C is our favorite language as it provides reasonably high level constructs while maintaining very good performance. The majority of the code we write for for both vintage computers and microcontrollers computers is in C. In this article we compare several C compiler for the 6502 to understand the performance and limitations of each.
Arduino shields are ubiquitous and provide a wide range of sensors and interfaces. Commodorino allows their use on a Commodore 64. The interface provides good compatibility with the Arduino Uno platform. Digital I/O, Analog In, SPI, I2C and limited interrupt and Serial port are implemented and additional Micro SD card socket is available for future expansion.
The geoRAM is a 512KB memory expansion for the Commodore 64 and 128 designed by Berkeley Softworks for use with GEOS. While not as fast as the Commodore REU due to its lack of DMA capabilities, it still provides a significant performance boost. GRAM/4D is a 4MB geoRAM compatible cartridge based on a two 4Mx4 DRAM devices.
The 80 column output of the Commodore 128 is the same digital RGBI used by the original IBM CGA graphics adapter. Unfortunately nowadays is quite difficult to find a monitor with the suitable RGBI input. The CGA2RGBv2 adapter will convert the TTL RGBI to analog RGB suitable to be connected directly to a 15KHz capable RGB monitor or to the popular Gonbes GBS-8200 VGA converter.
GTERM is a newly developed VT100 terminal emulator for the Commodore 64. GTERM supports the GLINK232/swiftlink and the GLINK232T/Turbo232 UART cartridges. It features a custom monochrome software 80 columns display and supports serial speeds up to 115200 bauds on a stock c64.
GMT (GGLABS Memory Test) is a new developed memory test for vintage computers optimized for speed and coverage. The code is based on the test algorithms described in "Testing Semiconductor Memories: Theory and Practice" by A.J. van de Goor. The program is mostly in C plus small sections in assembly. It is free software and released under the GPL v3 license.
After we developed the UNICART/D many customers asked for a more compact version of the cartridge without the pass-through connector. The board uses one standard PLCC32 flash ROM up to 4Mbit. In C64 mode 8K, 16K and 16K Ultimax cartridge modes are supported. In C128 mode both 16K and 32K cartridges are supported.
