February 24, 2021

Making and Breaking Ciphers with Python, er, a Commodore- Part 1: The Reverse Cipher

February 10, 2021

Simple, 'unbreakable' encryption with a pencil

January 26, 2021

Getting started with Native Commodore 64 Assembly

January 22, 2021

Friday fun: Games I'm playing in Jan 2021

January 21, 2021

Switching to 64 bit Raspbian Linux is a snap

December 31, 2020

Did you do that on real hardware?

December 24, 2020

Merry Christmas

December 22, 2020

My DOScember pick for the best DOS Software

November 25, 2020

Why does there have to be a why?

November 25, 2020

Imapenguin, reborn

Vic6560

Note: There seems to be two different VIC chips that were used in different models of the VIC 20. These are the 6560 and the 6561. Their functionality appears to be the same so I will only refer to the 6561.

The Video Interface Chip, or VIC as it is normally called, is the second most important silicon chip in the VIC 20 microcomputer. It comes second only to the 6502A microprocessor itself.

Turbo Macro Pro Cheat Sheet PDF with Super Snapshot functions (A4)
- Note A4 page size should print fine on Letter sized paper. Select “fit to printable” on most printers.
D64 Image containing the C-64 Bug repellant program from Ahoy! Magazine.
- I typed this one in from the Sept 1984 Edition so if it changed in issues after that you’ll have to type it yourself.
One Time Pad Worksheet from my One Time Pad article.
Robin’s (8 Bit Show and Tell) Logo Pi Program

Q: Why Imapenguin? A: I’ve had this domain since the late 90s. I started seriously using Linux in 96 or 97 (exact date is a little fuzzy). At the time domains were not trivial or cheap to get and I wanted something fun and Linux related. It stuck and I’ve had it ever since.

Q: Will you fix my code? A: Probably not. If you’re stuck and you’ve done your homework, and I have time(which is unlikely) you may catch me at a time to offer some direction.

Commodore Repair

The Pictorial C64 Fault Guide is here: https://www.pictorial64.com

Ray Carlsen’s troubleshooting and repair guides are here: http://personalpages.tds.net/~rcarlsen/cbm/c64/

You can get the .bin files for various C64 diagnostics cartridges from World of Jani (in case you want to make your own or try in an emulator): http://blog.worldofjani.com/?p=164

Here’s Sven’s page with info about the Diagnostics test harness, all files to make your own are available on his GitHub (for use with the C64/C128 Diagnostics Carts): http://tech.guitarsite.de/c64_diag_harness.html