CBM prg Studio Version 2.6.0 is released. There are a lot of new features in this version. I’d really appreciate it if you report any bugs you find or have any suggestions/comments.

CBM prg Studio allows you to type a BASIC or Machine Code program in using a nice Windows environment and convert it to a ‘.prg’ file which you can run on an emulator, or even a real C64 / VIC20 or PET if you’re feeling brave and have the right kit.

CBM prg Studio is the result of merging C64PrgGen and VIC20PrgGen. Adding new features and fixing bugs in two apps which were 95% similar was a bit of a nightmare so merging them made sense.

It was also a good opportunity for a face lift and to add some new features, such as:

• Programs are project based, meaning all related source files, sprite files etc. are kept in one place and multiple source files can be linked more easily.
• Tabbed MDI.
• Syntax highlighting.

What CBM prg Studio isn’t is a front-end for tok64, cbmcnvrt, bastext or any other tokeniser / detokeniser / assembler. It’s all been written completely from scratch.

New features:

• Assembler overhaul resulting in 30% reduction in assembly time.
• Added multi-depth file inclusion (Incasm).
• Batch mode for generating multiple files.
• GenerateTo directive extended for disk images (d64, d71, d81).
• BASIC import from D64, D71 and D81 images.
• The ‘@’ can be used to specify the start address/program counter.
• Case conversion for quoted BASIC strings.
• Bookmarks.
• Greater control over the data generation when including screen data in assembly source.
• The BASIC keyword PI has been changed to {PI}.
• Genesis assembler file format added to file conversion tool.
• The character editor’s scratchpad has been merged with the main edit form.
• The grid on the screen editor is now ‘behind’ the characters.
• Keystroke Macro recording/playback.

Bugs fixed:

• Some cheap label issues.
• Some projects not being built as the build order was incorrect due to ‘* =’ used when specifying the start address.
• Spaces around values in a WORD sequence were invalid.
• Assembly code reformatting issues.
• Reformatting assembly code which contained breakpoints.
• Reformatting assembly code which contains spaces.
• Breakpoints not being retained.
• Adding existing files to a project occasionally failed.
• Some assembler expressions not evaluated properly.
• Some assembler invalid variable names not detected.
• The BIT instruction in the debugger was not setting the overflow flag.
• Some memory overwrites not detected.
• Palette issues with C128 target machine.
• Some invalid byte sequences not reported.
• Emulator could start even after an invalid prg generation.
• Problems with global variables.
• Improved validation on options pages.

See the help for a complete list of new features and fixed bugs.

Download: CBM prg Studio v2.6.0 (800)

source: ajordison.co.uk

Carlo Pastore collector of Commodore things and webmaster of the site retrocommodore.com has released the schematics of two Revisions of the Commodore 65.

Download: Commodore 65 Schematics (1616)

source: retrocommodore.com

FAIL is a viewer of pictures in native formats of Atari 8-bit, Atari ST, Atari Falcon and Atari Portfolio computers.

Currently the project includes:

• Fail2png – portable command-line converter to PNG files.
• FAILWin – viewer for Windows.
• Thumbnail providers for Windows Explorer and GNOME (Linux)
• Plugin for XnView.
• (de)coder for ImageMagick.
• Plugin for Imagine.
• HTML 5 based viewer.

Changelog:

• Added Atari 8-bit formats: IP2, IMN, ICN, DIN, IRG, IR2, VZI. Added “DEGAS Elite” icon (ICN). Fixed decoding of IPC. Thumbnail provider implemented for Windows 2000/XP. Fullscreen mode in HTML 5.

Download: FAIL (First Atari Image Library) v2.0.1 (1465)

source: fail.sourceforge.net

Some new games (Cracked / Trained or Unrealeased) for Commodore 64 have been released from your favorites groups:  Onslaught, Antarctica, Bad Taste, Genesis Project and Laxity.

