C64 Pico project - I made a tiny Commodore 64 with a Raspberry Pi Pico!
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- Опубліковано 26 лип 2024
- Using the MCUME software running on a Raspberry Pi Pico, I designed and built this tiny emulated C64 to dangle around my neck while I wandered around the expo halls at PAX Aus 2022, and it turned out way better than I ever expected!
I'm releasing all my schematics, PCB designs, and updates made to the MCUME code as open source, and links can be found below.
If you like what I do and want to encourage more, I appreciate your support through likes and comments below. If you have the means, you could also support me on Patreon, as money helps me buy things to fix and build more projects - / silvervest
Bookmarks!
00:00:00 - Intro
00:02:10 - History
00:04:40 - Schematic Detail
00:10:36 - PCB design brief
00:12:51 - Construction
00:27:41 - Programming
00:34:43 - Final testing and assembly
00:42:13 - Closing remarks
Any feedback is welcome, as always.
Links!
PAXAus - aus.paxsite.com/
Design files and such - github.com/silvervest/c64pico
MCUME fork with changes - github.com/silvervest/MCUME/t...
Credits!
Music:
* Hiroshi Kawaguchi - Magical Sound Shower (C64 arrangement by Jason Brooke)
* Rob Hubbard - Commando
* Masaru Setsumaru - Data Select (from Sonic 3)
Font: Riciery Leal - VCR OSD Mono (www.dafont.com/vcr-osd-mono.font)
Putting up with my weird hobbies: My wife
Disclaimer!
I am NOT an expert, I have genuinely NO idea what I'm doing, and mostly just glue things together and use a lot of Google-fu until stuff works. I've been tinkering with electronics since I was a kid, but have no formal training and will probably do things incorrectly. If you learn something from this, that's awesome, but trust me - I'm learning too!
#raspberrypipico #commodore64 - Наука та технологія
Back in 1986 I would have killed to have this! The C64 was my first pc.
Same here! It's a system that's very near and dear to me, also being my first computer
You can be proud of the work that you have done here! I built my first S100 CP/M computer from scratch, wire wrapping all the boards, cutting S100 edge connectors from double sided bare pcb and using an exacto knife for the fingers. I even wound my own S100 power transformer from an old tv set transformer. This was in 1977. The Z80 cpu was new then ;-)
I knew, when I saw the PI Pico, that a lot of folks were going to make good use of it!
That is so cool. I wouldn't be surprised if that's the worlds smallest working C64.
Your soldering skills are awesome. All I get is unwanted bridges and burnt fingers. Love the C64. Subscribed.
Very nice build! Only 123 likes? You deserve more with all of the work you put into this.
Great video and project. My wife wants to say he must have been a nice cat in another life 43:28
If you want a good connection with the pin header, just bend the pins out slightly. No need to hold it in place.
True, though these days (as seen in my Openflops W1D vid) I use pogo pins either in pre-made or DIY adapters
Amazing project. A computer like this would be jaw dropping back in the 80's
Probably get me burned at the stake! Thanks :)
Absolutely amazing work. Huge thanks for sharing!
I just have got into the Pico, and plan on learning to breadboard some stuff, but it's very inspiring, and exciting seeing Pico projects like this.
Looks amazing. Well done!
Wow. Looks amazing!
Wow, congrats on getting that working, pretty cool!
Wish a kit was for sale. This thing is brilliant. Maybe your next revision can have the graphical symbols on the keyboard some where too?
I'd really love to get the PETSCII symbols on there, but there's really no space! The letters on the keyboard are currently 2mm high, and I just don't think I could get the definition for the graphics
I love this. Fantastic work.
"I don't know where the keys are!"
Yeah you do, you soldered them in a while back already.
Oh that is so cool!!!
WOW....
The 'Me' in 1982 is blown away!
Super enjoy the video 👍🏼. Trying to replicate it now 😅
Nice work Nick!
Wow, that's the coolest thing I've seen for ages. Well done!
Thanks!
Beautiful .
very good work.
Haha, I like that you used Rob Hubbard's Commando theme music for some of this!
Very impressed!!
(Here from Explaining Computers,
PicoMiteVGA video comments)
Cool project. It is nice that the keyboard letters are large, bold a highly visible. It would be even awesomer to find the matching keyboard font (as opposed to screen font). Something narrow bold sans-serif.
Thanks! Yeah, that would indeed be awesome! I chose this one mostly because it's nice and sharp and readable at a distance.
That is so brilliant.
Thank you, I really appreciate it :)
That is so very neat ! Well done :)
Thanks, I really appreciate it! Big fan of your work also, your C64 savers have kept my babies safe for years ❤️
Wow! que gran trabajo y dedicación hay en esa pieza. Una belleza!! Muy buenos recuerdos de la C64, mi primer pc❤
¡Gracias! C64 was my first PC too, so very close to my heart
I'd be having nightmares of a tactile button army chasing me through the city to the commando soundtrack after all that soldering 😁 reaaly impressive work!
I've had a few requests now to build and sell these, and honestly that's the main reason I wouldn't... The nightmares would be real! 😅 Thanks!
