######## ################## ###### ###### ##### ##### #### #### ## ##### #### #### #### #### #### ##### ##### ## ## #### ## ## ## ### ## #### ## ## ## ##### ######## ## ## ## ##### ## ## ## ## ## ##### ## ## ######## ## ## ## ### ## ## #### ## ## ##### #### #### #### #### ##### #### #### #### #### #### ###### ##### ## ###### ###### Issue #20 ################## April 18, 2001 ######## ............................................................................... Ineptitude: If you can't learn to do something well, learn to enjoy doing it poorly. -- "Demotivator" poster ............................................................................... BSOUT Hoo-ah! Time for another late (but hopefully great) issue of C=Hacking! This issue features several nifty articles on both software and hardware projects. There seems to be a lot of activity in the hardware area right now, so hopefully we'll see more hardware articles in future issues. In the software area, however... If I may pithily berate for a moment, I'd like to observe that talking about programming on comp.sys.cbm is -- this may come as a surprise to some -- not the same as actually programming. I'd like to once again encourage those who have been talking about projects, or have half-completed projects sitting around on an FD disk somewhere, to go for it and get the job done! Just like... um... C=Hacking (hey, it gets done... eventually...). The format for this issue has changed a little, with all the news and stuff moved into the previously skimpy "Jiffies" section. Therefore, this is now just the 'me' column. So 'me' would like to thank all the authors in this issue for their time and effort (and patience), and all of the true C= Hackers out there for their spirit and work and cool projects. 'Me' is also very happy to announce that he is getting married on August 17. And heck, you're ALL INVITED (I think an SX-64 would make an excellent wedding present, don't you?). And finally, me still thinks the 64 is the niftiest computer ever made. Onwards! -Steve ....... .... .. . C=H #20 ::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::: Contents :::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::: BSOUT o Voluminous ruminations from your unfettered editor. Jiffies o News, things, and stuff. Side Hacking o "Super/Turbo CPU VDC Hack", by Henry Sopko <henry.sopko@hwcn.org> Normally it is not possible to access the VDC chip when using a SuperCPU64 or Turbo CPU on a 128. The 1-wire hack described in this article fixes that situation! o "16K Memory Expansion for the VIC-20", by Per Olofsson <MagerValp@cling.gu.se>. This article describes a nifty way to add more memory to the VIC-20, along with some basic circuit design information for the hardware neophyte (i.e. people like me!). o "Quick Quadratic Splines", by moi <sjudd@ffd2.com> A spline is a powerful tool for drawing a curve through an arbitrary set of points -- for motion/animation, for arbitrary curves (like fonts), and numerous other tasks. This article describes _quadratic_ splines and some fast C64 implementations, and includes a program for experimenting with splines. Main Articles o "VIC-20 Kernal ROM Disassembly Project", by Richard Cini <rcini@email.msn.com> The ever-dependable Richard Cini has written the fourth article in the quest for a complete disassembly of the VIC-20 kernal. This installment focuses on device I/O routines: SETNAM, SETLF, OPEN, and beyond. o "MODs and Digital Mixing", by Jolse Maginnis <jmaginni@postoffice.utas.edu.au>. Josmod is a program for JOS, by Jolse, that can play Amiga MOD files (and their newer successors). This article describes the general functioning of the program, the layout of a MOD file, and how to mix multiple digital samples in real-time (and hence play MODs!). o "The C64 Digi", by Robin Harbron <macbeth@psw.ca>, Levente Harsfalvi <levente@terrasoft.hu>, and Stephen Judd <sjudd@ffd2.com> This article is, we hope, a complete reference on digital sampling and the C64, including: general theory, SID hardware description, and methods of playback (changing $d418, pulse width modulation, and various tricks). Numerous code examples are given, along with a program that does true 8-bit playback at 16KHz -- it requires a SuperCPU, but it is most impressive, and chances are awfully good that you've never heard a digi like this out of SID before. .................................. Credits ................................... Editor, The Big Kahuna, The Car'a'carn..... Stephen L. Judd C=Hacking logo by.......................... Mark Lawrence Special thanks to the folks who have helped out with reviewing and such, to the article authors for being patient, and to all the cbm hackers that make this possible! Legal disclaimer: 1) If you screw it up it's your own fault! 