Everything you need to know about C64pro boot screens.
As awesome as it is to see that familiar “blue screen of life” I just wanted something more modern and fresh. With the new Commodore 64 Ultimate being such a great system for modern times, I just felt it lacked some “oomph” every time I turned it on. So I started making boot screens that make me happy (based on a demo entry I did some years back). I hope they’ll make you happy too. I plan to make more but feel free to use my contact page if you have any requests, I’ll see what I can do!
On FPGA/software based Commodore 64s, you can run a custom “Kernal” which contains the main code to run the C64. This code also contains the classic blue-on-blue design of the boot screen. By changing that embedded design code, your C64 can look completely different on boot-up. Unfortunately I can’t simply distribute Commodore ROMs with my designs due to licensing issues, so I’ve set up this tool that will let you provide your own ROM file, "patch" the file byte-by-byte with my design, and send the modified file back to you. You can then use that in your system and enjoy a more modern experience on your Commodore 64!
There are various ways of getting a C64 kernel ROM file. The file comes with an install of VICE, and is easily available on the net. It will usually have .bin or .rom at the end of the filename, like "kernal.901227-03.bin" or just kernal.rom (though make sure it’s for a C64, not another model). Google is your friend ;)
They’ll generally work on any Commodore 64 setup that allows you to replace the “Kernal” ROM, like the Commodore 64 Ultimate, Gideon’s Ultimate 64 and the VICE emulators that can run on pretty much any computer. They can even work on physical devices if you know what you’re doing.
Firstly, you’ll need to put the new kernel file into the Flash/roms area of storage in your C64U. You can do that by using a USB stick to transfer the file from your computer to the C64U, or even via FTP. See the C64U manual for more info. You can rename the file if you like.
Once the file is in the correct folder open the Menu and go into “MEMORY & ROMS”. When you then select “Kernal ROM” you should see your new file in the list. Select that, and back out of the menu (saving if prompted). Then restart your C64U and you should see your new boot screen. Welcome to a modern C64 experience!
In VICE, go into Preferences/Settings/Machine/ROM and change the Kernal ROM there.
Yes, for an even fresher, modern look, you can also replace your "chargen" ROM file with the excellent PXLfont file (it's free!). Download the .bin file from here and use it to update your chargen ROM settings. On a C64 Ultimate, just put that .bin in the same folder as your kernal file. When you go to the “MEMORY & ROMS” settings you'll also see a "Character ROM" setting. You should see the file in that list. Select it and reboot your C64U to see the new font. Note that the filename is quite long, so feel free to rename it to something shorter.
They are safe to use. If anything was to go wrong (highly unlikely anyway) you can just unselect the ROM in your settings and get it back to where it was.
As for compatibility, I'm reluctant to claim 100% compatibility but they should be fine with nearly all C64 software applications and games. Highly specialised software or cartridges may potentially be affected (let me know if you find anything, I haven't yet!), but for the vast majority of users, that won't be an issue at all. Most of these designs only change inconsequential text that was there in the original (see below for info about the "extended" versions). As mentioned above, you can just revert to your default Kernal ROM at any time anyway, it only takes a few seconds. On a C64 Ultimate, you can use configs to quickly switch between setups using different kernal ROMs.
There is only a tiny amount of space in the Kernal ROM to update the boot screen design without affecting anything (though I’m proud of pulling off some nice designs in that limited space!). However, slightly bigger or more complex designs can be made by overwriting some rarely used part of the kernal code. These “extended” designs overwrite some RS-232 routines that are rarely used by most applications. These routines are generally only used for attaching physical devices like modems to the parallel port. If you don’t use anything like that you should have no issues with these files. In fact, you can even still use BBSes as most software to do that uses its own code for that functionality anyway. I think 99.9% of C64 users will never see an issue, even with the extended versions. Disclaimer: yes, I made that number up ;)
They should all work with standard JiffyDOS ROMs no problem (though let me know if you have any problems), but note that the "extended" designs definitely won’t work with DolphinDOS as that also modifies the RS-232 routines mentioned above (standard designs should still be ok though).