11 beta, Ultimate Fighter beta.

Anyway, like I said, the deal fell through, but I just wanted to reveal exactly how mucy M2 software is actually being hoarded by collectors, and that the black FZ-35 units are apparently complete and working super-M2's. since they have a DVD drive instead of a CD-ROM drive, twice the RAM and even an expansion slot. So if you have one, hold on to it, or don't give it away for cheap...

Yakumo

03-29-2006, 11:12 AM

And now I want to cry :crying: You know, I really can't stand it when people won't share videos of stuff they have. Can there honestly be anything wrong with providing videos of beta games? D2 beta :-( :crying:

Yakumo

irata2004

03-29-2006, 11:45 AM

I feel your pain... the deal we were negotiating involved me getting working copies of all software in exchange for one of my Rev.H cards, which they need to continue developing the emulator (their card was damaged when the PS in their development Mac burned out.) I thought we had a deal, then they suddenly stopped responding to e-mails.

Anyway, I'm not particularly fond of hoarding, and I was planning to share the titles with all interested parties. Too bad it didn't work out.

pitsunami

03-29-2006, 12:57 PM

:crying: well, please keep mailing them... its really great to know that there are some betas for my beloved 35s. at least we know sth and i thank you for that...

I feel your pain... the deal we were negotiating involved me getting working copies of all software in exchange for one of my Rev.H cards, which they need to continue developing the emulator (their card was damaged when the PS in their development Mac burned out.) I thought we had a deal, then they suddenly stopped responding to e-mails.

Anyway, I'm not particularly fond of hoarding, and I was planning to share the titles with all interested parties. Too bad it didn't work out.

Bojay1997

03-29-2006, 01:28 PM

I know one of the guys at Konami of America who did primary development of the tools used in-house on the Konami M2 titles and he told me that these were never intended to be consumer titles nor were any such versions ever worked on. In fact, Konami knew the M2 was not going to receive a consumer launch months before any of the titles was completed. As such, I am very skeptical that this guy actually has any of the stuff he told you about in the e-mail.

zappenduster

03-30-2006, 12:20 AM

i was once last year in the talks with freedo from the 3do emu project he claimed to have betas/source of games and wanted to provide me some in exchange for the 2.7 or 3.0 sdk (cant remember which one) he got the sdk from me but the cds never reached me maybe i should contact him again he was very nice and knowledgable on the subject

right now i have the 1.2 2.7 and 3.0 (and that 2x) plus the konami arcade game battle tryst and the car demo is hovering over to me when assembler finds time

iam a little suspicious about people that claim to have that much beta/sources on a unreleased system especially from so many different gamedevelopers but who knows maybe he was in a key position in the old days of the m2 development

irata2004

03-30-2006, 12:41 AM

Well, I wasn't about to out them, but my source are the Freedo developers themselves (www.freedo.org) (http://www.freedo.com). That is their software list in my earlier post. The fact that they authored the only working 3DO emulator to date earns them more credibility in my book that some anonymous guy from Konami of America.

If the software list is accurate, I just hope some of the titles find their way to bittorrent or eMule someday...

Anyway, if what he says about the FZ-35 units is true, it just irks me that some collectors assured the bunch of us that the units were not real M2s, that they couldn't play games, and then proceeded to pounce on them on Ebay. My gut feeling is that what Freedo says about the units is true, and that they are real, complete M2 units capable of playing games (if we had any.) ;-)

joehax

03-30-2006, 04:54 AM

I dont doubt in my mind that there isnt at least _1_ working M2 with some beta game, most likley belonging to someone very close to the orginal project.

Anyway I always found this thread quite interesting:
http://www.atariage.com/forums/index.php?showtopic=70451&mode=linear

zappenduster

04-08-2006, 09:25 AM

Hi there,

I'm wondering if anyone tried flashing the Konami M2 arcade bios to the dev card in order to see if it can play one of the M2 arcade games?

I'm sure it isn't. Maybe hardware-wise, but the FZ-35 units can't even play an audio cd, so their bios must be crippled as hell...

havent searched my battle tryst game for a bios chip but i would guess its not sockeled so you have to hard remove it by heat which i myself wouldnt do =)

Barc0de

04-08-2006, 11:49 AM

I have a friend who has an m2 devkit, and i don't think you have included them in your list.

zappenduster

08-24-2006, 12:08 PM

Okay guys, I seriously need your help with this one.

