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Commodore 64
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8-bit home computer introduced in 1982
"C64" redirects here. For other uses, see C64 (disambiguation).
For the hip-hop band, see Commodore 64 (band).
CAPTION: Commodore 64
Commodore 64.svg
C64 hardware
Manufacturer Commodore Business Machines (CBM)
Type Home computer
Release date August 1982; 40 years ago (1982-08)^[1]
Introductory price US$595 (equivalent to $1,670 in 2021)
Discontinued April 1994; 28 years ago (1994-04)
Units sold 12.5^[2] - 17^[3] million
Operating system
* Commodore KERNAL/BASIC 2.0
* GEOS (optionally)
CPU MOS Technology 6510/8500
* @ 1.023 MHz (NTSC version)
* @ 0.985 MHz (PAL version)
Memory 64 KB (65,536 bytes) (IEC: KiB) RAM + 20 KB ROM
Graphics VIC-II (320 *200, 16 colors, sprites, raster interrupt)
Sound SID 6581/8580 (3 * osc, 4 * wave, filter, ADSR, ring)
Connectivity
* 2 * CIA 6526 (joystick, GPIO/RS-232/keyboard)
* Power (+5V DC & 9V AC)
* ROM cartridge
* Video/audio (RF/A/V)
* Serial IEEE 488 bus (floppy disk/printer)
* Digital tape
Predecessor
* Commodore VIC-20
* Commodore MAX Machine
Successor
* Commodore 128
* Amiga
The Commodore 64, also known as the C64, is an 8-bit home computer
introduced in January 1982 by Commodore International (first shown at
the Consumer Electronics Show, January 7-10, 1982, in Las Vegas).^[4]
It has been listed in the Guinness World Records as the highest-selling
single computer model of all time,^[5] with independent estimates
placing the number sold between 12.5 and 17 million units.^[2] Volume
production started in early 1982, marketing in August for US$595
(equivalent to $1,671 in 2021).^[6] Preceded by the Commodore VIC-20
and Commodore PET, the C64 took its name from its 64 kilobytes (65,536
bytes) of RAM. With support for multicolor sprites and a custom chip
for waveform generation, the C64 could create superior visuals and
audio compared to systems without such custom hardware.
The C64 dominated the low-end computer market (except in the UK and
Japan, lasting only about six months in Japan^[7]) for most of the
later years of the 1980s.^[8] For a substantial period (1983-1986), the
C64 had between 30% and 40% share of the US market and two million
units sold per year,^[9] outselling IBM PC compatibles, Apple
computers, and the Atari 8-bit family of computers. Sam Tramiel, a
later Atari president and the son of Commodore's founder, said in a
1989 interview, "When I was at Commodore we were building 400,000 C64s
a month for a couple of years."^[10] In the UK market, the C64 faced
competition from the BBC Micro and the ZX Spectrum,^[11] but the C64
was still the second most popular computer in the UK after the ZX
Spectrum.^[12] The Commodore 64 failed to make any impact in Japan. The
Japanese market was dominated by Japanese computers, such as the NEC
PC-8801, Sharp X1, Fujitsu FM-7, and MSX.^[13]
Part of the Commodore 64's success was its sale in regular retail
stores instead of only electronics or computer hobbyist specialty
stores. Commodore produced many of its parts in-house to control costs,
including custom integrated circuit chips from MOS Technology. In the
United States, it has been compared to the Ford Model T automobile for
its role in bringing a new technology to middle-class households via
creative and affordable mass-production.^[14] Approximately 10,000
commercial software titles have been made for the Commodore 64,
including development tools, office productivity applications, and
video games.^[15] C64 emulators allow anyone with a modern computer, or
a compatible video game console, to run these programs today. The C64
is also credited with popularizing the computer demoscene and is still
used today by some computer hobbyists.^[16] In 2011, 17 years after it
was taken off the market, research showed that brand recognition for
the model was still at 87%.^[5]
[ ]
Contents
* 1 History
+ 1.1 Reception
+ 1.2 Market war: 1982-1983
+ 1.3 1984-1987
+ 1.4 1988-1994
* 2 C64 family
+ 2.1 Commodore MAX
+ 2.2 Commodore Educator 64
+ 2.3 SX-64
+ 2.4 Commodore 128
+ 2.5 Commodore 64C
+ 2.6 Commodore 64 Games System
+ 2.7 Commodore 65
* 3 Software
+ 3.1 BASIC
+ 3.2 Alternative operating systems
+ 3.3 Networking software
+ 3.4 Online gaming
* 4 Hardware
+ 4.1 CPU and memory
+ 4.2 Joysticks, mice, and paddles
+ 4.3 Graphics
+ 4.4 Text modes
o 4.4.1 Character block animation
o 4.4.2 Hardware sprites
+ 4.5 Sound
+ 4.6 Hardware revisions
o 4.6.1 ICs
o 4.6.2 Motherboard
+ 4.7 Power supply
+ 4.8 Specifications
o 4.8.1 Internal hardware
o 4.8.2 Input/output (I/O) ports and power supply
o 4.8.3 Memory map
o 4.8.4 Peripherals
+ 4.9 Manufacturing cost
+ 4.10 Clones
+ 4.11 Newer compatible hardware
+ 4.12 Brand reuse
+ 4.13 Virtual Console
+ 4.14 THEC64 and THEC64 Mini
* 5 Emulators
* 6 See also
* 7 Footnotes
+ 7.1 References
+ 7.2 Sources
* 8 External links
History[edit]
The Commodore 64 startup screen
In January 1981, MOS Technology, Inc., Commodore's integrated circuit
design subsidiary, initiated a project to design the graphic and audio
chips for a next-generation video game console. Design work for the
chips, named MOS Technology VIC-II (Video Integrated Circuit for
graphics) and MOS Technology SID (Sound Interface Device for audio),
was completed in November 1981.^[6] Commodore then began a game console
project that would use the new chips--called the Ultimax or the
Commodore MAX Machine, engineered by Yash Terakura from Commodore
Japan. This project was eventually cancelled after just a few machines
were manufactured for the Japanese market.^[17] At the same time,
Robert "Bob" Russell (system programmer and architect on the VIC-20)
and Robert "Bob" Yannes (engineer of the SID) were critical of the
current product line-up at Commodore, which was a continuation of the
Commodore PET line aimed at business users. With the support of Al
Charpentier (engineer of the VIC-II) and Charles Winterble (manager of
MOS Technology), they proposed to Commodore CEO Jack Tramiel a low-cost
sequel to the VIC-20. Tramiel dictated that the machine should have 64
KB of random-access memory (RAM). Although 64-Kbit dynamic
random-access memory (DRAM) chips cost over US$100 (equivalent to
$251.95 in 2021) at the time, he knew that 64K DRAM prices were falling
and would drop to an acceptable level before full production was
reached. The team was able to quickly design the computer because,
unlike most other home-computer companies, Commodore had its own
semiconductor fab to produce test chips; because the fab was not
running at full capacity, development costs were part of existing
corporate overhead. The chips were complete by November, by which time
Charpentier, Winterble, and Tramiel had decided to proceed with the new
computer; the latter set a final deadline for the first weekend of
January, to coincide with the 1982 Consumer Electronics Show (CES).^[6]
The product was code named the VIC-40 as the successor to the popular
VIC-20. The team that constructed it consisted of Yash Terakura,^[18]
Shiraz Shivji,^[19] Bob Russell, Bob Yannes, and David A. Ziembicki.
The design, prototypes, and some sample software were finished in time
for the show, after the team had worked tirelessly over both
Thanksgiving and Christmas weekends. The machine used the same case,
same-sized motherboard, and same Commodore BASIC 2.0 in ROM as the
VIC-20. BASIC also served as the user interface shell and was available
immediately on startup at the READY prompt. When the product was to be
presented, the VIC-40 product was renamed C64. The C64 made an
impressive debut at the January 1982 Consumer Electronics Show, as
recalled by Production Engineer David A. Ziembicki: "All we saw at our
booth were Atari people with their mouths dropping open, saying, 'How
can you do that for $595?'"^[6]^[20] The answer was vertical
integration; due to Commodore's ownership of MOS Technology's
semiconductor fabrication facilities, each C64 had an estimated
production cost of US$135.^[6]
Reception[edit]
In July 1983, BYTE magazine stated that "the 64 retails for $595. At
that price it promises to be one of the hottest contenders in the
under-$1,000 personal computer market." It described the SID as "a true
music synthesizer ... the quality of the sound has to be heard to be
believed", while criticizing the use of Commodore BASIC 2.0, the floppy
disk performance which is "even slower than the Atari 810 drive", and
Commodore's quality control. BYTE gave more details, saying the C64 had
"inadequate Commodore BASIC 2.0. An 8K-byte interpreted BASIC" which
they assumed was because "Obviously, Commodore feels that most home
users will be running prepackaged software - there is no provision for
using graphics (or sound as mentioned above) from within a BASIC
program except by means of POKE commands." This was one of very few
warnings about C64 BASIC published in any computer magazines. ^[21]
Creative Computing said in December 1984 that the 64 was "the
overwhelming winner" in the category of home computers under $500.
