Supported devices - The Ace

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Architecture Commodore 128 Commodore 64 Commodore 65 Mega 65 Extensions

CPU families supported by The Ace

for easier marking: CISC means whole instruction set, RISC means only legal opcodes

X65 RISC is commonly supported family for each computer

- includes CPUs 6502, 8502, 65CE02, 65C02, 65816

X65 CISC is fully supported only by Commodore 128 and Commodore 64 (Mega 65 later)

- includes CPUs 6502, 8502

65K is fully supported by Commodore 128 or Commodore 64 used with CMD SuperCPU and also Commodore 64 with Flash-8 accelerator

Contains like families above X65 RISC and extra instruction set of 65816 CPU

- includes 65816 CPU only, in both (8-bit and 16-bit) operating modes

65X is bit different

Contains like families above X65 RISC and extended instruction set of CPU 65CE02, can be supported bit different 65C02. 65CE02 is used in Commodore 65 and Mega 65, Turbo Master CPU accelerator for Commodore 64 uses 65C02. Also support of Commodore 64 DTV and its 65X CPU

But this area is still variable 'cause Mega 65 has in progress CPU switch between 6502 and 65CE02

- includes CPUs 65CE02, 65C02, DTV 6502

X80 is supported by Commodore 128 with or without catridge and Commodore 64 with catridge

- includes Zilog Z80 CPU only

- in future can be supported by software emulated i8080 which tested on Mega 65 Gábor Lénart

All supported computers can work in Commodore 64 mode 'cause

CPU AND EXTENSIONS

standard C128, CMD SuperCPU (WDC65816), CP/M cartridge (Z80)

CMD JiffyDOS

DISPLAY DEVICES

every display device, standard converters, maybe support of VGA converter, later maybe 80 Column Cards

EGA VDC 8568 display

INPUT DEVICES

standard keyboard, C= Key Keyboard Adapter

1351 compatible mice, Serial Mouse Interface, Micromys

joysticks, 1350 mouse

lightpen, trackball, touchpad, paddles, 64HDD input

STORAGE

Commodore IEC, CMD storage devices, IEC-ATA (firmware 0.50 and later), uIEC/SD

64HDD, other compatible storage

IEEE-488 storage devices by adapter

PRINTERS

Commodore, Centronics printers

RAM EXPANSIONS

Commodore, CMD and DAC RAM Expansions, CMD RAMDrive

NIC / RS-232

Comet64, RR-Net compatible, 64NIC+, CMD SwiftLink, CMD Turbo 232

RTC

64HDD, CMD RTC devices, µIEC devices, Dallas Smartwatch

CPU AND EXTENSIONS

standard C64, CMD SuperCPU (WDC65816), CP/M cartridge (Z80), Flash-8 (WDC65816), Tubo Master with 65C02 (65X family) CPU

CMD JiffyDOS

Commodore 64 DTV

maybe Chameleon 64

DISPLAY DEVICES
every display device, standard converters, maybe support of VGA converter, later maybe 80 Column Cards

INPUT DEVICES
standard keyboard, C= Key Keyboard Adapter
1351 compatible mice, Serial Mouse Interface, Micromys
joysticks, 1350 mouse
lightpen, trackball, touchpad, paddles, 64HDD input

STORAGE
Commodore IEC, CMD storage devices, IEC-ATA (firmware 0.50 and later), uIEC/SD, 1541Ultimate, 64HDD, other compatible storage

IEEE-488 storage devices by adapter

PRINTERS
Commodore, Centronics printers

RAM EXPANSIONS
Commodore, CMD RAM Expansions, 1541Ultimate, CMD RAMDrive

NIC / RS-232
Comet64, RR-Net compatible, 64NIC+, CMD SwiftLink, CMD Turbo 232

RTC
64HDD, CMD RTC devices, µIEC devices, Dallas Smartwatch

CPU AND EXTENSIONS

CSG 4510 with 65CE02 CPU

DISPLAY DEVICES

every display device supporting RGBI Video

INPUT DEVICES

keyboard, joystick, mouse

STORAGE

built-in Commodore 1565 3,5" disk drive

Commodore IEC, CMD storage devices, IEC-ATA (firmware 0.50 and later), uIEC/SD, 64HDD, other compatible storage