Some time ago, Felix Lazarev from the FreeDO project released a package for Redhat Linux that allows dumping files from a 3DO disc and also has the ability to create a CD image with the 3DO file system. The latter one is very important, as it allows to make M2 software bootable on the FZ-35s! Sadly, Felix only told me that he released the package, but refuses to tell me where to get it (his answer was "google.com", then he ignored all further emails)...

So, not only do I know now that the arcade games can be played on the FZ-35s after a small modification, I also know exactly how to do it. However, without that package, that knowledge is useless and we still can't use our FZ-35s units. :-( So, is anyone here who knows where to find it? Or maybe some of you have good contact to Felix and can ask him gently for a download link?

after all the story about fz35 playing arcade games is mostly a rumor no one has yet provided any prove that its working

on the subject of freedo i have little split opinion, a while ago i was talking with the freedo dev and was in trade about m2 game/software i fullfilled my part but he never came over dont know what went wrong but i dont like it when things happen that way
i mean he was a nice guy and his 3do work was very amazing but something was too fishy for me

pitsunami

08-24-2006, 01:13 PM

after all the story about fz35 playing arcade games is mostly a rumor no one has yet provided any prove that its working

on the subject of freedo i have little split opinion, a while ago i was talking with the freedo dev and was in trade about m2 game/software i fullfilled my part but he never came over dont know what went wrong but i dont like it when things happen that way
i mean he was a nice guy and his 3do work was very amazing but something was too fishy for me

by the way do you know what happened to the site and the admin of freedo? i was just going to buy his 3do with the hard drive and waiting for pictures, he dissapeared. its so pity. they also was going to release a dc emulator for 3do, but nothing happened...:crying: :crying:

zappenduster

08-24-2006, 01:59 PM

It's not a rumour. See, the problem is that people don't share their knowledge, hence no one knows what's true and what isn't. I'll prove that it's working and provide a description of how to do it, but I can't unless I have that package for Redhat Linux.

There's no real difference between the FZ-35s and the arcade hardware, by the way. Only the boot process is handled differently, that's why a small modification is needed to get the arcade games working on the FZ-35s.

i think there is quite a difference asite from that a fz35 has a cd/dvd drive and a hdd which the arcade doesnt have

could you provide me pictures of the inside of a fz35 ? i cant seem to find mine but i think there is much difference btw. those 2 but i have no problem with beeing stated wrong

on the linux thing i remember only a dos commandline program which could read out the 3do file system but i cant remember where i have that laying around and it didnt really work for me

http://zappenduster.7sky.de/3do-m2/photo%20test/PICT0014_resize_2.jpg

zappenduster

08-24-2006, 02:01 PM

by the way do you know what happened to the site and the admin of freedo? i was just going to buy his 3do with the hard drive and waiting for pictures, he dissapeared. its so pity. they also was going to release a dc emulator for 3do, but nothing happened...:crying: :crying:

i think he screwed too many people...

something with the forum software cracked up sql database problem or so its down since some weeks i think

pitsunami

08-24-2006, 02:53 PM

[quote=WindowsKiller]@zappenduster: The difference lies in the layout of the pcb, but that's it. The specs can't be any closer: same chipset, same amount of ram and the ide interface for the cd/dvd drive. Of course, the firmware is different, which is why the FZ-35s won't accept the arcade games without modification.

i think there are big hardware differences otherwise they could have made a fz35 without the hd for the arcade with a jamma adaptor...
but i think it worth the try to take the boot code from the fz 35 car cd end hack it in a way to run the arcades bios.

pitsunami

08-24-2006, 03:04 PM

The arcade system was before the FZ-35s, so what you say doesn't make sense. ;-) Anyway, the hardware is the same, there's no need to think otherwise. Only the pcb layout is different, as the FZ-35s is more compact.

OOPS sorry about that, i didnt think of that. well i wish you are right but nobody shares any knowledge...:-(

zappenduster

08-24-2006, 03:44 PM

i think the arcade cd of battle tryst has a very similar filesystem to the 3do one but iam not sure on that but you can read various filenames if you check out the sectors directly (i think isobuster i used for that) for example the model files or textures of the fighters can be found very easily

zappenduster

08-24-2006, 03:46 PM

No problem. :icon_bigg The only important thing right now is that someone shares that 3DO filesystem package for Linux by Felix Lazarev. :pray:

20 secs of google bring up this http://www.stack.nl/~svdb/operafs/ where you looking for that ?

zappenduster

08-24-2006, 04:00 PM

I was able to extract files from Polystars, Battle Tryst and Heat of 11. They all use the Opera filesystem, which is the same that was used for the original 3DO. Though I'm not sure if it was extended in some way.

