Copying Commodore 64 Cartridges
Does anyone have experience copying Commodore 64 cartridges? I'd like to make copies of a cartridge called "Music Machine". I see some on eBay, but they are untested. I'd rather not buy something that might not work. I need it for VCF when we do the NJ Maker's Day at InfoAge. We found it easier and faster to just pop in a cartridge for children and adults to try out music. We use cartridges because they are faster and easier to switch between programs such as paint, music, and programming. In any case, if you have the ability to copy them, I would love to talk to you about it. We have one cartridge that works. Thanks! Jeff Brace VCF National Board Member Chairman & Vice President Vintage Computer Festival East Showrunner VCF Mid-Atlantic Event Manager Vintage Computer Federation is a 501c3 charity https://vcfed.org/ <http://www.vcfed.org/> jeffrey@vcfed.org
It's already been dumped? (like everything else) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SrhqCE58U_k On Fri, Dec 8, 2023 at 12:23 AM Wil via vcf-midatlantic < vcf-midatlantic@lists.vcfed.org> wrote:
You have a few options, the easiest and most pricey is to get a flash cart:
https://store.go4retro.com/easyflash-3/
King fu flash is a little cheaper, but you have to get it from Europe.
You still have the problem of getting a dump of the rom, if there is one floating out there, then you are all set and the other benefit of this is you can have a loader and multiple carts.
If you don't have a copy of the rom you will need to open it up and see if it is socket or soldered. Again if socketed you can do a dump much easier using a eeprom reader like this https://youtu.be/HcgBOKYNz4A?si=JJ4-h-zfJOmOoQcP
Sometimes you can wire up a soldered ROM and read it but I find that hit or miss. This also assumes that the ROM you want to read is compatible with this writer.
You could also just have the programmer, dump the ROM and then write it back to an eeprom and mount it on a PCB board, lots of diy kits for this but again you need to know how to identify the right eeproms, etc.
Last I know you said you want cart only, but I believe there are freezers that may let you have it and a cart in line, then dump to disk.
I know in my old Atari days you could dump carts to floppy with tricks, can't remember for the c64.
On Dec 7, 2023 23:57, Jeffrey Brace via vcf-midatlantic < vcf-midatlantic@lists.vcfed.org> wrote:
Does anyone have experience copying Commodore 64 cartridges? I'd like to make copies of a cartridge called "Music Machine". I see some on eBay, but they are untested. I'd rather not buy something that might not work. I need it for VCF when we do the NJ Maker's Day at InfoAge. We found it easier and faster to just pop in a cartridge for children and adults to try out music. We use cartridges because they are faster and easier to switch between programs such as paint, music, and programming.
In any case, if you have the ability to copy them, I would love to talk to you about it. We have one cartridge that works.
Thanks!
Jeff Brace VCF National Board Member Chairman & Vice President Vintage Computer Festival East Showrunner VCF Mid-Atlantic Event Manager Vintage Computer Federation is a 501c3 charity https://vcfed.org/ <http://www.vcfed.org/> jeffrey@vcfed.org
On 12/8/2023 6:01 AM, Bart Hirst via vcf-midatlantic wrote:
It's already been dumped? (like everything else) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SrhqCE58U_k
As much as I enjoy a sale (of an EasyFlash 3) and don't want to dissuade folks from buying one if they wish, holding a single ROM is probably not it's sweet spot. A VersaCart (or any of the various simple C64 cart PCBs on Github, eBay, or Etsy) might be a better choice. Since the file is available, a quick EPROM program and a bit of soldering seems more in keeping with the original request. Since it's for a good cause, and if resources aren't otherwise readily available, I'd be willing to make up a batch of these for parts cost. I hesitate only because I find free time a bit more elusive these days, but I'm happy to help in some way to make this a reality. Looking at the options now to provide some links warms my heart. Almost 10 years ago, someone asked me to design a simple 64 cart that handles 8 and 16K images, and I threw out simple64cart: https://github.com/go4retro/Simple64Cart Others, including Sven Petersen, iterated on the design and created VersaCart, adding flexibility and molding it to fit various case options: https://github.com/bwack/Versa64Cart Jim
Here is a side note about the Music Machine cartridge. Many C64 cartridges work alongside the internal Kernal ROM, a few don't use the Kernal. I have used the MM cartridge to do some quick diagnostics. If a C64 is dead (black screen), but it works when you plug in the Music Machine cartridge, then it is likely that the only problem is the Kernal ROM. Just something I discovered over the years that can be used for fast, preliminary troubleshooting. On Fri, Dec 8, 2023 at 7:03 AM Bart Hirst via vcf-midatlantic < vcf-midatlantic@lists.vcfed.org> wrote:
It's already been dumped? (like everything else) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SrhqCE58U_k
On Fri, Dec 8, 2023 at 12:23 AM Wil via vcf-midatlantic < vcf-midatlantic@lists.vcfed.org> wrote:
You have a few options, the easiest and most pricey is to get a flash cart:
https://store.go4retro.com/easyflash-3/
King fu flash is a little cheaper, but you have to get it from Europe.
