There was more than one revision of the Multiface 2 for the Amstrad:
* Original version which was always visible to software - first appeared in Amstrad action 16 (January 1987)* 2nd 1st version which has a manual switch to control visibility to software. (before September 1988)* 3rd version which has an automatic switch controlled by PAL ICs to control visibility to software. This is called "2+" by Romantic Robot. It was mention in Amscene in Amstrad Action 33 (June 1988) and was - first advertised appeared in Amstrad Action issue 36 action 16 (September 1988January 1987).
In Amstrad Action issue 23 it mentions some incompatibility with some CPC6128 machines and there are some dipswitches which can be configured to work with it. Multiface 2's with this have version 78 software.
* 2nd version which has an automatic switch controlled by PAL ICs to control visibility to software. This is called "2+" by Romantic Robot. It was mention in Amscene in Amstrad Action 33 (June 1988) and was first advertised in Amstrad Action issue 36 (September 1988).
* 3rd version which was the same as the 2+ but had a Centronics connector and ROM modified to work with the Amstrad Plus. This ROM doesn't work on the CPC.
Was there a version which didn't have a switch and came before version 1?
==Anti-Multiface==
There were various revisions of the Multiface 2:
* There was a version which was visible to software all the time.(Did this exist?)
* One version had a "invisibility" switch on the front in addition to the stop and reset buttons. When switched in one direction the multiface was invisible to software and in the other it was visible. ''Is there a dump of the ROM from this version?''
* Last revision had an automatic "invisibility" switch internally controlled by the hardware itself. After reset the multiface was visible, but when the stop button was pressed and then control was returned to the running program it would be invisible and would remain invisible until the computer was reset.
The following applies to the automatic "invisibility" version (the "2+"):
If the multiface 2 is visible you can enable/disable the ROM and RAM in the CPU's address space:
The Multiface 2 listens to Gate-Array and PAL writes (port 7fxx), CRTC writes (bcxx and bdxx) and 8255 Control port writes (f7xx).
Gate-Array and PAL are decoded as 01111111xxxxxxxx, CRTC as 10111100xxxxxxxx and 10111101xxxxxxxx and 8255 writes as 11110111xxxxxxxx.
When the I/O write is detected, then specific locations in the MF2 RAM are updated immediately.
== Manual ==
* [[Media:Multiface 2 Manual.pdf|MF2 User Manual.pdf]]{{EN}} {{PDF}}
* [[Media:Multiface Two User Manual.zip|MF2 User Manual.zip]]
* [[Media:Multiface Two User Manual.txt|MF2 User Manual.txt]]
Image:Multiface II advertisment.jpg|Advertisement
Image:MultifaceII AA100.jpg|Advertisement in AA 100
Image:Amstrad Action106 20.jpg|AA Issue 106 - Page 20
Image:MultifaceII_Front.jpg|Multiface II - (version with switch for making it invisible to software) - Front (eBay)
Image:MultifaceII_Back.jpg|Multiface II - (version with switch for making it invisible to software) - Back (eBay)
<gallery caption="Multiface II Layout, thanks to Jose Leandro">
File:Multiface II - Top.jpg|Multiface II - Top
File:Multiface II - Bottom.jpg|Multiface II - Bottom
File:Multiface II - Components.jpg|Multiface II - Components
File:Multiface II - Tracks.jpg|Multiface II - Tracks
File:MF2-PCB Front.png|Multiface II - PCB Front
File:MF2-PCB Back.png|Multiface II - PCB Back
* [[Media:Multiface.two.romantic.robot.8b.zip|MF2+ 8B ROM]] - (1990, chksum=8Bh)
* [[Media:Multiface.two.romantic.robot.78.amsdos.v07.zip|MF2+ 78 ROM]]
* NOTE: 8B seems to be correct. They differ in 1 byte at address 0. On 8B it is DI on 78 it is NOP. 78 could be a bad dump.
The Source Code:
==Links==
* [http://www.cpc-power.com/index.php?page=detail&num=4971 ''Multiface II'' from CPC-Power]* [http://cpcrulez.fr/hardware-interface_debug-multiface_2.htm ''Multiface II'' from CPCrulez]* [http://hardware.speccy.org/temp/Amstrad-multiface2.html ''Multiface II'' from hardware.speccy.org]* [http://hardware.speccy.org/temp/Amstrad-multiface2/Amstrad-multiface21.html ''Multiface II PALs'' from hardware.speccy.org]* [https://web.archive.org/web/20160715092459/http://www.grimware.org/doku.php/documentations/expansions/mf2/start''Multiface II'' from grimware]* http[https://cpcrulezweb.frarchive.org/hardwareweb/20090108031853/http://cpc-interface_debug-multiface_2hardware.htmcom/sections.php?op=viewarticle&artid=31 ''Multiface II'' from CPC-Hardware]* [http://hardwarequasar.speccycpcscene.orgnet/temp/Amstrad-multiface2doku.htmlphp?id=dossier:mf2 ''Multiface II'' from Quasar Net] (french, memory mapping details and programmation tutorial and examples)
[[Category:Peripherals]] [[Category:Manual]] [[Category:Copy Protection]]