No, that's not what I need. I found that as well, but it's solely for reading 3DO discs.

did you read them out via the linux driver or via the dos tool (since i tried only the later one that might be the problem why i didnt get nothing of it)

some interesting reading:
http://groups.google.com/group/rec.games.video.3do/msg/bd996e29b2952945?output=gplain
http://groups.google.com/group/rec.games.video.3do/msg/b31078f89635d34a?output=gplain

especially the iamaduck thing made me laugh

jwhazel

08-25-2006, 07:27 PM

I've been working on a basic command line version for NT just for fun (I've been using 3do commander, but I could never get it to fully work right). Don't know when (or if) I'll ever have time to finish it though.

Out of curiosity, how did you determine the version of opera that the M2 uses?

zappenduster

08-25-2006, 08:43 PM

did you use the offsets provided on the 3do newsgroup ? cause if yes i could check out the differences in the three m2 discs i have maybe they updated it (the filesystem) after the arcade was made

jwhazel

08-25-2006, 09:55 PM

As far as I know the most complete filesystem description is included in the linux operaFS driver (the one you posted earlier). There was also bit of info on a deleted page posted in the newsgroups (internet archive: http://web.archive.org/web/20011218014730/lillith.sk.tsukuba.ac.jp/~kashima/games/3do_dir-e.html)

zappenduster

08-26-2006, 06:41 PM

could you when you are on the way of creating such a software also create a gui useable tool for reading the 3do / m2 discs under windows ?

jwhazel

08-28-2006, 09:47 PM

I'm curious if you could get it to the point of being able to read whats on the FZ-35's hard drive. The last I heard, people tried connecting it to a PC but it had some type of mystery data on it that no body could read (I'm assuming it was operafs, maybe programs copied from the original cd's?)

I still have to figure out how to read sectors from a real CD (WinAPI does not work for non-ISO9660 CDs)

Try using ASPI.

zappenduster

08-29-2006, 06:38 AM

I've done a very basic version of a GUI-driven tool for reading 3DO discs, do you want to test it? It does not have much features right now; you can browse the filesystem and extract files, that's it. I still have to figure out how to read sectors from a real CD (WinAPI does not work for non-ISO9660 CDs), so for now, only iso disc images with 2048 bytes/sector are supported.

yes no problem i would try it just send it over zappenduster@gmx.li

moneys a little tight right now or i would buy one of those 110/220v stepdown trafos to check that arcade disc in the fz21s1 player i have iam wondering how much different it is to the fz35 cause in theory it has more common with the arcade then the fz35 media shoeboxes

jwhazel

10-12-2006, 10:03 PM

What version of disk copy? It's been years since I've messed with classic but I seem to remember having problems with older versions not being able to mount certain things. I remember downloading MPW from apple when I was in college and getting it to work (OS 9), so dc had to have been 6.3.3 (available from either apple or version tracker).

jwhazel

10-15-2006, 06:28 PM

MacOS must be the worst operating system ever...
BLASPHEMY! :lol:

I know I've downloaded stuff from the apple ftp before, but I can't seem to find it now. Could you give me a link to mpw? I can try to mount it when I get home and send it to you as stuffit.

jwhazel

10-15-2006, 06:58 PM

Could you perhaps send me a copy of Disk Copy 6.3.3 as stuffit first? That may solve all my problems. :icon_bigg

I'm afraid I won't be at a mac for another 7 hours. Until then, try this: http://www.tucows.com/get/206988_84890

Should be a stuffit file.

jwhazel

10-15-2006, 07:59 PM

Why does M2 dev kit want it anyway? Does it use the apple compiler or something? I couldn't imagine it wanting to use apple libraries/headers.

jwhazel

10-15-2006, 08:25 PM

Interesting. Can the sdk startup and at least compile without the dev board installed?

jwhazel

10-15-2006, 11:46 PM

The only thing that rings a bell for dcc is delta cross compiler which was used for irix 5.2 (not sure if was still used for 6.x). When I get home, I'll look through my stuff. I may have an older version of MPW somewhere closer to the time when the m2 would have come out.

joehax

10-16-2006, 01:57 PM

why did you make the screenshot look so fake :110:

zappenduster

10-16-2006, 02:41 PM

Well, it's an example program taken from the sdk...

i think he means dark room blurry picture no sign off a fz35 running etc... :thumbsup:

Yakumo

10-16-2006, 04:27 PM

This is fantastic news !! Great work Windowskiller !! I've been watching this thread very closely over the last few days.

