Cartridge

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WARNING!!!
When plugging a cartridge into, or pulling it out of the C64, always make sure the power is turned off! Inserting or removing a cartridge while the C64 is turned on may cause one or both to malfunction!

A cartridge is a piece of electronics which plugs into the expansion port on the C64, adding extra memory and/or special hardware to the system. This provides a convenient alternative to comparatively slow and error-prone floppies and tapes: Plug it in, turn it on, and the software/hardware add-on is ready to use right away.

Final Cartridge III

Game Cartridge Gorf

Magic Voice A Cartridge which allows the C64 to speak with you

MMC64

Contents

[edit] Types of cartridges

Most, if not all cartridges for the C64, provide a ROM circuit to hold software. Some cartridges may also have special hardware on-board.

[edit] Standard ROM cartridges

The cartridge system implemented in the C64 provides an easy way to hook 8 or 16 kilobytes of ROM into the computer's address space: This allows for applications and games up to 16 K, or BASIC expansions up to 8 K in size and appearing to the CPU along with the built-in BASIC ROM. In theory, such a cartridge need only contain the ROM circuit without any extra support electronics.

[edit] Freezer cartridges

These cartridges exploits the C64's ability to "emulate" the MAX Machine: In this mode, often referred to as "ultimax mode", all of 44 kilobytes are "left open" so that the cartridge may map ROM, RAM and more into the system: The CPU then runs cartridge code, using RAM residing in the cartridge, and thus preserving the "frozen" content of the machine's own RAM.

[edit] Specialty cartridges

Various special hardware has been developed, which plugs into the expansion port, the Magic Voice from Commodore being one example.

[edit] Cartridge boot-up

The standard way of "hooking" software in the cartridge's ROM into the C64, is by way of pins 8 (/GAME) and 9 (/EXROM) in the expansion port: These are inputs, held high through pull-up resistors inside the C64. By connecting one or both of these lines to ground, the cartridge ROM gets mapped into the address space at certain regions (see Bankswitching). On power-up (or when reset) the C64 uses a KERNAL subroutine at 64770–64783/$FD02–FD0F to see if the address range 32772–32776/$8004–$8008 contains the "cartridge signature" (the text CBM80 in PETSCII code): If that is the case, the CPU takes an indirect jump through the pointer at 32768–32769/$8000–$8001; otherwise the C64 continues to boot up it's built-in BASIC system.

All these addresses are within area that is "covered" by cartridge ROM: The cartridge just needs to have the CBM80 signature and a pointer to the start address in it's software at the right places, to be "booted" on power-up.

Besides the "cold start" vector at 32768–32769/$8000–$8001, there is an NMI vector at 32770–32771/$8002–$8003 — the C64 also checks for the presence of a cartridge during NMI's, e.g. caused by pressing the Restore key.

[edit] (Ab)using the cartridge boot-up system

By placing the CBM80 sequence and some pointers in RAM at the aforementioned addresses, it's possible to use the boot-up system to "divert" reset and NMI's to a specific address (so that a program in RAM just restarts if the user tries to reset the C64 or causes an NMI using the RESTORE key)

[edit] Overview

[edit] Application

[edit] Commodore

[edit] Handic Software

  • Easy Calc Result C64, 1985
  • Diary 64, 1983
  • Forth 64, 1983
  • Graf 64, 1983
  • Muistio 64, 1983
  • Stat 64, 1983
  • Teledata 64, 1983
  • Text 64, 1983
  • Tool 64, 1983
  • Viditel 64, 1982

[edit] HES

[edit] Omikron

[edit] SHS-Bude

[edit] Spinnaker Software

[edit] Others

  • CP-Clock F83
  • Currah Speech 64
  • Human Skeleton Tutorial (S.M.Thorpe), 1984
  • Make-A-Face (Learning Tree), 1983
  • Radar BASIC 50k
  • States and Capitals Tutorial (S.M.Thorpe), 1984
  • TK 1.22 (16.03.1986)
  • Utah Counties Tutorial (S.M.Thorpe), 1984
  • Vizastar 64