Despite criticizing its "slow disk drive, only two cursor directional
keys, zero manufacturer support, non-standard interfaces, etc.", the
magazine said that at the 64's price of less than $200 "you can't get
another system with the same features: 64K, color, sprite graphics, and
barrels of available software". The Tandy/Radio Shack Color Computer
was the runner up. However, this was only one of twelve categories
being voted on, depending on the price and what people wanted to do
with a computer. The same article also said "Although there was no
single best all-around system, we noted that one system stood out
because it was mentioned in so many categories. Although many systems
were mentioned in two categories, just two systems were mentioned in
three categories, and only one in four categories--the Apple
Macintosh." Apart from this, the Apple II was the winner in the
category of home computer over $500, which was the category the
Commodore 64 was in when it was first released at the price of
$595.^[22]
Market war: 1982-1983[edit]
Game cartridges for Radar Rat Race and International Soccer
Commodore had a reputation for announcing products that never appeared,
so sought to quickly ship the C64. Production began in spring 1982 and
volume shipments began in August.^[6] The C64 faced a wide range of
competing home computers,^[23] but with a lower price and more flexible
hardware, it quickly outsold many of its competitors.
In the United States the greatest competitors were the Atari 8-bit 400,
the Atari 800, and the Apple II. The Atari 400 and 800 had been
designed to accommodate previously stringent FCC emissions requirements
and so were expensive to manufacture. Though similar in specifications,
the two computers represented differing design philosophies; as an open
architecture system, upgrade capability for the Apple II was granted by
internal expansion slots, whereas the C64's comparatively closed
architecture had only a single external ROM cartridge port for bus
expansion. However, the Apple II used its expansion slots for
interfacing to common peripherals like disk drives, printers, and
modems; the C64 had a variety of ports integrated into its motherboard
which were used for these purposes, usually leaving the cartridge port
free. Commodore's was not a completely closed system, however; the
company had published detailed specifications for most of their models
since the Commodore PET and VIC-20 days, and the C64 was no exception.
C64 sales were nonetheless relatively slow due to a lack of software,
reliability issues with early production models, particularly high
failure rates of the PLA chip, which used a new production process, and
a shortage of 1541 disk drives, which also suffered rather severe
reliability issues. During 1983, however, a trickle of software turned
into a flood and sales began rapidly climbing, especially with price
cuts from $600 to just $300 (equivalent to $1600 to $800 in 2021).
Commodore sold the C64 not only through its network of authorized
dealers, but also through department stores, discount stores, toy
stores and college bookstores. The C64 had a built-in RF modulator and
thus could be plugged into any television set. This allowed it (like
its predecessor, the VIC-20) to compete directly against video game
consoles such as the Atari 2600. Like the Apple IIe, the C64 could also
output a composite video signal, avoiding the RF modulator altogether.
This allowed the C64 to be plugged into a specialized monitor for a
sharper picture. Unlike the IIe, the C64's NTSC output capability also
included separate luminance/chroma signal output equivalent to (and
electrically compatible with) S-Video, for connection to the Commodore
1702 monitor, providing even better video quality than a composite
signal.
Aggressive pricing of the C64 is considered to have been a major
catalyst in the video game crash of 1983. In January 1983, Commodore
offered a $100 rebate in the United States on the purchase of a C64 to
anyone that traded in another video game console or computer.^[24] To
take advantage of this rebate, some mail-order dealers and retailers
offered a Timex Sinclair 1000 (TS1000) for as little as $10 with
purchase of a C64. This deal meant that the consumer could send the
TS1000 to Commodore, collect the rebate, and pocket the difference;
Timex Corporation departed the computer market within a year.
Commodore's tactics soon led to a price war with the major home
computer manufacturers. The success of the VIC-20 and C64 contributed
significantly to the exit from the field of Texas Instruments and other
smaller competitors.
The price war with Texas Instruments was seen as a personal battle for
Commodore president Jack Tramiel.^[25] Commodore dropped the C64's list
price by $200 within two months of its release.^[6] In June 1983 the
company lowered the price to $300, and some stores sold the computer
for $199. At one point, the company was selling as many C64s as all
computers sold by the rest of the industry combined. Meanwhile, TI lost
money by selling the TI-99/4A for $99.^[26] TI's subsequent demise in
the home computer industry in October 1983 was seen as revenge for TI's
tactics in the electronic calculator market in the mid-1970s, when
Commodore was almost bankrupted by TI.^[27]
All four machines had similar memory configurations which were standard
in 1982-83: 48 KB for the Apple II+^[28] (upgraded within months of
C64's release to 64 KB with the Apple IIe) and 48 KB for the Atari
800.^[29] At upwards of $1,200,^[30] the Apple II was about twice as
expensive, while the Atari 800 cost $899. One key to the C64's success
was Commodore's aggressive marketing tactics, and they were quick to
exploit the relative price/performance divisions between its
competitors with a series of television commercials after the C64's
launch in late 1982.^[31] The company also published detailed
documentation to help developers,^[32] while Atari initially kept
technical information secret.^[33]
Although many early C64 games were inferior Atari 8-bit ports, by late
1983 the growing installed base caused developers to create new
software with better graphics and sound.^[34] It was the only
non-discontinued, widely available home computer by then, with more
than 500,000 sold during the Christmas season;^[35] because of
production problems in Atari's supply chain, by the start of 1984 "the
Commodore 64 largely has [the low-end] market to itself right now", The
Washington Post reported.^[36]
1984-1987[edit]
Some of the graphics modes on the 64 are really strange, and they
have no analogs to the Atari or Apple, like the ability to change
color of the character basis across the screen. That gave us a lot
of color capability that had not been exploited.
-- Craig Nelson of Epyx, 1986^[34]
With sales booming and the early reliability issues with the hardware
addressed, software for the C64 began to grow in size and ambition
during 1984. This growth shifted to the primary focus of most US game
developers. The two holdouts were Sierra, who largely skipped over the
C64 in favor of Apple and PC compatible machines, and Broderbund, who
were heavily invested in educational software and developed primarily
around the Apple II. In the North American market, the disk format had
become nearly universal while cassette and cartridge-based software all
but disappeared. So most US-developed games by this point grew large
enough to require multi-loading.
At a mid-1984 conference of game developers and experts at Origins Game
Fair, Dan Bunten, Sid Meier, and a representative of Avalon Hill said
that they were developing games for the C64 first as the most promising
market.^[37] By 1985, games were an estimated 60 to 70% of Commodore 64
software.^[38] Computer Gaming World stated in January 1985 that
companies such as Epyx that survived the video game crash did so
because they "jumped on the Commodore bandwagon early".^[39] Over 35%
of SSI's 1986 sales were for the C64, ten points higher than for the
Apple II. The C64 was even more important for other companies,^[40]
which often found that more than half the sales for a title ported to
six platforms came from the C64 version.^[41] That year, Computer
Gaming World published a survey of ten game publishers that found that
they planned to release forty-three Commodore 64 games that year,
compared to nineteen for Atari and forty-eight for Apple II,^[42] and
Alan Miller stated that Accolade developed first for the C64 because
"it will sell the most on that system".^[43]
In Europe, the primary competitors to the C64 were British-built
computers: the Sinclair ZX Spectrum, the BBC Micro, and the Amstrad CPC
464. In the UK, the 48K Spectrum had not only been released a few
months ahead of the C64's early 1983 debut, but it was also selling for
-L-175, less than half the C64's -L-399 price. The Spectrum quickly
became the market leader and Commodore had an uphill struggle against
it in the marketplace. The C64 did however go on to rival the Spectrum
in popularity in the latter half of the 1980s. Adjusted to the size of
population, the popularity of Commodore 64 was the highest in Finland
at roughly 3 units per 100 inhabitants,^[44] where it was subsequently
marketed as "the Computer of the Republic".^[45]
Rumors spread in late 1983 that Commodore would discontinue the
C64.^[46] By early 1985 the C64's price was $149; with an estimated
production cost of $35-50, its profitability was still within the
industry-standard markup of two to three times.^[6] Commodore sold
about one million C64s in 1985 and a total of 3.5 million by mid-1986.
