Building a Commodore 64 - Part VI - (BMC64 Prototype)

After building the Ultimate 64, I decided to see what could be created by just using software emulation. In the world of Commodore 64 software emulation the Versatile Commodore Emulator a.k.a VICE is king.

The question is what hardware to run it on. VICE will run on practically anything, but it would be great if the final result looked like an original C64. That being the goal, the hardware also needs to fit inside an original C64 case.

My old friend the Raspberry Pi is one of the best candidates. The Pi usually runs some flavour of Linux, on which you can then run VICE. But after some research I found the excellent BMC64 project. This would eliminate the need for an underlying operating system such as Linux since BMC64 uses VICE as the operating system.

BMC64 is bare metal compilation of the VICE emulator designed to run directly on a Raspberry Pi2/3. This gives super fast boot times and one of the fastest software emulations for the C64. Sounds like the perfect solution, but nothing is ever perfect.

Setting up BMC64

First I wanted to confirm boot times and performance of BMC64. So I started by grabbing a Raspberry Pi 3 Model B (not to be confused with the Raspberry Pi 3 Model B+ model which is slightly faster) I had lying around as the test device.

ℹī¸ Note: BMC64 does not run on the Raspberry Pi 4. You need one of the older Pi 3's.

Next you need to go and get a copy of BMC64. The nice thing about BMC64 is there is no fancy installations, or img files to burn (unless your really want to). Just download the zip file and unzip it onto a FAT32 formatted SD Card.

BMC64 Download

Next you will need to get the original C64 rom files listed below and stick them into the C64 folder on the SD card. A quick search on the internet should let you find what you are looking for 😉 

/C64
    kernal
    chargen
    basic
    d1541II (recommended)
    rpi_sym.vkm
    bootstat.txt

That's it for SD Card set up! But check the BMC64 page for any additional information.

Finally you'll need a keyboard and gamepad. I just grabbed an old USB Keyboard and Gamepad again I had lying around.

Note

You should start with wired models for easy of compatibility. There is no bluetooth with BMC64 and your mileage will vary with other wireless devices. Lack of wireless and poor compatibility is one of the big disadvantages of BMC64, the price for bare metal speed.

Insert the SD Card, plug in the keyboard, gamepad and screen, switch it on and within a few seconds you should be greeted with your old friend the blue C64 basic ready prompt.

Performance

There's not much to say here, it works exactly as advertised.

  • Boots within a few seconds
  • Turns off at the flick of a switch (no shutdown required)
  • Hit F12 to pull up the menu, and load any disk image right from the SD card
  • Supports save states
  • Version 3.9+ supports REU (needed for Sonic the Hedgehog for the C64)

Read all the other stats on the BMC64 website.

Next...

Now I had confirmed that BMC64 ran great I wanted to set up and test it with original C64 controllers.

All C64 Posts