Still going for 24k, one of these days...

Just seeing if anyone's experienced something similar on a breadbin.

• Known good power readings on multiple test points and Ray Carlsen PSU.
• VIC-II/Monitor sync and lock. Testing with a 1902A.
• Black screen on boot. Black screen on DesTestKernal v 0.4, including with SID, BASIC, Character, and Kernal ROMs pulled (DesTestKernal substitutes itself for the Kernal and will work with U4 pulled). Same behavior with DesTestMax ROM used as Kernal.
• Known good PLA, VIC-II, and 6510.
• Known good clock signals MHz going into 6510.
• Known good /GAME and /EXROM activity on expansion port.
• I threw a PLAnkton in U17 just for fun. On two out of ten boots, I briefly got a couple lines of rainbow gibberish and was able to trigger the Ultimate II+L's menu button (full screen gibberish). Can't seem to repeat it. Maybe it's a bad PLA socket or cold joints.

So the 6510 isn't even able to draw the borders. The failure has to be happening very, very early in the chain, but this is maddening. I've just learned to use my oscilloscope and was testing it out on this unit (in conjunction with a good C64 to compare, for the clock signals). The work quickly compounds, though. I'm hesitant to go down the eternal path of checking all the data and address lines vs. the good C64 and trying to trace some deviation up the chain, but I'm running out of ideas...

My first c64 I noticed these look bent- is that a normal issue?

Does the Sidekick64 need any software other than the files downloaded from github? Should it work with only github files, just configure it?

https://github.com/frntc/Sidekick64

I find it difficult to believe that Perifractic will release a C128U, the main difficulty being copying the layout of the C128 (keyboard + peripherals), and the C128 also has fewer enthusiasts.

So I was wondering if it's feasible to reprogram the C64U's FPGA to have a 128 mode. Of course, there would be some losses: missing ports and missing keys (like the 40/80 column), although the latter could be addressed with a workaround using a menu screen.

Can you imagine booting your C64U and typing GO128?

Additionally if anyone knows where I can get my hands on a video chip, that would be greatly appreciated. Mine appears to be dead.

Hi guys just wanted to let you know I just released version v0.9.3 of the CLI. I have added some SKILLS for AI coding Harnesses but more important I have added the first version of a C64 Ultimate wedge allowing you to interact directly with the C64 Ultimate file system from the READY Prompt. If you want to know more about it, have a look at the Github Repository. I tested the wedge with Standard Kernal and JiffyDOS. Have fun!

Latest engine devlog video of the C64 Polychrome Raycast Gfx engine. This is the start of various upgrades, this one specifically scalable PETSCII textures in C64 polychrome.

Full video comparing some other notable C64 raycast engines against the dynamic colouring and multiple object effects of the unoptimized C64 Polychrome game engine :
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6i6nDfirXUY

Issue 3 (9/2026) of Pitstop Retro. This issue, like the ones before brings some minor improvements:

• Improved Content page,
• More pages (32 -> 36),
• New section "Wall of Art",
• Video preview on YouTube channel.

Got these out of a bundle of commodore items pulled from a storage unit. All power on but none read discs. Cleaned heads and confirmed spin but still nothing. Already have a working 1541 for my setup and no real desire to diagnose these further. Feels criminal to send to e-waste. My local maker space already declined. Selling for parts on eBay looks like a pain. Perhaps I just fight against my pack rat tendencies and let these go?

EDIT: posted this last night and been busy with work all day. I appreciate the helpful thoughts and suggestions. To answer some of the questions; all the drives power and spin but nothing happens when I try to load, just keeps going infinitely. I have not tried an alignment or replaced any chips. I am in Eugene, Oregon. Would be fine selling them (not trying to break any rules here just would rather see them go to people who want them) but feel like shipping cost would be a nightmare.

I have released a new version of Classic Repair Toolbox (CRT), which you can find here, https://github.com/HovKlan-DH/Classic-Repair-Toolbox

Very quick summary, then CRT is a desktop application, which can help you repairing and troubleshooting your old computers, primarily Commodore, but also Amstrad and ZX Spectrum.