Yakumo

jwhazel

10-16-2006, 05:09 PM

Congrats man. I guess you found out what dcc was?

pitsunami

10-16-2006, 06:02 PM

wow...the fz35s is a real m2... thats wonderful news. cant wait for the arcade games running.!!:clap: :clap: great work winkiller.

cdoty

10-17-2006, 03:57 AM

Wow, can't wait to get ahold of a M2 SDK.

WolverineDK

10-18-2006, 01:48 AM

Damn, fucking damn cool :) I was over at VOGONS, some days ago, and I revived an old thread over there. And well I mentioned, perhaps there would be a miracle happening, if anything M2 related would come up, and running. And now it seems my hopes were true :) smashing great :)

Borman

10-23-2006, 04:47 AM

I just won an auction on ebay for the M2 Proto Controller :) Ill be taking pictures next month when Im home lol

zappenduster

10-23-2006, 06:35 AM

@wolverinedk could you please post the link to the forum ?

I just won an auction on ebay for the M2 Proto Controller :) Ill be taking pictures next month when Im home lol

i think i got 2 of them have to check my archive =)

ahh found the picture does it look like this ?

http://zappenduster.7sky.de/3do-m2/photo%20test/PICT0008_resize_2.jpg

its the normal black one right or is it the proto white n64 like controller ?

Borman

10-23-2006, 11:44 PM

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v450/Borman/c9_1copy.jpg

That one from ebay :) Sealed in the plastic, with the box :D

jwhazel

10-24-2006, 02:41 AM

So where in the hell was thing at? I've looked all over ebay and couldn't find it.

Borman

10-24-2006, 03:01 AM

Posted it in the ebay thread so I dont get yelled at ;)

zappenduster

10-24-2006, 06:39 AM

ah its the same id guess in the middle is a little paper covering the turbo speed switch holes

when you receive it could you check the back for the serial number please ?

Borman

10-24-2006, 07:07 AM

It should be 800 or something if it matches the box that comes with it :)

WolverineDK

10-24-2006, 09:59 PM

@wolverinedk could you please post the link to the forum ?

sure thing

http://vogons.zetafleet.com/viewtopic.php?t=744

pitsunami

10-24-2006, 10:13 PM

wolv i think you are a bit confused...model 2 is different than m2:thumbsup:

WolverineDK

10-24-2006, 10:38 PM

wolv i think you are a bit confused...model 2 is different than m2:thumbsup:

Oh well, it was just interesting, since I read the word m2. Ok my mistake, but hey at least I am aware of my mistake :)

Borman

10-25-2006, 03:08 AM

I just won 3 more (unboxed) controllers on ebay :o

3do

10-29-2006, 01:53 PM

zappenduster

10-29-2006, 06:49 PM

hey, i'm a newbie here and have an big obsession with the M2 and while browsing the net on M2 info i came across this page of someone who owns a black FZ-21S1 M2 http://sflynn.info/M2/index.html (http://sflynn.info/fz-21s1.html)

i thought i should share it with you ppl

you mean this shy little thing on the right site...

http://zappenduster.7sky.de/3do-m2/3do%20m2%20twins.jpg

but iam getting parted from it very soon it seems poor me =(

Borman

10-29-2006, 08:01 PM

Id pay good money for that thing lol.

jwhazel

11-01-2006, 10:11 PM

I finally got my M2 controller in the mail today. Brought it to work and took it apart hoping to figure out a way to (easily) convert another controller to the m2 spec. Turns out its not that easy. 3DO took the easy but very expensive route and used FPGA's to control all of the logic in the proto controllers. It seems there is a built in boundry scanner and a socketed sram chip so I may try dumping both of those sometime. But for the time being, I'm not sure a copy can be made of these proto controllers.

I'm guessing that these were distributed with the dev kits and the final version was the n64-esque one.

Borman

11-01-2006, 10:30 PM

Ive got all 4 of mine waiting at home lol :P

jwhazel

11-01-2006, 10:45 PM

So you're planning on playing 4 player....vizhouse?

zappenduster

11-02-2006, 05:43 AM

Ive got all 4 of mine waiting at home lol :P

ok now you just need to find the 4player adapter =) ill stay with my 2 controllers more usefull =)

oh before i forget jwhazel did you happen to make some nice big pictures of the open controller you know naked :drool: and could post them or send via email ?

Borman

11-02-2006, 05:49 AM

Now I just need one of those sexy units in your signature ;)

WanganRunner

11-03-2006, 04:26 PM

That site that 3do linked to with the black M2.....he got it at a FLEA MARKET?!?!

