C64S - Commodore 64 Software Emulator Registered version 1.0C, June 1994 c 1991-1994 Miha Peternel C64S USER'S MANUAL This document is c 1994 by Miha Peternel. No part of this document may be reprinted without written permission of the author. ____________________ 1. INTRODUCTION AND INSTALLATION Welcome to a software emulator of the good old fat C64. It will allow you to run most of the original C64 software on your PC. The C64S emulator and accompanying utilities are copyrighted c 1994 by Miha Peternel and may not be copied, sold, hired or distributed in any way without written permission of the author. C64 and 1541 ROM code is copyrighted c by Commodore Business Machines. Minimum requirements: - 386 or better - 640K RAM (500K low ram free) - VGA display (register compatible) - DOS 3.3 or higher Optional: - a soundcard: Gravis UltraSound (best for sound output) Sound Blaster (all versions or DSP compatible soundcards) Covox or compatible DAC (digital to analog converter) - PC joystick (1 or 2) - tape/floppy interface You need at least a cached 386DX40 with a fast VGA for real time emulation. A soundcard is recommended, though the sound can also be played through PC speaker (at rather low quality). Installation To install the C64S software, insert the distribution diskette in your disk drive and log to that disk drive. For example, if you are using diskette drive A:, type A: at the DOS command prompt. Then type INSTALL. The installation software will unpack the C64S files and copy them to your hard drive. It will prompt you for the destination directory; the default is C64S. Files The following files are essential for proper emulator operation: - C64S.EXE C64 Software Emulator (for 386 and better) - SYSTEM.EXE C64S system emulation - CONFIG.EXE C64S hardware configuration utility - ROMCODE.C64 C64 and 1541 ROM code The following utilities make life easier: - COM1541.EXE Transfers 1541 disk contents to .D64 files - TAPEIO.EXE Turbo Tape loader for PC - MAKETAPE.EXE Creates .T64 files and imports .PRG files - FIXTAPE.EXE Fixes bad CONV64 created .T64 files Documentation: - C64S.DOC This document in Word 6.0 format - LPT1541.DOC 1541 connection scheme - LPTTAPE.DOC Tape recorder connection scheme - T64.DOC .T64 file structure ______________________ 2. CONFIGURATION C64S comes with an automated configuration program, which lets you easily configure emulator options to best suit your hardware. To start the configuration program, change to the C64S directory and type on the command line: CONFIG Or in case of any troubles: CONFIG -s The configuration program will autodetect the presence of soundcards and analogue joysticks. Some users may have many add-on cards installed in the computer in which case the autodetection procedures may fail or even crash the computer. If you notice any such trouble try running the configuration program with -s switch. This switch will tell the program to skip autodetection procedure. The configuration program will then try to read current saved settings. If no settings are saved, it will use default settings. Also, you can always use -d switch to use default settings instead of the saved settings. In the configuration screen, you may use Up and Down arrows to move around, Left, Right and Enter keys to change the highlighted setting. Configuration overview: - Sound Output C64S can autodetect the Gravis UltraSound and Sound Blaster (or true DSP compatible) soundcards. If the sound output is set to Autodetect, the priority of selecting sound output is: GUS, SB, PC speaker. If the configuration program fails to detect your soundcard's port, try setting it manually in the configuration screen. - Tape port & 1541 port These port settings are used by COM1541 and TAPEIO utilities. - Analogue joysticks This option must be set to Autodetect to use analogue PC joysticks. C64S provides two methods of scanning joysticks. Compensating mode takes less CPU time but might fail with some joysticks or newer "speed compensating" game ports. Compatible mode will work with all joysticks. You are advised to try Compensating mode first. If it fails, change to Compatible mode. - Video mode C64S works in two VGA modes. Default Extended mode is VGA 368*240 pixels, 16 colors. Compatible mode is provided in case you are running the emulator on a laptop with LCD display or your monitor cannot display Extended mode. Compatible mode is standard VGA 320*200 pixels, 16 colors. IMPORTANT: If you run C64S in multitasking environment such as Windows or OS/2, you are strongly advised to disable sound output and set the joystick scanning mode to Compatible. This will prevent general slow down and other difficulties in such environments. Exit the environment and run C64S from plain DOS to enjoy full emulation performance. When you have finished with configuration, press End and Return to save settings and exit. You may always press Esc to abort configuration without saving. ___________________ 3. FIRST STEPS This chapter provides a quick overview of how to load and run C64 programs after the emulator has been installed and configured. For further details, see the following chapters. 