Commander X16 Emulator

This is an emulator for the Commander X16 computer system. It only depends on SDL2 and should compile on all modern operating systems.

Binaries & Compiling

Binary releases for macOS, Windows and x86_64 Linux are available on the releases page.

To build the emulator you will need the SDL2 development package along with the cc65 assembler. On RedHat based nodes these are provided by the SDL2-devel and cc65 packages (yum install SDL2-devel cc65).

Steps for compiling WebAssembly/HTML5 can be found here.

You will also need the system ROM (rom.bin) which you can build from the X16 ROM source or take from the latest binary release. (It is not always guaranteed though that the latest binary release is compatible with the current state of the emulator source.)

Type make to build the source.

Starting

You can start x16emu/x16emu.exe either by double-clicking it, or from the command line. The latter allows you to specify additional arguments.

• When starting x16emu without arguments, it will pick up the system ROM (rom.bin) from the executable's directory.
• The system ROM filename/path can be overridden with the -rom command line argument.
• -keymap tells the KERNAL to switch to a specific keyboard layout. Use it without an argument to view the supported layouts.
• -sdcard lets you specify an SD card image (partition table + FAT32).
• -prg lets you specify a .prg file that gets injected into RAM after start.
• -bas lets you specify a BASIC program in ASCII format that automatically typed in (and tokenized).
• -run executes the application specified through -prg or -bas using RUN or SYS, depending on the load address.
• -scale scales video output to an integer multiple of 640x480
• -echo causes all KERNAL/BASIC output to be printed to the host's terminal. Enable this and use the BASIC command "LIST" to convert a BASIC program to ASCII (detokenize).
• -scale scales video output to an integer multiple of 640x480
• -quality change image scaling algorithm quality
  • nearest: nearest pixel sampling
  • linear: linear filtering
  • best: (default) anisotropic filtering
• -log enables one or more types of logging (e.g. -log KS):
  • K: keyboard (key-up and key-down events)
  • S: speed (CPU load, frame misses)
  • V: video I/O reads and writes
• -debug enables the debugger.
• -dump configure system dump (e.g. -dump CB):
  • C: CPU registers (7 B: A,X,Y,SP,STATUS,PC)
  • R: RAM (40 KiB)
  • B: Banked RAM (2 MiB)
  • V: Video RAM and registers (128 KiB VRAM, 32 B composer registers, 512 B pallete, 16 B layer0 registers, 16 B layer1 registers, 16 B sprite registers, 2 KiB sprite attributes)
• When compiled with WITH_YM2151, -sound can be used to specify the output sound device.
• When compiled with #define TRACE, -trace will enable an instruction trace on stdout.

Run x16emu -h to see all command line options.

Keyboard Layout

The X16 uses a PS/2 keyboard, and the ROM currently supports several different layouts. The following table shows their names, and what keys produce different characters than expected:

Name	Description	Differences
en-us	US	[`] ⇒ [←], [~] ⇒ [π], [\] ⇒ [£]
en-gb	United Kingdom	[`] ⇒ [←], [~] ⇒ [π]
de	German	[§] ⇒ [£], [´] ⇒ [^], [^] ⇒ [←], [°] ⇒ [π]
nordic	Nordic	key left of [1] ⇒ [←],[π]
it	Italian	[\] ⇒ [←], [|] ⇒ [π]
pl	Polish (Programmers)	[`] ⇒ [←], [~] ⇒ [π], [\] ⇒ [£]
hu	Hungarian	[\] ⇒ [←], [|] ⇒ [π], [§] ⇒ [£]
es	Spanish	[|] ⇒ π, \ ⇒ [←], Alt + [<] ⇒ [£]
fr	French	[²] ⇒ [←], [§] ⇒ [£]
de-ch	Swiss German	[^] ⇒ [←], [°] ⇒ [π]
fr-be	Belgian French	[²] ⇒ [←], [³] ⇒ [π]
fi	Finnish	[§] ⇒ [←], [½] ⇒ [π]
pt-br	Portuguese (Brazil ABNT)	[\] ⇒ [←], [|] ⇒ [π]

Keys that produce international characters (like [ä] or [ç]) will not produce any character.

Since the emulator tells the computer the position of keys that are pressed, you need to configure the layout for the computer independently of the keyboard layout you have configured on the host.