Although the company reportedly attempted to discontinue the C64 more
than once in favor of more expensive computers such as the Commodore
128, demand remained strong.^[47]^[48] In 1986, Commodore introduced
the 64C,^[49] a redesigned 64, which Compute! saw as evidence
that--contrary to C64 owners' fears that the company would abandon them
in favor of the Amiga and 128--"the 64 refuses to die".^[50] Its
introduction also meant that Commodore raised the price of the C64 for
the first time, which the magazine cited as the end of the
home-computer price war.^[51] Software sales also remained strong;
MicroProse, for example, in 1987 cited the Commodore and IBM PC markets
as its top priorities.^[52]
1988-1994[edit]
By 1988, PC compatibles were the largest and fastest-growing home and
entertainment software markets, displacing former leader
Commodore.^[53] Commodore 64 software sales were almost unchanged in
the third quarter of 1988 year over year while the overall market grew
42%,^[54] but the company was still selling 1 to 1.5 million units
worldwide each year of what Computer Chronicles that year called "the
Model T of personal computers".^[55] Epyx CEO David Shannon Morse
cautioned that "there are no new 64 buyers, or very few. It's a
consistent group that's not growing... it's going to shrink as part of
our business."^[56] One computer gaming executive stated that the
Nintendo Entertainment System's enormous popularity - seven million
sold in 1988, almost as many as the number of C64s sold in its first
five years - had stopped the C64's growth. Trip Hawkins reinforced that
sentiment, stating that Nintendo was "the last hurrah of the 8-bit
world".^[57]
SSI exited the Commodore 64 market in 1991, after most
competitors.^[58] Ultima VI, released in 1991, was the last major C64
game release from a North American developer, and The Simpsons,
published by Ultra Games, was the last arcade conversion. The latter
was a somewhat uncommon example of a US-developed arcade port as after
the early years of the C64, most arcade conversions were produced by UK
developers and converted to NTSC and disk format for the US market,
American developers instead focusing on more computer-centered game
genres such as RPGs and simulations. In the European market, disk
software was rarer and cassettes were the most common distribution
method; this led to a higher prevalence of arcade titles and smaller,
lower-budget games that could fit entirely in the computer's memory
without requiring multiloads. European programmers also tended to
exploit advanced features of the C64's hardware more than their US
counterparts.^[citation needed]
In the United States, demand for 8-bit computers all but ceased as the
1990s began and PC compatibles completely dominated the computer
market. However, the C64 continued to be popular in the UK and other
European countries. The machine's eventual demise was not due to lack
of demand or the cost of the C64 itself (still profitable at a retail
price point between -L-44 and -L-50), but rather because of the cost of
producing the disk drive. In March 1994, at CeBIT in Hanover, Germany,
Commodore announced that the C64 would be finally discontinued in
1995,^[59] noting that the Commodore 1541 cost more than the C64
itself.^[59]
However, only one month later in April 1994, the company filed for
bankruptcy. When Commodore went bankrupt, all production on their
inventory, including the C64, was discontinued, thus ending the C64's
11 and a half year production. Claims of sales of 17, 22 and 30 million
of C64 units sold worldwide have been made. Company sales records,
however, indicate that the total number was about 12.5 million.^[60]
Based on that figure, the Commodore 64 was still the third most popular
computing platform into the 21st century until 2017 when the Raspberry
Pi family replaced it.^[61] While 360,000 C64s were sold in 1982, about
1.3 million were sold in 1983, followed by a large spike in 1984 when
2.6 million were sold. After that, sales held steady at between 1.3 and
1.6 million a year for the remainder of the decade and then dropped off
after 1989. North American sales peaked between 1983 and 1985 and
gradually tapered off afterward, while European sales remained quite
strong into the early 1990s.^[2]
The computer's designers claimed that "The freedom that allowed us to
do the C-64 project will probably never exist again in that
environment"; by spring 1983 most had left to found Ensoniq.
C64 family[edit]
Commodore MAX[edit]
Main article: Commodore MAX Machine
Commodore MAX Machine
In 1982, Commodore released the Commodore MAX Machine in Japan. It was
called the Ultimax in the United States and VC-10 in Germany. The MAX
was intended to be a game console with limited computing capability and
was based on a cut-down version of the hardware family later used in
the C64. The MAX was discontinued months after its introduction because
of poor sales in Japan.^[62]
Commodore Educator 64[edit]
Main article: Commodore Educator 64
Commodore Educator 64
1983 saw Commodore attempt to compete with the Apple II's hold on the
US education market with the Educator 64,^[63] essentially a C64 and
"greenscale" monochrome monitor in a PET case. Schools preferred the
all-in-one metal construction of the PET over the standard C64's
separate components, which could be easily damaged, vandalized, or
stolen.^[64] Schools did not prefer the Educator 64 to the wide range
of software and hardware options the Apple IIe was able to offer, and
it was produced in limited quantities.^[65]
SX-64[edit]
Main article: Commodore SX-64
Commodore SX-64
Also in 1983, Commodore released the SX-64, a portable version of the
C64. The SX-64 has the distinction of being the first commercial
full-color portable computer.^[66] While earlier computers using this
form factor only incorporate monochrome ("green screen") displays, the
base SX-64 unit features a 5 in (130 mm) color cathode-ray tube (CRT)
and one integrated 1541 floppy disk drive. Even though Commodore
claimed in advertisements that it would have dual 1541 drives, when the
SX-64 was released there was only one and the other became a floppy
disk storage slot. Also, unlike most other C64s, the SX-64 does not
have a datasette connector so an external cassette was not an
option.^[67]
Commodore 128[edit]
Main article: Commodore 128
Two designers at Commodore, Fred Bowen and Bil Herd, were determined to
rectify the problems of the Plus/4. They intended that the eventual
successors to the C64--the Commodore 128 and 128D computers
(1985)--were to build upon the C64, avoiding the Plus/4's
flaws.^[68]^[69] The successors had many improvements such as a BASIC
with graphics and sound commands (like almost all home computers not
made by Commodore ^[70]^[71]^[72]), 80-column display ability, and full
CP/M compatibility. The decision to make the Commodore 128 plug
compatible with the C64 was made quietly by Bowen and Herd, software
and hardware designers respectively, without the knowledge or approval
by the management in the post Jack Tramiel era. The designers were
careful not to reveal their decision until the project was too far
along to be challenged or changed and still make the impending Consumer
Electronics Show (CES) in Las Vegas.^[68] Upon learning that the C128
was designed to be compatible with the C64, Commodore's marketing
department independently announced that the C128 would be 100%
compatible with the C64, thereby raising the bar for C64 support. In a
case of malicious compliance, the 128 design was altered to include a
separate "64 mode" using a complete C64 environment to try to ensure
total compatibility.^[citation needed]
Commodore 64C[edit]
Commodore 64C with 1541-II floppy disk drive and 1084S monitor
displaying television-compatible S-Video
The C64's designers intended the computer to have a new, wedge-shaped
case within a year of release, but the change did not occur.^[6] In
1986, Commodore released the 64C computer, which is functionally
identical to the original. The exterior design was remodeled in the
sleeker style of the Commodore 128.^[48] The 64C uses new versions of
the SID, VIC-II, and I/O chips being deployed. Models with the C64E
board had the graphic symbols printed on the top of the keys, instead
of the normal location on the front. The sound chip (SID) was changed
to use the MOS 8580 chip, with the core voltage reduced from 12V to 9V.
The most significant changes include different behavior in the filters
and in the volume control, which result in some music/sound effects
sounding differently than intended, and in digitally-sampled audio
being almost inaudible, respectively (though both of these can mostly
be corrected-for in software). The 64 KB RAM memory went from eight
chips to two chips. BASIC and the KERNAL went from two separate chips
into one 16 KB ROM chip. The PLA chip and some TTL chips were
integrated into a DIL 64-pin chip. The "252535-01" PLA integrated the
color RAM as well into the same chip. The smaller physical space made
it impossible to put in some internal expansions like a
floppy-speeder.^[73] In the United States, the 64C was often bundled
with the third-party GEOS graphical user interface (GUI)-based
operating system, as well as the software needed to access Quantum
Link. The 1541 drive received a matching face-lift, resulting in the
1541C. Later, a smaller, sleeker 1541-II model was introduced, along
with the 800 KB^[74] 3.5-inch microfloppy 1581.
Commodore 64 Games System[edit]
Main article: Commodore 64 Games System
Commodore 64 Games System "C64GS"
In 1990, the C64 was repackaged in the form of a game console, called
the C64 Games System (C64GS), with most external connectivity
removed.^[75] A simple modification to the 64C's motherboard was made
to allow cartridges to be inserted from above. A modified ROM replaced
the BASIC interpreter with a boot screen to inform the user to insert a
cartridge. Designed to compete with the Nintendo Entertainment System
and the Sega Master System, it suffered from very low sales compared to
its rivals. It was another commercial failure for Commodore, and it was
never released outside Europe. The Commodore game system lacked a
keyboard, so any software that requires a keyboard could not be used.
