Original Name – On 14 April 2020 – ***Project Carousel USB***

On the 9th October 2020, renamed to – ***Project Carousel USB: Anniversary Edition*** on THEC64 Mini NTSC 2 year Anniversary.

Project came from Project Luna, I was using PL on my Sega Mega Drive Mini at the time and it gave me the idea, and Carousel USB came from Carousel USB Chooser that Fabafox made for THEC64 that I later added to PCUAE

And that’s how PCUAE got its name… 🙂 I always call it PCUAE now, its a lot easier… 🙂

What’s New:

You can enable Autoboot Mode using PCUAE Startup in Firmware v1.0.0 or Firmware v1.1.1 now, all good… :).

Installing PCUAE on THEA500 Mini… Here… https://thec64community.online/thread/1399/running-pcuae-thea500-mini-updated

And for THEC64 Mini, THEC64 and THEVIC20… PCUAE Manager Here… https://thec64community.online/thread/603/pcuae-manager

Soon PCUAE will not work without PCUAE Autoboot Mode been activated, Why?… cause all of its main features use it, like Modes and that, you really can’t do anything in PCUAE without it anyway so do not see the point of users not using it now(I use it all the time but I am not you… 🙂 and yes I do use PCUAE… 🙂 on THEVIC20 and THEA500 Mini), you will still have a Yes/No choice but if you pick No then _THEC64/A500 will turn off/shut down and it will not go any further until you activate it, I could easily do it so it does by itself(activates Autoboot Mode automatically, I know how to do that from when I added it but I didn’t add it) but no, thats the wrong choice, some might not be happy with this decision but its the best way forward, I think.

ADF and CD32 Modes added to THEA500, so you can now get PCUAE to boot into ADF or CD32 Modes to load ADF or CD image files from bootup, you can enable them in The Carousel Version Changer. They take about 30 seconds to load too, I will be changing the way Modes boot up so they all load up in about 30 seconds, including PCUAE(TheCarousel) Mode.

AGS 500 Mode – Load up THEA500 Games Selector by Paul Vince, you can enable it in The Carousel Version Changer so it loads it up every startup, you will have to add the HDD files for it, if you want to use it, info in its mode folder in modes on how too, its files are not included.

Amiberry 5.3 is now included and works with the carousel(THEA500 Only), Thanks goes to Pandory Team(dajoho) for compiling it… 🙂 You can now load games in Amiberry 5.3 via the carousels USB Media Menu where you can load ahl and adf files, if you load the Carousel(PCUAE Mode) then you can now do a quick switch to switch between Amiberry 3.3 and 5.3 by pressing down and holding the Menu button and then pressing the RSB(Right Shoulder Button) and holding them down together on THEGamepad and it will reload the Carousel with Amiberry 5.3 and press them again to go back to Amiberry 3.3… 🙂 I added this so you can still load the 25 games on the carousel.

You can switch between Amiberry 3.3 and Amiberry 5.3 using the keys CTRL+F2 too, the GUI Menu can by loaded up by CTRL+F1 or F12 so you can make save states if you want to save a uae file or change the settings in a game or want to make a uae file for Amiberry 5.3.

It should take about 5 or 10 seconds to switch Amiberry versions.

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1.Quick Start Guide

How to install PCUAE

Make sure that the USB Drive you pick is formatted in Fat32 and in MBR(do not use GPT it will not work) , You can use a 8, 16, 32, 64 and 128GB USB Drive with THEC64 models and THEA500 and PCUAE should be OK to install on them too, I use a 64GB SD card with mine.

First, download PCUAE Manager from here. You install PCUAE Manager the same way you do with PCUAE, but pick a location on your PC not on the PCUAE USB Drive, it will install to the C: drive under C:\Games\Project Carousel USB\PCUAE Manager folder if you do not change it, once its installed click on its icon on the desktop to load PCUAE Manager.

