C64 cartridge LED mods

I’m a geek, you’re a geek, we’re all geeks.

And geeks build their own cartridges. And mod their computers.

Why not combine it all and mod their own cartridges?

Today’s article will demonstrate how to implement a few possible LED alterations to a C64 cartridge.

2023/06/192023/07/11 by wereallgeeks Categories: 100% Geek, C64Cart, C64Mods, Commodore 64, Computers and technology, Geekyness, Projects, RetrocomputingTags: 100% Geek, 16k cartridge, 27512, 74ls04, Alterations, BYO, C64, C64C, cart, cartridge, Cartridge mod, commodore, Commodore 64, Commodore 64C, DIY, Electronic, electronics, EPROM, EPROM access, EPROM activity, Geek, Geekyness, indicator, iNimbleSloth, irq, led, LOADING, Logic chips, Lunde, magic desk, mod, Modifications, power led, retrocomputer, Retrocomputing, retrogaming, wereallgeeks 1 Comment

Altering Commodore’s Kernal

I’m a geek, you’re a geek, we’re all geeks.

And geeks enjoy their retrogaming.

Sometimes this means building their own computer.

The Kernal, Commodore’s Kernel ROM, has apparently been named Kernal after one of the engineers made a typo on the Kernel name, and all of Commodore Business Machine ran with it, naming it Kernal even in documentations.

Talk about owning their mistakes!

The Kernal is in charge of operating the various aspects of the computer – it is similar to the operating system of modern computing, but is on a chip, on the motherboard. It has routines for loading, displaying and pretty much everything.

And, similarly to today’s OS alterations and mods, Commodore’s Kernal can be modified.

2023/05/292023/07/27 by wereallgeeks Categories: 100% Geek, C64Mods, C64ROM, Commodore 64, Computers and technology, Geekyness, Projects, RetrocomputingTags: alteration, assembly, BASIC, build your own, build your own computer, BYO, C64, C64C, commodore, Commodore 64, computer, computers, DIY, electronics, EPROM, games, Geek, hardware, hardware alteration, I adore my 64, instructions, Kernal, Kernel, machine language, microchip, mod, mods, operating system, OS, personalize, personalize your 64, personalize your commodore, programming, retro, retro computer, retro computing, retro gaming, retrocomputer, Retrocomputing, retrogaming, ROM, video games, wereallgeeks 1 Comment

C64 Audiovideo Jack panel

I’m a geek, you’re a geek, we’re all geeks

and geeks still use electronics from the eighties, on their 2020s televisions.

The Commodore 64 was the most prolific computers of all time, and luckily was intended to output in old-style television RF, Audio-Video (RCA) cables, or Chroma-Luma for it’s monitors; which can be adapted to S-video cables.

The output connector for most of the options but RF was a DIN on the back of the machine, so geeks need to come up with an DIN-to-Television adapter cable.

Today’s article will explore an easy board to achieve such results.

2023/04/292023/07/11 by wereallgeeks Categories: 100% Geek, C64Mods, C64SID, C64VIC, Commodore 64, Computers and technology, Geekyness, Projects, RetrocomputingTags: audio-video, AV, C64, commodore, Commodore 64, electronics, jumpers, luma-chroma, mod, open hardware, pcb, RCA connectror, s-video, Sven Petersen

Commodore 64’s BASIC and Kernal ROM replacement

I’m a geek, you’re a geek, we’re all geeks.

And geeks likes to play games on their old computers.

With retrogaming and retrocomputing comes interesting hobbies such as building a vintage computer in modern times. Some of the parts are easily replaced by modern technology, other parts not so much.

There are 3 ROM chips on the Commodore 64 longboard motherboards – the Kernal (Yes, yes, Kernal – commodore’s Kernel is named Kernal) which drives the whole system; the Character ROM that tells the machine how to draw characters for the geeks to interact with the machine; and the BASIC ROM that is essentially the operating system.

The Character ROM was an 2332 masked ROM – we already saw how it can be replaced – but the two other ROMs were 2364 masked ROM.

Sadly, 2564 or more modern EPROMs aren’t pin-compatible.

Today’s article explore possible replacement for these ROM chips.

2023/04/272024/04/23 by wereallgeeks Categories: 100% Geek, C64Mods, C64ROM, Commodore 64, Computers and technology, Geekyness, Projects, RetrocomputingTags: 2364, 2764, 28c256, BASIC, BASIC ROM, burning, C64, C64C, commodore, Commodore 64, drop-in replacement, electronics, EPROM, Geek, Kernal, kernal quattro, Kernel, Masked ROM, programmer, programming, ROM, ROM replacement, ROM Switcher, shared project, T48, TL866 3 Comments

CPU usage indicator for Commodore 64

I’m a geek, you’re a geek, we’re all geeks.

And geeks play with vintage computers.

And geeks mod their equipment.

So geeks mod their vintage computers.

While the Commodore 64 is the most popular home computer of all time, there is no visual indicator of processor usage. The machine may very well be sleeping or frozen, or it can be processing something important. Like loading the best videogame of the 80s.

This is no problem for a geek…

In today’s article we mod the Commodore 64 in order to add a visual feedback of processor usage.

2023/04/242023/07/11 by wereallgeeks Categories: 100% Geek, C64Mods, Commodore 64, Computers and technology, Geekyness, Projects, RetrocomputingTags: 100% Geek, 7404, 74HCT04, 74ls04, bicolor led, C64, commodore, Commodore 64, cpu, DIY, electronics, Geek, irq, led, mod, mods, pcb, power led, Retrocomputing 2 Comments