Commodore 65[edit]
Main article: Commodore 65
In 1990, an advanced successor to the C64, the Commodore 65 (also known
as the "C64DX"), was prototyped, but the project was canceled by
Commodore's chairman Irving Gould in 1991. The C65's specifications
were impressive for an 8-bit computer, bringing specs comparable to the
16-bit Apple IIGS. For example, it could display 256 colors on the
screen, while OCS based Amigas could only display 64 in HalfBrite mode
(32 colors and half-bright transformations). Although no specific
reason was given for the C65's cancellation, it would have competed in
the marketplace with Commodore's lower-end Amigas and the Commodore
CDTV.
Software[edit]
Main article: Commodore 64 software
In 1982, the C64's graphics and sound capabilities were rivaled only by
the Atari 8-bit family and appeared exceptional when compared with the
widely publicized Atari VCS and Apple II. The C64 is often credited
with starting the computer subculture known as the demoscene (see
Commodore 64 demos). It is still being actively used in the
demoscene,^[76] especially for music (its SID sound chip even being
used in special sound cards for PCs, and the Elektron SidStation
synthesizer). Even though other computers quickly caught up with it,
the C64 remained a strong competitor to the later video game consoles
Nintendo Entertainment System (NES) and Sega Master System, thanks in
part to its by-then established software base, especially outside North
America, where it comprehensively outsold the NES.^[citation needed]
Because of lower incomes and the domination of the Sinclair Spectrum in
the UK, almost all British C64 software used cassette tapes. Few
cassette C64 programs were released in the US after 1983 and, in North
America, the diskette was the principal method of software
distribution. The cartridge slot on the C64 was also mainly a feature
used in the computer's first two years on the US market and became
rapidly obsolete once the price and reliability of 1541 drives
improved. A handful of PAL region games used bank switched cartridges
to get around the 16 KB memory limit.
BASIC[edit]
Main article: Commodore BASIC
The Simons' BASIC interpreter start-up screen. Note the altered
background and text colors (vs the ordinary C64 blue tones) and the 8
KB reduction of available BASIC-interpreter program memory allocation,
due to the address space used by the cartridge.
As is common for home computers of the early 1980s, the C64 comes with
a BASIC interpreter, in ROM. KERNAL, I/O, and tape/disk drive
operations are accessed via custom BASIC language commands. The disk
drive has its own interfacing microprocessor and ROM (firmware) I/O
routines, much like the earlier CBM/PET systems and the Atari 400 and
Atari 800. This means that no memory space is dedicated to running a
disk operating system, as was the case with earlier systems such as the
Apple II and TRS-80.
Commodore BASIC 2.0 is used instead of the more advanced BASIC 4.0 from
the PET series, since C64 users were not expected to need the
disk-oriented enhancements of BASIC 4.0. The company did not expect
many to buy a disk drive, and using BASIC 2.0 simplified VIC-20 owners'
transition to the 64.^[77] "The choice of BASIC 2.0 instead of 4.0 was
made with some soul-searching, not just at random. The typical user of
a C64 is not expected to need the direct disk commands as much as other
extensions, and the amount of memory to be committed to BASIC were to
be limited. We chose to leave expansion space for color and sound
extensions instead of the disk features. As a result, you will have to
handle the disk in the more cumbersome manner of the 'old days'."^[78]
The version of Microsoft BASIC is not very comprehensive and does not
include specific commands for sound or graphics manipulation, instead
requiring users to use the "PEEK and POKE" commands to access the
graphics and sound chip registers directly. To provide extended
commands, including graphics and sound, Commodore produced two
different cartridge-based extensions to BASIC 2.0: Simons' BASIC and
Super Expander 64. Other languages available for the C64 include
Pascal, C,^[79]^[80] Logo, Forth, and FORTRAN. Compilers for BASIC 2.0
such as Petspeed 2 (from Commodore), Blitz (from Jason Ranheim), and
Turbo Lightning (from Ocean Software) were produced. Most commercial
C64 software was written in assembly language, either cross-developed
on a larger computer, or directly on the C64 using a machine code
monitor or an assembler. This maximized speed and minimized memory use.
Some games, particularly adventures, used high-level scripting
languages and sometimes mixed BASIC and machine language.
Alternative operating systems[edit]
Many third-party operating systems have been developed for the C64. As
well as the original GEOS, two third-party GEOS-compatible systems have
been written: Wheels and GEOS megapatch. Both of these require hardware
upgrades to the original C64. Several other operating systems are or
have been available, including WiNGS OS, the Unix-like LUnix, operated
from a command-line, and the embedded systems OS Contiki, with full
GUI. Other less well-known OSes include ACE, Asterix, DOS/65, and
GeckOS. A version of CP/M was released, but this requires the addition
of an external Z80 processor to the expansion bus. Furthermore, the Z80
processor is underclocked to be compatible with the C64's memory bus,
so performance is poor compared to other CP/M implementations. C64 CP/M
and C128 CP/M both suffer a lack of software; although most commercial
CP/M software can run on these systems, software media is incompatible
between platforms. The low usage of CP/M on Commodores means that
software houses saw no need to invest in mastering versions for the
Commodore disk format. The C64 CP/M cartridge is also not compatible
with anything except the early 326298 motherboards.^[citation needed]
Networking software[edit]
During the 1980s, the Commodore 64 was used to run bulletin board
systems using software packages such as Punter BBS, Bizarre 64, Blue
Board, C-Net, Color 64, CMBBS, C-Base, DMBBS, Image BBS, EBBS, and The
Deadlock Deluxe BBS Construction Kit, often with sysop-made
modifications. These boards sometimes were used to distribute cracked
software. As late as December 2013, there were 25 such Bulletin Board
Systems in operation, reachable via the Telnet protocol.^[81] There
were major commercial online services, such as Compunet (UK),
CompuServe (US - later bought by America Online), The Source (US), and
Minitel (France) among many others. These services usually required
custom software which was often bundled with a modem and included free
online time as they were billed by the minute. Quantum Link (or Q-Link)
was a US and Canadian online service for Commodore 64 and 128 personal
computers that operated from November 5, 1985, to November 1, 1994. It
was operated by Quantum Computer Services of Vienna, Virginia, which in
October 1991 changed its name to America Online and continued to
operate its AOL service for the IBM PC compatible and Apple Macintosh.
Q-Link was a modified version of the PlayNET system, which Control
Video Corporation (CVC, later renamed Quantum Computer Services)
licensed.
Online gaming[edit]
Further information: History of massively multiplayer online games
The first graphical character-based interactive environment is Club
Caribe. First released as Habitat in 1988, Club Caribe was introduced
by LucasArts for Q-Link customers on their Commodore 64 computers.
Users could interact with one another, chat and exchange items.
Although the game's open world was very basic, its use of online
avatars and the combination of chat and graphics was revolutionary.
Online graphics in the late 1980s were severely restricted by the need
to support modem data transfer rates as low as 300 bits per second.
Habitat's graphics were stored locally on floppy disk, eliminating the
need for network transfer.^[82]
Hardware[edit]
This section may contain content that is repetitive or redundant of
text elsewhere in the article. Please help improve it by merging
similar text or removing repeated statements. (April 2010)
Block diagram of the C64
CPU and memory[edit]
Main article: MOS Technology 6510
The C64 uses an 8-bit MOS Technology 6510 microprocessor. It is almost
identical to the 6502 but with three-state buses, a different pinout,
slightly different clock signals and other minor changes for this
specific application. It also has six I/O lines on otherwise unused
legs on the 40-pin IC package. These are used for two purposes in the
C64: to bank-switch the machine's read-only memory (ROM) in and out of
the processor's address space, and to operate the datasette tape
recorder. The C64 has 64 KB of 8-bit-wide dynamic RAM, 1 KB of
4-bit-wide static color RAM for text mode, and 38 KB are available to
built-in Commodore BASIC 2.0 on startup. There is 20 KB of ROM, made up
of the BASIC interpreter, the KERNAL, and the character ROM. As the
processor could only address 64 KB at a time, the ROM was mapped into
memory, and only 38911 bytes of RAM (plus 4 KB in between the ROMs)
were available at startup. Most "breadbin" Commodore 64s used 4164
DRAM, with eight chips to total up 64K of system RAM. Later models,
featuring Assy 250466 and Assy 250469 motherboards, used 41464 DRAM
(64K *4) chips which stored 32 KB per chip, so only two were required
Since 4164 DRAMs are 64K *1, eight chips are needed to make an entire
byte, and the computer will not function without all of them present.
