The Oric has a new interface and it's a doozy - LOCI is here

The Oric seems to have flown under the radar of most retro gamers sadly, I know except for a couple of die hard Oricians on here ( me and Andy ) and the Defence Force crowd. It's a shame as it's a decent little 8-Bit but it would be fair to say a lot of the games were not that good compared to Spectrums and 64's. Over the years there have been a few interfaces built by Oric enthusiasts, things like the Cumulus, Microdisk and Cumana Disk interface clones and lately the Erebus cassette emulator.
Now there is a new kid on the block called Loci and it's very impressive. It has the ability to emulate four disk drives which can load and save, cassette tapes which are currently load only and can choose which ROM you want to use.The speed of disk and tape access is a lot faster as it's a solid state device. It has a connector for an optional OLED screen. All of this is done via a GUI screen that you bring up by pressing the Loci button. The other button is a straight forward reset button.
The storage can be USB sticks or SD cards connected by a USB hub as long as it's a USB 'C' connection.
I will take some pictures of mine and give you an idea of what it looks like but it's already shaping up to be the most impressive device released for the Oric for some time. The fimware is still under development and constantly improving. There are plans in the pipeline to create a WiFi adapter and the ability to connect to a BBS via Telnet is on the horizon. So it's an exciting time to be an Oric user.
There is a guy on the Oric FB group who is making and selling the Loci in the UK and is asking a pretty reasonable £35 currently, I can see the price going up once more word gets out and demand starts to increase.

 

Sounds very like an Oric Fujinet in the making.

Andy, get the CQ book out!!

 

Sounds really interesting, bit like FujiNet as Paul says.

Might be time to really start looking for an Atmos!

 

Never mind, just had a look on eBay and the prices are well beyond any budget I would have!

 

I think you can make an offer of £35 to Simon, Al... and he accepts, is what I'm hearing.

Thanks for the thread, Richie... I might make a move on one!

They do indeed sound gReat





Btw, user manual can be found here:

https://github.com/sodiumlb/loci-ha...xG2XvuLAf_LQUizB4w_aem_ojlTrh-smd8lpzOWiXvjEA

 

The cost of the interface wouldn't be a problem, it's the price of the little Atmos itself these days

 

Thought you were referring to the Loci, Al.
Aye, an Atmos is gonna cost you north of £120 (even for an unboxed/untested one), mate.
A nice boxed working model might be £180-200 and the stupidly optimistic ones are oop for grabs at £300!
They are no longer bargain basement buys but keep checking Marketplace - you do get the odd one on there for £120-140.

 

What is that? Is that LOCI device a way to interface the ATMOS (not the ORIC-1?) in order to connect USB devices and drives? Got to find more info on this brand-new hardware tool...

 

Hi David.

Hope you're keeping well, buddy.

Plenty more info available on the Oric Defence Force forum but basically, you got it:

Loci - my Oric storage emulation project - forum.defence-force.org

Cheers, fella.

 

The Loci works with the Oric-1,Atmos and likely the Pravetz as well. Not sure about the Telestrat but they aren't very common.

 

There is new Firmware for the Loci now which allows you to have custom ROM's

 

Cheers, Rich.

Hope you're good, mate.

I'm sure you will be making full use of this device and giving us more updates as and when you get the opportunity, bud.

For now, 6502nerd has just posted this - him being the guy who's behind d-flat which looks like a very nice "media language" - he shows here how to reboot your Oric and then hand over control to his custom ROM - can see this being right up your street, Rich

 

Always great to hear the excitement over these old machines and their new upgrades. While I'm not an Oric fan (nor hater), I just enjoy the banter about these bits of history.

Long may it go on..And as a hacker / player with the guts of machines, I just smile when I hear Richie getting to grips with new mods. People like us play with the bits most people never see and understand why upgrading a type of chip might help and all the silly techy bits. For me, it's sometimes more fun than the games.

Happy playing / modding / upgrading folks..

