Commodore Back On Track



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Author	Commodore Back On Track (Read 166426 times)
Cashed 128 MB Posts: 192 System 7 Newcomer!	on: June 28, 2025, 22:40 Three months ago I confided to a friend that my next purchase would be the new C64x, after watching this review. Yes it is a PC running a C64 themed Linux desktop, bundled with pre-configured emulators. Nonetheless it’s hardware and makes everything simpler, and I got excited, an excitement I hadn’t felt for a new computer in decades. Speaking of emulation, (this thread would easily fit into that section as well). At that same time I finally got around to installing RetroArch on our Apple TV -what a blast! I ended up installing it on 3 more devices. There’s a bunch of cores, even for MiniVMac and MAME -so you can run Macintosh, Apple II, Windows XP, and whatever. (The App Store version comes with most cores -preinstalled). Fast forward. Commodore Back On Track @Starglider 2 aka Perifractic/Perry from Retro Recipes bought Commodore -just announced. The whole original crew is back. In the past we only had Retro-Futuristic dreams Onwards the future will be Futuristic-Retro lived. ____________________________________________ Limited time left before missing out -don’t be LATE

cballero 1024 MB Posts: 1176 System 7, today and forever	Reply #1 on: June 29, 2025, 03:01 Wow! I think Commodore's resurrection is one of the coolest announcements I've ever come across; it's like people's nostalgia is truly making them want to return to simpler times, which I think speaks volumes to so much of what we've talked about here; thank you for that amazing news post, Cashed; it really lifted up my spirits in ways that I didn't even imagine it could be, again, just wow!

lauland 512 MB Posts: 674 Symtes 7 Mewconer!	Reply #2 on: June 29, 2025, 08:31 That is INSANE! And the fact they got Bil Herd involved says something. If you haven't read his book "Back into the Storm" and you're a commodore nut, give it a look. I'm torn about nostalgia. In some ways it seems like it MUST be mentally unhealthy, at least to a certain extent, focusing too much on the past and ignoring the present...but on the other hand, it feels SO good! And everyone can use some comfort now and then, especially lately, so probably not too much harm done. As long as you don't indulge TOO much. But how much is too much? Who knows. I must say, the C64x is adorable, and I'd love to have a "computer in a keyboard" again. If I needed a new computer, I'd be sorely tempted.

68040 512 MB Posts: 950 68k - thy kingdom come, thy will be done !	Reply #3 on: June 29, 2025, 11:15 My late cousin (and forever best friend) learned to compute on a C64. My first IT race horse was a TI99 4/a. We used to fill entire rooms with all our extension boxes and add-ons, when we were competing for the title of "gadget king". As far as I'm concerned, I'd take a Sinclair XL just to program myself outta here. This timeline sucks, Big time.

wove 1024 MB Posts: 1363	Reply #4 on: June 29, 2025, 13:47 I have two Commodore 128s both a C and a D. For the C I still have the box and all the stuff that came stuffed in the box. Commodore documentation was excellent and they were easy to tinker on. The 128C remains pretty much stock, but the 128D has been heavily modified. The open ROM socked is populated with one of several custom ROMs that were created for it. I added another SID chip. I followed someone's directions on line and added another 128K of RAM internally. I do like to tinker and wrenching on hardware has always been interesting than chasing bits about. The documentation was solid and being 8bit it was easily understandable to a layman hobbyist with little time to go down rabbit holes. Use BASIC to poke a dozen values into some locations and turn the builtin BASIC editor into a typewriter. Poke some other code into various places and execute BASIC from a sequential file. With most basic math functions being part of BASIC the machine made for a wonderful programable "scientific" calculator. Nostalgic, not so much. It is hard to be nostalgic about something that sits on a shelf beside the workbench and can be up and running with a couple minutes of cable swapping. It still does everything it ever did and does a fine job of it. But I have newer toys that do what I did on the C=128 and a lot more as well. It will always remain rooted to a desk, and being long retired I have lost all interest in being tied to a desk or workbench.

cballero 1024 MB Posts: 1176 System 7, today and forever	Reply #5 on: June 29, 2025, 15:43 Besides my first Atari 2600 came my first computer, the Vic 20 I had fun with both, especially with the choose your poison games that made you decide on some questions that led you further, or made you hit dead ends, kind of like dead-ending on maze puzzles Of course, life moves on, and so did they; I might have programmed a thing or two on it, but not much further than that. But when the original NES showed up, it felt like game over right there. with seemingly endless titles being pumped out, it felt like heaven. But did it ever stop me from playing my favorite arcades at the corner Seven Eleven, or the neighborhood grocery store, one quarter at a time? Of course not! All the kids were so drawn at the time, mostly us boys for some reason. When college rolled around and I got a taste of a mouse-and-floppy disk-driven Mac SE, oh man, there was no stopping me. Technology was all the rage (keeping in mind that there were no cell phones of any kind, the closest I came was I had a pager and that was it). Further down memory lane came the likes of going online through America Online, chock full of Windows and Mac shareware, personal emailing of course, and it's crazy instant messaging, soon I was chatting with pals from across the internet, I even met and dated one; she was a real darling; we almost got serious, like in marriage! So yeah, retro tech is part of our DNA, whether we realize it or not (or maybe it's just me, lol)