Thus, the first chip contains Bit 0 for the entire memory space, the
second chip contains Bit 1, and so forth. This also makes detecting
faulty RAM easy, as a bad chip will display random characters on the
screen and the character displayed can be used to determine the faulty
RAM.
The C64 performs a RAM test on power up and if a RAM error is detected,
the amount of free BASIC memory will be lower than the normal 38911
figure. If the faulty chip is in lower memory, then an ?OUT OF MEMORY
IN 0 error is displayed rather than the usual BASIC startup banner. The
color RAM at $D800 uses a separate 2114 SRAM chip and is gated directly
to the VIC-II.
The C64 uses a somewhat complicated memory banking scheme; the normal
power-on default is to have the BASIC ROM mapped in at
$A000-$BFFF and the screen editor/KERNAL ROM at $E000-$FFFF. RAM
underneath the system ROMs can be written to, but not read back without
swapping out the ROMs. Memory location $01 contains a register with
control bits for enabling/disabling the system ROMs as well as the I/O
area at $D000. If the KERNAL ROM is swapped out, BASIC will be removed
at the same time,^[83]^: 264 ^[84] and it is not possible to have BASIC
active without the KERNAL (as BASIC often calls KERNAL routines and
part of the ROM code for BASIC is in fact located in the KERNAL ROM).
The character ROM is normally not visible to the CPU. It has two
mirrors at
$1000 and $9000, but only the VIC-II can see them; the CPU will see RAM
in those locations. The character ROM may be mapped into $D000-$DFFF
where it is then visible to the CPU. Since doing so necessitates
swapping out the I/O registers, interrupts must be disabled first.
Graphics memory and data cannot be placed at $1000 or $9000 as the
VIC-II will see the character ROM there instead.
By removing I/O from the memory map,
$D000-$DFFF becomes free RAM. The color RAM at $D800 is swapped out
along with the I/O registers and this area can be used for static
graphics data such as character sets since the VIC-II cannot see the
I/O registers (or color RAM via the CPU mapping). If all ROMs and the
I/O area are swapped out, the entire 64k RAM space is available aside
for locations $0/$1.
$C000-$CFFF is free RAM and not used by BASIC or KERNAL routines;
because of this, it is an ideal location to store short machine
language programs that can be accessed from BASIC. The cassette buffer
at $0334-$03FF can also be used to store short machine language
routines provided that a Datasette is not used, which will overwrite
the buffer.
C64 cartridges map into assigned ranges in the CPU's address space and
the most common cartridge auto starting requires the presence of a
special string at
$8000 which contains "CBM80" followed by the address where program
execution begins. A few early C64 cartridges released in 1982 use
Ultimax mode (or MAX mode), a leftover feature of the failed MAX
Machine. These cartridges map into $F000 and displace the KERNAL ROM.
If Ultimax mode is used, the programmer will have to provide code for
handling system interrupts. The cartridge port has 16 address lines,
which grants access to the entire address space of the computer if
needed. Disk and tape software normally load at the start of BASIC
memory ($0801) and use a small BASIC stub (e.g., 10 SYS(2064)) to jump
to the start of the program. Although no Commodore 8-bit machine except
the C128 can automatically boot from a floppy disk, some software
intentionally overwrites certain BASIC vectors in the process of
loading so that execution begins automatically rather than requiring
the user to type RUN at the BASIC prompt following loading.
Around 300 cartridges were released for the C64, mostly in the
machine's first
2+1/2 years on the market, after which most software outgrew the 16 KB
cartridge limit. In the final years of the C64, larger software
companies such as Ocean Software began releasing games on bank-switched
cartridges to overcome this 16 KB cartridge limit.
Commodore did not include a reset button on any of their computers
until the CBM-II line, but there were third-party cartridges with a
reset button on them. It is possible to trigger a soft reset by jumping
to the CPU reset routine at
$FCE2 (64738). A few programs use this as an "exit" feature, although
it does not clear memory.
The KERNAL ROM went through three separate revisions, mostly designed
to fix bugs. The initial version is only found on 326298 motherboards,
used in the first production models, and cannot detect whether an NTSC
or PAL VIC-II is present. The second revision is found on all C64s made
from late 1982 through 1985. The third and last KERNAL ROM revision was
introduced on the 250466 motherboard (late breadbin models with 41464
RAM) and is found in all C64Cs. The 6510 CPU is clocked at 1.023 MHz
(NTSC) and 0.985 MHz (PAL),^[85] lower than some competing systems (for
example, the Atari 800 is clocked at 1.79 MHz). A small performance
boost can be gained by disabling the VIC-II's video output via a
register write. This feature is often used by tape and disk fastloaders
as well as the KERNAL cassette routine to keep a standard CPU cycle
timing not modified by the VIC-II's sharing of the bus.
The Restore key is gated directly to the CPU's NMI line and will
generate an NMI if pressed. The KERNAL handler for the NMI checks if
Run/Stop is also pressed; if not, it ignores the NMI and simply exits
back out. Run/Stop-Restore normally functions as a soft reset in BASIC
that restores all I/O registers to their power on default state, but
does not clear memory or reset pointers, so any BASIC programs in
memory will be left untouched. Machine language software usually
disables Run/Stop-Restore by remapping the NMI vector to a dummy RTI
instruction. The NMI can be used for an extra interrupt thread by
programs as well, but runs the risk of a system lockup or undesirable
side effects if the Restore key is accidentally pressed, as this will
trigger an inadvertent activation of the NMI thread.
Joysticks, mice, and paddles[edit]
Original Commodore white and black joystick
Commodore analog paddles
Commodore mouse
The DE-9 Atari-style joystick ports
Commodore's version of the classic Atari joystick, a set of analog
paddles, a 1350/1351 mouse and the DE-9 Atari-style joystick ports
The C64 retained the DE-9 joystick Atari joystick port from the VIC-20
and added another; any Atari-specification game controller can be used
on a C64. The joysticks are read from the registers at
$DC00 and $DC01, and most software is designed to use a joystick in
port 2 for control rather than port 1, as the upper bits of $DC00 are
used by the keyboard and an I/O conflict can result. Although it is
possible to use Sega game pads on a C64, it is not recommended as the
slightly different signal generated by them can damage the CIA chip.
The SID chip's register $D419 is used to control paddles and is an
analog input. Atari paddles are electrically compatible with the C64,
but have different resistance values than Commodore's paddles, which
means most software will not work properly with them.^[citation needed]
However, only a handful of games, mostly ones released early in the
computer's life cycle, can use paddles. In 1986, Commodore released two
mice for the C64 and C128, the 1350 and 1351. The 1350 is a digital
device, read from the joystick registers (and can be used with any
program supporting joystick input); while the 1351 is a true, analog
potentiometer based, mouse, read with the SID's analog-to-digital
converter.
Graphics[edit]
Main article: MOS Technology VIC-II
The graphics chip, VIC-II, features 16 colors, eight hardware sprites
per scanline (enabling up to 112 sprites per PAL screen), scrolling
capabilities, and two bitmap graphics modes.
CAPTION: Commodore 64 palette
Color # Name Hexadecimal RGB value
0 Black
#000000
1 White
#FFFFFF
2 Red
#9F4E44
3 Cyan
#6ABFC6
4 Purple
#A057A3
5 Green
#5CAB5E
6 Blue
#50459B
7 Yellow
#C9D487
8 Orange
#a1683c
9 Brown
#6D5412
10 Light Red
#CB7E75
11 Dark-Gray
#626262
12 Mid-Gray
#898989
13 Light Green
#9AE29B
14 Light Blue
#887ECB
15 Light-Gray
#ADADAD
Text modes[edit]
The standard text mode features 40 columns, like most Commodore PET
models; the built-in character encoding is not standard ASCII but
PETSCII, an extended form of ASCII-1963. The KERNAL ROM sets the VIC-II
to a dark blue background on power up with a light blue text and
border. Unlike the PET and VIC-20, the C64 uses "fat" double-width text
as some early VIC-IIs had poor video quality that resulted in a fuzzy
picture. Most screenshots show borders around the screen, which is a
feature of the VIC-II chip. By utilizing interrupts to reset various
hardware registers on precise timings it was possible to place graphics
within the borders and thus use the full screen.^[86]
The two PETSCII character sets of the C64
The C64 has a resolution of 320 *200 pixels, consisting of a 40 *25
grid of 8 *8 character blocks. The C64 has 255 predefined character
blocks, called PETSCII. The character set can be copied into RAM and
altered by a programmer.
