Commodore Free 9/Commodore_Free_Issue_09_2007_Commodore_Computer_Club.d64/t.ccs64

Text File | 2023-02-26 | 13KB | 399 lines

u CSS 64 F.A.Q A Commodore 64 Emulator
         By Per Hekan Sundell

Question: Where do I connect my real
1541 drive for use with CCS64?

You don't. CCS64 doesn't support
connection of any original hardware
compatible with C64. Instead the 1541
disk drive is also emulated in
software, and behaves as alike the
real thing as it is possible. The
original 5 1/4" disks is replaces by
ordinary PC files, disk images. To
transfer your disks to disk images use
one of the existing programs
available, together with an special
cable for the connection. The best
program for PC is called "Star
Commander", and is available at the
Internet.

Question: When will CCS64 support
connection to a real 1541 drive?

Probably never as there exists very
good tools for transferring the data
on 1541 disks to system independent
file formats (like .D64). As I see it
the main benefit of using a real 1541
disk drive connected to the emulator
would be to use copy-protected
software that uses fast-loaders and/or
special formatting that the
transferring tools can not handle. But
as I am pretty shure that it is
theoretically impossible to get the
connection 100% compatible so that it
will support all kind of fast-loaders,
I think it is not worth to implement a
half support. The support that should
be possible is the 1541 normal loading
protocol and perhaps some special
selected fast-loaders. To understand
the problem you have to consider that
the 1541 is not just an ordinary
device with a specified communication
protocol. In fact it is a complete
computer of its own and can therefore
be re-programmed to send signals in
any way and in any speed wanted, and
mostly with very little or none
handshaking control (controlling that
the data actually has been recognized
by the C64).  A fast-loader normally
works in that way that it first sends
over a special program to the 1541 and
then starts the execution of this
program (inside the 1541!). This
program has full control of all the
hardware that is inside the 1541 and
executes on an CPU clocked on 1.0 MHz.
On the C64 is also a program
executing, that is running fully in
parallel with the other program and is
synchronized down to the level of some
CPU cycles (appr. 1/1000000 seconds) .
 So the problem is mainly because of
the synchronization problem of down to
1/1000000 seconds. That kind of
synchronization is not supported by
any operating system on PC, and
neither does the PC's hardware allow
that accuracy - for instance the
SoundBlaster hardware interrupts the
main processing about 50 times per
seconds for quite long period when it
is moving data from the RAM and
reinitializes the looping.  To be able
to emulate the connection fully you
must have a real-time OS and a
real-time computer  system, where you
can be guaranteed not get your program
execution to be interrupted by more
than 1/1000000 seconds. And in a
normal PC, your programs are normally
interrupted by a lot of things that
takes a lot more time than that, like
harddisk access, keyboard, mouse,
scsi, eide, usb, networks etceteras.
For example in Windows 3.1 you can be
guaranteed a response time of 1/18
seconds - and in that time the program
that is inside the 1541 has crashed
for a long time ago, blink blink!

Question: Why can't I use my original
1541 disks in my PC 5 1/4" diskdrive
(B:)?

It is technically impossible to read a
1541 disk in a PC diskdrive. The
reason is that PC and 1541 uses
completely different systems for
magnetic recording, MFM versus GCR.
Note also that the original 1541 is
much more than just a disk drive, in
fact it is a complete computer, with
its own CPU and RAM/ROM. The PC's
diskdrive is just mechanics with
simple read/write electronics, with no
intelligence of its own.

Question: Why doesn't CCS64 work on
my Windows NT system?

The reason is that Windows NT is a
system that does not support programs
that accesses the PC's hardware
directly, probably to ensure system
stability. Because when programs deal
with the hardware directly, any
program fault can mess up the system
completely. CCS64 V1.09 is developed
for DOS using a 32-bit Dos-Extender.
Windows NT 4.0 can only tolerate
16-bit DOS programs. Because this
problem isn't only arising with CCS64,
but also with many commercial games,
Microsoft have developed the DirectX
interface to Windows 32-bit. This
enables program to get nearly direct
access to the hardware under
controlled manners, thus keeping
system stability.  CCS64 V2.0
therefore is distributed as two
versions for PC, one DOS and one
Win32/DirectX version. Win32 is a
Microsoft name-convention for
Windows95/98/NT which all is built
around a similar 32-bit architecture.
To have DirectX on WindowsNT 4.0 you
must have installed Service Pack 3 or
later. To have DirectX for Windows95
you must install a special package
from Microsoft. In Windows98 there is
an pre-installed version of DirectX
5.0.

Question: Why don't I get any sound
with CCS64?

If you are using the DOS version, you
should ensure that you have properly
installed your soundcard for use with
DOS, and that you are using either a
SoundBlaster compatible or Gravis
Ultrasound soundcard. With your
soundcard package there should be a
1.44" disk containing DOS drivers.
When this is properly installed, the
systems boot files AUTOEXEC.BAT and
CONFIG.SYS should be changed to
contain an environment variable
setting. Often this will look like SET
BLASTER=A220 I5 D1 H5 T4 etceteras.
When CCS64 starts it will look after
this environment variable setting and
configure its sounddrivers according
to that. For more information look in
your soundcards manual at the topic
"How to use my soundcard with DOS
games" or visit your soundcards
vendors homepage on the Internet. If
you are using the DirectX version, you
should ensure that you have the latest
drivers for your soundcard installed,
and that they are compatible with
DirectX. Also ensure that you have the
latest version of DirectX installed.
Your soundcard may also have different
modes of DirectSound interface, of
which only some works with CCS64.
Enter the Sound-menu in CCS64 and try
to change the Sound Device settings,
hopefully some other setting will
work.

