THE COMMODORE 64 SURVIVAL MANUAL Bantam Books of Related Interest Ask your bookseller for the books you have missed THE COMPLETE BUYER’S GUIDE TO PERSONAL COMPUTERS by Tim Hartnell and Stan Veit THE FRIENDLY COMPUTER BOOK: A SIMPLE GUIDE FOR ADULTS by Gene Brown HOW TO GET THE MOST OUT OF COMPUSERVE by Charles Bowen and Dave Peyton THE ILLUSTRATED COMPUTER DICTIONARY by The Editors of Consumer Guide® MASTERING YOUR TIMEX SINCLAIR 1000/1500™ PERSONAL COMPUTER by Tim Hartnell and Dilwyn Jones THE COMMODORE 64 SURVIVAL MANUAL Winn L. Rosch Illustrations by Steve Henry A Hard/Soft Press Book BANTAM BOOKS TORONTO • NEW YORK • LONDON • SYDNEY • AUCKLAND THE COMMODORE 64 SURVIVAL MANUAL A Bantam Book I August 1984 Sprite and sound assistance: Michael Callery All rights reserved. Copyright © 1984 Hard!Soft Inc. Cover art copyright © 1984 by Bantam Books, Inc. This book may not be reproduced in whole or in part, by mimeograph or any other means, without permission. For information address: Bantam Books, Inc. ISBN 0-553-34127-8 Published simultaneously in the United States and Canada Bantam Books are published by Bantam Books, Inc. Its trademark, consisting of the words "Bantam Books” and the portrayal of a rooster, is Registered in U.S. Patent and Trademark Office and in other countries. Marca Registrada. Bantam Books, Inc., 666 Fifth Avenue, New York, New York 10103. PRINTED IN THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA HL 0987654321 To Granny TABLEOFCONTENTS 1 INTRODUCING THE COMMODORE 64 1 Computer basics made easy. Peripherals, applications, shopping notes, and general hints and tips. 2 BEATING THE SYSTEM______________________ 16 What’s inside your C-64 and how does it work? A fasci­ nating look at monitors, printers, plotters, storage media, modems, paddles, joysticks, and other devices. 3 GETTING TO KNOW THE COMMODORE_______ 34 Connecting everything correctly, from printers to monitors to cassette recorders to disk drives to power supplies to light pens. Turn-on tricks and coping with cables. 4 TAMING THE DREADED READY______________ 48 Getting started. The Commodore command center. Keyboard hints. Customizing color and character sets. Poking around in memory. Examining errors. 5 STEP BY STEP: PROGRAMMING THE COMMODORE________________________________70 Creating and destroying your first program. Amazing programs in a few short lines. Color magic. Saving your fingertips. Loops, logic, math, and data. Making a menu. Sprites, graphics, and sound generation (with ready-to-run programs). 6 COPING WITH CASSETTES__________________ 98 A LOAD on your computer’s mind. Taping your favorite programs. Cassette carbon paper. Saving graces. vii viii THE COMMODORE 64 SURVIVAL MANUAL 7 CONTROLLING THE MASSES: DISK DRIVES 107 A magnetic personality. Formatting fun. Testing and saving made easier. Directory dumps. SCRATCHing it all away. Backing up and protection schemes. Chaining, naming, and the friendly Wedge. 8 THE COMMODORE PRINTERS_______________131 Paper handling. Getting loaded. Ribbon snaking and the smoke test. Application tricks. Special printing effects. Playing with your characters. Gorgeous graphics. Solving printer problems. 9 MAGIC WITH MODEMS AND CONQUERING CP/M_________________________ 151_ Making the most of modems. Plugging into the world. Talking to bulletin boards and other computers. The not so exciting world of Commodore CP/M. 10 THE GRAND TOUR________________________161_ Prying it open and peeking inside. Fishing around for chips. The cast of characters—what all the little parts do. Picking up the pieces and reassembling the machine. 11 THE CARE AND FEEDING OF THE COMMODORE_______________________________170 Important precautions. Power-line problems. Static pro­ tection. Disk and cassette care. Good housekeeping and keeping clean. 12 THAT DOES NOT COMPUTE: TROUBLESHOOTING YOUR 64________________ 182 Hardware and software problems—how to spot and fix them. Crammed with dozens of symptoms, error message tips, and specific cures when things aren’t working right (or at all). CONTENTS ix 13 WHAT’S NEXT? ADDING HARDWARE AND SOFTWARE_________________________________ 202 Sorting through software—a critical review of the most popular languages, utilities, word processors, enhancement programs, spreadsheets, databases, accounting packages, and loads of games. Software shopping secrets. Hardware helpers— adding more cartridges, more columns, more buttons, mice, touchpads, even making your computer talk. More informa­ tion and user support—magazines and different kinds of users’ groups. INDEX 235 1 INTRODUCING THE COMMODORE 64 Nothing can be all things to all people, but the Commodore 64 computer comes awfully close. With the appropriate at­ tachments the 64 will do your paperwork, race through end­ less columns of math, and even