Bolkonskij Administrator 1024 MB Posts: 2023	Reply #6 on: June 29, 2025, 17:04 I've heard about that takeover and read @Classic has Class (IMO) excellent article on the matter and why there is not much point in buying Commodore (site works fine in MacLynx). Bottom line: There isn't much to the trademark Commodore left anymore. Now if the old gang is actually joining back in, including people like Bill Herd, that raises my interest considerably. (got any source with more info?) Are we not only going to see licensing of the Commodore logo, but potentially even some new developments? A low cost all in one personal computer? The Raspberry Pi 400 teaches well that there is a market. Let's lean back and see what will follow. Not expecting anything on my part, but if something useful comes out of it that'll be awesome
Last Edit: June 29, 2025, 17:33 by Bolkonskij
lauland 512 MB Posts: 674 Symtes 7 Mewconer!	Reply #7 on: June 29, 2025, 18:58 @cballero, OMG, you were a Vic-20 baby too! My first beloved computer! 22 columns were enough to get me started! I can still close my eyes and see (and HEAR) Radar Rat Race. ---- As far as "buying commodore", yes, I am super cautious in getting any hopes up. After all, "Atari" still exists, but what have they done in the past several decades other than emulators and try and profit on nostalgia? This has the potential to be different, as the people behind it are actual die hard fans, and, yes, some of the original folk are attached...in name at least...we'll have to see what they DO with it. If you look at any of the videos posted by the new owners, they cover pretty much everything, and the fact that they seem a bit befuddled and unsure of direction even themselves, actually bodes well. I'd be a LOT less excited if they'd ALREADY announced dubious "products"...as that'd seem more like a try at a nostalgic cash grab than any sort of "resurrection". I do NOT want to be overcharged for an underpowered ARM machine in a commodore shaped box running an open source emulator on linux!
Last Edit: June 29, 2025, 19:06 by lauland
cballero 1024 MB Posts: 1176 System 7, today and forever	Reply #8 on: June 30, 2025, 02:43 Yep! I remember unboxing it and my dad plugged into the back of our TV using RCA cables? And yes, it was fun to have a little text-driven PC within a keyboard! The sweetest part were the cartridges with text-based games to play on it! I think I played AdventureLand, Voodoo Castle and maybe Pirates Cove, too

