MixTape C64. Loads sids from tape one after another
Posted: Tue Aug 08, 2017 11:15 pm
Roland Hermans made an awesome tool called PSID64 which will generate .prg files out of any .sid file that you can load and play on your Commodore64. I only have the tape deck, so I wanted an option to load the next sid automatically after the current one is finished playing. I emailed Hermans about it, he liked the idea, but didn't respond in over 2 weeks, so I tried doing it myself. I'm not a C64 coder (although I am very much interested in the C64 coding and know most of the vic tricks at least in theory) so I was surprised myself when I managed to do it. It uses a cut down Turbo250 Loader by Mr.Z. It will load the next .prg file from tape when the current track is finished or when you press left on joystick in port 2. The link to the source code and small instruction is here : https://gitlab.com/pseregiet/psid64-mixtape and a video of it in action here : https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GZoFOoicF8Q
Read the original instruction for PSID64 on how to use it. It will work and generate the same program as the original 1.2 version unless you use additional parameter '-m'. With -m it will generate the .prg file with the tape loading mechanism. You need the High Voltage Sid Collection on your disk and point the path to it in the program, otherwise it won't know how long the song is and so it won't load the next track (pressing left on joystick will still work). If the sid has more than one track in itself (subtracks) the program will play all of them and then load the next file.
The program can take a path to a directory, not just a single file. If you give it the directory it will generate .prg out of all .sid files in that directory. Then you can use a program called prg2wav to convert these .prg files into a .wav file. Then record these .wav files onto a tape and you have your own C64 MixTape ! In the build/windows/ folder there's a compiled version for windows (both 32 and 64 bit version) linux users shouldn't have problems compiling it themselfs
Read the original instruction for PSID64 on how to use it. It will work and generate the same program as the original 1.2 version unless you use additional parameter '-m'. With -m it will generate the .prg file with the tape loading mechanism. You need the High Voltage Sid Collection on your disk and point the path to it in the program, otherwise it won't know how long the song is and so it won't load the next track (pressing left on joystick will still work). If the sid has more than one track in itself (subtracks) the program will play all of them and then load the next file.
The program can take a path to a directory, not just a single file. If you give it the directory it will generate .prg out of all .sid files in that directory. Then you can use a program called prg2wav to convert these .prg files into a .wav file. Then record these .wav files onto a tape and you have your own C64 MixTape ! In the build/windows/ folder there's a compiled version for windows (both 32 and 64 bit version) linux users shouldn't have problems compiling it themselfs