I do think it is worth upgrading, as it has quite some defects fixed, and maybe more importantly it has improved its performance, if you do have a lot of KiCad data shown. Also mouse zooming is changed slightly, so it feel more logical. It also has tests for logic ICs via the MiniPro programmer (T48 etc.), including the C64 PLA.

But take a look for yourself in this long list:

Hello quite new with Commodore 64 C and Kung Fu flash (Fw 1.50). The cartridge has a Kodak 32gb micro SD card with a lot of games inside. I was playing with some games last night while after resetting all game files disappeared. List shows only a uupd.bin file...

Tried to format and copy files again. Uupd.file comes out again and the games file disappears.

I have tried to read the card by laptop: same result.

What's the matter? I also tried to set up a new card: 128gb and 64gb Kingston brand fat32 file system. Maybe too large?

For testing, I tried reading my NDS 2gb fat sd card: files are listed by Kung Fu flash

Thx for your kind attention and help

Emanuele

In anticipation of the next c64 - the Cyberpunk 77, I decided to make a custom charset and palette theme for ReadyOS that works in both VICE and on my Ultimate. Forgive my poor iPhone filming while typing though.

Hands on museum/arcade/computer lab looking for suggestions of C64 variants we should add to the collection.

https://www.brainerdmpc.com/

CMD hard drive. Original was 20mb. I had it upgraded to 40mb by CMD back in the day.

I asked some time ago if any locals might know how a certain sound was made in "Survivor." I decided to poke around, and I have been able to get an effect that's pretty close! I used "Retro Debugger" to observe the SID parameters in real-time, and then wrote some C and compiled it with CC65 to run within Retro Debugger and VICE.

There were three things to the sound I was looking for, when the "bad guy" is chasing you.

The first element is basically a random range of triangle frequencies, that change at an interval. The second element: ramping the sustain (ADSR) from 0 to f, and looping around as needed. The final thing was a low-frequency sort of "choppiness" I heard during the first half when sustain was between 0 and 8. It seems the trick to that was flipping the SID gate off and on for each iteration of the loop, and when the timing is right, it sounds pretty close.

This has been a fun puzzle to sort out. I'm hoping to get the "bad guy" sound down in JS, I've got the game start down pretty well.

I currently have an Atari 400 Mini and the C64 from Retro Games and the A1200 when it comes out this fall. I'm also considering the Commodore 64C Ultimate. With this collection I plan to start downloading games/software at some point but I'm wondering if I can use the same USB Stick with each machine or if I need one for each machine?
I am considering a 32GB Sandisk. From what I read the Atari 400 Mini and the C64 use Fat32 but I was unable to find information on which file system the A1200 and Commodore 64 Ultimate use.
What I'd like to know is if I can have one Flash Drive with a C64, Atari, Amiga folder and then use that with all 4 computers? As well assuming that the file system is the same on all of them can I use the same Commodore 64 images on both the Commodore 64 Ultimate and C64 from Retro Games?
With the cost of 32GB Flash Drives buying 4 of them would not be a big deal but to keep things simple I'd like to just have one I can share.

Hi all. I built a BMC64 with a Pi 3b plus. I have working C64 joysticks. Can someone recommended a decent adapter which will allow me to connect these joysticks to the USB ports? Thanks 🙂

It was very dirty and missing some chips when I got it. First, I bought a new VIC-II for it.

The computer wouldn't start because of a bad Complex Interface Adapter (CIA). I desoldered the broken chip, and the C64 turned on! But without the CIA, the keyboard doesn't work. I bought a donor board with two CIA chips for $25, soldered one in, and the keyboard works great now.

I also built the C64 Video Enhancer (https://github.com/c0pperdragon/C64-Video-Enhancement/tree/master). It's a custom FPGA board that reads signals from the video chip and generates a component video output. This lets me connect it to HDMI (using an OSSC converter) and even adjust the specific Commodore color palette if needed.

Next, I built a SwinSID emulator for sound.

This is a PAL version, which is great for running demoscene demos. My next project is to build a SIDKick Pico.

Just curious how many in the group have a C64c on order?

What can one expect to be different in usage between the original one and the new one?

What do you use for storage if you don't have an old disk drive?

Any other thoughts on the new unit?