That's like finding Yellowcake Uranium at a thrift store, lol. How does something like that make its way to a flea market?

zappenduster

11-03-2006, 04:45 PM

Well, it's not a prototype, even if some people still claim it is. ;-) Thousands, or at least hundreds of those were sold in the US and Japan. I'd rather ask myself why only two turned up so far.

where did you find the 2nd one ?

mine is the one from ssflynn...

jwhazel

11-03-2006, 05:30 PM

Did we determine what the black units were? I figured they were engineering samples.

jwhazel

11-03-2006, 05:47 PM

Nope, see this press release:
http://members.tripod.com/faberp/m2fz21spr.html

I didn't see anything in that that said the black ones were production models. I think the white ones were production ones, blacks were ES's.

Correct me anyone :shrug:

zappenduster

11-03-2006, 07:49 PM

The white ones are from 1996, the black ones from 1998. Moreover, the white ones were only ever shown at the E3 in 1996 (or 1997, can't remember).

white one is at least one prototype (blue buttons) in the wild early prototype with some handwiring to it mainboard platine states 1996 not really sure if i mix that up but rpa either sold it or bought it at least i remember someone in the forum bought the prototype maybe he can share some more light on it if he had examined it more

never seen another fz21 in the wild except for mine mentioned in productsheets yes but no more i would be very pleased if you find more infos on the 2nd one

before i forgot the running fz21s shows the prototype controllers on the screen for its videocd players (where are the buttons labled play pause and so on)

black one is indeed from july 1998

RPA

11-05-2006, 11:22 PM

zappenduster

11-05-2006, 11:59 PM

Hey Zappenduster. I don't remember what year mine was. It's been in a vacuum sealed bag in a fire proof safe for quite a while. I just went and checked the bottom of it but there wasn't a date. I have some pics of the PCB somewhere but I can't find them and if I remember correctly there is a time stamp on the top half of the case as well.

Why do you have to part with yours? Did you ever get anywhere with running Battle Tryst on it?

its a complicated issue more or less in a week or two thing will come more clear

i never found the time to check the unit more out hope to concentrate on the manuals in the near future and try to do some more research on the history of the m2

since jan 2006 my shift system changed and i dont really have time to do intensive work on m2 related things (12hour shifts burn you out like hell)

on your unit if i didnt mix up my archives the date was from your m2 at least i think so since i think yours was sold via ebay and the pictures of the inner stuff where from some gallery around the net but my guess is that its the same unit

zappenduster

11-06-2006, 04:17 PM

I've found the photos on the forums of a website called "Static Gamer". I've asked the admin if he remembers who owns the unit, but he couldn't remember. They have also lost their database lately, so the old thread doesn't exist anymore, sadly.

static gamer had as i remember ssflynns m2 pictures he posted them there and then came around the same time to our forum so my wild guess is its the same unit i try to find his gallery

zappenduster

11-06-2006, 04:57 PM

Nope, it's a different unit. It has an additional switch on the left side, which your unit hasn't.

now it gets really interesting can u narrow the year down 2005/ 2004 or earlier ? then we can use the internet archive

anyone else maybe read the forum and has the pictures saved somewhere ?

zappenduster

11-06-2006, 06:05 PM

lol now i found them where in the totally wrong folder yes thats defintifly not rpas or my unit

the cable from the switch seems to go to one of the condensators near the cpus wonder if they maybe could hard switch it to 1 powerpc instead of 2 ?

RPA

11-06-2006, 06:31 PM

I know who has that unit but I haven't been able to contact him for a long time. He used to own the one that I have now.

@Windowskiller:

In what form where the productions M2 sold in? What was they're purpose?

swaaye

11-06-2006, 11:32 PM

I think you folks need to commit some of this info to the Wikipedia M2 article. I put the specs up on there a while back, out of an issue of Next Gen and a PPC FAQ

Borman

11-07-2006, 09:18 PM

I got my controllers, and popped some pictures up on my site. It looks like one was taken apart and not put together correctly, so some of the wires hang out a little bit.

jwhazel

11-07-2006, 11:16 PM

I figured I would go ahead and post the internals for all to see. Warning: pics are extremely large (like 5 mpixel range). Sorry for the flash, will snap better pics in the coming days.

