Thank you for keeping the C64 family alive. I taught myself machine/assembler on the 6502 (Apple][e first, then C64) when our school only had one computer. Your exact program (change border color) is the very first machine language program I wrote on the C64 in 1983. Notice the colors on the border, and how they form a short "line." Something in your system is taking up a lot of CPU time because after seeing this same output, I hand "poke"d my machine code. When that hand-poked code ran, the colors were indiscernible dots of color, screaming fast, like "bug races" of old televisions not tuned to a good frequency. After seeing the difference (interpreted/interrupted code versus free-running), I made a crude "ASSTOHEX" disassembler (a bunch of if-then lines) so I could write using a text editor (that I hand-poked into a program) in "Assembler language" then have that text interpreted, assembler to hex, then poked into memory. I wrote nothing of value, but just entertained myself with widgets only useful to myself. I wish I stayed with low-level programming, but I let myself get distracted by booze and women, then picked up Pascal/C and HTML/CSS/Javascript. I also installed my own "reset" button by running the C64's "reset" pin to ground through a SPST/pushbutton (worked perfectly, no need to power off/on). I also added a SPDT/toggle switch to the speaker because when my 300 baud MODEM was connected (after the screaming handshake), a local radio station played through the always-on, C64 speaker (KFAB… so you know where I was at that time). Gosh, that was a tinker-ers dream with the user ports. It was SO FAR ahead of its time - now people buy Arduino and other PIC programming tools. C64 had those all the time, easily accessible and addressable… but sadly Bill Gates called it a toy, stating that personal computers were for business use only and not to be played with... and all his sheep did the same. I put my C64, 1541, cassette, TV and game/tv modulator on a roadside one day when I had to move for work. Ah, my first love. Goodbye, forever. Again, thank you. This was a fun video. I am now a subscriber.
Ironic considering that Javascript leads to booze.. (not women though) .. Either way.. booze is always the constant. haha. Very cool on your disassembler!
I would have thought SYS 32*1024 would be easier to remember than SYS 8*4096... but honestly, if one doesn't think in powers of two, none of these memory ticklers will likely be of any help. 😄
Thanks so much - takes me back. C64 and the AppleII were the machines that I learned to program on, in BASIC and Assembly, somewhere between the ages of 9 and 14. I was getting rusty on some fundamentals, so decided to stop by. The C64 is long gone, but I'll try it out on VICE.
Thanks Robin! I wish that I had taken the time to dive into this stuff when I had my C64 back at age 15. Oh well, better late than never after 35 years! Looking forward to digging into some assembly language on the 6510. At my first job out of university, I was writing assembly for the 8051, so a little different, but not too bad. Maybe if I keep going, I'll actually break down and reacquire some real hardware. I stupidly let my wife talk me into getting rid of it 10 years ago... :(
I like to occasionally have a dig into the original C64 assemblers. When I first had theC64 full size in 2019, I set myself a coding challenge. There were no freezer cartridges available at the time. All I could rely on was Turbo Assembler, Code Sucker Monitor and a few PD utilities for designing graphics and making music. I had to rely on save states in order to save the progress of my project, just in case something went wrong and I had a fatal crash. 2020 I managed to make a snake style game on theC64 ;)
I started programming on an Amiga with Devpack 6800 assembler. I remember printing out programs that were as long as the street block then marking sections out with highlight markers. All that just to be able to fully focus on what I was doing.
Thanks so much. Just returning to all this after 40 years. Didn't have an assembler back then and didn't really know what I was doing! This channel is awesome
This video is a masterpiece of clear, detailed knowledge transfer. Thank you! I've been a subscriber for a long time,. Now I finally have some time to dig out C64, recall assembler and write some code for fun
I learned Assembly, Pascal, and C as a kid on my not quite yet vintage but still pretty old Apple IIGS and Macintosh iici machines I got as gifts in 97 and then 98 for my 5th and 6th birthdays. They were both from my uncle's workplace in storage. When they were in use, they were loaded up with some of the best expansion cards and accelerators you could get at the time. I still have both computers set up and write programs on both, but the IIGS is probably a bit more fun to write programs to create pixel art/music tracks on. System 7 is great on the buffed-up Mac iici for sure, but the IIGS has a certain charm to it. When I was in college, I was sad that they barely talked about Assembly in classes. When they did, they used kind of vague explanations to cover Operators instead of comparing them to things students would already have some understanding of. I was annoyed they only really taught C++, I'm not a fan of it personally with the relative instability (number of changes made often to "solve" problems, not program instability) compared to C. That and how insanely abstract and overcomplicated OOP has gotten to.
Bug Report: The 6510 stack is a LIFO queue: Last In, First Out. Thanks to Christian Knechtel for the correction. Feel free to ask questions in the comments, and if I forgot to mention anything, tell me here so I can get it into the next episode.
Excellent overview! I liked the snapshot cartridge and the ability to restart the Turbo Assembler while running the program with sys 4096*8 after runstop restore.
When I learned this stuff long ago I found it enormously helpful to break down the bit manipulation at topics like two's complement and visualize binary in a similar way as visualizing Lego studs 🙂
I didn't have anything back then, not even a hex monitor, because I didn't know what it was. So I learned by trying, which also means I had to learn the decimal value for the opcodes in my head and then write them directly in data lines. But today, what I would have done was to first learn how a computer functions from the inside of the computer, because it is of great help. And there are many channels, but I would definitely recommend Ben Eater's channel. He basically builds a computer from scratch and explains each and everything about how it works. I would watch that - and eventually try it out too - before I started machine code programming. But you definitely can learn machine code without, I will though like this channel recommend the Commodore 64 Reference Guide. Without that, you get nowhere.
I wrote a large number of assembly language utilities for the C64 which makes it easy for BASIC programs to access the graphics and other capabilities of the C64. I'd love to share these utilities.
Thanks again for a fantastic video and for lifting the veil by explaining not just what code to write but how it works by disassembling. It really helped me to understand what was going on.
FYI Robin, I've been watching your videos for a while. I have been reading various books on 6502 programming. Some on the Apple II and some on the C64. The other day I was working on a RS-232 BASIC program and found converting from HEX to DEC a pain. After doing a quick google search, I came across a video of yours I watched in the past. That got my assembly bug going (get it?) and so I fired up TMP. I've been using your assembly/programming videos to glean bits and pieces. Long way to say, I very much appreciate these kinds of videos! Okay, now I'm going to go watch the joystick-controlled sprites video!