Download:

• Game of the Gods +D +Pic (980)
• Sheepoid DX Preview +5 (914)
• Ballgame Preview (887)
• Plumb Crazy (Loadstar) +1D (893)
• Downfall Preview (875)
• Guns \'n\' Ghosts + (983)
• All Games in One Archive (2313)

source: csdb.dk

The aim of the A8CAS project is to create software to read, save and archive tapes for Atari 8-bit computers.

Early Atari computers could store their programs on Compact Cassettes. Lots of commercial software was also sold on tapes. Some of the tapes employed different tricks to prevent creating illegal copies. A8CAS aims to correctly read and write all such tapes.

A8CAS is inspired by existing utilities, Ernest R. Schreurs’ WAV2CAS and CAS2WAV. Schreurs’ tools however did not support tapes with non-standard data (copy prevention mechanisms), and reading tapes from audio files was very unreliable. A8CAS addresses both of those issues. A8CAS now provides a superset of WAV2CAS’ features.

A8CAS consists of:

A shared library, liba8cas, that contains all routines needed to read and write cassettes (support for CAS, HEX, FSK and sound files WAV, OGG, FLAC etc. is implemented). The library can be used in emulators and drivers for SIO interfaces such as SIO2PC; a set of command-line tools, a8cas-tools, that contains a8cas-convert, a utility similar to WAV2CAS/CAS2WAV. The tools use the A8CAS library; a patch for the Atari800 emulator, that allows to load and save tape files (CAS, HEX, WAV, OGG, …) using liba8cas.

Changelog:

Liba8cas:

• Added the A8CAS_flush() function to API, which ends any chunk being written and writes data from buffers to disk.
• Fixed the inability to adjust stop bit length tolerance during recognition of data blocks. It was hardcoded at 0.25, now it uses the value of the A8CAS_PARAM_BLOCK_HEADER_DEVIATION parameter.
• Fixed crashes when setting A8CAS_PARAM_BLOCK_HEADER_LENGTH lower than 20.

A8cas-tools:

• Fixed a bug in a8cas-convert. When user provided an invalid value to a command-line parameter, the program silently ignored the parameter instead of warning the user

Download: A8CAS new Tools & Libs (1630)

source: a8cas.sourceforge.net

Commodore Free Magazine Issue #68 and #69

Free to download Commodore magazine dedicated to Commodore Computers.

Download:

• Commodore Free Magazine Issue #68 (D64) (911)
• Commodore Free Magazine Issue #68 (PDF) (1104)
• Commodore Free Magazine Issue #68 (TXT) (1165)
• Commodore Free Magazine Issue #69 (D64) (921)
• Commodore Free Magazine Issue #69 (PDF) (1308)
• Commodore Free Magazine Issue #69 (TXT) (901)

source: commodorefree.com

Steve Gray started a new project. He uses an 80 column (monochrome) CBM/PET to display a 40 column screen with colour.

A normal 80 column CBM/PET uses two RAM banks for the text. Steve now uses one RAM bank for the text (40 columns) and the other RAM bank for the colour information.

source: 6502.org awesome.commodore.me

CBM-Command is a disk manager for the Commodore 64 / Commodore 128 / Commodore VIC20 / PET and Commodore C16 computers. It is written like Norton Commander or Midnight Commander, but is much simpler due to the target platforms. Both the C128/C64/VIC20/C16/PET have their own native version of the application.

Release Notes – Version 2.2 – 2013-04-16 – RC2

New Features:

• Provides Side-By-Side panels or Top-And-Bottom panels on 40-column systems.
• Batch disk image creation.
• User can select drive or partition number.
• The disks have a little BASIC-language program that can update your configuration files.

Updates from RC1:

• The help file explains how to use a new feature of the configuration utility.
• The configuration-file updater adds another configurable key to your personal configurations.
• The D80 image was rebuilt, in order to work around a VICE bug.

