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

  • Calc Result C64 (Easy/Advanced), 1985
  • Diary 64, 1983
  • Forth 64, 1983
  • Graf 64, 1983
  • Muistio 64, 1983
  • Stat 64, 1983
  • Simon's Basic 64, 1983
  • Tele-Data 64, 1983
  • Text 64, 1983
  • Tool 64, 1983
  • Viditel 64, 1982

[edit] HES

[edit] Omikron

[edit] SHS-Bude

[edit] Spinnaker Software

[edit] Others

[edit] Games

[edit] Activision

[edit] Atari

[edit] Broderbund

[edit] CBS Software

  • Big Bird's Funhouse, 1984
  • Big Bird's Special Delivery, 1984
  • Coconotes, 1984
  • Ducks Ahoy!, 1984
  • Ernie's Magic Shapes, 1984
  • Halftime Battlin' Bands, 1984
  • Letter-Go-Round, 1984
  • Math Mileage, 1984
  • Movie Musical Madness, 1984
  • Peanut Butter Panic, 1984
  • Sea Horse Hide'n Seek, 1984
  • Timebound, 1984
  • Webster: The Word Game, 1983

[edit] Commodore

[edit] Creative Software

[edit] Dinamic

[edit] Disc Company

[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

[edit] HES

[edit] HES Australia

Many Activision games were rereleased by HES Australia. At this place only the ones are named, which were not relased on an Activision games cartridge.

[edit] Maxion

[edit] MR Computer

[edit] Ocean

[edit] Parker Brothers

[edit] SEGA

[edit] Sierra Online

[edit] Spinnmaker

[edit] System 3

[edit] Turbo Software

[edit] Others

[edit] Tools

[edit] Commodore

  • Commodore 1700 RAM Expansion
  • Commodore 1764 RAM Expansion
  • Commodore 1750 RAM Expansion
  • Commodore 64 Diagnostic Cartridge, 198?
  • Commodore 64/128/D Diagnostic Dead Test Cartridge Rev.781220; with test of the Zero Page, Stack Page, Screen RAM, Color RAM, RAM, sound
  • Commodore 64 Final Test Diagnostic Cartridge #586220 (shows defecte IC's), 198?
  • Commodore 64/128 Keyboard Dual Diagnostic Cartridge (keyboard check), 198?
  • Commodore 64/128 Dual Diagnostic Cartridge, 198?


[edit] Datel

Data & Electronics from Venlo B.V. (short Datel)

  • 256K Copyer / RAM-Disk
  • 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 Cartridge V6.0 / Plus, 1988
  • Action Replay V6.0 / Plus / Pro, 1989
  • Action Replay V7.0
  • Action Replay V7.5, 1990
  • Cartridge Maker
  • Nordic Power / Action Cartridge Plus, 198?
  • Reset Cartridge

[edit] Dela

  • Multi-function cartridge
  • S/4 cartridge
  • EPROM Brenner Dela I
  • EPROM Brenner Dela II
  • EPROM Brenner Dela III
  • Ramdisk RD.1
  • IC-Tester
  • Z80 Modul ( s.a. article in Z80.eu blog)

[edit] Evesham Micros

  • Freeze Frame MKz A, 1985
  • Freeze Frame MK II, 1987
  • Freeze Frame MK III B, 1988?
  • Freeze Frame MK IV, 1988?
  • Freeze Frame MK V, 1987?
  • Freeze Machine, 1989? (combines Freeze Frame MK V and Lazer MK II)
  • Lazer MK II

[edit] Final Cartridge

  • Final Cartridge 1 (H.P.Comp Holland), 1985
  • Final Cartridge Plus (Milan), 198?
  • Final Cartridge 2.x (H.P.Comp Holland / TASK), 1988?
  • Final Cartridge 3 (Riska Holland / TASC B.V. Holland), 1987

[edit] Grewe GmbH

[edit] LMS Technologies

  • Super Snapshot

[edit] REX

  • 128'er Cartridge (REX 9521)
  • 128er Quickload+DOS (REX 9811)
  • 128er Turbo Cartrigde - DOS (REX 9604) *very rare*
  • Diashowmaker - Freezer Hardcopy (REX 9690)
  • Eprom Cartrigde Generator (REX 9506)
  • Exos V.3 (REX 9805)
  • Expert (REX 9613)
  • Goliath 1 MByte Eprom Card (REX 9600/9601)
  • Hardcopy Cartridge (REX 9629)
  • Hardcopy and Turbo Cartridge (REX 9505)
  • Hypradisk (REX 9503)
  • Hypradisk 3.0 - REX 3.0 Loader (REX 9615)
  • Hypra Tape (REX 9510)
  • IC-Tester (REX 9627)
  • Monitor Cartridge 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 Operating System (REX 9583)
  • Userport Protector (REX 9622)
  • V-DOS (14x; REX 9805)

[edit] Others

[edit] Modems & I/O-Cards

  • 64'er online (Dres EDV+Btx GmbH)
  • AproSpand-64; Expansion port switch (Aprotek), 1984
  • Btx-Com (Digitec-Saarbrücken)
  • C64 Ethernet Cartridge
  • Computapix IEEE-488 (Pixstik)
  • EPROM Card Hesmon
  • EPROM Burner Micro Maxi Prommer
  • 64nic+ Ethernetwork Card
  • Grappler CD (Orange)
  • Laser 64
  • MIDI-Interface
  • Modem C64+
  • Quick Silver 64 (Skyless Electric Works)
  • RAMLink (CMD)
  • RAMDrive (CMD)
  • RS232 Userport Card C64/128 UP9600
  • Swiftlink RS-232 (CMD)
  • VIC REL (VIC-20, C64), Handic Software AB, 1983

[edit] Links

WP-W11.png Wikipedia: Cartridge
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