Hi Robin, a very nice tutorial about assembler programming on good old Commodore 64. Thumbs up for that series! 👍🏻 I didn't know TMP yet. I always coded in Final Cartridge III Monitor and today I use Relaunch with KickAssembler and ACME on my MacBook. Unfortunately the link with all the programming books in your video description doesn't work anymore... I just subscribed to your Channel here! Thank you for your videos 😀 Greetings from Germany, Andira
Extremely useful! I downloaded Turbo Macro Pro, installed on my MEGA65 (with C64 core) and followed your instructions step by step. My first baby steps in ML!! And yes, I also bought a (second hand) copy of the Programmers Reference Guide two months ago 😃 ps, Is the exact same little program also supposed to work when a REU is connected or are additional instructions required? With REU enabled (we have that option in the MEGA65), 'TMP+REU' recognise the added 512k, but when executing the program I cannot start TMP with the SYS command, it seems to hang. Update: never mind, you explained the use of the REU in the next episode. Return with SYS 320. Thank you!!
Memories! I originally keyed in an assembler program from a book (I think it came from Compute! magazine). I didn't need an editor because it used the basic screen editor (line numbers and all) so you could enter an assembly language program the same way you would enter a basic program. It was quite a good assembler which revolutionized my C64 use. Later, I wrote a FORTH for my C64 which included a "label less" assembler (it turned out to be remarkably easy to do). Structured programming in assembly language is a quantum leap forward. In the FORTH assembler, your code would be like this: BEGIN, $D020 INC, $D021 DEC, AGAIN,
Great vid on the assembler 🙂sadly bombjack link no longer works but archive .org has lots of commodore books. Finally your hand acting reminds me of “This Old Tony” channel 😁
Again for VICE users, is by default mapped to the key, and is mapped to . Although the regular Page Up key and Escape wouldn't work for me to break out of the program, but if I put to off and pressed on the keypad, it broke out to BASIC (tested with the x128.exe on Windows 7 and doing GO64 to get into C64 mode).
Seems to me that TMP could also be used to assemble C128 programs- you’d just have to save the object code to disk and bload it later when you’re booted in c128 mode. If this is possible, it might make an interesting video, Robin.
I really like your videos quite a lot ... i use "The C64" to teach my son programming ... what I would really like to figure out would be two points (i think that could be also interesting in your videos). A) How to use turbo macro pro together with a basic source ... how to combine and memory manage both, save both etc B) How to use character and sprite editors combined with tmp and memory manage this ... how to save the sprite data, load them in tmp etc ... which sprite, character editors are recommended. Would be such a gift for me and my ten year old son Simon ... cheers and greetings from Zurich, Stephan
You know what I was just noticing? That the emulation of VICE is so real, it's getting the keyboard keys you can't press together right ---- so that I'm getting lst rather than list and whatnot. That's true emulation.
Hi Robin, I've just gotten my hands on a Commodore 128 with working 1084S monitor and some quad density 5.25" discs and 1541 disc drive. All in excellent condition except for the disc drive. The FDD was said to be working before I bought it, but something must have come astray in transport or me trying to set it up. because the disc motor doesn't start and disc reports as not present, even though the light on the drive does come on. I'm in communication with the guy and he's sending me an extra serial cable in case that is the issue. If not I guess I'll have open up the enclosures and see if I haven't knocked the connectors off the board and resolder them if so. But disc troubles aside, I now have a Commodore 128 and want to develop new programs and libraries in assembler, but I don't have an REU. and it seems I'm not likely to get one any time soon. So instead of TMP+REU I have been using Merlin 128 on VICE, my version of which only runs in 80 column mode. Which will require an RGBI connector (and a sd2iec or something, which I probably will need anyway) if I want to eventually use it on my Commodore 128. Another reason I am currently using Merlin 128 is that I'm working through (half way done!) _Commodore 128 Assembly Language Programming_ by Mark Andrews and typing in the examples and playing around with them. When I was getting started it was fairly helpful to use one of the three full featured assemblers used in the book (Merlin 128, Total Software Development System by NoSync or Commodore 64 Macro Assembler Development System by CBM). Although now I think I could use any 6502 assembler it's just a matter of convenience and ease of use and exchanging source code. Perhaps when I get more experienced in 6502 assembler I will be able to modify Turbo Macro Pro to instead of "bank switching" with the REU instead use the C=128's in built MMU to bank switch to accomplish the same thing. Maybe adding 80 column support as well... Yes I know the REU doesn't really bank switch rather it copies to and fro between the Commodore's memory and the large memory in the cartridge using DMA. My question to you is that what do you think would be a a good interim solution? Merlin 128 seems better maybe because it uses 80 column mode, but it otherwise seems pretty clunky in many ways, and to be honest assembly doesn't really use more than a few tens of columns anyway unless you are the habit of putting in wordy comments, which I am, a "bad habit" I picked up at university :P For example weird clunkiness of Merlin 128, picking lowercase with {shift}{C=} doesn't appear do anything, and the assembler is forced to uppercase but the comments are lowercase. You can force uppercase comments by using {caps lock}, but I don't know if that means that instead the comments will actually be upper cased and appear as graphics characters and therefore unreadable except to the real wizards when selecting the uppercase+graphics charset, or if the actually assembler will be scrambled that way or what but it seems weird and fucky and probably doesn't seem the best for portability between assemblers? It saves sources as .S files, but I have no actual clue if they are just plain text files, not do I know an easy way to check except maybe for using the MONITOR, as it does list the memory address it uses for source and object... Perhaps this character set weirdness is due to the way the VDC does text? I know it's supposed to support underline and all sorts of weird shit, but don't know the details yet.
Congrats on getting the 128! Hopefully you get the disk drive problem worked out. Are you specifically wanting to develop C128 mode programs? If not, I'd recommend just using the non-REU version of Turbo Macro Pro which is included on the same .d64. As long as you're developing smaller programs you shouldn't have much trouble with it. Otherwise, another C128-mode assembler to look at is Power Assembler (aka Buddy) which I've heard recommended before, but I've never used it myself.
@@8_Bit I want to make programs that will run on the C=64 for the most part, but I would also like to try my hand at exploiting the C=128's extra features. Maybe in the same program by testing to see what features are present?
@@MrGoatflakes You could totally use C64 TMP to use some C128 features that are available to C64 mode, such as 2 MHz mode. You could even use TMP in C64 mode to write C128-native programs, but there would be the extra hassle of switching back and forth between modes. I'd recommend starting by exploring C64 mode anyway before you start getting into C128 mode. You can always apply what you learn to another assembler later.
@@8_Bit right because it's all just reading and writing values to particular addresses in 6502 assembler, right? And if the right hardware is attached hopefully it will do something xD But does TMP run alright on a C=128 without a GO64 first?