let you battle with alien invaders. It will balance your budget, teach your kids the alphabet, play the latest video games, talk with other comput­ ers halfway around the world, type anything from homework to church newsletters, play Bach or rock, and fill your televi­ sion screen with masterpieces reminiscent of Picasso and Piet Mondrian (not to mention a two-year-old with finger paint). With the introduction of the Commodore 64, having a pow­ erful and useful computer in the living room, kitchen, recre­ ation room, den, or office is no longer just an engineer’s dream, philosopher’s wonder, or a rich man’s luxury—it’s something hardly anyone can be without. No longer can there be any doubt that computers are going to enter your life in a big way. This one is already there. It’s not a box to watch and "gee whiz” at; it’s a machine to use, take advantage of, and enjoy—once you learn how to use it. Like most machines, however, the Commodore 64 has its shortcomings. The most immediate one is that it’s not as easy 1 2 THE COMMODORE 64 SURVIVAL MANUAL to operate at first as you might have expected. Fortunately, if you have a little patience and the right help—like this book— learning to use the Commodore isn’t hard. In fact, learning to use the Commodore can actually be fun. Unlike the bigger, more expensive business computers, the 64 doesn’t give you an evil green stare and dare you to find some businesslike purpose to justify buying it. Rather, it shows you that learning about computers and computing itself does not have to be a chore. It can be as simple and as enjoyable as a game! No matter what your ulterior motive for buying a home computer, the Commodore 64 has the added benefit of being a fine machine for kids to learn the basics of computing and programming. More than just a toy or tool, the Commodore 64 gives kids an incentive to learn about computers. Cer­ tainly as an adult you have an incentive to learn to use a computer. When you’ve finished learning, you’ll be able to use the machine to handle your bookkeeping, manage your files, or type your letters. But running a business or balanc­ ing a budget will probably not be the reason your kid will want to use a computer. The Commodore 64, however, excels at the one thing your kids will want to learn about: develop­ ing their own games. And along the way they’ll learn all the fundamentals of computer programming. They may even learn how to think more clearly by organizing their approaches to problems! That isn’t to say the Commodore 64 is not a powerful computer in itself. Should you wish to use it for more sophisti­ cated applications, you’ll find locked beneath the Commodore 64’s keyboard a microcomputer-on-a-chip armed with more memory than most $10,000 business computers had a few years ago. In addition, the Commodore engineers supple­ mented that inherent computer power with extra graphics and sound talents. These capabilities enable programmers to develop software with dazzling pictures and melodious tunes. They make the Commodore especially fun to own. The Good and the Bad of the 64 The Commodore 64 is probably your first computer. But how can you be sure that you bought the right one? When you thought about buying a home computer and you looked around at what was currently available, you were probably struck by how similar all the different computers are in their abilities INTRODUCING THE COMMODORE 64 3 and attributes and how they all claim to be the best of everything for everybody. You don’t have to be a skeptic to know that all of them can’t be "best” and that probably none of them is. No matter what advertisements or salesmen have to say, no computer, neither the Commodore 64 nor the IBM 3081 mainframe, is the solution to every home computing problem. Like all the currently available home computers, the Com­ modore 64 has its strong points and its weaknesses. Some may be important to you; others may not. But you should be aware of both the abilities and limitations of any home machine. Accordingly, here’s a quick tour of what is wrong and what is right about the Commodore 64. Chomping at the Bits________ The number of bits of digital data a computer can handle at one time is a measure of the computer’s power. The Commo­ dore 64 is an 8-bit computer. That means that it handles data 8 bits (or 1 byte) at a time (see Box 1). In itself, an 8-bit computer is neither good nor bad. More bits are better (in general), but more bits also means more costly. The number of bits a computer uses at once must be a compromise be­ tween price and power. All the letters of the alphabet, numbers, and punctuation marks (as well as over 100 more symbols) can be coded using less than 8 bits. Eight bits is enough to code television pic­ tures with quality high enough for network broadcasting.