There are two colour modes, high resolution, with two colours available
per character block (one foreground and one background) and multicolour
with four colours per character block (three foreground and one
background). In multicolour mode, attributes are shared between pixel
pairs, so the effective visible resolution is 160 *200 pixels. This is
necessary since only 16 KB of memory is available for the VIC-II video
processor.
As the C64 has a bitmapped screen, it is possible to draw each pixel
individually. This is, however, very slow. Most programmers used
techniques developed for earlier non-bitmapped systems, like the
Commodore PET and TRS-80. A programmer redraws the character set and
the video processor fills the screen block by block from the top left
corner to the bottom right corner.
Two different types of animation are used: character block animation
and hardware sprites.
Character block animation[edit]
The user draws a series of characters of a person walking, say, two in
the middle of the block, and another two walking in and out of the
block. Then the user sequences them so the character walks into the
block and out again. Drawing a series of these and the user gets a
person walking across the screen. By timing the redraw to occur when
the television screen blanks out to restart drawing the screen there
will be no flicker. For this to happen, the user programs the VIC-II
that it generates a raster interrupt when the video flyback occurs.
This is the technique used in the classic Space Invaders arcade game.
Horizontal and vertical pixelwise scrolling of up to one character
block is supported by two hardware scroll registers. Depending on
timing, hardware scrolling affects the entire screen or just selected
lines of character blocks. On a non-emulated C64, scrolling is
glasslike and blur-free.
Hardware sprites[edit]
Sprites on screen in a C64 game
A sprite is a movable character which moves over an area of the screen,
draws over the background and then redraws it after it moves. Note this
is very different from character block animation, where the user is
just flipping character blocks. On the C64, the VIC-II video processor
handles most of the legwork in sprite emulation; the programmer simply
defines the sprite and where they want it to go.
The C64 has two types of sprites, respecting their colour mode
limitations. Hi-res sprites have one colour (one background and one
foreground) and multicolour sprites three (one background and three
foreground). Colour modes can be split or windowed on a single screen.
Sprites can be doubled in size vertically and horizontally up to four
times their size, but the pixel attributes are the same - the pixels
become "fatter". There are 8 sprites in total and all 8 can be shown in
each horizontal line concurrently. Sprites can move with glassy
smoothness in front of and behind screen characters and other sprites.
The hardware sprites of a C64 can be displayed on either a bitmapped
(high resolution) screen or, alternatively, on a text mode screen in
conjunction with fast and smooth character block animation. In
contrast, software emulated sprites found on systems without support
for hardware sprites such as the Apple II and ZX Spectrum required a
bitmapped screen.
Sprite-sprite and sprite-background collisions are detected in hardware
and the VIC-II can be programmed to trigger an interrupt accordingly.
Sound[edit]
Main article: MOS Technology SID
The SID chip has three channels, each with its own ADSR envelope
generator and filter capabilities. Ring modulation makes use of channel
no. 3, to work with the other two channels. Bob Yannes developed the
SID chip and later co-founded synthesizer company Ensoniq. Yannes
criticized other contemporary computer sound chips as "primitive,
obviously ... designed by people who knew nothing about music". Often
the game music has become a hit of its own among C64 users. Well-known
composers and programmers of game music on the C64 are Rob Hubbard,
Jeroen Tel, Tim Follin, David Whittaker, Chris Huelsbeck, Ben Daglish,
Martin Galway, Kjell Nordbo/ and David Dunn among many others. Due to
the chip's three channels, chords are often played as arpeggios,
coining the C64's characteristic lively sound. It was also possible to
continuously update the master volume with sampled data to enable the
playback of 4-bit digitized audio. As of 2008, it became possible to
play four channel 8-bit audio samples, 2 SID channels and still use
filtering.^[87]
An example of SID chip generated music
There are two versions of the SID chip: the 6581 and the 8580. The MOS
Technology 6581 was used in the original ("breadbin") C64s, the early
versions of the 64C, and the Commodore 128. The 6581 was replaced with
the MOS Technology 8580 in 1987. While the 6581 sound quality is a
little crisper and many Commodore 64 fans say they prefer its sound, it
lacks some versatility available in the 8580 - for example, the 8580
can mix all available waveforms on each channel, whereas the 6581 can
only mix waveforms in a channel in a much more limited fashion. The
main difference between the 6581 and the 8580 is the supply voltage.
The 6581 uses a 12 volt supply--the 8580, a 9 volt supply. A
modification can be made to use the 6581 in a newer 64C board (which
uses the 9 volt chip). The SID chip's distinctive sound has allowed it
to retain a following long after its host computer was discontinued. A
number of audio enthusiasts and companies have designed SID-based
products as add-ons for the C64, x86 PCs, and standalone or Musical
Instrument Digital Interface (MIDI) music devices such as the Elektron
SidStation. These devices use chips taken from excess stock, or removed
from used computers. In 2007, Timbaland's extensive use of the
SidStation led to the plagiarism controversy for "Block Party" and "Do
It" (written for Nelly Furtado).
In 1986, the Sound Expander was released for the Commodore 64. It was a
sound module that contained a Yamaha YM3526 sound chip capable of FM
synthesis. It was primarily intended for professional music
production.^[88]^[89]
Hardware revisions[edit]
Three case styles were used: C64 (top, 1982), C64C (1986, middle) and
C64G (1987, bottom)
Commodore made many changes to the C64's hardware during its lifetime,
sometimes causing compatibility issues.^[90] The computer's rapid
development, and Commodore and Tramiel's focus on cost cutting instead
of product testing, resulted in several defects that caused developers
like Epyx to complain and required many revisions to fix; Charpentier
said that "not coming a little close to quality" was one of the
company's mistakes.^[6]
Cost reduction was the reason for most of the revisions. Reducing
manufacturing costs was vitally important to Commodore's survival
during the price war and leaner years of the 16-bit era. The C64's
original (NMOS based) motherboard went through two major redesigns and
numerous sub-revisions, exchanging positions of the VIC-II, SID and PLA
chips. Initially, a large portion of the cost was eliminated by
reducing the number of discrete components, such as diodes and
resistors, which enabled the use of a smaller printed circuit board.
There were 16 total C64 motherboard revisions, aimed at simplifying and
reducing manufacturing costs. Some board revisions were exclusive to
PAL regions. All C64 motherboards were manufactured in Hong Kong.
IC locations changed frequently on each motherboard revision, as did
the presence or lack thereof of the metal RF shield around the VIC-II.
PAL boards often had aluminized cardboard instead of a metal shield.
The SID and VIC-II are socketed on all boards; however, the other ICs
may be either socketed or soldered. The first production C64s, made in
1982 to early 1983, are known as "silver label" models due to the case
sporting a silver-colored "Commodore" logo. The power LED had a
separate silver badge around it reading "64". These machines also have
only a 5-pin video cable and cannot output S-video. In late 1982,
Commodore introduced the familiar "rainbow badge" case, but many
machines produced into early 1983 also used silver label cases until
the existing stock of them was used up. In the spring of 1983, the
original 326298 board was replaced by the 250407 motherboard which
sported an 8-pin video connector and added S-video support for the
first time. This case design was used until the C64C appeared in 1986.
All ICs switched to using plastic shells while the silver label C64s
had some ceramic ICs, notably the VIC-II. The case is made from ABS
plastic which may become brown with time. This can be reversed by using
a process known as "retrobright".
An early C64 motherboard (Rev A PAL 1982)
A C64C motherboard ("C64E" Rev B PAL 1992)
ICs[edit]
The VIC-II was manufactured with 5 micrometer NMOS technology^[6] and
was clocked at either 17.73447 MHz (PAL) or 14.31818 MHz (NTSC).
Internally, the clock was divided down to generate the dot clock (about
8 MHz) and the two-phase system clocks (about 1 MHz; the exact pixel
and system clock speeds are slightly different between NTSC and PAL
machines). At such high clock rates, the chip generated a lot of heat,
forcing MOS Technology to use a ceramic dual in-line package called a
"CERDIP". The ceramic package was more expensive, but it dissipated
heat more effectively than plastic.
After a redesign in 1983, the VIC-II was encased in a plastic dual
in-line package, which reduced costs substantially, but it did not
totally eliminate the heat problem.^[6] Without a ceramic package, the
VIC-II required the use of a heat sink. To avoid extra cost, the metal
RF shielding doubled as the heat sink for the VIC, although not all
units shipped with this type of shielding. Most C64s in Europe shipped
with a cardboard RF shield, coated with a layer of metal foil. The
effectiveness of the cardboard was highly questionable and, worse
still, it acted as an insulator, blocking airflow which trapped heat
generated by the SID, VIC, and PLA chips. The SID was originally
manufactured using NMOS at 7 micrometers and in some areas 6
micrometers.^[6] The prototype SID and some very early production
models featured a ceramic dual in-line package, but unlike the VIC-II,
these are extremely rare as the SID was encased in plastic when
production started in early 1982.