1. If you are running the emulator for the first time, and you have not run the CONFIG utility yet, please refer to the previous chapter for the information about hardware configuration. 2. Run the emulator by changing to the emulator's directory (if necessary) and typing on the DOS command line: C64S The well-known blue C64 screen appears. 3. Press F9 to get to the tape file screen. Select a tape image file using arrow keys and press Enter. The selected tape is now "open" and you will enter tape directory screen with the list of files stored in the selected tape image file. Select a file and press Enter. Now you will be returned to C64 screen. 4. Press SHIFT+TAB (which equals SHIFT+RUN/STOP), which will load a tape program and run it automatically. 5. Press F10 to enter the joystick option screen. Configure the joystick port emulation as you wish. You can even change the keys to emulate joysticks. IMPORTANT: If you are using analogue PC joystick and you are running the emulator for the first time, press 'R' and follow the steps to recalibrate the joystick. 6. After you have finished configuring joystick settings, press ESC to get back to C64 screen and enjoy the nostalgia. :) 7. You can always press F10 to enter option screen, where you can adjust numerous emulation settings to improve the behavior of the program you are running. 8. To leave one program and load another, press CTRL-ALT-DEL to reset the emulator and proceed from step 3. 9. CTRL-BREAK gets you back to DOS prompt. ________________ 4. EMULATOR KEYBOARD The keyboard layout is the same as the original C64 with some exceptions due to the different layout of the PC keyboard. Some special emulator features make the work with the emulator easier. The tapes and disks to be used with the emulator are stored in a special format (so-called image files) on the hard disk. You can select the tape position or a disk using emulator desktop. Emulation settings can be changed either with the CONFIG program (hardware settings) or in the option screen (other settings). The following keys have special meaning: - F9 enters emulator desktop - F10 enters joystick option screen - F11 pressed prevents screen updates (Great for uninterrupted sound reproduction) - ESC is an exit/cancel key - CTRL+BREAK exits the emulator - CTRL+ALT+DEL or CTRL+ALT+BackSpace emulates reset - CTRL+ALT+INS causes brutal reset (for reset-protected programs, actually it rewrites the CBM80 sign and performs a normal reset) - PRINT SCREEN captures screen to a Windows bitmap file (filename C64S0xxx.BMP) Table of replaced keys with their equivalents: - C= Alt - Ins/Del BackSpace - Clr/Home Home - L Insert - ( Delete - Run/Stop Tab - Restore F12 Default joystick emulation keys: - Primary set (1st emulated joystick): Default primary set consists of arrow keys and right Alt key. - Secondary set (2nd emulated joystick): W up S down U left I right O fire _________________________ 5. EMULATOR DESKTOP Press F9 in the emulator to enter the emulator desktop. The desktop consists of multiple screens that allow you to manipulate the tape and disk images used in the emulation. You can change several emulation parameters, and you can even monitor the emulator CPU and memory (both C64 and 1541). The top screen line represents the main menu. Press the Alt key to enter the main menu. Move around with arrow keys and select a topic by pressing enter. Or you can select a main menu topic directly by pressing Alt plus the highlighted letter. In all the desktop screens, the bottom screen line lists the actions available. Press the highlighted letter (without Alt) to select the action. Enter will always select the leftmost action. The following is the list of desktop screens and functions available: 5.1. TAPE The tape file screen lets you select the tape image file to be used in the emulation. Move around with arrow keys, then press Enter to select the tape or change the directory. When you select a tape image file, you will enter the tape directory screen. Move around and press Enter to set the tape pointer position. You will get back to the emulation screen. When you enter the LOAD command or (Shift+Tab to LOAD and RUN), the emulator will read a file from the position set in the ...
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