2) If you use someone's stuff without permission you're a dork! About the authors: Jolse Maginnis is a 20 year old programmer and web page designer, currently taking a break from CS studies. He first came into contact with the C64 at just five or six years of age, when his parents brought home their "work" computer. He started out playing games, then moved on to BASIC, and then on to ML. He always wanted to be a demo coder, and in 1994 met up with a coder at a user's group meeting, and has since worked on a variety of projects from NTSC fixing to writing demo pages and intros and even a music collection. JOS is taking up all his C64 time and he is otherwise playing/watching sports, out with his girlfriend, or at a movie or concert somewhere. He'd just like to say that "everyone MUST buy a SuperCPU, it's the way of the future" and that if he can afford one, anyone can! Richard Cini is a 31 year old vice president of Congress Financial Corporation, and first became involved with Commodore 8-bits in 1981, when his parents bought him a VIC-20 as a birthday present. Mostly he used it for general BASIC programming, with some ML later on, for projects such as controlling the lawn sprinkler system, and for a text-to-speech synthesyzer. All his CBM stuff is packed up right now, along with his other "classic" computers, including a PDP11/34 and a KIM-1. In addition to collecting old computers Richard enjoys gardening, golf, and recently has gotten interested in robotics. As to the C= community, he feels that it is unique in being fiercely loyal without being evangelical, unlike some other communities, while being extremely creative in making the best use out of the 64. Robin Harbron is a 28 year old internet tech support at a local independent phone company. He first got involved with C= 8-bits in 1980, playing with school PETs, and in 1983 his parents convinced him to spend the extra money on a C64 instead of getting a VIC-20. Like most of us he played a lot of games, typed in games out of magazines, and tried to write his own games. Now he writes demos, dabbles with Internet stuff, writes C= magazine articles, and, yes, plays games. He is currently working on a few demos and a few games, as well as the "in-progress-but-sometimes-stalled-for-a-real-long-time- until-inspiration-hits-again Internet stuff". He is also working on raising a family, and enjoys music (particularly playing bass and guitar), church, ice hockey and cricket, and classic video games. Levente Harsfalvi is a 26 year old microcontroller programmer who works at a small local company. His first C= encounter was a Plus/4 at school, at the age of 12, and later (1988) his parents bought a C-16. After learning BASIC and ASM coding he joined a Plus/4 demo group (GOTU, and later Coroners), and has worked on game conversions, an FLI editor, music software (including a SID emulator to play c64 music on TED) and numerous other software and hardware projects. More recently he has begun taking some measurements on the Plus/4 to figure out things such as how the sound generator works and is working on a C-16 demo. Outside of the C= he enjoys cycling and running, and ~50km walking tours. For information on the mailing list, ftp and web sites, send some email to chacking-info@jbrain.com. While http://www.ffd2.com/fridge/chacking is the main C=Hacking homepage, C=Hacking is available many other places including http://www.funet.fi/pub/cbm/magazines/c=hacking/ http://metalab.unc.edu/pub/micro/commodore/magazines/c=hacking/ ................................... Jiffies .................................. $01 Not _too_ long ago, an effort was made to write down the pin assignments for the video port of all the major C= computers. The result, as compiled by William Levak <wlevak@cyberspace.org>, is: 8 7 Commodore 6 Video Connector 3 1 5 4 2 Plus4 C16/C128 CBM-II VIC20 VIC20CR C64 Pin C64A/SX64 C64B/C/E --------- ------------ ------- ---------- --- ---------- ---------- (R) Luminance +5 V +5 V Monochrome 1 Monochrome Monochrome (Y) Ground Ground Ground Ground 2 Ground Ground (B) V. Sync. Audio Audio Audio 3 Audio Audio (W) (W) Video 50 Ohm Video Video Video 4 Video Video (Y) H. Sync. Video Vi...
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