Motherboard[edit]
In 1986, Commodore released the last revision to the classic C64
motherboard. It was otherwise identical to the 1984 design, except for
the two 64 kilobit * 4 bit DRAM chips that replaced the original eight
64 kilobit * 1 bit ICs. After the release of the Commodore 64C,^[91]
MOS Technology began to reconfigure the original C64's chipset to use
HMOS production technology. The main benefit of using HMOS was that it
required less voltage to drive the IC, which consequently generates
less heat. This enhanced the overall reliability of the SID and VIC-II.
The new chipset was renumbered to 85xx to reflect the change to HMOS.
In 1987, Commodore released a 64C variant with a highly redesigned
motherboard commonly known as a "short board". The new board used the
new HMOS chipset, featuring a new 64-pin PLA chip. The new "SuperPLA",
as it was dubbed, integrated many discrete components and
transistor-transistor logic (TTL) chips. In the last revision of the
64C motherboard, the 2114 4-bit-wide color RAM was integrated into the
SuperPLA.
Power supply[edit]
Joystick ports, power switch, power inlet
The C64 used an external power supply, a conventional transformer with
multiple tappings (as opposed to switch mode, the type now used on PC
power supplies). It was encased in an epoxy resin gel, which
discouraged tampering but tended to increase the heat level during use.
The design saved space within the computer's case and allowed
international versions to be more easily manufactured. The 1541-II and
1581 disk drives, along with various third-party clones, also come with
their own external power supply "bricks", as did most peripherals
leading to a "spaghetti" of cables and the use of numerous double
adapters by users.
Commodore power supplies often failed sooner than expected. The
computer reportedly had a 30% return rate in late 1983, compared to the
5-7% the industry considered acceptable.^[92] Creative Computing
reported four working computers out of seven C64s.^[93] Malfunctioning
power bricks were particularly notorious for damaging the RAM chips.
Due to their higher density and single supply (+5V), they had less
tolerance for an overvoltage condition. The usually failing voltage
regulator could be replaced by piggy-backing a new regulator onto the
board and fitting a heat sink on top.^[94]
The original PSU included on early 1982-83 machines had a 5-pin
connector that could accidentally be plugged into the video output of
the computer. To prevent the user from making this damaging mistake,
Commodore changed the plug design on 250407 motherboards to a 3-pin
connector in 1984.^[citation needed] Commodore later changed the design
yet again, omitting the resin gel in order to reduce costs. The
follow-on model, the Commodore 128, used a larger, improved power
supply that included a fuse. The power supply that came with the
Commodore REU was similar to that of the Commodore 128's unit,
providing an upgrade for customers who purchased that accessory.
Specifications[edit]
Internal hardware[edit]
* Microprocessor CPU:
+ MOS Technology 6510/8500 (the 6510/8500 is a modified 6502
with an integrated 6-bit I/O port)
+ Clock speed: 0.985 MHz (PAL) or 1.023 MHz (NTSC)
* Video: MOS Technology VIC-II 6567/8562 (NTSC), 6569/8565 (PAL)
+ 16 colors^[95]
+ Text mode: 40 *25 characters; 256 user-defined chars (8 *8
pixels, or 4 *8 in multicolor mode); or extended background
color; 64 user-defined chars with 4 background colors, 4-bit
color RAM defines foreground color
+ Bitmap modes: 320 *200 (2 unique colors in each 8 *8 pixel
block),^[96] 160 *200 (3 unique colors + 1 common color in
each 4 *8 block)^[96]
+ 8 hardware sprites of 24 *21 pixels (12 *21 in multicolor
mode)
+ Smooth scrolling, raster interrupts
* Sound: MOS Technology 6581/8580 SID
+ 3-channel^[95] synthesizer with programmable ADSR envelope
+ 8 octaves
+ 4 waveforms per audio channel: triangle, sawtooth, variable
pulse, noise
+ Oscillator synchronization, ring modulation
+ Programmable filter: high pass, low pass, band pass, notch
filter
* Input/Output: Two 6526 Complex Interface Adapters
+ 16 bit parallel I/O
+ 8 bit serial I/O
+ 24-hours (AM/PM) Time of Day clock (TOD), with programmable
alarm clock^[97]
+ 16 bit interval timers
* RAM:
+ 64 KB, of which 38 KB were available for BASIC programs
+ 1024 nybbles^[83]^: 262 color RAM (memory allocated for screen
color data storage)^[98]
+ Expandable to 320 KB with Commodore 1764 256 KB RAM Expansion
Unit (REU); although only 64 KB directly accessible; REU used
mostly for the GEOS. REUs of 128 KB and 512 KB, originally
designed for the C128, were also available, but required the
user to buy a stronger power supply from some third party
supplier; with the 1764 this was included.
Creative Micro Designs also produced a 2 MB REU for the C64 and C128,
called the 1750 XL. The technology actually supported up to 16 MB, but
2 MB was the biggest one officially made. Expansions of up to 16 MB
were also possible via the CMD SuperCPU.
* ROM:
+ 20 KB (9 KB Commodore BASIC 2.0; 7 KB KERNAL; 4 KB character
generator, providing two 2 KB character sets)
Input/output (I/O) ports and power supply[edit]
Commodore 64 ports (from left: Joy1, Joy2, Power, ROM cartridge,
RF-adj, RF modulator, A/V, Serial 488 bus, Tape, User)
* I/O ports:^[99]^[better source needed]
+ ROM cartridge expansion slot (44-pin slot for edge connector
with 6510 CPU address/data bus lines and control signals, as
well as GND and voltage pins;^[100] used for program modules
and memory expansions, among others)
+ Integrated RF modulator television antenna output via an RCA
connector. The used channel could be adjusted from number 36
with the potentiometer to the left.
+ 8-pin DIN connector containing composite video output,
separate Y/C outputs and sound input/output. This is a 262DEG
horseshoe version of the plug, rather than the 270DEG circular
version. Early C64 units (with motherboard Assy 326298) use a
5-pin DIN connector that carries composite video and luminance
signals, but lacks a chroma signal.^[101]
+ Serial bus (proprietary serial version of IEEE-488, 6-pin DIN
plug) for CBM printers and disk drives
+ PET-type Commodore Datassette 300 baud tape interface (edge
connector with digital cassette motor/read/write/key-sense
signals), Ground and +5V DC lines. The cassette motor is
controlled by a +5V DC signal from the 6510 CPU. The 9V AC
input is transformed into unregulated 6.36V DC^[102] which is
used to actually power the cassette motor.^[103]
+ User port (edge connector with TTL-level signals, for modems
and so on; byte-parallel signals which can be used to drive
third-party parallel printers, among other things, 17 logic
signals, 7 Ground and voltage pins, including 9V AC)
+ 2 * screwless DE9M game controller ports (compatible with
Atari 2600 controllers), each supporting five digital inputs
and two analog inputs. Available peripherals included digital
joysticks, analog paddles, a light pen, the Commodore 1351
mouse, and graphics tablets such as the KoalaPad.
* Power supply:
+ 5V DC and 9V AC from an external "power brick", attached to a
7-pin female DIN-connector on the computer.^[104]
The 9 volt AC is used to supply power via a charge pump to the SID
sound generator chip, provide 6.8V via a rectifier to the cassette
motor, a "0" pulse for every positive half wave to the time-of-day
(TOD) input on the CIA chips, and 9 volts AC directly to the user-port.
Thus, as a minimum, a 12 V square wave is required. But a 9 V sine wave
is preferred.^[105]^[106]^[better source needed]
Memory map[edit]
Address Size
[KB] Description
0x0000 32.0 RAM ^[107]
0x8000 8.0 RAM Cartridge ROM ^[107]
0xA000 8.0 RAM BASIC ROM ^[107]
0xC000 4.0 RAM ^[107]
0xD000 4.0 RAM I/O/Color RAM Character ROM ^[107]
0xE000 8.0 RAM KERNAL ROM ^[107]
Note that even if an I/O chip like the VIC-II only uses 64 positions in
the memory address space, it will occupy 1,024 addresses because some
address bits are left undecoded.^[107]
Peripherals[edit]
See also: Commodore 64 peripherals
* Commodore 1541 floppy drive
Commodore 1541 floppy drive
* Commodore 1541C floppy drive
Commodore 1541C floppy drive
* Commodore 1541-II floppy drive
Commodore 1541-II floppy drive
* Commodore 1530 Datasette
Commodore 1530 Datasette
* Commodore MPS-802 dot matrix printer
Commodore MPS-802 dot matrix printer
* Commodore VIC-Modem
Commodore VIC-Modem
* Commodore 1351 mouse
Commodore 1351 mouse
* Commodore 1702 video monitor
Commodore 1702 video monitor
* Commodore 1581 3.5" double-sided floppy drive
Commodore 1581 3.5" double-sided floppy drive
Manufacturing cost[edit]
Vertical integration was the key to keeping Commodore 64 production
costs low. At the introduction in 1982, the production cost was US$135
and the retail price US$595. In 1985, the retail price went down to
US$149 (US$380 today) and the production costs were believed to be
somewhere between US$35-50 (c. US$90-130 today). Commodore would not
confirm this cost figure. Dougherty of the Berkeley Softworks estimated
the costs of the Commodore 64 parts based on his experience at Mattel
and Imagic.