@@MrGoatflakes You need to GO64 (or power up or reset with C= key held down) to run TMP on a C128, but since it's the same processor, TMP is capable of creating object code that a C128 can run. The thing I'm not sure about is whether you'd need to assemble to disk, or if enough RAM survives intact between the two modes that you could quickly switch between the two modes to test your code. Either way, learning 65XX assembler and the C64 architecture will all help you towards your goal, and it's very accessible, so imo, go for it :)
Loved it! I wonder how they manage to escape an infinite loop. The restore key must be hooked up to the interrupt and there must be some interrupt vector pointing to basic?
Yes, I'll put it in my notes to mention that next episode. Rather bizarrely, the restore key is directly wired into the Non-Maskable Interrupt pin on the processor! So hitting the restore key causes that interrupt, which jmps through a vector at $0318 which checks for the STOP key being held down, and then runs an init routine.
Found quite a significant bug in TMP (Last version, REU): Using the "load-to-ram" option (R-l) you are asked correctly if you would like to use the starting address found in the file, but when using this, the actual loaded content still contains the starting address in the byte stream in little-endian. Only when you translate the memory content by make-data (6) you get the wanted bytes back. So loading memory is buggy - take care mates.
Interesting. I'm running VICE on OSX with a symbolic mapping (for example, it's Shift+8 to get the asterisk) but it's the tilde key in the top left for the back arrow still, which is positional. Must vary between builds.
Are there any known issues with TMP and VICE emulator? In my case I can compile a program only once but after that the folowing changes in the assembler code has no effect! It's always the first version of the code even if it's compiling and showing no error. It happens only on the vice emulator...
I use registers whenever it's practical, otherwise a block of RAM right before or after the subroutine code if they're basically "local" to that routine. Otherwise if they're more "global" variables or parameters, then they're just defined in the main block often in zero page. So, it can be all 3 :)
Hi Robin, I wish to thank you for your videos and tutorials on the C64 and specifically, assembly programming. Through your own tutorials I have switched assemblers (I was using Compute Gazette's Fast Assembler by Yves Han) and now find TMP to be well suited to help me get back to my coding days! So thank you for that! I have been looking over the documentation for TMP and understand it for the most part. However I have a question. I have a program already entered and saved and I wish to start a new program. Is there a "new" command? How do I start with a new screen, or a blank TMP screen to start a new program? Thanks in advance!
Hello, I know this video is some years old, but I was wondering how to avoid automatic scrolling when I output source list with command-4 and then *. I can stop it if I press run/stop but I have to be very quick.
Hey Robin! Quick Question: In VICE (tested using x64 on Linux), using sys32768 re-enters the plain old TMP prg fine after stopping code execution with run-stop/restore just like @20:04 in your vid. However, I notice that if I have VICE set to emulate the REU, and I use the TMP+REU version, then sys32768 will not re-enter TMP after I kill code execution with run-stop/restore. Is that a VICE problem, or did I skip over something important related to REU use in the TMP docs? It's almost as if the program exist with the REU on the wrong bank or something?
Zoom Floppy is a USB interface for Commodore disk drives like the 1541. It allows you to hook the 1541 or other IEC drive up to a modern computer with USB.
Great video! I use TMPx cross assembler for C64 stuff. I like to use modern text editor for coding :) And for actual hardware testing. Ultimate 1541 II to transfer files with SD card.
Apparently Commodore put the wrong capacitor on the Restore key line! There are some articles online about how to fix this. Some revisions don't have this problem, apparently.
Hey Robin, I was wondering if you might know how to change the default color scheme within Turbo Macro Pro? I checked the documentation which refers to a preferences submenu that is accessible by pressing "p" after command (left arrow)... but this key seems to have no effect. Thanks in advance if you have any tips!
I don't use it myself, but I think the preferences submenu got moved into a separate program that's included on the full distribution disk of TMP available on style64 dot org. Looks like the program is called TMPPREFS and you should find it on the d64 you can download from their site, if you don't already have the full disk.
Yeah I keep coming back to this- as radiologist work hours don't lend to learning anymore, and noticed my C64 REU moves the assembler into its swap space, so SYS 32768 wont relaunch the prg. I know you cover this later- but what was the sys hex/dec address for REU's...?
A quick question, does the INC $D020 command cycles through the values x00 to xFF, and the DEC $D021 from xFF to x00 then wraps around in the endless loop? And what happens when it reaches a non-valid screen color value since the C64 has a limited number of them?
If $D020 was a regular 8-bit RAM location then yes, that's exactly what would happen, cycling from $00 to $FF and then wrapping around. But since $D020 is actually registers on the VIC-II chip, and only the low 4 bits are active (16 different colours), the high 4 bits are permanently set to 1. So the register is actually just cycling from $F0 to $FF and then back to $F0.
@@8_Bit - Thank you Robin for another excellent explanation. I need to brush up on my VIC-II addresses/registers using my trusty hard copy of C64 Programmer's Guide and C64 Memory Mapping which have been in storage since the late 80's. heh :) Now, what happens if you INC or DEC any other regular RAM address (ex. screen x0401? Would it crash if going lower than 0 or over FF without bounds checking during a loop operation, or it wraps around like a VIC register?
Hi Robin, thanks very much for these tutorials :-). For those following along with a "thec64" can you recommend a machine monitor program as we don't have access to a cartridge slot (or do we?)
You're welcome! :) TheC64 can attach virtual cartridges in the form of .crt files. There's an archive of various versions of Super Snapshot on this page for example: rr.pokefinder.org/wiki/Super_Snapshot
Remember TurboSound? It won the Duke of Edinburgh Export Award but at Party in the Palace 2002 Princess Charles, the duke's daughter, praised an American brand of loudspeaker. lolol. Israel is smaller than Canada and Australia, Princess Charles must be a God. 🔊 🖋
VICE should have a "Cartridge Freeze" option that will be equivalent to pressing the button on the Super Snapshot cartridge. On the old Mac build of VICE I have, Cartridge Freeze appears under the Machine pull-down menu if you have a Super Snapshot .crt file attached. The shortcut for it it Apple+Z. Other versions should have something similar.
@@8_Bit Again, thank you so much for your prompt reply. Yes, the 'cartridge freeze' option found in VICE v3.5 in the 'File' menu immediately opened to SS Sub-System Menu allowing Code Inspector V5 to open with the 'M' key. Pressing 'X' returns to the SS Sub-system Menu; pressing '7' returns to the BASIC 'READY' screen. At this point however, typing 'SYS 320' does nothing. It was necessary to re-invoke TMP with 'SYS 32768 to return to the TMP edit screen. Invoking (Alt+H) inside of TMP opened the VICE Monitor. Yes, typing 'Alt+Z' works just as you show in the video. In the TMP edit screen, typing 'Alt+Z' immediately opened SS to the Sub-System Menu allowing Code Inspector V5 invocation via the 'M' key or by pressing '5' then '1'. I cannot adequately express how helpful your information was - without it, the stress was immense. My frustration level was astronomical bordering on cardiac arrest, so again, thank you for helping to make using TMP possible as a learning tool to follow along with your lessons.