Known Issues:

• It can trigger the write-and-replace bug.
• It can’t create or write back D80 and D82 images.
• The REL-file copier doesn’t truncate old target files that have the same record size as the new file.
• It will try to copy DEL files if they are selected.
• Errors don’t stop batch operations; the file is skipped.

Download: CBM-Command v2.2 RC2 (D64/D80) (1584)

source: cbmcommand.codeplex.com

Autopsy:

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from Wikipedia:

The Commodore 16 was a home computer made by Commodore with a 6502-compatible 8501 CPU, released in 1984. It was intended to be an entry-level computer to replace the VIC-20 and it often sold for 99 USD. A cost-reduced version, the Commodore 116, was sold only in Europe.

The C16 was intended to compete with other sub-$100 computers from Timex Corporation, Mattel, and Texas Instruments (TI). Timex’s and Mattel’s computers were less expensive than the VIC-20, and although the VIC-20 offered better expandability, a full-travel keyboard, and in some cases more memory, the C16 offered a chance to improve upon those advantages. The TI-99/4A was priced in-between Commodore’s VIC-20 and Commodore 64, and was somewhat between them in capability, but TI was lowering its prices. On paper, the C16 was a closer match for the TI-99/4A than the aging VIC-20.

Commodore president Jack Tramiel feared that one or more Japanese companies would introduce a consumer-oriented computer and undercut everyone’s prices. Although the Japanese would soon dominate the U.S. video game console market, their feared dominance of the home computer field never materialized. Additionally, Timex, Mattel, and TI departed the computer market before the C16 was released.

Outwardly the C16 resembled the VIC-20 and the C64, but with a dark gray case and light gray keys. The keyboard layout differed slightly from the earlier models, adding an escape key and four cursor keys replacing the shifted-key arrangement inherited from the C-64 and VIC. Performance-wise located between the VIC-20 and 64, it had 16 kilobytes of RAM with 12 KB available to its built-in BASIC interpreter, and a new sound and video chipset offering a palette of 128 colors (in reality 121, since the system offered 16 base colors with 8 shades per color, but black always remained black, with all 8 shades), the TED (better than the VIC used in the VIC-20, but lacking the sprite capability of the VIC-II and advanced sound capabilities of the SID, both used in the C64). The ROM resident BASIC 3.5, however, was more powerful than the VIC-20′s and C64′s BASIC 2.0, in that it had commands for sound and bitmapped graphics (320×200 pixels), as well as simple program tracing/debugging.

source: wikipedia

Commodore 64 Gold Edition on Ebay.fr.

from Richard Lagendijk Homepage:

This a special edition of the Commodore C64, celebrating the 1.000.000th sale of the C64 in Germany. This is one of the most desirable Commodore items. There are about 300 golden Commodore C64 produced. The numbers from 1.000.000 until 1.000.100 were for the staff of the Commodore factory Braunschweig.

The rest was given to hard- en software companies, magazine-publishers and distributors. The C64 is a computer system with a keyboard, external power-supply and a motherboard. On the motherboard you will find a MOS 6510 processor, RAM / ROM memory, MOS 6569 VIC-II video chip, MOS 6581 SID sound chip and twice a MOS 6526 CIA. PAL version.

source: ebay.fr richardlagendijk.nl

Javatari is a multiplayer Atari 2600 emulator written in pure Java with no external libs.

Features:

• Unique Client-Server multiplayer mode. Runs great in low-latency networks such as LANs.
• Cheat and turn off Collisions. Finally discover the ending of River Raid!
• Complete Save State/Load State functions.
• Scanlines and TV screen emulation modes.
• Real Atari console user interface.

Changelog;

• Console Panel now shows the inserted Cartridge.
• Customizable, dynamically rendered Cartridge Labels.
• Built-in ROM information, based on Rom Hunter’s collection.
• Better auto-detection of Paddles and CRT modes per ROM.

