Commodore C64p Laptop Project

afxzanac · Post by **afxzanac** » Tue Apr 22, 2008 9:35 am

Well, here's the beginning. I've got almost all of my parts, and I'm looking for a keyboard-style enclosure that doesn't cost $125 (yes, I've looked at all of the case sites here). I plan on putting the keyboard on the left in standard keyboard layout, and putting the screen on the right side where the arrow keys and number pad are on standard keyboards. On to the Pictures!

Keyboard I'm using, it had a "chrome" case hot-glued to the outside (see, manufacturers use the stuff too!) which I immediately pried off.

Zenith Screen for $25 on ebay! I like the modular nature of this screen with the 5-pin connector on the bottom, almost don't need to re-case it if you use it for an actual laptop-style screen!

The Victim! C64 DTV Hummer from Radio Shack, I bought 2 when I saw them, and got the second one 1/2 off because it was a display model!

WAAAAAY too much plastic, getting rid of all of this will definitely help with the portablization

Keyboard without the bulky plastic (and chrome)

Backside of the screen, I'm not taking it out all the way until I get the case built, don't want to break the ribbon cable

7.5VDC to power the screen directly, still have to build a 5VDC regulator for the DTV and Keyboard

Comments, Suggestions, and any other posts are welcome! Thanks in advance for any input!

Tibia · Post by **Tibia** » Tue Apr 22, 2008 9:40 am

That ribbon cable along the back of the board just combines the two headphone jacks. It's the very small little brown plastic tab just behind it that's the important one. That's the one that connects your LCD to the mobo.

These screens are pretty tough. Mine's been banging around on my workbench for over a week now, and I've yet to damage it in any way.

afxzanac · Post by **afxzanac** » Tue Apr 22, 2008 10:11 am

Thanks Tibia! That's the ribbon I was referring to, I had it apart just long enough to see what was happening behind the board, then put it back together.

HBN · Post by **HBN** » Tue Apr 22, 2008 10:24 am

I've been look for a C64 DTV for a while. Congrats on finding one!

This should be cool. Cant wait to see it done.

Post by **Sparkfist** » Tue Apr 22, 2008 11:08 am

HBN, Check here, That is if you need an NTSC model and live in the USA.

afxzanac, looks like you have a nice start. I would suggest getting a 7805 or similar voltage regulator. As the screen will be requiring 7.5 volts, and the C64 DTV uses only 5 it would be highly suggested so not to fry the poor thing.

I know it's kind of early on the project but any plans for what the case will look like?

Website · Post by **Life of Brian** » Tue Apr 22, 2008 7:44 pm

Copious pictures, lots of descriptions - I like your style! Looking forward to more.

afxzanac · Post by **afxzanac** » Thu May 22, 2008 2:48 pm

TRAGEDY!

The PS/2 mini keyboard I had planned on using wouldn't work with the commodore DTV. I tried to see if it was a soldering problem for about 15 minutes, then got out a trusty mini-din connector and soldered it to my pigtail. When a regular ps/2 keyboard was plugged in, it worked fine. Oh well, so much for the mini keyboard idea. Moving forward, I'm going to scrap the "laptop" part of this and make it a "ultra-portable." I'm just going to build a box around the screen and DTV board and put a PS/2 connector and A/V out on the back. You'll still need a keyboard seperately, but the screen and commodore will be in the same small box, which will probably be about 8" square and 3" deep (it'll be so deep because it will sit on a desk like a monitor.) In the future I will probably put a swivel base on the bottom, but for now I will just use rubber feet.

***As far as the project goes***

I spent last night and all of this morning soldering everything together. Right now I have a FULLY operational Commodore 64 with a SD Card >> C64 Disk Drive emulator device hooked to it for data transfer, a PS/2 connector pigtailed in, and a 7" Xbox screen. All of these work right now, but I still need to build a 7805 5v regulator and a case. Right now the keyboard, C64-DTV, and 1541 disk emulator are running off of 4 AA batteries, and I don't know how long they'll last. The screen is running off of it's 7.5v wall adapter, which will provide power for the entire unit. I have erased the flash of the "Hummer Off Road Racing" game and installed a custom kernel that makes this operate as a normal C64. I also visited our local surplus store, and purchased some grey plastic cutoffs for $.95/ea to build a case from. These are roughly 9"x4' sheets, 1/4" thick, and were a heck of a deal.

I'll be taking more pictures tomorrow, and fixing the links above, as my hosting changed and I forgot this was here. Pics will be forthcoming!

***EDIT*** Pics Below

Screen all hooked up and working just fine!

1541 Disk Drive Emulator. It's a MMC2IEC device. Added a 1Gb SD card and have all the storage a C64 guy could ever want!

Close up of the board with all the new soldered connections. The small VR board at the bottom is the 7.5V to 8V regulator that the screen couldn't live without (not sure why, but I'm not using batteries, so draw isn't a concern.)

I flashed this with the tool provided on some of the other DTV sites, and erased the *crappy* hummer game that was occupying my precious space. Now it's ready to run with good ole C64 basic!

The disk interface is very easy to use, and the Atmel chip interprets normal commodore commands to do things like change to a "games" directory. What else was I going to do with it?!?!?

Who ya gonna call?

Space Invaders, anyone?

I still have to hook up the "joystick" port to the actual commodore userport, build a 5V regulator circuit (I have all the parts now) and finish building the case. Updates to come, but it's coming fast!

afxzanac · Post by **afxzanac** » Sat May 24, 2008 10:20 pm

OK. Userport/Joystick port is IN, and the 5V regulator is built! Everything that is left to do is 100% cosmetic, so it's time for the part I dread, the case. Wish me luck! This is going a lot faster than I had hoped, and I hope it doesn't go to a standstill on this case!

WhatULive4 · Post by **WhatULive4** » Sun May 25, 2008 12:47 am

I love the progress so far. What are your plans for the case?

Website · Post by **Life of Brian** » Sun May 25, 2008 12:54 am

That's so cool!

WhatULive4 · Post by **WhatULive4** » Sun May 25, 2008 1:05 am

You should put a 5.25" floppy drive in there. I can still remember the days waiting 10 minutes to load up Summer Games, Spy vs Spy, and Lode Runner. Even if they could be read off a flash card, it would up the geek factor to still accept floppies. Or even the cartridges that plugged into the keyboards!

I need to get a c64 again... The first game I would play would be Shredz64! LINK

bacteria · Post by **bacteria** » Sun May 25, 2008 3:07 am

Have a look - HERE - guy made a C64 laptop a while back and used a mini keyboard!

Dbstew · Post by **Dbstew** » Sun May 25, 2008 4:05 am

Holy Crap! That's awesome!!

Post by **Sparkfist** » Sun May 25, 2008 5:28 am

Where did you get that 1541-III, or like board? I'd love to get one myself, but every time I've checked no one was selling them.

afxzanac · Post by **afxzanac** » Sun May 25, 2008 7:31 am

Sparkfist wrote:Where did you get that 1541-III, or like board? I'd love to get one myself, but every time I've checked no one was selling them.

http://www.nkcelectronics.com/mmc2iec-c ... devic.html

It was a little expensive, but it would have cost me more in time, money, and frustration to build my own.

You should put a 5.25" floppy drive in there.

There's a place to plug one in off of the flash interface

I love the progress so far. What are your plans for the case?

I plan on making this a standalone unit, about 9"x8"x3" that will have a PS/2 port, joystick/user port, and SD slot on the front, and the power and disk drive ports on the back, and hopefully a set of RCA outputs to hook into a bigger TV.