Thread by @dec_hl

Thread: I'm a little bit bored, so let's talk a while about my #C64 #hardware collection, shall we? This setup is my #C64 workhorse. It is a German C64C equipped with a car TFT, two 1541-II floppies and it came with a 4x kernal switch.

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The kernal switch gives me access to three other kernals beside the original C= kernal: JiffyDOS, SpeedDOS Plus and EXOSv3.

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The alternative kernals include nice stuff like F-key functions for listing discs and speedloaders. Although I'm told JiffyDOS is the best(tm) speedloader I tend to use EXOSv3 most. A PRG with 81 block is loaded in 6s instead of 53s!

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F7 lists directory of the disc in drive 8, F5 loads the PRG, F3 runs the loaded PRG, etc.
There is a German Wiki with the full functionality: c64-wiki.de/wiki/V-DOS
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Some years ago I tested quite a lot of my fastloaders and EXOSv3 was one of the fastest. Another big advantage is: it works with the SD2IEC!

The SD2IEC is a nice little piece of hardware that emulates the wire protocol of the 1541 floppy.

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It is no full floppy emulator though (remember the 1541 floppies were little computers themselves)! You can put PRGs and D64 images on the SD-card and if the software does nothing nasty with the floppy you can use that instead of 'real' floppies.

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There even are file-browsers which support the SD2IECs commands to mount/unmount D64 images...

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There are several different versions of the SD2IEC. The one above draws it's power from the tape port of the #C64. The one below (MSD2IEC) is connected to the expansion port. It is actually two different things on a single PCB: a SD2IEC and a ROM module.

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The ROM includes tools like a fastloader, a file-browser and other useful stuff.
berlinc64club.de/msd2iec/

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And then there are tiny versions of the SD2IEC to be built directly into the case of a #C64 or into a 1541 floppy.
I bought this one for a never ending #C64 case mod project of mine.

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Beside the small SD2IEC the modded #C64 has a 2x kernal switch, a EPROM PLA replacement (which has minor incompatibilities compared to a real PLA, but these won't matter for the project) and a dual SID adapter PCB.

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Talking about PLAs: The PLA is a bus logic chip inside the #C64 known to fail quite often for heat and/or ESD reasons. As they are harder to get people designed replacement circuits like the realPLA: github.com/EddyBeaupre/re…

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Whereas the PLA replacements are known to work quit well, replacing a broken SID is usually very expensive. One of the (lesser quality) replacements is the (nano) SwinSID. I built mine after this page: tolaemon.com/nss/

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All these spares are to ensure my ~8 #C64 and the SX-64 keep working one way or the other.

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If you follow me here on twitter you might have seen the 1541-II on my workbench stuffed beside a PC power supply, a 3.5" USB floppy and a little black box.
The black box is actually a Win10 PC I use for burning EPROMS...

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...measurements with the logic analyzer and other stuff I don't want to risk my main PC for. The 1541 is connected to the PC using a xu1541: spiro.trikaliotis.net/xu1541 and OpenCBM: sourceforge.net/projects/openc…
This way I'm able to write D64 images to 5.25" floppies

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Still reading? ok! It is amazing how active the #C64 scene is in developing new hardware. I mentioned above that the SD2IEC only emulates the wire protocol for the 1541 floppies and that software e.g. uploading code to the 1541 might fail. Well, enter the pi1541!
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The pi1541 emulates the whole hardware of the 1541 including the CPU and all.
You can attach an USB keyboard and a HDMI display to the RasPI and switch D64 images like this or use the OLED and the buttons.

cbm-pi1541.firebaseapp.com

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There are even Wifi-modems for the #C64. This one I built myself using an ESP8266, a TTL level shifter and an OLED. The case was my first self designed 3D print (and looks like it) 😜
github.com/SuperIlu/esp82…

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Now for some older stuff again: EPROM programmers. Although I have the software for two of these I never actually programmed an EPROM on the #C64 itself. It is so much easier with my cheap Chinese epromer...

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More weirdness? How about a "userport protector" and a 4-player adapter connecting to said port?

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One modern and two vintage EPROM PCBs. These were used to get software running on the #C64 when powering it on w/o loading it from floppy first...

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Another recent one: The multimax cart. It is a replica of the cart sold for the MAX machine, a stripped down #C64 sold in Japan...
michau.me
c64-wiki.com/wiki/Commodore…

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It is getting weird again: An IC-tester for the #C64. You can put in TTL-logic ICs and can test their function. No? YES!

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The software features autodetection and an endless test mode (running with a 74ls00 I had floating around my desk)...

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Or how about an expansion port expander? You can plug in four modules and switch between them. I never used it, but I doubt this works with all modules...

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How about using the #C64 SID as a #MIDI device? No problem with this little gem and matching software...

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Did you know there were tape streamers for the #C64? I mean, yes, the compact cassette is a tape, too. But this one came with a module which contained the driver/software. I could never test it because the tape is broken and replacements can't be found...

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I'm a bit hungry now. But if there is interest I might continue later/tomorrow. There still is 'some' stuff left...

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Part 2 starts here:

https://twitter.com/dec_hl/status/1149967231775924224

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