Use the F9 key to cycle through the layouts, or set the keyboard layout at startup using the -keymap command line argument.

The following keys can be used for controlling games:

Keyboard Key	NES Equivalent
Ctrl	A
Alt	B
Space	SELECT
Enter	START
Cursor Up	UP
Cursor Down	DOWN
Cursor Left	LEFT
Cursor Right	RIGHT

Functions while running

• Ctrl + R will reset the computer.
• Ctrl + V will paste the clipboard by injecting key presses.
• Ctrl + S will save a system dump (configurable with -dump) to disk.
• Ctrl + Return will toggle full screen mode.

On the Mac, use the Cmd key instead.

BASIC and the Screen Editor

On startup, the X16 presents direct mode of BASIC V2. You can enter BASIC statements, or line numbers with BASIC statements and RUN the program, just like on Commodore computers.

• To stop execution of a BASIC program, hit the RUN/STOP key (Esc in the emulator), or Ctrl + C.
• To insert a character, press Shift + Backspace.
• To clear the screen, press Shift + Home.
• The X16 does not have a STOP+RESTORE function.

Host Filesystem Interface

If the system ROM contains any version of the KERNAL, the LOAD ($FFD5) and SAVE ($FFD8) KERNAL calls are intercepted by the emulator if the device is 1 (which is the default). So the BASIC statements

  LOAD"$
  LOAD"FOO.PRG
  LOAD"IMAGE.PRG",1,1
  SAVE"BAR.PRG

will target the host computer's local filesystem.

The emulator will interpret filesnames relative to the directory it was started in. Note that on macOS, when double-clicking the executable, this is the home directory.

To avoid incompatibility problems between the PETSCII and ASCII encodings, use lower case filenames on the host side, and unshifted filenames on the X16 side.

Dealing with BASIC Programs

BASIC programs are encoded in a tokenized form, they are not simply ASCII files. If you want to edit BASIC programs on the host's text editor, you need to convert it between tokenized BASIC form and ASCII.

• To convert ASCII to BASIC, reboot the machine and paste the ASCII text using Ctrl + V (Mac: Cmd + V). You can now run the program, or use the SAVE BASIC command to write the tokenized version to disk.
• To convert BASIC to ASCII, start x16emu with the -echo argument, LOAD the BASIC file, and type LIST. Now copy the ASCII version from the terminal.

Using the KERNAL/BASIC environment

Please see the KERNAL/BASIC documentation.

Debugger

The debugger requires -debug to start. Without it it is effectively disabled.

There are 2 panels you can control. The code panel, the top left half, and the data panel, the bottom half of the screen. The displayed address can be changed using keys 0-9 and A-F, in a 'shift and roll' manner (easier to see than explain). To change the data panel address, press the shift key and type 0-9 A-F. The top write panel is fixed.

The debugger keys are similar to the Microsoft Debugger shortcut keys, and work as follows

Key	Description
F1	resets the shown code position to the current PC
F2	resets the 65C02 CPU but not any of the hardware.
F5	is used to return to Run mode, the emulator should run as normal.
F9	sets the breakpoint to the currently code position.
F10	steps 'over' routines - if the next instruction is JSR it will break on return.
F11	steps 'into' routines.
F12	is used to break back into the debugger. This does not happen if you do not have -debug
TAB	when stopped, or single stepping, hides the debug information when pressed

When -debug is selected the No-Operation $FF will break into the debugger automatically.

Effectively keyboard routines only work when the debugger is running normally. Single stepping through keyboard code will not work at present.

Wiki

https://github.com/commanderx16/x16-emulator/wiki

Features

• CPU: Full 65C02 instruction set (improved "fake6502")
• VERA
  • Mostly cycle exact emulation
  • Supports almost all features: composer, two layers, sprites, progressive/interlaced
• VIA
  • ROM/RAM banking
  • PS/2 keyboard
  • SD card (SPI)

Missing Features

• VERA
  • Does not support raster IRQs (does support VSYNC though)
  • Does not support the "CURRENT_FIELD" bit
  • Does not sprite z-depth, collisions or limitations
  • Only supports the first 16 sprites
  • Interlaced modes (NTSC/RGB) don't render at the full horizontal fidelity
• VIA
  • Does not support counters/timers/IRQs
  • Does not support game controllers
• Sound
  • No support

License

Copyright (c) 2019 Michael Steil <mist64@mac.com>, www.pagetable.com. All rights reserved. License: 2-clause BSD

Known Issues

• Emulator: LOAD"$ (and LOAD"$",1) will show host uppercase filenames as garbage. Use Ctrl+N to switch to the X16 upper/lower character set for a workaround.