Great video!. Many years ago I made a programs with the assembler, there was a way to run the code and get the prompt on the basic. I don't remember how I did it, could you give an example on a next video? Thanks
hey robin, I am developing a sizeable application in assembly using turbo macro pro as you suggested... however, I have built a few small programs and now want to merge them together but I don't see a way to do that with turbo in the docs...
You can use the back arrow W command to Write the source out to a sequential (text) file, and then back arrow E to Enter the sequential file into the current source. It'll merge it in wherever the cursor is currently.
I have downloaded a few D64 floppy disk image files from this bombjack guy's site. None of them seems working in VICE. No preview either. How can it be? Am I a n00b or are these really empty image files?
If you attach the .d64 file in VICE (File->Attach Disk Image in the menus) then the command LOAD"$",8 should load the disk directory and the command LIST will display the files on the disk.
@@8_Bit Yes, when I'm about to attach any of these .d64 files in VICE to any of my floppy drives (#8-#11), it says "CANNOT READ IMAGE CONTENT" on the right side of my screen, in the "preview" section. (When I do this with my other .d64 files, the preview of the image file's content is visible in this area.) If I attach the .d64 and type LOAD"$",8 it says: SEARCHING FOR $ ?FILE NOT FOUND ERROR READY and the green LED on my virtual floppy drive (8:19.0) will blink. And it works perfectly with my older image files, that are not from this site. They can be mount, list and load prg-s from them. PS.: I examined a few of these .d64 files in a hex-editor and they HAVE content. I recognize some of the text. So, it has to be something with the file format itself. Maybe it's not a valid .d64 file and needs some kind of conversion. PS (2).: Geez, finally I got it! I've got a special character in the path name where I've downloaded these .d64 files. Moving them to another place (for example to the root of drive C:) solved the problem. In spite of all these I don't delete my comments, 'cos maybe it can be helpful to someone who makes the same mistake. VICE doesn't like unicode in path name! 🙃
I have a stupid question.. Backarrow + p should give me a submenu where I can change the border and background color for the editor. I can't get it to work. When I press ba+p nothing happens. Im coding on a "The C64". Love the channel!
Aha, looks like the preferences was removed from TMP 1.2 and moved into its own file. Look through this changelog for "TMPPREFS v1.2" for some documentation on using it: turbo.style64.org/docs/turbo-macro-pro-changelog It's included on this disk image if you don't have it: style64.org/release/turbo-macro-pro-sep06-style
6:15 I'm still rather green with assembly so forgive the question if it's painfully rudimentary, but why 3 cycles for what would seem to be a rather simple JMP instruction?
Yes, the 6502 takes at least 1 cycle per byte; it processes the opcode, then the low bytes of the address, then the high byte. All instructions (ranging from 1 to 3 bytes in length) take from 2 to 7 cycles to execute. This might seem like a lot but was actually super efficient at the time. Other CPUs of the era like the 8080/Z80 required many more, and that's why a 1 MHz 6502 can keep up with a 3 MHz Z80 on most tasks. For more information about 6502 timing, look for this file online: 64doc.txt
@@8_Bit Interesting. The 65xx series was a pretty capable CPU from the sounds of things. Cool to be getting into some C64 programming. (I come from a TI-99/4a background ;) ).
Finally, (after 40 years) someone who can explain assembly in an understandable way! Subscribed!
Yep, with those magical talking hands. :)
If only I'd had access to this in 1984!!
Thank you for keeping the C64 family alive. I taught myself machine/assembler on the 6502 (Apple][e first, then C64) when our school only had one computer.
Your exact program (change border color) is the very first machine language program I wrote on the C64 in 1983. Notice the colors on the border, and how they form a short "line." Something in your system is taking up a lot of CPU time because after seeing this same output, I hand "poke"d my machine code. When that hand-poked code ran, the colors were indiscernible dots of color, screaming fast, like "bug races" of old televisions not tuned to a good frequency. After seeing the difference (interpreted/interrupted code versus free-running), I made a crude "ASSTOHEX" disassembler (a bunch of if-then lines) so I could write using a text editor (that I hand-poked into a program) in "Assembler language" then have that text interpreted, assembler to hex, then poked into memory. I wrote nothing of value, but just entertained myself with widgets only useful to myself. I wish I stayed with low-level programming, but I let myself get distracted by booze and women, then picked up Pascal/C and HTML/CSS/Javascript.
I also installed my own "reset" button by running the C64's "reset" pin to ground through a SPST/pushbutton (worked perfectly, no need to power off/on). I also added a SPDT/toggle switch to the speaker because when my 300 baud MODEM was connected (after the screaming handshake), a local radio station played through the always-on, C64 speaker (KFAB… so you know where I was at that time). Gosh, that was a tinker-ers dream with the user ports. It was SO FAR ahead of its time - now people buy Arduino and other PIC programming tools. C64 had those all the time, easily accessible and addressable… but sadly Bill Gates called it a toy, stating that personal computers were for business use only and not to be played with... and all his sheep did the same.
I put my C64, 1541, cassette, TV and game/tv modulator on a roadside one day when I had to move for work. Ah, my first love. Goodbye, forever.
Again, thank you. This was a fun video. I am now a subscriber.
Ironic considering that Javascript leads to booze.. (not women though) .. Either way.. booze is always the constant. haha. Very cool on your disassembler!
Cool! I also wrote a bunch of assembly in the 1980s for the C64. Good times
As I already wrote in the comments of another video: SYS 2^15 is easier to remember than SYS 8*4096.
I would have thought SYS 32*1024 would be easier to remember than SYS 8*4096... but honestly, if one doesn't think in powers of two, none of these memory ticklers will likely be of any help. 😄
Thanks so much - takes me back. C64 and the AppleII were the machines that I learned to program on, in BASIC and Assembly, somewhere between the ages of 9 and 14. I was getting rusty on some fundamentals, so decided to stop by. The C64 is long gone, but I'll try it out on VICE.