lauland 512 MB Posts: 674 Symtes 7 Mewconer!	Reply #9 on: June 30, 2025, 04:37 Oh god, Scott Adams adventures, yes! Have to type in "sys SOMETHING" to start them. Because they mapped into where the ram expansion was supposed to be, and not the standard cartridge place, so couldn't auto start. Be sure to watch this about "Commodore VIC 20 in an Alternate Universe" as in how far it could've gone if the c64 hadn't stolen all its thunder: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4mNwo-ev9kU (modern link of course) On the 128 I always wanted to write a cpm game that used the vic2 and sid chip. I'm sure someone did that, but never checked. Or, better, use the 80 column chip for video, so could disable the vic2 and let the system run at 2mhz. Fast! I bought a c65 naked motherboard and keyboard decades ago when they were getting liquidated. Didn't get the "internal floppy" that was supposed to go with it, and never figured out the wiring to get a pc floppy drive to work, not even knew if that'd work. Instead used a cmd fd drive, changed to device 8 to run some stuff on it...and see how unfinished it was and how bad the c64 compatibility was. The video output is a bit like the analog amiga 15 hz output, and pal so works on almost nothing except like a commodore 1084, which I don't have anymore. Had to build a video cable just for it back in the day. Memories! Recently haven't been able to get it to work with a scan converter and modern vga monitor and fear the poor prototype chips may have died in the ensuing years. So it may or may not be dead now. Been thinking of offloading it to a more caring home. Cool little device would've been so amazing if they'd released it. Seriously thought of getting a mega 65. Instead I got the same FPGA board that they'd used to prototype it, got all the FPGA devtools to build everything from scratch, but never quite was sure I had it building correctly, nor how to get the firmware onto the board. I've always wanted to learn FPGA, but, dang, the hardware languages are pretty alien and the learning curve is QUITE steep. And my poor brain only has so much room in it. Back in college I started Electrical Engineering, before switching to Computer Science, so I feel like I ALMOST have enough knowledge, but just...not...quite...
Last Edit: June 30, 2025, 04:41 by lauland
Cashed 128 MB Posts: 192 System 7 Newcomer!	Reply #10 on: July 03, 2025, 16:19 Also not blindsided nor sidetracked by this. In the ClassicCMP #micros channel on Discord, this was read: (s): I wasn't following this very closely, but it's interesting that Bil is involved (s): Still, I have no idea what the actual product will be (c): According to June, Bil's pissed. (c): He was never asked to coordinate anything. His name was chosen and he was glorified as the ebersneazle. (m): ^ Exactly, if you read the announcement carefully, it's phrased such that he's "someone we'd like to consult with someday", but they're slapping his name all over. I’ve personally witnessed the power of money, how it changes peoples behavior -go completely off the rails! ps: thank you so much for mentioning that book "Back into the Storm" about Commodore @lauland -will most definitely give that one a read. I read "Creativity, Inc." -overcoming the unseen forces that stand in the way of true inspiration by Ed Catmull -great read about Pixar. ________________________________________ Long-Lost Attic Treasures -grab a copy Today!
Last Edit: July 03, 2025, 16:21 by Cashed
Bolkonskij Administrator 1024 MB Posts: 2023	Reply #11 on: July 04, 2025, 07:08 I feel there is just so much smoke out there regarding this topic that it's hard to get a clear view. So many names are mentioned, so many people who claim this will be good, even more claiming this will be bad, lots of "my mom heard it from your mom who heard it from Joe's mom" type of comments, half of which I assume are probably made up. I personally will just wait and see what the new team is up to. Judging by the past, I believe they do care about the brand Commodore and its heritage. Time will show if their plan is to just slap Commodore on some cheap China OEM hardware and sell it with a rebranded Linux distro or whether they have some genuine plans. I think perifrantic said in his last video that he's going to reveal more about their plans in the next episode? Maybe that'll finally answer some of the questions. But I have to admit, the new Commodore motto "THE FUTURE WE WERE PROMISED" resonates with me. And probably some of you too. (looks like he even registered it)
Last Edit: July 04, 2025, 07:16 by Bolkonskij
wove 1024 MB Posts: 1363	Reply #12 on: July 04, 2025, 15:39 Several years back I picked up an ARM base single board computer. It was a kit with a 650Mhz ARM processor and a gig of memory with SD card slot, serial, USB, composite and VGA. It had a ROM chip with built in basic. It was meant to be an updated "old timey" machine. When hooked up it came up much the same an old early 80s machine. It come as either a kit for ~$50 or preassembled for $30 more. I bought the kit. It was was a fun device to play around with. You could program BASIC with line numbers, or it could load a BASIC application from a text file. BASIC on 650MHz processor and a gig of RAM is very very fast even though it is an interpreted language. It could also be programmed in C. Overall in use it did have the feel of working on an old Commodore machine. I had it up and used it a good amount, but eventually I took it down and put it away and have not looked at it for a good while. It was a nice nostalgia fix, but nostalgia becomes boring for me after a short while.

Cashed 128 MB Posts: 192 System 7 Newcomer!	Reply #13 on: August 23, 2025, 18:47 @All -more sources @wove -totally getcha, nostalgia alone isn’t enough —progress required Part 3 Update C64 OS • Gregory Nacu • OpCoders Inc. C64 OS amazing new features! What’s New!

Bolkonskij Administrator 1024 MB Posts: 2023	Reply #14 on: August 24, 2025, 11:13 I saw he has put out another video on his channel. I find it hard to not like what he is doing - in a way he attempts to live a dream many of us had. I only hope so much the bubble won't ever burst. Needless to say, I've placed my order for a C64 Starlight edition. I'm not sure yet what to do with it, other than exploring the software library and do some gaming with the kids on it. Along with BBSing and some Basic coding, perhaps. But I really like the product and the direction this is moving. Attempting to free us from tech tyranny. Go and watch the part 3 update video that Cashed posted. I think you'll get a good idea how Peri "ticks" and who is involved. Kudos to him to contact / involve many from the old gang. He puts fragments of his talks with them into the video (you can see a grey-haired Dave Haynie!) which should hopefully shut-up all the naysayers accusing him of "credentialism". Consider me very interested into what direction this will develop and whether or not this enterprise will be sustainable. (they'll certainly need to offer more sophisticated products in the future ... he mentioned calculators in the last video?)

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