CAPTION: Cost^[6]
Count Price in 1985 US$ Part
3 1 ROMs^[6]
8 1.85 Dynamic RAMs
4 SID (sound) chip
4 VIC-II (graphics) chip
3 RF modulator package
1-2 6510 8-bit microprocessor
5 A handful of TTL, buffers, power regulators and capacitors
10 max Keyboard
1-2 Printed circuit board
1-2 Plastic case
5-10 Power supply and miscellaneous connectors
1-2 Packaging and manual
Total: 52.8-61.8
To lower costs, TTL chips were replaced with less expensive custom
chips and ways to increase the yields on the sound and graphics chips
were found. The video chip 6567 had the ceramic package replaced with
plastic but heat dissipation demanded a redesign of the chip and the
development of a plastic package that can dissipate heat as well as
ceramic.^[6]
Clones[edit]
C64 Direct-to-TV
Clones are computers that imitate C64 functions. In the middle of 2004,
after an absence from the marketplace of more than 10 years, PC
manufacturer Tulip Computers BV (owners of the Commodore brand since
1997) announced the C64 Direct-to-TV (C64DTV), a joystick-based TV game
based on the C64 with 30 video games built into ROM. Designed by Jeri
Ellsworth, a self-taught computer designer who had earlier designed the
modern C-One C64 implementation, the C64DTV was similar in concept to
other mini-consoles based on the Atari 2600 and Intellivision, which
had gained modest success earlier in the decade. The product was
advertised on QVC in the United States for the 2004 holiday
season.^[108] By modifying the circuit board, it is possible to attach
C1541 floppy disk drives, a second joystick, and PS/2 keyboards to
these units, which gives the DTV devices nearly all the capabilities of
a full Commodore 64.^[citation needed] The DTV hardware is also used in
the mini-console Hummer, sold at RadioShack in mid-2005.
In 2015, a Commodore 64 compatible motherboard was produced by
Individual Computers. Dubbed the "C64 Reloaded", it is a modern
redesign of the Commodore 64 motherboard revision 250466 with a few new
features.^[109] The motherboard itself is designed to be placed in an
empty C64 or C64C case already owned by the user. Produced in limited
quantities, models of this Commodore 64 "clone" sport either machined
or ZIF sockets in which the custom C64 chips would be placed. The board
also contains jumpers to accept different revisions of the VIC-II and
SID chips, as well as the ability to jumper between the analogue video
system modes PAL and NTSC. The motherboard contains several
innovations, including selection via the RESTORE key of multiple KERNAL
and character ROMs, built-in reset toggle on the power switch, and an
S-video socket to replace the original TV modulator. The motherboard is
powered by a DC-to-DC converter that uses a single power input of 12 V
DC from a mains adapter to power the unit rather than the original and
failure-prone Commodore 64 power supply brick.
Newer compatible hardware[edit]
As of 2008, C64 enthusiasts still develop new hardware, including
Ethernet cards,^[110] specially adapted hard disks and flash card
interfaces (sd2iec).^[111]
Brand reuse[edit]
The C64 "Web.it" Internet Computer
In 1998, the C64 brand was reused for the "Web.it Internet
Computer",^[112]^[113] a low-powered (even for the time)
Internet-oriented, all-in-one x86 PC running MS-DOS and Windows 3.1.
Despite its "Commodore 64" nameplate, the "C64 Web.it" is not directly
compatible with the original (except via included emulation software),
nor does it share its appearance. PC clones branded as C64x sold by
Commodore USA, LLC, a company licensing the Commodore
trademark,^[114]^[115] began shipping in June 2011.^[116] The C64x has
a case resembling the original C64 computer, but - as with the "Web.it"
- it is based on x86 architecture and is not compatible with the
Commodore 64 on either hardware or software levels.
Virtual Console[edit]
Several Commodore 64 games were released on the Nintendo Wii's Virtual
Console service in Europe and North America only. The games were
unlisted from the service as of August 2013 for unknown
reasons.^[citation needed]
THEC64 and THEC64 Mini[edit]
THEC64 Mini (top) next to an original C64
Full-size THEC64 in its original box
THEC64 Mini is an unofficial Linux-based console that emulates the
Commodore 64, released in 2018 by UK-based Retro Games. The console
takes the form of a decorative half-scale Commodore 64 with two USB and
one HDMI port, plus a mini USB connection to power the system. The
console's decorative keyboard is non-functional - the system is
controlled via the included THEC64 joystick, or a separate USB
keyboard.^[117] It is possible to load new software ROMs into the
console, which uses emulator x64 (as part of VICE) to run software, and
has a built-in graphical operating system.^[118]
The full-size THEC64 was released in 2019 in Europe and Australia, and
was scheduled for release in November 2020 in the North American
market. The console and built-in keyboard are built to scale with the
original Commodore 64, including a functional keyboard. Enhancements
include VIC-20 emulation, four USB ports, and an upgraded joystick.
Neither product features any of Commodore's trademarks - the Commodore
key on the original keyboard is replaced with a THEC64 key, and Retro
Games can call neither product a "C64" - although the system ROMs are
licensed from Cloanto Corporation. The consoles can be switched between
"carousel mode" for accessing the built-in game library, and "classic
mode" in which the machine operates similarly to a traditional
Commodore 64. USB storage can be used to hold disk, cartridge and tape
images for use with the machine.
Emulators[edit]
Commodore 64 emulators include the open source VICE, Hoxs64,^[119] and
CCS64. An iPhone app was also released with a compilation of C64 ports.
See also[edit]
* List of Commodore 64 games
* History of personal computers
* IDE64 - P-ATA interface cartridge for the C64
* SuperCPU - CPU upgrade for C64 and C128
Footnotes[edit]
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Sources[edit]
*
Angerhausen, Michael; Becker, Achim; Englisch, Lothar; Gerits, Klaus (1
December 1983). Hanson, Jeff; Hanson, Kirby; Lee, Arnie (eds.). Anatomy
of the Commodore 64. A Data Becker book. Translated by Kesten, Detlev.
Abacus Software. ISBN 978-0916439002. OCLC 1039401881. OL 8337785M -
via Internet Archive.
Bagnall, Brian (2005). On the Edge: the Spectacular Rise and Fall of
Commodore. Variant Press. ISBN 0-9738649-0-7. See especially
pp. 224-260.
Tomczyk, Michael (1984). The Home Computer Wars: An Insider's Account
of Commodore and Jack Tramiel. COMPUTE! Publications, Inc.
ISBN 0-942386-75-2.
Jeffries, Ron. "A best buy for '83: Commodore 64". Creative
Computing, January 1983.
Amiga Format News Special. "Commodore at CeBIT '94". Amiga Format,
Issue 59, May 1994.
Computer Chronicles; "Commodore 64 - Interview with Commodore
president Max Toy", 1988.
The C-64 Scene Database; "- Kjell Nordbo/ artist page (bio/release
history) at CSDb".
Steil, Michael (December 29, 2008). The Ultimate Commodore 64 Talk.
25th Chaos Communication Congress (25c3). Berlin. Retrieved December
28, 2013.
*
The Ultimate Commodore 64 Talk. 25th Chaos Communication Congress
(Abstract).
External links[edit]
Wikimedia Commons has media related to Commodore 64.
* Commodore 64 at Curlie
* Commodore 64 history, manuals, and photos
* C64-Wiki (wiki-based encyclopaedia)
* Extensive collection of information on C64 programming
* A History of Gaming Platforms: The Commodore 64 from October 2007
* A Commodore 64 Web Server Using Contiki v2.3*
Variations on the Commodore 64, archived from the original on May 4,
2010, retrieved January 24, 2011
Design case history: the Commodore 64, IEEE Spectrum, March 1985
Comparing different unit sales analyses
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