Thanks Robin! I wish that I had taken the time to dive into this stuff when I had my C64 back at age 15. Oh well, better late than never after 35 years! Looking forward to digging into some assembly language on the 6510. At my first job out of university, I was writing assembly for the 8051, so a little different, but not too bad. Maybe if I keep going, I'll actually break down and reacquire some real hardware. I stupidly let my wife talk me into getting rid of it 10 years ago... :(
I like to occasionally have a dig into the original C64 assemblers. When I first had theC64 full size in 2019, I set myself a coding challenge. There were no freezer cartridges available at the time. All I could rely on was Turbo Assembler, Code Sucker Monitor and a few PD utilities for designing graphics and making music. I had to rely on save states in order to save the progress of my project, just in case something went wrong and I had a fatal crash. 2020 I managed to make a snake style game on theC64 ;)
Good work there!
Wow! Great job!
I started programming on an Amiga with Devpack 6800 assembler. I remember printing out programs that were as long as the street block then marking sections out with highlight markers. All that just to be able to fully focus on what I was doing.
It's good that you use small, easy to understand Assembler programs that even a BASIC guy like me can understand. You explain everything very well.
Thanks so much. Just returning to all this after 40 years. Didn't have an assembler back then and didn't really know what I was doing! This channel is awesome
This video is a masterpiece of clear, detailed knowledge transfer. Thank you! I've been a subscriber for a long time,. Now I finally have some time to dig out C64, recall assembler and write some code for fun
I learned Assembly, Pascal, and C as a kid on my not quite yet vintage but still pretty old Apple IIGS and Macintosh iici machines I got as gifts in 97 and then 98 for my 5th and 6th birthdays. They were both from my uncle's workplace in storage. When they were in use, they were loaded up with some of the best expansion cards and accelerators you could get at the time. I still have both computers set up and write programs on both, but the IIGS is probably a bit more fun to write programs to create pixel art/music tracks on. System 7 is great on the buffed-up Mac iici for sure, but the IIGS has a certain charm to it.
When I was in college, I was sad that they barely talked about Assembly in classes. When they did, they used kind of vague explanations to cover Operators instead of comparing them to things students would already have some understanding of. I was annoyed they only really taught C++, I'm not a fan of it personally with the relative instability (number of changes made often to "solve" problems, not program instability) compared to C. That and how insanely abstract and overcomplicated OOP has gotten to.
Robin, how can we be sure you are not just a pair of disembodied hands like Thing from "The Addams Family"? That's all we ever see of you!
You've found me out!
Though I did appear in corporeal form at the end of "The Extra Spaces in C64 BASIC Errors" episode :)
@@8_Bit I think it was a stunt double...
Bug Report: The 6510 stack is a LIFO queue: Last In, First Out. Thanks to Christian Knechtel for the correction.
Feel free to ask questions in the comments, and if I forgot to mention anything, tell me here so I can get it into the next episode.
Nice video again.Just one nitpick: I think the stack works in LAST IN/FIRST OUT mode.But correct me if I´m wrong.
@@christianknechtel8683 You're correct, I don't know how I missed that during the editing. Thanks!
Excellent overview! I liked the snapshot cartridge and the ability to restart the Turbo Assembler while running the program with sys 4096*8 after runstop restore.
When I learned this stuff long ago I found it enormously helpful to break down the bit manipulation at topics like two's complement and visualize binary in a similar way as visualizing Lego studs 🙂
I didn't have anything back then, not even a hex monitor, because I didn't know what it was. So I learned by trying, which also means I had to learn the decimal value for the opcodes in my head and then write them directly in data lines.
But today, what I would have done was to first learn how a computer functions from the inside of the computer, because it is of great help. And there are many channels, but I would definitely recommend Ben Eater's channel. He basically builds a computer from scratch and explains each and everything about how it works. I would watch that - and eventually try it out too - before I started machine code programming.
But you definitely can learn machine code without, I will though like this channel recommend the Commodore 64 Reference Guide. Without that, you get nowhere.
Outstanding. Thanks very much for the terrific detail in this video. Love your work!
thanks for the video. im starting to love programming retro computers as a recovering javascript developer
I wrote a large number of assembly language utilities for the C64 which makes it easy for BASIC programs to access the graphics and other capabilities of the C64. I'd love to share these utilities.
I just did the border-flash thing purely by using PEEK and POKE (and SYS). No Turbo Macro Pro required.
That was a freaking insane feeling :D
Thanks again for a fantastic video and for lifting the veil by explaining not just what code to write but how it works by disassembling. It really helped me to understand what was going on.
The Wiz - Ease On Down The Road. "Oh there may be times when you wish you wasn't born" the story of my LIFE. 😊 ⚛
Mo. 🧙♀️
I programmed assembly code on the C64 with the Machine Language Monitor cartridge in the cartridge slot.
awesome, and I followed along at home on the C64 breadbin :)
This is great. I love seeing how this is/was done before cross assembly on PCs!
this guy just has a copy of Autoduel sitting under the Amiga. love it!!
Loving it Robin. Can’t wait for the lesson
great intro to asm on a c64! simple instructions, obvious visual results. more please!
FYI Robin, I've been watching your videos for a while. I have been reading various books on 6502 programming. Some on the Apple II and some on the C64. The other day I was working on a RS-232 BASIC program and found converting from HEX to DEC a pain. After doing a quick google search, I came across a video of yours I watched in the past. That got my assembly bug going (get it?) and so I fired up TMP. I've been using your assembly/programming videos to glean bits and pieces. Long way to say, I very much appreciate these kinds of videos! Okay, now I'm going to go watch the joystick-controlled sprites video!
Another excellent video, Robin!
Thanks a lot for sharing this!!! Many memories comes back!!! 😀👍 Result of this: Buying a C64 on eBay and brings memories back to life!!! 😂
Hi Robin,
a very nice tutorial about assembler programming on good old Commodore 64. Thumbs up for that series! 👍🏻
I didn't know TMP yet. I always coded in Final Cartridge III Monitor and today I use Relaunch with KickAssembler and ACME on my MacBook.
Unfortunately the link with all the programming books in your video description doesn't work anymore...
I just subscribed to your Channel here! Thank you for your videos 😀
Greetings from Germany, Andira
Extremely useful! I downloaded Turbo Macro Pro, installed on my MEGA65 (with C64 core) and followed your instructions step by step. My first baby steps in ML!!
And yes, I also bought a (second hand) copy of the Programmers Reference Guide two months ago 😃
ps,
Is the exact same little program also supposed to work when a REU is connected or are additional instructions required?
With REU enabled (we have that option in the MEGA65), 'TMP+REU' recognise the added 512k, but when executing the program I cannot start TMP with the SYS command, it seems to hang.
Update: never mind, you explained the use of the REU in the next episode. Return with SYS 320. Thank you!!
Memories! I originally keyed in an assembler program from a book (I think it came from Compute! magazine). I didn't need an editor because it used the basic screen editor (line numbers and all) so you could enter an assembly language program the same way you would enter a basic program. It was quite a good assembler which revolutionized my C64 use. Later, I wrote a FORTH for my C64 which included a "label less" assembler (it turned out to be remarkably easy to do).