[edit] Games

[edit] Activision

[edit] Atari

[edit] Broderbund

  • Choplifter, 1982
  • Lode Runner, 1983
  • Seafox, 1982
  • Serpentine, 1982

[edit] Commodore

[edit] Creative Software

[edit] Dinamic

[edit] Disc Company

  • Funplay, 1990 (3 games: Fast Food, Pro Skateboard, Pro Tennis)
  • Powerplay, 1990 (3 games: Microprose Soccer, Rick Dangerous, Stunt Car Racer)

[edit] Domark

[edit] Epyx

[edit] Fisher Price

  • Alpha Build, 1984 (SSC, Fischer Price)
  • Dance Fantasy, 1984
  • Hop Along Counting, 1984
  • Linking Logic, 1984
  • Logic Levels, 1984
  • Memory Manor, 1984
  • Number Tumblers, 1984
  • Sea Speller, 1984
  • Song Maker, 1985
  • Up'n Add 'Em, 1984

[edit] Handic Software

  • Bridge 64, 1983
  • Clown 64, 1983 (swedish version of Clowns)
  • Cup Final 64, 1983 (swedish version of International Soccer)
  • Gridrunner 64, 1982 (swedish version of Gridrunner)
  • Kickman 64, 1982 (swedish version of Kickman)
  • Omega Race 64, 1982 (swedish version of Omega Race)
  • Space Action, 1983
  • The Fourth Sarcophagus (Text adventure), 1983
  • The Muntant Spiders, 1983

[edit] HES

[edit] Maxion

[edit] MR Computer

[edit] Ocean

[edit] Parker Brothers

[edit] SEGA

[edit] Siera Online

[edit] Spinnmaker

[edit] System 3

[edit] Turbo Software

[edit] Others

[edit] Tools

[edit] Datel

  • Action Replay, 198?
  • Action Replay II, 198?
  • Action Replay III, 198?
  • Action Replay IV, 198?
  • Action Replay 4.2 / Pro, 198?
  • Action Cartridge V5.0 / Plus, 1988
  • Action Cartridge V5.1 / Bacchus, 1988
  • Action Replay V6.0 / Plus / Pro, 1989
  • Action Replay V7.0

[edit] Dela

  • Multifunktionsmodul
  • S/4-Modul

[edit] Evesham Micros

  • Freeze Frame MKz A, 1985
  • Freeze Frame MK II, 1987
  • Freeze Frame MK V, 1987?
  • Freeze Machine, 1989? (combines Freeze Frame MK V and Lazer MK II)
  • Lazer MK II

[edit] Grewe GmbH

[edit] LMS Technologies

  • Super Snapshot

[edit] REX

  • 128'er Modul (REX 9521)
  • 128er Quickload+DOS (REX 9811)
  • Diashowmaker - Freezer Hardcopy (REX 9690)
  • Exos V.3 (REX 9805)
  • Hardcopy-Modul (REX 9629)
  • Hardcopy Turbo Modul (REX 9505)
  • Hypradisk 3.0 - REX 3.0 Loader (REX 9615)
  • Hypra Tape (REX 9510)
  • IC-Tester (REX 9627)
  • Monitor Modul 89 (REX 9516)
  • Pictures Printer (REX 9545)
  • Profi DOS (REX 9645)
  • Print Screen (REX 9823)
  • RS-232 Interface (REX 9626)
  • Slow Down (REX 9675)
  • Super Betriebssystem (REX 9583)

[edit] Others

[edit] Modems & I/O-Cards

  • 64'er online (Dres EDV+Btx GmbH)
  • Btx-Com (Digitec-Saarbrücken)
  • Laser 64
  • Magic Voice
  • MIDI-Interface
  • Modem C64+
  • C64 Ethernet Cartridge
  • 64nic+ ethernetwork card

[edit] Links

Wikipedia: Cartridge
Retrieved from "http://www.c64-wiki.com/index.php/Cartridge"
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