r/Commodore

One of my hobbies involves fixing MS-DOS and Windows systems from the late 80s to the early 2000s. I wanted to branch out my interests into either 16-bit systems or 8-bit systems, and am a bit stumped at which to get:

• I like the Amiga because it seems to be a very capable multimedia computer, but at the same time there's no indication of Commodore releasing a new FPGA Amiga and many remaining ones left are too expensive. Additionally, I have enough DOS machines which have some fantastic games, what am I getting here which is significantly better? I also feel like the workflow is weird, I have used an Amiga Emulator but the entire concept of frequent disk swapping was very tedious, especially when I'm used to MS-DOS hard drive technicalities.

• I like the Commodore 64 because it seems like learning how to program it is an extremely useful and simple way to learn about Assembly and Machine code: For context, I am a CS major and took a class years ago dealing with x86 assembly and that felt overwhelming and complicated. I feel like despite the 6502 being quite primitive it's actually a fantastic way to learn about how any computer works. As of now, I'm learning how to do 6502 machine code with a small SBC and that's quite interesting.

• I have a few PC booter games like Silent Service and some older comp titles which seem very primitive on the IBM PC. Did the C64 have better ports of these titles? For instance, any of the arcade ports like Outrun, or any of the Microprose games. Did these look better on a C64?

If I do take the plunge on a C64, should I wait for the C64 Ultimate Slimline or should I just get the regular one?

So I bought an SX64 the other day finally. Waiting for it in the mail, no keyboard though. (The seller made a mistake in the item description, they offered to refund me but I didnt feel like passing the opportunity up, seeing as it was refurbished including the disk drive. I figured I can make a DIY keyboard solution until I can find one or get another sx64 that has a keyboard and then keep the second unit for spares or part it out.

I know it is possible to adapt a normal C64 keyboard to the SX64 with some wiring which I definitely think is an option.

I was thinking of making a dongle that connects to a DB25 connector that goes to a pin header, which connects to the C64 keyboard, and the other end would go to the SX64 I would use one of those existing adapter PCBs that are for doing the same thing with a 128D, but the pinout is different. (From what I know)

Maybe someone should make an SX64 version.

Another thing I considered or thought of was using an arduino. Unfortuntely I have no coding knowledge of how to make that work, so that probably wont work for me.

Last option could be to use a C=Key. From what I understand, it allows you to use a PS/2 style keyboard with commodore systems. They come in many configurations including SX64. This option may actually end up being cheaper than buying a working C64 keyboard or gutting a c64 for its keyboard.

I would like to hear some opinions, tips, reccomendations, or heck maybe someone else here has done something different that I haven't thought of that works. I have posted about this exact topic before but maybe something has changed since then.

Just got this VIC-20, don't know anything about the VIC, but this keyboard layout seems very non-standard and I can't find any reference to it anywhere. The keys are all properly mapped though. Hoping that someone in here knows anything about it

EDITS:

The ROM is a socketed mask ROM which basically rules out this being a custom mod

Solution:

This poor VIC has had a C16 keyboard retrofitted on, many thanks to all of the forum members that contributed to solving this strange issue :)

https://preview.redd.it/wlpqxdfnk6zg1.jpg?width=3522&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=841e646a2f09fb2fcb7dcbbdd67b119657d6f869

https://preview.redd.it/6dxglcfnk6zg1.jpg?width=3522&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=99561a339dad0e5a5cf7880a686f700bdf4ebc8b

Got another old VIC-20 program back up and running. I also created a Kick Assembler listing for this as well, if anyone wants to play around with it.

Source code, .prg files, plus tape and disk images, are available on GitHub, here.

I have both a VIC-20 and C64 version of this. The VIC-20 version is the original, though. The C64 was a minimal port of the VIC version, just to get it running in a C64. But, the VIC version is the `real` version 👾

This is an interactive demo. So if you press the space bar during the main animation loop, you can use the keyboard to manually rotate, translate, and zoom in and out, etc. Pressing the space bar will spin it back up into auto-rotate mode again.

VIC-20

https://i.redd.it/9bmnywanup0h1.gif

C64

https://i.redd.it/ogk6l66oup0h1.gif

Hi all, I am looking for a cheaper alternative to the amiga 1200 because my broke ass is not willing to spend upwards of 1k for an amiga with NO accessories. Is there a way that I could build my own, or create a “legacy” device out of a raspberry pi?

Is it possible? If yes, how did you connect it?

I have wanted to get a Commadore computer for a while now, but I am stumped on if I should get the original 64/64C or one of the new ultimate versions? I am also hesitant because the price of the ultimate versions in CAD is quite expensive, and looking on EBay, the originals dont seem to be much cheaper than the ultimate versions. If I were to spend the money, which would be more worthwhile?

Has anyone had any recent contact with or successful orders from this company?

I ordered something in March that I really want, and have been waiting patiently. However, it is now pushing 6 weeks since I paid for the item and they haven't answered any messages I have sent via their website, emajl or FB messenger requesting order status.

Last time I ordered from them, it took almost 4 weeks, but my patience is running out regarding my latest order.

Edit: A lot of the replies indicate that people think I ordered a C64 Ultimate. That is not the case. My order was from commodore-4ever, not from the official Commodore site, and it is not an item that should take weeks to produce.

Wondering why there was never a GEOS release for the Amiga.

I dont recall ever hearing about such a version and Google seems to confirm that.

Any idea why Commodore never worked with Berkeley Soft in porting it to the amiga?

Edit Starting over, since the comments are not responding to what I originally asked.

Perhaps I didnt wrote the post correctly, I meant when Commodore was working on releasing the Amiga 1000, so instead of creating Workbench, they went with GEOS.

So, some decades ago, I wrote this machine language monitor for the VIC-20 + VIC-1211A Super Expander cartridge, called Code Probe. I never released it anywhere, but I used it a lot back in the day to experiment with machine language programming.

I designed Code Probe to load into the VIC-1211A Super Expander's RAM, which made it possible to use the full 3K of RAM available on the native VIC-20 for machine language programs, which could then be run on the stock unexpanded VIC-20 without the Super Expander.

Recently, I've been tinkering with a lil retro computing and decided to release Code Probe on GitHub, here. While it was written in the 1980s, it has never been seen by anyone else but me since then. Which technically means, this is a new VIC-20 release, in 2026. 💪

https://preview.redd.it/kciej95qqczg1.png?width=568&format=png&auto=webp&s=fc8d656ce4a72a8a2be17f1c1a0944fdcf4e7caa

I have a beautiful 1084S-P1 which has been working fine for many years. Eventually, the notorious power button gave up. The monitor has been off for several months. I finally replaced the power button and, when I turned it on, the white is gone and most of the screen is green.

I can't smell or spot any blown up cap... what should I be testing and looking for to get this fixed?

Thanks for any advice!

https://preview.redd.it/lzg3d8wjlszg1.jpg?width=800&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=ba671607d3cae72ec686a36d2ceaa8a223ba4d14