Structured programming in assembly language is a quantum leap forward. In the FORTH assembler, your code would be like this:
BEGIN,
$D020 INC,
$D021 DEC,
AGAIN,
Awesome, followed along and can't wait for the next episode!
17:54 I was lucky enough to have that book as a teen! :-D
Fantastic! Thank you
Really like this, please keep it up as i'm following very closely - THANKS
Great vid on the assembler 🙂sadly bombjack link no longer works but archive .org has lots of commodore books. Finally your hand acting reminds me of “This Old Tony” channel 😁
Thanks, I updated the bombjack link to this new one: commodore.bombjack.org/commodore/index.htm
Again for VICE users, is by default mapped to the key, and is mapped to . Although the regular Page Up key and Escape wouldn't work for me to break out of the program, but if I put to off and pressed on the keypad, it broke out to BASIC (tested with the x128.exe on Windows 7 and doing GO64 to get into C64 mode).
I find that F12 works as the key when using VICE for Mac
Hmmm... Esc + PgUp works fine for me on Linux. I use that combo because I have F12 mapped to yakuake (dropdown terminal).
YAY! my super snapshot v4 arrived now I can follow along :-)
FINALLY RUN 🏃♂️ 🙌 👏 😌 THE PROGRAMER
This video brings back my memory. I still have the 6502 assembly book, but I think mine is brown.
MODES ADUSTING MODE ON THE TOP
Loved this! More please!
CHANGES THE COLOUR'S OF MAIN SCREEN.
ASSEMBLED YOUR MEMORY
Seems to me that TMP could also be used to assemble C128 programs- you’d just have to save the object code to disk and bload it later when you’re booted in c128 mode. If this is possible, it might make an interesting video, Robin.
Your stuff is great. Well done.
This is just amazing.
CHANGE OF MEMORY
I really like your videos quite a lot ... i use "The C64" to teach my son programming ... what I would really like to figure out would be two points (i think that could be also interesting in your videos).
A) How to use turbo macro pro together with a basic source ... how to combine and memory manage both, save both etc
B) How to use character and sprite editors combined with tmp and memory manage this ... how to save the sprite data, load them in tmp etc ... which sprite, character editors are recommended.
Would be such a gift for me and my ten year old son Simon ... cheers and greetings from Zurich, Stephan
Excellent stuff sir!
4C NEXT LINE OF JUMPED ROW
You know what I was just noticing? That the emulation of VICE is so real, it's getting the keyboard keys you can't press together right ---- so that I'm getting lst rather than list and whatnot. That's true emulation.
Hi Robin, I've just gotten my hands on a Commodore 128 with working 1084S monitor and some quad density 5.25" discs and 1541 disc drive. All in excellent condition except for the disc drive.
The FDD was said to be working before I bought it, but something must have come astray in transport or me trying to set it up. because the disc motor doesn't start and disc reports as not present, even though the light on the drive does come on.
I'm in communication with the guy and he's sending me an extra serial cable in case that is the issue. If not I guess I'll have open up the enclosures and see if I haven't knocked the connectors off the board and resolder them if so.
But disc troubles aside, I now have a Commodore 128 and want to develop new programs and libraries in assembler, but I don't have an REU. and it seems I'm not likely to get one any time soon.
So instead of TMP+REU I have been using Merlin 128 on VICE, my version of which only runs in 80 column mode. Which will require an RGBI connector (and a sd2iec or something, which I probably will need anyway) if I want to eventually use it on my Commodore 128.
Another reason I am currently using Merlin 128 is that I'm working through (half way done!) _Commodore 128 Assembly Language Programming_ by Mark Andrews and typing in the examples and playing around with them.
When I was getting started it was fairly helpful to use one of the three full featured assemblers used in the book (Merlin 128, Total Software Development System by NoSync or Commodore 64 Macro Assembler Development System by CBM). Although now I think I could use any 6502 assembler it's just a matter of convenience and ease of use and exchanging source code.
Perhaps when I get more experienced in 6502 assembler I will be able to modify Turbo Macro Pro to instead of "bank switching" with the REU instead use the C=128's in built MMU to bank switch to accomplish the same thing. Maybe adding 80 column support as well...
Yes I know the REU doesn't really bank switch rather it copies to and fro between the Commodore's memory and the large memory in the cartridge using DMA.
My question to you is that what do you think would be a a good interim solution?
Merlin 128 seems better maybe because it uses 80 column mode, but it otherwise seems pretty clunky in many ways, and to be honest assembly doesn't really use more than a few tens of columns anyway unless you are the habit of putting in wordy comments, which I am, a "bad habit" I picked up at university :P
For example weird clunkiness of Merlin 128, picking lowercase with {shift}{C=} doesn't appear do anything, and the assembler is forced to uppercase but the comments are lowercase.
You can force uppercase comments by using {caps lock}, but I don't know if that means that instead the comments will actually be upper cased and appear as graphics characters and therefore unreadable except to the real wizards when selecting the uppercase+graphics charset, or if the actually assembler will be scrambled that way or what but it seems weird and fucky and probably doesn't seem the best for portability between assemblers? It saves sources as .S files, but I have no actual clue if they are just plain text files, not do I know an easy way to check except maybe for using the MONITOR, as it does list the memory address it uses for source and object...
Perhaps this character set weirdness is due to the way the VDC does text? I know it's supposed to support underline and all sorts of weird shit, but don't know the details yet.
Congrats on getting the 128! Hopefully you get the disk drive problem worked out.
Are you specifically wanting to develop C128 mode programs? If not, I'd recommend just using the non-REU version of Turbo Macro Pro which is included on the same .d64. As long as you're developing smaller programs you shouldn't have much trouble with it.
Otherwise, another C128-mode assembler to look at is Power Assembler (aka Buddy) which I've heard recommended before, but I've never used it myself.
@@8_Bit I want to make programs that will run on the C=64 for the most part, but I would also like to try my hand at exploiting the C=128's extra features. Maybe in the same program by testing to see what features are present?
@@MrGoatflakes You could totally use C64 TMP to use some C128 features that are available to C64 mode, such as 2 MHz mode. You could even use TMP in C64 mode to write C128-native programs, but there would be the extra hassle of switching back and forth between modes. I'd recommend starting by exploring C64 mode anyway before you start getting into C128 mode. You can always apply what you learn to another assembler later.
@@8_Bit right because it's all just reading and writing values to particular addresses in 6502 assembler, right? And if the right hardware is attached hopefully it will do something xD
But does TMP run alright on a C=128 without a GO64 first?