PRINTERS

Commodore, Centronics printers

RAM EXPANSIONS

support for Commodore 8MB RAM Expansion is only experimental finally

NIC / RS-232

N/A

RTC

N/A

CPU AND EXTENSIONS

GS 4510 or GS 4510B aka 65CE02

DISPLAY DEVICES

VGA display

INPUT DEVICES

USB keyboard, Keyrah V2

STORAGE

microSD cards

PRINTERS

N/A

RAM EXPANSIONS

in plan

NIC / RS-232

N/A

RTC

N/A

SuperCPU 64 or 128 for Commodore 64 or 128

WDC 65816 CPU at up to 20 MHz in 8-bit or 16-bit mode with 24-bit addressing in 65K architecture

- in case of Commodore 128 SuperCPU disables running Z80 CPU inside C128, but Z80 apps can be available

- using SuperCPU 64 with Commodore 128 allows run C64 mode only

- in case of Mega 65 unusable

Possibilities:

- clocking at 1 MHz or 2 MHz (C128) up to 20 MHz

- separate SuperRAM up to 16 MB as CPU RAM

- 8-bit mode is emulating 65C02 CPU with 65K opcodes which replacing X65 illegal opcodes

- 16-bit native mode in full operating 65K architecture

Limits:

- takes control over all - disables use of Z80 CPU in Commodore 128, but not Z80 in cartridge

- X65 illegal opcodes are replaced by 65K enhanced opcodes so can work only in Protected Mode

Zilog Z80 CPU

available for Commodore 128 and Commodore 64

even if are working with SuperCPU!

Yes, you read true words. For Commodore 128 and 64.

We all know that Commodore 128 inside is Z80 CPU. Less of us know about Z80 cartridges. Most known is CP/M Cartridge for Commodore 64. This contains Z80 CPU too, CP/M Operating System works on X80 family base. But each owner of Commodore 128 knows that Z80 CPU is in C64 mode unavailable, each owner of SuperCPU knows that Z80 is not available in Commodore 128 totally if is SuperCPU turned on... and always was here problem of support X80 apps in The Ace for Commodore 128

But...

Now is all solved.

I could to test and own CP/M cartridge, tests results were amazing and makes X80 family support in The Ace more higher. When we look at possibilities we must to write all differences. So: In past was for SuperCPU owners, when was SuperCPU turned on, Z80 unavailable 'cause SuperCPU at power on takes control over all, so it makes X80 apps available only for users without SuperCPU and even only for Commodore 128 users. The Ace now supports also CP/M cartridge which contains Z80 CPU and is designed for Commodore 64, but don't worry C128 users, works with Commodore 128 too, so now let me explain it all:

Commodore 64 users without SuperCPU

- available 6510 and Z80 CPUs - X65 and X80 apps available

Commodore 64 users with SuperCPU

- available 65816 and Z80 CPUs - 65K with X65 RISC and X80 apps available

Commodore 128 users wihout SuperCPU

- available 8502 and Z80 inside C128 and even Z80 CPU inside cartridge - 3 CPUs! X65 and X80 apps available

Commodore 128 users with SuperCPU

- avaialble 65816 and Z80 CPU inside cartridge - 65K with X65 RISC and X80 apps available

- even Z80 can be call from 65816 native 16-bit mode and turned back!

Commodore 128 in C64 mode with or without SuperCPU

- same as Commodore 64

So, like The Ace supports 65816 for Commodore 64 and 128, supports Z80 for C64 and 128 too. Next step is to make X80 apps working in multitasking 'cause to today were single tasking

We can name The Ace CPU family support like X6580 :) X65, 65K, 65X, X80...

Now we know more:

Z80 inside C128 is clocking normally to 4MHz but for VIC-IIe sync is downclocked to 2MHz

Z80 inside CP/M cartridge is clocking normally to 8MHz for same reason is downclocked to 4MHz and works effective on ~3MHz

Both CPUs have other memory addressing

Else Z80 Videopak exists and if will be possible to test it can be supported. Before X80 app start must The Ace check what a CPU runs for correct addressing