@@silvestronsbitsandbytes I agree, keep your sanity!
wow, cool project, gotta make one myself :) GG
Thanks! Please do, would love to hear about it too! :)
My first computer was a C=128 I loved that machine and actually paid for it by writing BASIC programs for a few of the local business men who had commodores. I worked on the PD and we worked 4 12's and. 4 off, my wife worked as a nurses aide on shifts as well so I had a LOT of time on my hands with no body to bother me so I took the fantastic manual that came with the 128 and learned BASIC that way. I was quite good with it, suddenly the local hardware store was printing bills using my software, keeping their bookkeeping up to date with it, as was the Dairy Queen and the Super Stop store as well. I ended up going to college, I know I should have taken up computers there, but being a disabled cop, I wanted to work in the law so I studied law and became a paralegal, however I worked in every computer class I could. I ended up being pretty much. an aide. to the instructors as I was more up on working with the infernal machines then they were, especially since most of the programing was taught using BASIC it was easy to go from the BASIC on the commodore to MS BASIC. Ah for the good old days before Windows 95! I would love to have one of those pocket models, perhaps one day I shall get the parts.... Thanks a billion for the hard work and videos!
That's such a terrific story, thanks for sharing!
maravilhoso, fiquei empolgado so de ver, eu realmente quero tentar um projeto como esse
Pew Pew !!!! You had me laughing !!!! Subscribed! Loved this project! I had a raspberry pi 0 running BMC64, attached to the underside of a keyboard, running via a powerbank, so all you could see was a keyboard and an hdmi out to the tv/monitor..
Thanks! While researching, I contemplated using a Pi0 and BMC64, but really wanted to make a project with the Pico.. the shortage on Zero's didn't exactly help! I could probably remake it with the same keyboard and physical layout, not sure about the LCD output on the Zero's interface though. Could be fun!
@@silvestronsbitsandbytes , the only problem find with the Pi0 and 4 is that the first has a mini-hdmi, and the second has a micro-hdmi... those simply KILL portability. I could just slide the device into my pocket and use it while on my break at work, except that I need to take a cable or adapter... I can't forgive the PI foundation for that. But the 0 is just superb, a single 18650 battery will last three hours of gaming... since I only have half an hour's break, it's no big deal.
"Because I'm a masochist like that." HAHA!
Oh, man, I don't think I could ever complete this project without a pick-and-place machine and a solder-compatible oven or at least a heat gun! Why didn't you start your keys in the middle and work outward (so that at least you'd have less reach-over to have to do from either side)?
Very impressive! Especially your dedication of building a second one for the sake of this video :D
Those components really look like a pain, especially the display connector. I imagine hot air would have melted it?
Thank you! That was mostly the dedication of building one for my wife ;) I ended up hot-air'ing the display connector in place, but as long as you're careful with temp and heat management it's fine. Also lots and lots of flux!
This is fantastic. Going to see if I can figure out KiCad and order some PCBs!
You should, KiCad is fun as heck to mess around in anyway. I find PCB design and routing to be like a great puzzle that you can make something out of at the end!
you could be a billionare selling these things!
Not sure I would want to solder this many tac switches again!
Que gran trabajo amigo
Muchas gracias!
Very impressive 👍 I'm guessing like me you first learnt to program Basic on the C64, those were the days 😊
Certainly did! Typing out programs from the back of magazines, fiddling with PEEKs and POKEs to learn what they did... Ah memories 😃
good job :O you could post a short(er) video about some gaming or programming on it
Great job done! Just amazing. Would great if you could implement a PICO with WiFi and BT support so you can download new releases on the SD via wifi and connect you BT headset to listen to audio!
That's a great idea, the Pico W already can provide those, but the software needs to support and I'm not sure there much performance left available to support it. Would be interested to see someone implement though!
VERY impressive. Your attention to detail is outstanding.
I would like to see the software expanded to the VIC-20, CoCo, Apple II, etc. If the screen has the needed resolution perhaps other computer with 16x64 or 24x80 like TRS-80 Models I, III and IV.
This, or something very close, could emulate almost everyone's first computer. My first computer was TRS-80 Models I, and I would be happy to help emulate that computer.
Thank you, I appreciate it! :) The MCUME emulator software I'm using is open source (link in description) and could possibly be expanded to other systems! It already supports VIC20 and Speccy's for example! Good luck!
Cool little project for PAX!
The thing I've been hoping to do more of is see things like the Pico with minimal/cheap help replacing chips that are simply unobtanium now. The VIC/VIC-II/TED chips from Commodore machines, for example. This isn't that, but it's still very cool because pocket sized! Sort of.
Thanks! The Pico is such a fun little micro, I'm very much enjoying working with them, but I guess it's still a micro and has limitations... Emulation can only go so far!
Outrun's Magical Sound Shower was an interesting choice for the C64 but the SID makes a fair stab at the 16bit arcade classic.
The music: ua-cam.com/video/ESwrrCshV6s/v-deo.html
It's probably my favourite C64 SID track, and is the canonical version of how the song sounds in my head. I loved OutRun so much as a kid and played it all the time on my C64!