Shell outside (http://slowlyburning.net/misc/outfront.jpg)
Shell inside (http://slowlyburning.net/misc/outrear.jpg)
Board front (http://slowlyburning.net/misc/infront.jpg)
Board rear (http://slowlyburning.net/misc/inrear.jpg)

Thoughts and observations (nothing really that important):
1.) The cases at miniumum were made by CH, makers of crappy controllers for video game systems in the early-mid 90's
2.) Controllers were made by hand (boards were of course wave soldered). Notice the hand routed channel in the top portion of the inner case to allow room for the cable
3.) The case that it came in was originally designed for wireless controllers. You can see the battery compartment for 2 AAA batteries on the inside and mold lines for the cover on the back (has the arrow pointing down stamped on it).
4.) I haven't had a chance to google any part #'s yet. From the looks of it, the FPGA (large chip) was programmed after the board was assembled. I say this because of the interface clearly printed right next to the connector which is coupled to a hex inverter. I would guess the sram chip contains the code for the FPGA and was programmed separatly and installed after the board was all put together?

I'm sure that was more information than anyone cares to know the m2 proto controller. I plan on investigating it more whenever I can get a day off. Its a shame the guy selling them wouldn't give up the info on where exactly they came from. When asked I got this response:

there was an arcade game business, about a year a go, that was moving
and they were not wanting to move a good amount of items including
these pads. I have sold a good number of items from this find
including these pads, the flight controllers, Sony game development PC
boards and other misc. items.

No matter what, he would not divulge location or name of this business to me.

Onto other news, I found out today that Panasonic had planned to apparently offer a dvd-rom adapter for the FZ-21 via PCMCIA. I wonder if this actually made it to production?

babu

11-08-2006, 06:54 PM

from the little I understand of fpga they are ram based so they don't contain the code them self but get it copied over at startup from a rom chip..
so I'm guessing the socketed chip on the right is an eprom or something similar?
but considering how little I really know of fpga (and electronics in general) I might as well be wrong ^^

Stone

11-08-2006, 10:42 PM

Yep, that little socketed chip holds the code for the FPGA, and the FPGA will request it and configure itself at boot. See here: http://www.scs.ch/~lbreuss/electronic_parts/electronic_parts.html where you can get the datasheet (http://www.xilinx.com/bvdocs/publications/ds070.pdf). Should be a trivial matter to read the code from it; probably wouldn't do you much good though...

Stone

jwhazel

11-09-2006, 12:18 AM

from the little I understand of fpga they are ram based so they don't contain the code them self but get it copied over at startup from a rom chip..

Depends on the package. most fpga's can be programmed however you want, including setting up space for ram and what not. It's usually up to the developer to decide whether its possible/cost efficient to use spare gates as memory cells. I would guess that in this case they decided to go with off chip memory so they could change the specs whenenver they pleased without having to rewrite the fpga code. Just a guess.

Should be a trivial matter to read the code from it; probably wouldn't do you much good though...
...unless I can find an emulator for it to probe the logic. I would gather that the control interface is not terribly complicated (its a video game controller after all), its more what type of bus it communicates with. I know all m2's were keyboard/mouse capable, no idea how it handled them and if they tied into the controller ports in any way. I've googled and downloaded the data sheets, I just haven't had any time to wade through them yet. At the current time, this is on the low end of my priorities. It's more of a curiousity than anything. I haven't really thought that far into it yet (I was hoping that when I bought it, it would be something simple that I could re-create on a breadboard, not a fullscale miniature computer).

zappenduster

11-09-2006, 01:16 AM

Depends on the package. most fpga's can be programmed however you want, including setting up space for ram and what not. It's usually up to the developer to decide whether its possible/cost efficient to use spare gates as memory cells. I would guess that in this case they decided to go with off chip memory so they could change the specs whenenver they pleased without having to rewrite the fpga code. Just a guess.

...unless I can find an emulator for it to probe the logic. I would gather that the control interface is not terribly complicated (its a video game controller after all), its more what type of bus it communicates with. I know all m2's were keyboard/mouse capable, no idea how it handled them and if they tied into the controller ports in any way. I've googled and downloaded the data sheets, I just haven't had any time to wade through them yet. At the current time, this is on the low end of my priorities. It's more of a curiousity than anything. I haven't really thought that far into it yet (I was hoping that when I bought it, it would be something simple that I could re-create on a breadboard, not a fullscale miniature computer).

the m2s could use a keyboard connected via a keyboard adapter through the controller ports was some pretty big box where you put in the keyboard plug and from the box a short wire/cable connected to the controller plug (thats from a manual which i have read some time ago could be from the fz35 or the ft21 but i cant find it gotta dig through my archives soon)