Though largely recognizable to anybody who had a online game console within the 80s or 90s, cartridges have lengthy since disappeared from the computing world. These squares of plastic with a number of ROM modules had been a serious path to get software program for a time, not just for consoles however for PCs as nicely. Maybe most famously, the Commodore VIC-20 and Commodore 64 had cartridge slots for each gaming and different software program packages. As a part of the Chip Corridor of Fame created by IEEE Spectrum, [James] discovered himself constructing a Commodore cartridge greater than three many years after final working in entrance of certainly one of these computer systems.
[James] factors out that even by the requirements of the early 80s the Commodore cartridges had been fairly low on specs. They’re restricted to 16 kB, which implies programming in meeting and doing issues like interacting with video {hardware} immediately. Fortunately there’s a treasure trove of documentation in regards to the C64 these days in addition to plenty of trendy programming instruments for them, in distinction to the 80s when instruments and documentation had been scarce or nonexistent. {Hardware} lately is reasonable as nicely; the cartridge PCB and different {hardware} price only some {dollars}, and the case for it might probably simply be 3D printed.
Burning the software program to the $3 ROM chip was simple as nicely with a TL866 programmer, though [James] left a bit of reminiscence administration code within the first cross which induced the C64 to lock up. Eradicating this code and flashing the chip once more received the demo up and working although, and it’ll be on show at their travelling “Chips that Modified the World” exhibit. If you end up within the reverse state of affairs, although, we’ve additionally seen initiatives that cleverly pull the info off of historical C64 ROM chips for preservation.
