What is a Commodore 64 Magic Desk Cart ?

We recently demonstrated how to build a Commodore 64 cart. This was the basic cart as originally planned on the Commodore 64, but at some point they started to develop larger-than-anticipated carts with multiple different standards; one of which is named Magic Desk.

Today’s article will discuss this standard, how it came to be, and how to build such a cart.

2023/06/052023/07/11 by wereallgeeks Categories: 100% Geek, C64Cart, Commodore 64, Computers and technology, Geekyness, Projects, RetrocomputingTags: binary, build your own, build your own cart, C64, cart, cartridge, commodore, Commodore 64, commodore cart, computer, Diagnostic, electronics, EPROM, EPROM Programmer, fast load, game cart, game cartridge, games, Geek, magic desk, pcb, programs, python, retro, retro gaming, retrocomputer, Retrocomputing, retrogaming, script, software, soldering, Sven Petersen, T48, thec64, TL866, tool, tools, tools cart, utility, video games, vintage 2 Comments

Build your own Commodore 64 cartridge

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

And geeks likes their retrogaming experience to be as similar to the good ol’ days, yet can’t wait for load up time. Particularly when it comes to Commodore 64 and it’s legendarily slow load process.

Some games were delivered by cartridge in the best days of the Commodore 64. Some didn’t and geeks from around the world had to load up from cassette tape or floppy disks, both of which are much slower to execute.

Lots of those games have since been adapted to Cartridge format either for emulation or physical carts.

In today’s article we explore the making of custom physical Commodore 64 cartridges.

2023/05/092023/10/03 by wereallgeeks Categories: 100% Geek, C64Cart, Commodore 64, Computers and technology, Games, Geekyness, Projects, Retrocomputing, RetrogamingTags: 16k, 3d-print, 64gs, C64, C64C, cart, cartridge, commodore, Commodore 64, commodore 64gs, commodore max, DIY, electronics, EPROM, games, iNimbleSloth, microchip, open hardware, pcb, PLA, programming, RAM, retrogaming, ROM, shared project, shell, T48, TL866, vice, Video game, videogames 3 Comments

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

Using a 2532 EPROM for the C64 character ROM (2332 masked ROM)

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

And geeks likes to make things themselves.

So when a geek is building a commodore 64 from scratch, instead of sourcing new-old-stock parts, they like to build it geek-style

Today’s article will look at how to drop in replace the Commodore 64 character ROM with a 2532 EPROM.

2023/04/182023/08/10 by wereallgeeks Categories: 100% Geek, C64ROM, Commodore 64, Computers and technology, Geekyness, Projects, RetrocomputingTags: 250466, C64, commodore, Commodore 64, drop-in replacement, EPROM, Geek, programming, Retrocomputing, T48, TL866 4 Comments