@@MrGoatflakes You need to GO64 (or power up or reset with C= key held down) to run TMP on a C128, but since it's the same processor, TMP is capable of creating object code that a C128 can run. The thing I'm not sure about is whether you'd need to assemble to disk, or if enough RAM survives intact between the two modes that you could quickly switch between the two modes to test your code. Either way, learning 65XX assembler and the C64 architecture will all help you towards your goal, and it's very accessible, so imo, go for it :)
Super lesson!
@ 2:42 what is an ommodore 64/128?
Loved it! I wonder how they manage to escape an infinite loop. The restore key must be hooked up to the interrupt and there must be some interrupt vector pointing to basic?
Yes, I'll put it in my notes to mention that next episode. Rather bizarrely, the restore key is directly wired into the Non-Maskable Interrupt pin on the processor! So hitting the restore key causes that interrupt, which jmps through a vector at $0318 which checks for the STOP key being held down, and then runs an init routine.
Found quite a significant bug in TMP (Last version, REU): Using the "load-to-ram" option (R-l) you are asked correctly if you would like to use the starting address found in the file, but when using this, the actual loaded content still contains the starting address in the byte stream in little-endian. Only when you translate the memory content by make-data (6) you get the wanted bytes back. So loading memory is buggy - take care mates.
For example you have a character set as prg file with $2000 as start adress the loaded data in memory starts than with $00 $20 ... ouch
nice job, i love it.
Turbo Macro Pro is an excellent software for assembly, however I continue to prefer Turbo Assembler 7.4
For those following along with VICE, the back arrow key is underscore in the standard symbolic mapping :P
Interesting. I'm running VICE on OSX with a symbolic mapping (for example, it's Shift+8 to get the asterisk) but it's the tilde key in the top left for the back arrow still, which is positional. Must vary between builds.
TOTAL OF 9 CYCLES 🚲
Are there any known issues with TMP and VICE emulator?
In my case I can compile a program only once but after that the folowing changes in the assembler code has no effect! It's always the first version of the code even if it's compiling and showing no error. It happens only on the vice emulator...
one other question: when you make up routines, do you have a standard way to pass parameters? registers, parameter block or low memory blocks...?
I use registers whenever it's practical, otherwise a block of RAM right before or after the subroutine code if they're basically "local" to that routine. Otherwise if they're more "global" variables or parameters, then they're just defined in the main block often in zero page. So, it can be all 3 :)
No reset so I save before I run the file. If it works properly I just save over the older version.
Hi Robin, I wish to thank you for your videos and tutorials on the C64 and specifically, assembly programming. Through your own tutorials I have switched assemblers (I was using Compute Gazette's Fast Assembler by Yves Han) and now find TMP to be well suited to help me get back to my coding days! So thank you for that!
I have been looking over the documentation for TMP and understand it for the most part. However I have a question. I have a program already entered and saved and I wish to start a new program. Is there a "new" command? How do I start with a new screen, or a blank TMP screen to start a new program?
Thanks in advance!
I believe back arrow C will trigger a "cold start" prompt, then answer "Y". If it doesn't work I'll dig into it more, let me know.
Yes, that did it. Many thanks!!@@8_Bit
Fun
Hello, I know this video is some years old, but I was wondering how to avoid automatic scrolling when I output source list with command-4 and then *. I can stop it if I press run/stop but I have to be very quick.
y remember doing this in the early eighties. just with absolute addresses though.
Hey Robin! Quick Question: In VICE (tested using x64 on Linux), using sys32768 re-enters the plain old TMP prg fine after stopping code execution with run-stop/restore just like @20:04 in your vid. However, I notice that if I have VICE set to emulate the REU, and I use the TMP+REU version, then sys32768 will not re-enter TMP after I kill code execution with run-stop/restore. Is that a VICE problem, or did I skip over something important related to REU use in the TMP docs? It's almost as if the program exist with the REU on the wrong bank or something?
With the REU version you use SYS 320 or maybe SYS 384 to return to TMP. Look for "jumpback" in the docs and it should explain it.
@@8_Bit SYS320 works! Thanks for the quick reply. I see where they mention $140 is the default jumpback now. Doh!
HE JUMPED CANTEEN
Can you elaborate on using "zoom floppy" to place the program on the disc? Meaning what it's specifically. Thanks in advance C=
Zoom Floppy is a USB interface for Commodore disk drives like the 1541. It allows you to hook the 1541 or other IEC drive up to a modern computer with USB.
Great video! I use TMPx cross assembler for C64 stuff. I like to use modern text editor for coding :)
And for actual hardware testing. Ultimate 1541 II to transfer files with SD card.
Can someone please explain to me why Commodore designed the RESTORE key to not function unless you smashed it?
Apparently Commodore put the wrong capacitor on the Restore key line! There are some articles online about how to fix this. Some revisions don't have this problem, apparently.
I LOVE C64 👍🥂🎩
Wow 😲😲 👍👍
64 MEMORY
AUTODUEL! Great game back then!
CORESPONDING COMMAND
BTW with variables in basic beeing faster than parsing literals, how does it actually map variable names to the values that fast?
Hey Robin, I was wondering if you might know how to change the default color scheme within Turbo Macro Pro? I checked the documentation which refers to a preferences submenu that is accessible by pressing "p" after command (left arrow)... but this key seems to have no effect. Thanks in advance if you have any tips!
I don't use it myself, but I think the preferences submenu got moved into a separate program that's included on the full distribution disk of TMP available on style64 dot org. Looks like the program is called TMPPREFS and you should find it on the d64 you can download from their site, if you don't already have the full disk.
@@8_Bit TMPPREFS did the trick. Thanks very much!
Good stuff! How about an intermediate level assembly tutorial showing the TMP+REU functionality?
I think I'll use TMP+REU next time, yes! And I'll write a longer program too :)
Yeah I keep coming back to this- as radiologist work hours don't lend to learning anymore, and noticed my C64 REU moves the assembler into its swap space, so SYS 32768 wont relaunch the prg. I know you cover this later- but what was the sys hex/dec address for REU's...?
SYS320 in the stack. its on your next one. thanks!
@@drphilxr AH! Thank you for posting this. I just today felt like playing with TMP and ran into the same problem and posted the same question!
Do you have any alternative to TMP that i could get on a tape? And how about programs assembled with TMP? Can those be saved to tape aswell?
A quick question, does the INC $D020 command cycles through the values x00 to xFF, and the DEC $D021 from xFF to x00 then wraps around in the endless loop? And what happens when it reaches a non-valid screen color value since the C64 has a limited number of them?
