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Overview

The M4 Board is a hardware expansion for Amstrad CPC that provides SD card storage, ROM management, and advanced features. DevCPC is adding support for directly testing games on real hardware via M4 Board.
M4 Board support is currently in development. Full functionality will be available in a future DevCPC release.

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What is M4 Board?

The M4 Board is a modern expansion card for Amstrad CPC computers that provides:
  • SD card storage - Load games and programs from SD card
  • ROM emulation - Store multiple ROMs and switch between them
  • DMA transfers - Fast data loading
  • Network capabilities - WiFi connectivity (on some models)
  • Real-time clock - Date/time functions

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Planned Features

DevCPC will support: 
# Deploy directly to M4 Board
devcpc m4-deploy

# Test on real hardware
devcpc m4-test

# Sync project to M4 SD card
devcpc m4-sync

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Configuration (Upcoming)

Future devcpc.conf settings: 
# M4 Board configuration
M4_ENABLED=1
M4_MOUNT_PATH="/Volumes/M4SD"
M4_DEPLOY_DIR="/games/my-project"

# Auto-deploy after build
M4_AUTO_DEPLOY=1

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Current Workaround

Until M4 Board support is complete, manually copy files:
1

Build your project

devcpc build
2

Mount M4 SD card

Remove SD card from M4 Board and connect to your computer, or access via network if your M4 supports it.
3

Copy DSK files

# Copy DSK to M4 SD card
cp dist/*.dsk /Volumes/M4SD/games/
4

Eject and test

Safely eject SD card, insert back into M4 Board, and select your game from the M4 menu.

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Development Status

Track M4 Board support development:
  • ⏳ Planned: Direct USB/serial communication
  • ⏳ Planned: Network deployment (WiFi M4 models)
  • ⏳ Planned: Auto-run after deployment
  • ⏳ Planned: M4 ROM generation
  • ⏳ Planned: Hardware debugging support
Want M4 Board support? Star the DevCPC repository and open an issue to express interest.

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M4 Board Resources

Learn more about M4 Board:

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Alternative: Real Hardware Testing

For now, test on real CPC hardware using:

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1. Physical Disk Drive

Use a Gotek drive or HxC floppy emulator: 
# Build DSK
devcpc build

# Copy DSK to USB drive
cp dist/my-game.dsk /Volumes/USB/
Insert USB drive into Gotek/HxC connected to your CPC.

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2. Serial Transfer

Use CPCDiskXP or similar tools to transfer via serial cable: 
# Build and transfer
devcpc build
cp dist/my-game.dsk ~/CPCTransfer/

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3. Audio Cassette

Generate CDT and record to tape: 
# Enable CDT generation in devcpc.conf
CDT="${PROJECT_NAME}.cdt"
CDT_FILES="loader.bas 8BP0.bin"

# Build CDT
devcpc build

# Use 2CDT or similar tool to create audio WAV
# Record WAV to cassette tape

Emulator Integration

Test with RetroVirtualMachine

CDT Images

Create tape images for real hardware

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