CCS64 Forum

Finnish must be the hardest language in the world to translate into English when it comes to C64 jargon... Oh geez it took long time to write this thing!

The problem is that I'd like to load all raw-tape files with the help of CCS64 exactly in the same way as I'd load them with a normal C64 (in other words, without any special functions like "choose the Tape Device, select the TAP-file you'd like to run and then simply press enter")! As for the actual running of raw-tape files, I know a few basic steps:

1) Pressing F9
2) Choosing Tape Device
3) Selecting Tape (by pressing F2)
4) typing "LOAD" in order to load the first program on the cassette/tape (TAP-file) into memory

...but there occurs the first problem: for some reason, the emulator always does everything automatically without asking me to type anything, and now I really mean every single step of the whole loading process (after typing "LOAD"). First of all, if I remember right, a real C64 should ask the user to "PRESS PLAY ON TAPE" after typing "LOAD," and not do all the steps of the loading process automatically. How can I avoid this CCS64 feature which does everything automatically, and secondly, how can I define the "play button" when "PRESS PLAY ON TAPE" is displayed on the screen?

I have to admit that once I even managed to somehow avoid this automatic loading feature of the emulator (I can't really remember how I did it anymore, probably by some strange sort of twist ). When CCS64 asked me to press play on tape, I wasn't really able to do anything else meaningful than to press F9, choose Tape Device, press F2 to get to the "Tape Status" screen and switch on the "Play Button." Once I did this, the "PRESS PLAY ON TAPE" disappeared and the emulator displayed some sort of loading screen. Nevertheless, nothing else happened. The only difference I noticed was that now the "Tape Motor" on the "Tape Status" screen was "on" instead of "off." For some reason the "Tape Position" was still 0 (zero), which indicated that the emulator hadn't even started to load anything on the cassette... Is there anything to do about this?

Just to make sure that I wouldn't have to ask any further questions, I'll list the rest of the steps of the loading process as I remember them. Correct me if I'm wrong!

A) C64 should start searching for the next program on the cassette after the user has pressed the play button (naturally this comes after "PRESS PLAY ON TAPE").
B) Thereafter, C64 should display the name of the loaded program on the screen for a while and the loading process continues.
C) Once the loading is finished, the user should see "READY" displayed on the screen after which the program can be run/started by typing "RUN."

Any help would be greatly appreciated!

Your four steps above work fine for me, using CCS64 V3.6 and a TAP file that I have. It is as if you are pressing F1, instead of F2, at your third step, which automatically loads/runs the TAP file (F1 = Run, F2 = Select Tape).

Thx for the reply even though it seems you misunderstood the questions. I can run all the raw-tape files (TAPs), no problem with that, but the point is that I need to go through the whole loading process exactly in the same way as with a real C64. This is because I'll record the loading process for YouTube (it'll be an AVI/MP4/FLV file), and in case you wonder why, I'm doing everything for purely nostalgic reasons

I'd need to be able to write all the commands myself (LOAD, RUN etc.) and also press the play button (I don't even know how to define it). The only problem is that the emulator does everything automatically (as I described in my last post). So what to do? Any suggestions?

The BASIC commands should all be the same. With respect to the PLAY button on the emulated Tape device, when you are highlighting Tape Device 1... in the CCS64 main menu, you can press <F2> for the Control menu, which includes an option for the pressing of the PLAY button ON/OFF, also information to do with the tape position etc. I think you may have already tried this... If you are still stuck, I can pass your request on to Hakan himself.

Thanks for the answer! At least your answer solved the problem with the play button.

Now I reckon I can explain the real problem very meticulously (it took helluva long time to remember these things because the last time I had a C64 was at the beginning of the 90’s, and most of my memories are vague). Let’s imagine that I want to play “Green Beret” from Konami Arcade Collection containing two cassettes full of games. Green Beret is on the first side of the first tape, but it’s not the first game on that side of the cassette. The first game happens to be “Nemesis.” (Just as a side note, I don’t know at what tape positions the games of the collection are stored, and I’m not interested in it at the moment…) To explain the problem, we have to imagine that I want to play Green Beret without fast-forwarding the tape to the position where the game is stored.

So, the first thing I’ll do with the CSS64 emulator is that I choose/control “Tape Device 1,” and then select “Tape 1 Side 1” of the Konami Arcade Collection. Just to let you know, it’s a Raw Tape Image (TAP-file). Thereafter, I’ll type LOAD in the Commodore 64 Basic, and let the emulator find the first programme on the tape. However, the problem is that the emulator will run the game automatically without giving me a chance NOT to run the game and just simply continue the loading until the emulator finds the next programme on the tape. If I’m correct, a real C64 should just say that it has found the first programme on the tape, and ask me if I want to continue loading (search the tape for the next programme) or run the programme it just found.

I may be wrong, but I guess that this is how these things should go (if I can trust my memories)...

So, after CSS64 has found the first programme on the tape, which is “Nemesis,” how can I tell the emulator to continue loading other programmes on the tape, or, to put it better, searching the tape for the next programme which is “Green Beret?”

Here's an alternative explanation of the same problem:

"When LOADing programs from tape, the <file-name> can be left out, and the next program file on the tape will be read. The Commodore 64 will blank the screen to the border color after the PLAY key is pressed. When the program is found, the screen clears to the background color and the 'FOUND' message is displayed. When the <C=> key, <CTRL> key, <ARROW LEFT> key, or <SPACE BAR> is pressed, the file will be loaded."

Those instructions didn't work with my CCS64 because the emulator tried to run the program it had found regardless of what key I pressed (it also run the program when I just waited and didn't do anything).

Any suggestions on how to keep searching the tape until CCS64 finds the next program in this situation?

I've submitted my questions at http://www.lemon64.com/forum/viewtopic. ... highlight=

If you read the thread, you'll notice that I got the sort of answers that I was able to solve many of the problems I had... however, there are some problems left.

Perhaps the creator of CCS64, Per Håkan Sundell, could answer my questions. All I need to know about CCS64 is whether there is some feature enabling a "100% similar" loading process to a real C64.