Great project, I would really like to do a Vic 20, which I see that MCUME can emulate on Pico since that was the first computer I bought.
That would be great! The code for this project is freely available, and you'd just need to really port the keyboard input from the MCUME pico64 code into the pico20 code.
"Joystick is working...."
* D-pad
Oh my heck, how cool! But where's the border?
Appreciate this, very good work, hope I can own one someday. Can it support usb keyboard?
I bet the PAX is what you said even if we _are_ familiar with it (but I'm not).
What an awesome idea. I was just wondering the other day if the Pico could run C64. I assumed it could since I've seen someone boot up Doom on one fairly recently. Of course ideas get swooshed around loosely and get covered by other things along the way, sometimes to never resurface. Thanks for making it wash ashore once more. It'd be awesome if you had a .bom put together for this. Those tact switches look painful but serviceable. I was hoping to see Tapper or my all-time favorite, Forbidden Forest running on this thing.
Thanks! The BOM shouldn't be too complex, I'll see if I can find some time to put something together this week and add to the repo. The main limitation on the MCUME emu is that it can only load single file .PRG files (ie not multi-disk games), but it looks like both Tapper and Forbidden Forest should fit the bill!
@@silvestronsbitsandbytes I was wondering what compatibility would be like on one of these. Guess that answers my question. Most everything I'd be looking to emulate would be single disk so definitely sounds great!
@@androxilogin there's a few graphical glitches here and there, and some games just refuse to run outright. Anything that requires a fastload doesn't seem to work, and I've noticed some games are bugged out - like in Impossible Mission, the robots immediately zap me even though I'm across the room so it's unplayable. Still lots of fun stuff works though!
@@androxilogin just an FYI, I've added an interactive BOM to the repo and details on the harder to pick parts in the README now. Enjoy!
👍
Kinda wish I could buy one!
I don't think I have the patience in me to build them to sell, maybe a limited run at some point in the future but definitely not an ongoing product. I have released all my designs so if you have the knowhow or know someone that does, you can build one yourself!
Glue Dots 39m 10sec :)
They're so handy!
Really nice Project. I would like to build one. Is there a more detailed BOM available. I tried to find all thing from the schematic but it isn't easy to find for example the speaker, the ILI9341 connector, the display and the LiPo battery.
Thanks for the push, I've been meaning to making the BOM and keep getting distracted. I've added that to the repo now, and have purchasing details for the more specific parts in the README - github.com/silvervest/c64pico#bom
@@silvestronsbitsandbytes Thank you for this really fast response. Appreciated.
How did you prototype this, and where did you get the LCD(s)?
Hi! Really like your Project! I am planning on doing a compilation video of the coolest Pico projects out there. Am I allowed to showcase your project and use some footage from this video?
Go for it! Share back a link to your vid once you're done :)
@@silvestronsbitsandbytes Thanks man, appreciate that. Of cause I will mention your channel and give credit to your video.
I will do that. Have a nice day!
fyi Tag-Connect sells those programmer cables with pogo pins
Oh neat, haven't seen those! TBH though, for the price my eehhh and work-around is fine for now. Maybe if I had to build these by the hundred...
I think you mentioned you had to order spare parts, enough to make another? I'll take one! How much?
I have been meaning to get around to making a kit for this, just never seem to find the time. If I ever do, I'll let you know :)
Very nice build. One question. Can it run sid wizard?
It can probably run it, but I doubt it'd run well. The SID emulation (ReSID) is pretty slow on the RP2040 core, and sound and music in games is pretty slow.
@@silvestronsbitsandbytes hm well. I see I am looking for something handheld and can run sid wizard. So I can make retro music on the go. I wonder what model of rasberry pi would run it well. I am looking for cheap and easy solution like pi zero or maybe pi1
@@hirusthehellhound ah then yeah, this is definitely not what you'd be looking for! Pi Zero2 running minimal linux and VICE may be an option, but it'd be a very custom build. Good luck!
@@silvestronsbitsandbytes alright thank you for information
vice city!?
so the emulator you pointed us to is wonky ?
I need to buy this. Is there no kit per se? I guess I could buy the components as per your links
Putting together kits for sale wouldn't be the worst idea........ I may get back to you 😅
@@silvestronsbitsandbytes I'd definitely buy some!
@@silvestronsbitsandbytes Any news?
roughly how expensive was this project to make?
I built a lot of prototypes and tried out different parts and designs, so all up it would have cost me a few hundred AU dollars at least. I honestly tried not to keep track so I wouldn't get discouraged :)
@@silvestronsbitsandbytes Buying everything for 5 pcbs + components about 50 euros (thats about 80 AU)
If it's running _off_ the battery, and since it's not plugged in, then what's it running ON?
Are u busy with other builds or r u free I need help
Always busy, but never too busy to help :) Leave a comment or reach out via email!
"After... the happenings."
Why can't ya just say it?
So if that's running _off_ a Raspberry Pi, then what system is it running ON?
"I didn't really get any videos or photos. One that I did get..."
Welcome to self-contradiction, heh. Why was that the only one you got of something going on during that event?