 

Thanks, Andy & Rich for the info about the LOCI device. Judging from the YT video above, it seems like it's the interface to go, for the Oric computers. Looks much better than the Erebus i/f which I got a couple years ago. Much more flexible and many more functions available. Where can you find this little magic box?

 

Hi David.

I've heard it's being sold through Defence Force - look on this page for details, mate:

Loci - my Oric storage emulation project - Page 48 - forum.defence-force.org

And if you're on the Oric Owners Group on Faceache there's someone there taking orders there - might be Simon? Rich will know, mate, but look over at:

Oric 1 & Atmos Owners/Users | Facebook

Good luck - I should get one too!

 

Thanks, mate. The published price on the DF forum is quite affordable, shipping included. Somehow, after seeing what it can do, I expected a very high cost for this interface.

 

Thanks for the info, Andy & everyone here. I contacted Simon through the Oric FB group and made my order. Simon said that the LOCI device will be available from tomorrow, so mine will be shipped soon. The price is confirmed to be affordable at £35.00. Can't wait to receive this little new gem to revive my passion for the Oric computers.

 

If nothing else, you can always use the Oric as a door stop...

I jest, you enjoy the old machine to the max...

Paul..

 

That's a good one, Paul.

Many have spoken of the fortunes of this 8-bit unlucky machine that started in the UK and ended up in France. Probably in the minds of the original manufacturers was the desire to compete with and supplant Sir Clive's ZX Spectrum, both in terms of selling price and technical features (although, in all honesty, the Oric-1's hardware is objectively superior). Still, neither machine can actually be used as a doorstop. Maybe a little bit too thin for that purpose. Given the shape and the amount of heat given off by both computers (Oric-1 and ZX Spectrum 16/48K) I'm thinking more of a warming plate...

I'll know better after I employ the ORIC-1 as a camp cooker for my pizzas, canapés, cup of chocolate, etc. Buying the LOCI device is just an excuse to place the Oric on my desk and warm my food, while I work/play with my beloved Commodore gear!

 

The trouble with the Oric is that it came out when there were so many 'little computers' trying to make a go of it. As a person tasked with selling all these little things, I have to say it was damn near impossible. We had Sord M5's MicroTan's and so many other mostly FORTH based machines. No one wanted them. I had to send so many of them back to the head office and ask / demand that we stopped putting them in the catalogues.

Thankfully they listened.

Hence, the UK fate of the Oric, nothing wrong with it, just an issue of too much choice and not coming from a recognised name didn't help. But it does have its fans that keep it beloved by many. If there's still add-on's coming out, then it's alive and well..

Paul..

 

Yes, I am one of the fans now, thanks to Andy's obsession and Cristiano's love for anything with "ORIC" printed on it. In the early 1980s, many manufacturers tried to climb the market with their own interpretation of "home computer". Some tried the tech specs way, others low price. And I suspect that if I find a Sord M5 or a FORTH-based 8-bit machine, I'll try to buy it and use it, just for fun.

 

That's the spirit, while it was my job to sell the computers, I was an active fan of all things computer, so I tried all of these machines so I could be honest to the customers. Sadly, no one was asking to see them.

But thanks to people like yourself, these old machines that didn't get the computer love are enjoying it now..

You have a whale of a time with them..

Paul..

 

Thanks, Paul. I hope I'll find some time to enjoy all my "antiquities", especially during the imminent winter holidays.

 

Do, they are only antiques if you think of them that way, I prefer the term, retro masterpieces

You, and all the people, enjoy your machines...

Have fun David..

 

I agree with the definition of "retro masterpiece"... It reminds me of the excitement when I bought my first home computer and the 'magic' I used to feel when I was a kid and discovered the features of my 8-bit machine day after day.

With your experience as a technician and salesman, you surely can tell lots of stories about all those machines and how people used to choose and buy them, provide themselves with programs and games, how they reacted when something was wrong, failures and fixing, etc. I can only imagine how many anecdotes you could remember and report.