Download: Javatari JAR v3.20 (Needs Java 6) (863)

source: javatari.org

source: ebay.de wikipedia

Autopsy:

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This is a old article that i forgot to publish.

from Wikipedia:

The Commodore Plus/4 is a home computer released by Commodore International in 1984. The “Plus/4″ name refers to the four-application ROM resident office suite (word processor, spreadsheet, database, and graphing); it was billed as “the productivity computer with software built-in”. It had some success in Europe, though it was a total flop in the United States, where it was derided as the “Minus/60″—a pun on the numerical difference between the Plus/4 and the dominant Commodore 64.

In the early 1980s, Commodore found itself engaged in a price war in the home computer market. Companies like Texas Instruments and Timex Corporation were releasing computers that undercut the price of Commodore’s PET line. Commodore’s MOS Technology division had designed a video chip but could not find any third-party buyers. The VIC-20 resulted from the confluence of these events and it was introduced in 1980 at a list price of $299.95.

Later, spurred by the competition, Commodore was able to reduce the VIC’s street price to $99, and it became the first computer to sell over 1 million units. The Commodore 64, the first 64-kB computer to sell for under 600 US$, was another salvo in the price war but it was far more expensive to make than the VIC-20 because it used discrete chips for video, sound, and I/O. Still, the C-64 went on to become a best-seller and was selling for $199 at the time of the Plus/4′s introduction.

Even while C64 sales were rising, Commodore president Jack Tramiel wanted a new computer line that would use fewer chips and at the same time address some of the user complaints about the VIC and C64.

source: wikipedia

Autopsy:

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This is a old article that i forgot to publish.

from Wikipedia:

The Commodore 128 (C128, CBM 128, C=128) home computer was the last 8-bit machine commercially released by Commodore Business Machines (CBM). Introduced in January 1985 at the CES in Las Vegas, it appeared three years after its predecessor, the bestselling Commodore 64.

The C128 was a significantly expanded successor to the C64, with nearly full compatiblity. The new machine had 128 kB of RAM in two 64 kB banks, and an 80-column color video output. It had a redesigned case and keyboard. Also included was a Zilog Z80 CPU which allowed the C128 to run CP/M, as an alternative to the usual Commodore BASIC environment. The presence of the Z80 and the huge CP/M software library it brought, coupled with the C64′s software library, gave the C128 one of the broadest ranges of available software among its competitors.

The primary hardware designer of the C128 was Bil Herd, who had worked on the Plus/4. Other hardware engineers were Dave Haynie and Frank Palaia, while the IC design work was done by Dave DiOrio. The main Commodore system software was developed by Fred Bowen and Terry Ryan, while the CP/M subsystem was developed by Von Ertwine.

The C128′s keyboard included four cursor keys (previous Commodores had two, which required using the shift key to move the cursor up or left. These were retained on the 128, for C64 compatibility), an Alt key, Help key, Esc key, Tab key (not present on prior models) and a numeric keypad. The lack of a numeric keypad, Alt key and Esc key on the C-64 were an issue with some CP/M productivity software when used with the 64′s Z-80 cartridge.

Many of the added keys matched ones present on the IBM PC’s keyboard. While the 128′s 40 column mode closely duplicated that of the C64, an extra 1K of color RAM was made available to the programmer, as it was multiplexed through memory address 1. The 128′s power supply was improved over the 64′s unreliable design, being much larger and equipped with cooling vents and a replaceable fuse. Instead of the single 6510 microprocessor of the C64, the C128 incorporated a two-CPU design. The primary CPU, the 8502, was a slightly improved version of the 6510 capable of being clocked at 2 MHz. The second CPU was a Zilog Z80 which was used to run CP/M software, as well as to initiate operating mode selection at boot time. The two processors could not run concurrently, thus the C128 was not a multiprocessing system.

source: wikipedia

Autopsy:

from Wikipedia:

The Music Maker was a plastic overlay for the Commodore 64 “breadbox” keyboard, which included plastic piano keys corresponding to keys on the keyboard.

source: wikipedia