You still have the problem of getting a dump of the rom, if there is one floating out there, then you are all set and the other benefit of this is you can have a loader and multiple carts.
If you don't have a copy of the rom you will need to open it up and see if it is socket or soldered. Again if socketed you can do a dump much easier using a eeprom reader like this https://youtu.be/HcgBOKYNz4A?si=JJ4-h-zfJOmOoQcP
Sometimes you can wire up a soldered ROM and read it but I find that hit or miss. This also assumes that the ROM you want to read is compatible with this writer.
You could also just have the programmer, dump the ROM and then write it back to an eeprom and mount it on a PCB board, lots of diy kits for this but again you need to know how to identify the right eeproms, etc.
Last I know you said you want cart only, but I believe there are freezers that may let you have it and a cart in line, then dump to disk.
I know in my old Atari days you could dump carts to floppy with tricks, can't remember for the c64.
On Dec 7, 2023 23:57, Jeffrey Brace via vcf-midatlantic < vcf-midatlantic@lists.vcfed.org> wrote:
Does anyone have experience copying Commodore 64 cartridges? I'd like to make copies of a cartridge called "Music Machine". I see some on eBay, but they are untested. I'd rather not buy something that might not work. I need it for VCF when we do the NJ Maker's Day at InfoAge. We found it easier and faster to just pop in a cartridge for children and adults to try out music. We use cartridges because they are faster and easier to switch between programs such as paint, music, and programming.
In any case, if you have the ability to copy them, I would love to talk to you about it. We have one cartridge that works.
Thanks!
Jeff Brace VCF National Board Member Chairman & Vice President Vintage Computer Festival East Showrunner VCF Mid-Atlantic Event Manager Vintage Computer Federation is a 501c3 charity https://vcfed.org/ <http://www.vcfed.org/> jeffrey@vcfed.org
Jeff, I would buy what you found on eBay. Cartridges seldom go bad since they are just a ROM chip. Of course there are exceptions, but it isn't a huge risk to purchase a used cartridge. Duplicating them is another story. Certainly possible, but somewhat involved. We can talk more in person about it. Chris On Thu, Dec 7, 2023 at 11:58 PM Jeffrey Brace via vcf-midatlantic < vcf-midatlantic@lists.vcfed.org> wrote:
Does anyone have experience copying Commodore 64 cartridges? I'd like to make copies of a cartridge called "Music Machine". I see some on eBay, but they are untested. I'd rather not buy something that might not work. I need it for VCF when we do the NJ Maker's Day at InfoAge. We found it easier and faster to just pop in a cartridge for children and adults to try out music. We use cartridges because they are faster and easier to switch between programs such as paint, music, and programming.
In any case, if you have the ability to copy them, I would love to talk to you about it. We have one cartridge that works.
Thanks!
Jeff Brace VCF National Board Member Chairman & Vice President Vintage Computer Festival East Showrunner VCF Mid-Atlantic Event Manager Vintage Computer Federation is a 501c3 charity https://vcfed.org/ <http://www.vcfed.org/> jeffrey@vcfed.org
Yeah. I think I will just order them off eBay. They are only about $10 a piece. On Fri, Dec 8, 2023 at 11:54 AM Chris Fala <chrisjpf33@gmail.com> wrote:
Jeff,
I would buy what you found on eBay. Cartridges seldom go bad since they are just a ROM chip. Of course there are exceptions, but it isn't a huge risk to purchase a used cartridge.
Duplicating them is another story. Certainly possible, but somewhat involved. We can talk more in person about it.
Chris
On Thu, Dec 7, 2023 at 11:58 PM Jeffrey Brace via vcf-midatlantic < vcf-midatlantic@lists.vcfed.org> wrote:
Does anyone have experience copying Commodore 64 cartridges? I'd like to make copies of a cartridge called "Music Machine". I see some on eBay, but they are untested. I'd rather not buy something that might not work. I need it for VCF when we do the NJ Maker's Day at InfoAge. We found it easier and faster to just pop in a cartridge for children and adults to try out music. We use cartridges because they are faster and easier to switch between programs such as paint, music, and programming.
In any case, if you have the ability to copy them, I would love to talk to you about it. We have one cartridge that works.
Thanks!
Jeff Brace VCF National Board Member Chairman & Vice President Vintage Computer Festival East Showrunner VCF Mid-Atlantic Event Manager Vintage Computer Federation is a 501c3 charity https://vcfed.org/ <http://www.vcfed.org/> jeffrey@vcfed.org
participants (6)
-
Bart Hirst -
Chris Fala -
Jeffrey Brace -
RETRO Innovations -
Wil -
Wil Birkmaier