Release Notes

Release 32

• correct ROM banking
• VERA emulation optimizations [Stephen Horn]
• added -dump option to allow writing RAM, CPU state or VERA state to disk [Nils Hasenbanck]
• added -quality option to change scaling algorithm; now defaults to "best" [Maurizio Porrato]
• output of -echo can now be fed into UNIX pipes [Anonymous Maarten]
• relative speed of emulator is shown in the title if host can't keep up [Rien]
• fix: 6502 BCD arithmetic [Rien]
• fix: colors (white is now white) [Rien]
• fix: sprite flipping [jjbliss]

Release 31

• VERA 0.8 register layout
• removed "-char" (character ROM is now part of rom.bin)
• GIF recording using -gif [Neil Forbes-Richardson]
• numpad support [Maurizio Porrato]
• fake support of VIA timers to work around BASIC RND(0)
• default ROM is taken from executable's directory [Michael Watters]
• emulator window has a title [Michael Watters]
• -debug allows specifying a breakpoint [Frank Buss]
• package contains the ROM symbols in rom.txt
• support for VERA SPI

Release 30

Emulator:

• VERA can now generate VSYNC interrupts
• added -keymap for setting the keyboard layout
• added -scale for integer scaling of the window [Stephen Horn]
• added -log to enable various logging features (can also be enabled at runtime (POKE $9FB0+) [Randall Bohn])
• changed -run to be an option to -prg and -bas
• emulator detection: read $9FBE/$9FBF, must read 0x31 and 0x36
• fix: -prg and -run no longer corrupt BASIC programs.
• fix: LOAD,1 into RAM bank [Stephen Horn]
• fix: 2bpp and 4bpp drawing [Stephen Horn]
• fix: 4bpp sprites [MonstersGoBoom]
• fix: build on Linux/ARM

Release 29

• better keyboard support: if you pretend you have a US keyboard layout when typing, all keys should now be reachable [Paul Robson]
• -debug will enable the new debugger [Paul Robson]
• runs at the correct speed (was way too slow on most machines)
• keyboard shortcuts work on Windows/Linux: Ctrl + F/R/S/V
• Ctrl + V pastes the clipboard as keypresses
• -bas file.txt loads a BASIC program in ASCII encoding
• -echo prints all BASIC/KERNAL output to the terminal, use it with LIST to convert a BASIC program to ASCII
• -run acts like -prg, but also autostarts the program
• JMP $FFFF and SYS 65535 exit the emulator and save memory the host's storage
• the packages now contain the current version of the Programmer's Reference Guide (HTML)
• fix: on Windows, some file load/saves may be been truncated

Release 28

• support for 65C02 opcodes [Paul Robson]
• keep aspect ratio when resizing window [Sebastian Voges]
• updated sprite logic to VERA 0.7 – the layout of the sprite data registers has changed, you need to change your code!

Release 27

• Command line overhaul. Supports -rom, -char, -sdcard and -prg.
• ROM and char filename defaults, so x16emu can be started without arguments.
• Host Filesystem Interface supports LOAD"$"
• macOS and Windows packaging logic in Makefile

Release 26

• better sprite support (clipping, palette offset, flipping)
• better border support
• KERNAL can set up interlaced NTSC mode with scaling and borders (compile time option)

Release 25

• sdcard: fixed LOAD,x,1 to load to the correct addressg
• sdcard: all temp data will be on bank #255; current bank will remain unchanged
• DOS: support for DOS commands ("UI", "I", "V", ...) and more status messages (e.g. 26,WRITE PROTECT ON,00,00)
• BASIC: "DOS" command. Without argument: print disk status; with "$" argument: show directory; with "8" or "9" argument: switch default drive; otherwise: send DOS command; also accessible through F7/F8
• Vera: cycle exact rendering, NTSC, interlacing, border

Release 24

• SD card support
  • pass path to SD card image as third argument
  • access SD card as drive 8
  • the local PC/Mac disk is still drive 1
  • modulo debugging, this would work on a real X16 with the SD card (plus level shifters) hooked up to VIA#2PB as described in sdcard.c in the emulator surce

Release 23

• Updated emulator and ROM to spec 0.6 – the ROM image should work on a real X16 with VERA 0.6 now.

