Path: utzoo!utgpu!news-server.csri.toronto.edu!rutgers!usc!samsung!munnari.oz.au!metro!macuni!mqccsunc!ifarqhar From: ifarqhar@mqccsunc.mqcc.mq.oz.au (Ian Farquhar) Newsgroups: comp.sys.amiga Subject: Re: C64 Emulator?? Message-ID: <363@macuni.mqcc.mq.oz> Date: 4 Aug 90 06:28:25 GMT References: <1990Aug1.155101.24997@max.physics.sunysb.edu> <90215.223107JKT100@psuvm.psu.edu> Sender: news@macuni.mqcc.mq.oz Organization: Macquarie University, Sydney Lines: 31 In article <90215.223107JKT100@psuvm.psu.edu> JKT100@psuvm.psu.edu (JKT) writes: >Before you cry "vaporware" I'd like to add the results of my personal >research into a 64 bridgecard. Two different hardware engineers I >spoke to said the physical card to plug in would be VERY easy to >design (as compared to the 2088 or 2286 bridgeboards.) The only hard >part about mass-producing the boards would be getting bulk quantities >of the 64 proprietary chips. The hard part of the whole package >would be the software interface to the Amiga. That could be solved >by getting a half-dozen of you screen hackers out there together >for a couple of weeks, right? ;-) Actually, I seriously looked into a C64 emulator when I first got my Amiga. After a couple of weeks of mucking around with 68K code and some really heavy FSM's, I decided that you could either software emulate the C64 custom chips, or the 6510 in pretty close to real-time, but not both. Logicially, you would emulate the custom chips as 65XX chips are very cheap. But your article bring up another even more interesting point. Wouldn't it be nice to simultaneously run C64 and Amiga software. I would not even care if the C64 was on itsd own screen, though putting it in a window under v2.0 (ie. 16 color WB) would be even nicer. If I were to go this way in designing a C64 bridgeboard, I would have to simulate the VIC-II chip, buy the 6526's thrid-party (no problem), and obtain the 6581 SID chip from CBM. Surely that would not be too difficult. -- Ian Farquhar Phone : 61 2 805-7420 Office of Computing Services Fax : 61 2 805-7433 Macquarie University NSW 2109 Also : 61 2 805-7205 Australia EMail : ifarqhar@macuni.mqcc.mq.oz.au