If $D020 was a regular 8-bit RAM location then yes, that's exactly what would happen, cycling from $00 to $FF and then wrapping around. But since $D020 is actually registers on the VIC-II chip, and only the low 4 bits are active (16 different colours), the high 4 bits are permanently set to 1. So the register is actually just cycling from $F0 to $FF and then back to $F0.
@@8_Bit - Thank you Robin for another excellent explanation. I need to brush up on my VIC-II addresses/registers using my trusty hard copy of C64 Programmer's Guide and C64 Memory Mapping which have been in storage since the late 80's. heh :)
Now, what happens if you INC or DEC any other regular RAM address (ex. screen x0401? Would it crash if going lower than 0 or over FF without bounds checking during a loop operation, or it wraps around like a VIC register?
@@BillAnt RAM locations will wrap around automatically and will never cause a crash.
Nice video !
Hi Robin, thanks very much for these tutorials :-). For those following along with a "thec64" can you recommend a machine monitor program as we don't have access to a cartridge slot (or do we?)
You're welcome! :) TheC64 can attach virtual cartridges in the form of .crt files. There's an archive of various versions of Super Snapshot on this page for example: rr.pokefinder.org/wiki/Super_Snapshot
Remember TurboSound? It won the Duke of Edinburgh Export Award but at Party in the Palace 2002 Princess Charles, the duke's daughter, praised an American brand of loudspeaker. lolol. Israel is smaller than Canada and Australia, Princess Charles must be a God. 🔊 🖋
Is there a way to access SS from within TMP via a specific keystroke inside of VICE as you illustrate at 12:56?
VICE should have a "Cartridge Freeze" option that will be equivalent to pressing the button on the Super Snapshot cartridge. On the old Mac build of VICE I have, Cartridge Freeze appears under the Machine pull-down menu if you have a Super Snapshot .crt file attached. The shortcut for it it Apple+Z. Other versions should have something similar.
@@8_Bit Again, thank you so much for your prompt reply. Yes, the 'cartridge freeze' option found in VICE v3.5 in the 'File' menu immediately opened to SS Sub-System Menu allowing Code Inspector V5 to open with the 'M' key. Pressing 'X' returns to the SS Sub-system Menu; pressing '7' returns to the BASIC 'READY' screen. At this point however, typing 'SYS 320' does nothing. It was necessary to re-invoke TMP with 'SYS 32768 to return to the TMP edit screen. Invoking (Alt+H) inside of TMP opened the VICE Monitor. Yes, typing 'Alt+Z' works just as you show in the video. In the TMP edit screen, typing 'Alt+Z' immediately opened SS to the Sub-System Menu allowing Code Inspector V5 invocation via the 'M' key or by pressing '5' then '1'. I cannot adequately express how helpful your information was - without it, the stress was immense. My frustration level was astronomical bordering on cardiac arrest, so again, thank you for helping to make using TMP possible as a learning tool to follow along with your lessons.
Great video!.
Many years ago I made a programs with the assembler, there was a way to run the code and get the prompt on the basic. I don't remember how I did it, could you give an example on a next video?
Thanks
Bombjack site 404 on 29 dec 2019
ADDRESS FOLLOW 6 CYCLES 🚲
So the bottom of code is 7feb 32747 and the assembler starts at 32768. I think I learned something.
hey robin, I am developing a sizeable application in assembly using turbo macro pro as you suggested... however, I have built a few small programs and now want to merge them together but I don't see a way to do that with turbo in the docs...
You can use the back arrow W command to Write the source out to a sequential (text) file, and then back arrow E to Enter the sequential file into the current source. It'll merge it in wherever the cursor is currently.
@@8_Bit very cool! thx!
I have downloaded a few D64 floppy disk image files from this bombjack guy's site. None of them seems working in VICE. No preview either. How can it be? Am I a n00b or are these really empty image files?
If you attach the .d64 file in VICE (File->Attach Disk Image in the menus) then the command LOAD"$",8 should load the disk directory and the command LIST will display the files on the disk.
@@8_Bit Yes, when I'm about to attach any of these .d64 files in VICE to any of my floppy drives (#8-#11), it says "CANNOT READ IMAGE CONTENT" on the right side of my screen, in the "preview" section. (When I do this with my other .d64 files, the preview of the image file's content is visible in this area.)
If I attach the .d64 and type LOAD"$",8 it says:
SEARCHING FOR $
?FILE NOT FOUND ERROR
READY
and the green LED on my virtual floppy drive (8:19.0) will blink.
And it works perfectly with my older image files, that are not from this site.
They can be mount, list and load prg-s from them.
PS.: I examined a few of these .d64 files in a hex-editor and they HAVE content. I recognize some of the text. So, it has to be something with the file format itself. Maybe it's not a valid .d64 file and needs some kind of conversion.
PS (2).: Geez, finally I got it! I've got a special character in the path name where I've downloaded these .d64 files. Moving them to another place (for example to the root of drive C:) solved the problem.
In spite of all these I don't delete my comments, 'cos maybe it can be helpful to someone who makes the same mistake.
VICE doesn't like unicode in path name! 🙃
i wish i understood what is going on here i downloaded frodo c64 emulator to my phone
64 PROGRAMER REFERANCE GUIDE.
I have a stupid question.. Backarrow + p should give me a submenu where I can change the border and background color for the editor. I can't get it to work. When I press ba+p nothing happens. Im coding on a "The C64". Love the channel!
Aha, looks like the preferences was removed from TMP 1.2 and moved into its own file. Look through this changelog for "TMPPREFS v1.2" for some documentation on using it: turbo.style64.org/docs/turbo-macro-pro-changelog
It's included on this disk image if you don't have it: style64.org/release/turbo-macro-pro-sep06-style
@@8_Bit Thank you Robin! you are the best! ❤️😃
6:15 I'm still rather green with assembly so forgive the question if it's painfully rudimentary, but why 3 cycles for what would seem to be a rather simple JMP instruction?
Oh wait - I think I see why: because the there is the OP-code 4C, then the two bytes for the location?
Yes, the 6502 takes at least 1 cycle per byte; it processes the opcode, then the low bytes of the address, then the high byte. All instructions (ranging from 1 to 3 bytes in length) take from 2 to 7 cycles to execute. This might seem like a lot but was actually super efficient at the time. Other CPUs of the era like the 8080/Z80 required many more, and that's why a 1 MHz 6502 can keep up with a 3 MHz Z80 on most tasks. For more information about 6502 timing, look for this file online: 64doc.txt
@@8_Bit Interesting. The 65xx series was a pretty capable CPU from the sounds of things. Cool to be getting into some C64 programming. (I come from a TI-99/4a background ;) ).
@@8_Bit Oh yeah, nearly forgot my manners: thanks for doing these videos - I've been learning a lot B)