Release 22

SYS65375 (SWAPPER) now also clears the screen, avoid ing side effects.

Release 21

• support for $ and % number prefixes in BASIC
• support for C128 KERNAL APIs LKUPLA, LKUPSA and CLOSE_ALL

Release 20

• Toggle fullscreen using Cmd+F or Cmd+return
• new BASIC instructions and functions:
  • MON: enter monitor; no more SYS65280 required
  • VPEEK(bank, address)
  • VPOKE bank, address, value example: VPOKE4,0,VPEEK(4,0) OR 32 [for 256 color BASIC]

Release 19

• fixed cursor trail bug
• fixed f7 key in PS/2 driver
• f keys are assigned with shortcuts now: F1: LIST F2: <enter monitor> F3: RUN F4: <switch 40/80> F5: LOAD F6: SAVE" F7: DOS"$ <doesn't work yet> F8: DOS <doesn't work yet>

Release 18

• Fixed scrolling in 40x30 mode when there are double lines on the screen.

Release 17

• video RAM support in the monitor (SYS65280)
• 40x30 screen support (SYS65375 to toggle)

Release 16

• Integrated monitor, start with SYS65280 rom.bin is now 3*8 KB:
  • 0: BASIC (bank 0 at $C000)
  • 1: KERNAL ($E000)
  • 2: UTIL (bank 1 at $C000)

Release 15

• correct text mode video RAM layout both in emulator and KERNAL

Release 14

• KERNAL: fast scrolling
• KERNAL: upper/lower switching using CHR$($0E)/CHR$($8E)
• KERNAL: banking init
• KERNAL: new PS/2 driver
• Emulator: VERA updates (more modes, second data port)
• Emulator: RAM and ROM banks start out as all 1 bits

Release 13

• Supports mode 7 (8bpp bitmap).

Release 12

• Supports 8bpp tile mode (mode 4)

Release 11

• The emulator and the KERNAL now speak the bit-level PS/2 protocol over VIA#2 PA0/PA1. The system behaves the same, but keyboard input in the ROM should work on a real device.

Release 10

updated KERNAL with proper power-on message

Release 9

• LOAD and SAVE commands are intercepted by the emulator, can be used to access local file system, like this:

  LOAD"TETRIS.PRG
  SAVE"TETRIS.PRG
  

• No device number is necessary. Loading absolute works like this:

  LOAD"FILE.PRG",1,1
  

Release 8

• New optional override load address for PRG files:

  ./x64emu rom.bin chargen.bin basic.prg,0401
  

Release 7

• Now with banking. POKE40801,n to switch the RAM bank at $A000. POKE40800,n to switch the ROM bank at $C000. The ROM file at the command line can be up to 72 KB now (layout: 0: bank 0, 1: KERNAL, 2: bank 1, 3: bank 2 etc.), and the RAM that Cmd+S saves is 2088KB ($0000-$9F00: regular RAM, $9F00-$9FFF: unused, $A000+: extra banks)

Release 6

• Vera emulation now matches the complete spec dated 2019-07-06: correct video address space layout, palette format, redefinable character set

Release 5

• BASIC now starts at $0401 (39679 BASIC BYTES FREE)

Release 4

• Cmd+S now saves all of memory (linear 64 KB for now, including ROM) to "memory.bin", "memory-1.bin", "memory-2.bin", etc. You can extract parts of it with Unix "dd", like: dd if=memory.bin of=basic.bin bs=1 skip=2049 count=38655

Release 3

• Supports PRG file as third argument, which is injected after "READY.", so BASIC programs work as well.

Release 2

• STOP key support

Release 1

• 6502 core, fake PS/2 keyboard emulation (PS/2 data bytes appear at VIA#1 PB) and text mode Vera emulation
• KERNAL/BASIC modified for memory layout, missing VIC, Vera text mode and PS/2 keyboard