Requesting source code from RGL

Have you sent a letter requesting and the payment?

Did you use recorded delivery?

Has the payment been cashed?

I'd say they definitely have the source, they had it for the Mini as well.

Koch Media made the machines and all the hardware, joysticks and that, they are the manufacture of the machines, the same people that made the Capcom Home Arcade(I talked to one of them on Reddit about it), RGL made the firmware and designed it.

Cancel the check and send another recorded delivery now that lockdown is coming to an end.

Maybe your letter was lost in the post.

They just went with the Allwinner reference design and associated uboot/kernel SDK. They didn't have a need/requirement for an updated kernel as the system as-is works fine for their purposes. They're (clearly) not in the business of being helpful to us poor modders.

Exactly right that if they posted the source code it would spur more sales as more people modify it. While the Maxi is in high demand here in the states (the only two batches Amazon has got so far sold out quick), the mini you can easily find on various gaming store shelves or online in America for $25 to $35.

I think that's primarily because it doesn't have a working keyboard, but to me that's a a poor excuse because it's GUI is so easy to use and has seamless features compared to the road bumps something like a raspberry pi can have in requiring more tinkering. It's simple enough to use the virtual keyboard or a keyboard plugged into USB on the mini to get past any key presses a trainer screen or game needs before getting to the actual game.

Besides, the Mini's exact replica of a C64 case is worth the price alone, not to mention you get an awesome GUI, single board computer, and a Competition Pro replica joystick thrown in for that price.

When it initially came to America it was around $80. Still a bargain pretty much for the joystick and replica case alone compared to what other minis were offering. Most of them didn't even offer USB loading of games that didn't come with it.

I think many retro game shops or retailers decided not to import the maxi here after the mini didn't fly off the shelves. Big mistake, because I don't think they could get them if they wanted them now due to production slow downs in china with the virus. I'm guessing only Amazon pre ordered them so they were the only ones here in the states that got a supply.

The maxi is also one heck of a value. Full size case, working keyboard, micro switch joystick, and the seamless GUI for $129. I bet many people bought them just to throw a pi into it so they could fully emulate many old systems with a working keyboard. Try to buy a replica keyboard and case for anything in the retro gaming era of the C64 and you'll pay far more for either the case or the keyboard.

Well... The source code for the Mini was released (except for the nand drivers as described elsewhere) and it hasn't exactly led to many people modding it.

You're right to be concerned that the Maxi's painted keys might wear the paint off from pressing them over time. If you look close you can see the paint at the very top sharp lifted edges of the keys is very thin and actually showing some white through as the paint probably poured away from the raised rim. A good way to prevent wear might be to put clear plastic or vinyl caps on the top that naturally sticks from static charge, just like the stuff they use to protect labels and such on new products during shipping. Then if need be you could just peal and replace without damaging the paint.

Far as no cutouts for using the case for original commodore boards, I bet somebody is already working on templates and 3D printed parts to simply cut out ports with a Dremel. But yeah, they should have had the plastic perforated so you could simply snap out the ports if you wanted to throw a real motherboard in it. The biggest cost in manufacturing is probably the case, so by doing that it could have made a dual purpose return on the investment. Then again, they could just sell the empty case, with or without keyboard, for Pi or original hardware owners to use however they want. Sell it for $99 and watch how fast they sell. Then the aftermarket crowd would probably step up and sell various brackets and kits for Pi or motherboards and with or without using original keyboards in various combinations of all above.

I'm waiting for somebody to make a USB dongle box for the back of the maxi or Pi400 (maybe using it's GPIO port) that would allow you to use original C64 cartridges. Add a serial disk drive port and atari style joystick ports to this dongle box and watch how fast that thing sells too. With the cartridge port mounted vertical it would be nicely functional as well over original equipment.

Thank you for the link, but that looks like it's for replacement stickers.  Well that would work if the paint on the keys ever comes off.  So when they made these C64 Maxi's, they didn't doubleshot the keys like in the 80's?

Video of the doubleshot keycaps in factory...


If you look at this video you can see why Koch Media never went with Double shot, for one they are expense keycaps and a big machine is used to make them so properly cost effective so was cheaper to just make the Key Caps the same way they did THEC64 Mini and cause really THEC64 Maxi is just a full side version of THEC64 Mini.