Question: Why doesn't my joystick work
with CCS64?

For use with the DOS version, you must
have a DOS compatible joystick. Many
new advanced joysticks are only
designed for use with Windows and
DirectX with special drivers. In this
case one possibility is to use the
Win32/Direct version of CCS64. The DOS
version can sadly not use any features
of Windows even if it is running under
Windows. Also ensure that you have
calibrated the joysticks correctly in
the emulator. In CCS64 V2.0 there is a
special sub-menu for this purpose.

Question: Why don't I get any graphics
display with CCS64 for Win32/DirectX
(DirectDraw-Init Error)?

CCS64 for DirectX uses a
double-buffering system for the video
display, to minimize possible flicker.
This can consume quite a lot of video
memory, perhaps your video-card has
too little. Different video-modes
requires different amount of
videomemory, so try with different
settings. Also ensure that you have
the latest DirectX version and the
latest version of drivers for your
video-card.It seems also that it
matters if the MS-DOS prompt window is
in windowed or full-screen mode,
DirectX sometimes fails to initialize
properly when there is a full-screen
MS-DOS window. So try to change the
settings to windowed mode for the
MS-DOS prompt (Command prompt in NT).

Question: Why doesn't games (scrollers
in particular) run smoothly on my
computer - even if I have selected the
384x282 screenmode and have a powerful
CPU?

The reason is that the PAL C64 is
making frames with 50.12 Hz
(985248/63/312) and the screenmode you
are using is probably not exactly
50.12 Hz but rather perhaps 50.00 Hz.
That means that after about 8 seconds
(1/0.12) it will be produced one more
frame than have been showed, and that
frame will never be displayed. And
because of the missed frame the
scroller will make a visible jump. If
your displays refresh rate is faster
than 50.12 Hz, perhaps 70.00 Hz, this
means that several frames will be
displayed twice but others are
displayed only once.

Question: Why don't I get any flashing
Scroll Lock LED with CCS64 for
Win32/DirectX when the 1541 drive is
working?

The reason is that current version of
DirectX or Windows doesn't support
changing of the keyboard leds from
software. According to Microsoft
romours, there will be support for
this in future version of DirectX
together with Windows98/NT5.0.

Question: What should I do when the
game asks me to "Insert Disk 2"?

Well, you should insert disk 2 into
your virtual 1541 diskdrive. When you
started the game you probably
"inserted" disk number 1, so the
answer lies in the same menu, where it
is probably called "select". In
version 1.09 the disk image (probably
with .D64 extension) is selected as
soon as you look at its
contents.Sometimes you could have this
message repeating - even if you have
selected the correct disk image in
CCS64. This is most probably because
the normal kind of format for disk
images, .D64, doesn't contain all
information that is on a real 1541
disk. There are quite many programs
for C64 that check for this
information to detect whether the
correct disk in inserted or not. In
this case search the Internet for a
better disk image, that either
contains the missing information, or
where the program check functions are
fixed. It could also be the case that
you have to little knowledge of the
C64 and its equipment to do a correct
decision. In this case there are a lot
of literature available at the
Internet, search for "Project 64".

Question: I have successfully started
a game, but all I get is a blank or
static screen?

As the virtual 1541 disk drive is
emulated to be as alike as a real 1541
disk, it is also as slow or fast as
the real thing. On many games it takes
several minutes on a real C64 with a
1541 diskdrive before the game is
fully loaded. In version 2.0 of CCS64,
there are several possibilities to
speed up the loading procedures. One
is to use a fastload ROM-set or
cartridge, as you would on a real C64.
There is also a emulator fastload
functionality that will trap normal
loading demands from games which uses
the C64 Kernal $FFD5 vector, and then
will load the file into virtual in RAM
in no-time.

Question: I have successfully
installed CCS64, but how do one use a
C64?

You should really start reading the
user manuals and other useful papers
for C64. There are a lot of literature
available at the Internet, search for
"Project 64".

Question: Where do I get game ROMs for
use with CCS64?

You don't. ROM stands for Read Only
Memory and is normally the basic part
of a computers operating system
(BIOS). The ROM is an integrated
electronic circuit and is located on
the computers motherboard, and on
expansion cartridges. Games for C64
were most often distributed as 5 1/4"
disks or on tapes, as most C64 systems
were connected to a 1541 diskdrive or
a C2N cassette recorder.In CCS64 are
instead disk images and tape images
used, as the original media can not be
used directly. They are available at
the Internet in very large quantities,
a good starter is www.c64.com . You
should really start reading the user
manuals and other useful papers for
C64. There are a lot of literature
available at the Internet, search for
"Project 64".

Question: Why doesn't this particular
game work on CCS64?

Even though I aim to get CCS64 to be
perfect, there may be some programs
that doesn't work correctly. The first
thing you should try is to see if you
could change some of the parameters
like disabling the REU or 1541,
different reset memory patterns,
system modes etceteras. If you have
tried all possible combinations and it
still doesn't work, then perhaps try
with some other emulator, and most
importantly - if possible - try the
program with a real C64. There are
actually a lot of damaged disk and
tape images spreading around, that
were damaged during the conversion
from the c64 media or perhaps lost
some information that were on the
original C64 media (like copy
protection).

Question: When will you implement this
particular feature and release the
next version of CCS64?

I actually do not know, but you can
count on that I will do it as fast as
possible. This is a one-man project, I
am the single author of CCS64 and I
try to program everything myself from
bottom and up. The project is done
solely on my free-time as I have a
ordinary work on day-time.



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