Once PCUAE Manager has opened then click on the PCUAE Tab and you will see PCUAE Install to a USB drive, click on that item. PCUAE Manager will then ask if you want to download PCUAE, click on Yes Button and it will start downloading the latest version, it will not take long, then it will ask do you want to install PCUAE, click on Yes button again to start the setup so you can install PCUAE Menu to the your C:/ Drive.

PCUAE Manager notifies you if there is a new version of PCUAE when it becomes available on GitHub so thats kind of handy too… :). Please read this below…

IMPORTANT

About PCUAE Menu that is run from PCUAE Manger

To update the Menu, run PCUAE Manager again or will try and update itself now when you run it, if there is any new version of the PCUAE Menu that needs to be download in PCUAE Manager it will say there is a new version of PCUAE available, but only if something has changed that can be change in a updte inside the PCUAE Menu. You might need to disable your Antivirus while running this because it might delete the pcuae-update.exe file inside the PCUAE-MAIN_AIO-3.1.0-RC5-DOWNLOADER.exe so when it gets installed on to the C: Drive, just disable it when you start PCUAE Manager and once you started to download the PCUAE you want to download then enable it again, you only need to disable the monitoring part of the Antivirus so it don’t remove any files, Defender on Windows removes it and you have to restore it again, it a false positive so has no virus in it.

INSTALL PCUAE MENU FROM PCUAE MANAGER TO YOUR C:/ DRIVE, THIS IS NOT PCUAE INSTALL.

THIS IS PCUAE MENU SO YOU CAN DOWNLOAD DIFFERENT VERSIONS OF PCUAE, THIS WAS THE ONLY WAY I COULD DO IT.

IT WILL AUTOLOAD THE MENU WHEN YOU HAVE INSTALLED IT TO THE C:/ DRIVE IN WINDOWS.

MICROSOFT WINDOWS 10/11 RECOMMENDED CAUSE THE PCUAE MENU USES POWERSHELL TO DOWNLOAD PCUAE INSTALLERS.

THESE ARE EXAMPLE PICTURES AND PCUAE MENU COULD OF CHANGED AND HAVE DIFFERET OPTIONS IN IT. PCUAE MENU1 PCUAE MENU2

Just look at the PCUAE Menu and read it, the main options you will need is options 1 and 2, option 1 for installing QBittorrent, if you do not have a BitTorrent program on your PC already, if you do than no need to install QBittorrent, you need it to download PCUAE All In One Installer Setup file, if you want the Full version of PCUAE. Option 2 for downloading and installing PCUAE all mosdt all the exe files are downloaded by the PCUAE Menu, the only one that is not is PCUAE AIO, thats a torrent file.

New site finally here… https://projectcarouselusb.eu I changed my mind about having a site, it needs one, downloads are available there too and other goodies.. 🙂 you have to register on the site to download files and have access to the site.

Some of the files(EXE) look like they have a virus but its a false positive, antiviruses always says it has the same virus(Trojan:Script/Wacatac.H!ml) when it don’t have one, it because it can see scripts in it and its getting confused, if it looked properly it would see the scripts are for Linux only not Windows. PCUAE VIRUS NOT

There is now nothing in PCUAE that not allowed to be in it, all software like Amiga Games Selector and Pandory for THEA500 is not included but you can download them in the PCUAE Menu using there download links, you have to add them yourself to THEA500-USB-MENU folder, thats really easy to do, you just unpack there ZIP or RAR files to the THEA500-USB-MENU folder once they have been downloaded via the PCUAE Menu and they are then installed.

AMiNIMiga has now been completely removed, I decided to remove it completely when Amiga Workbench 3.1 was removed from THEA500 version, because you need the Workbench 3.1 disks now to run it and it can not be set up to run normally like a Workbench, Cloanto probably asked him to remove it, its probably on to many systems thats why, I think it would of been different of it was only on THEA500 only, this is what happens when something become popular and Cloanto hear about it, this is the problem with older version of Workbench, they should be free to use in non payed products now but AMiNIMiga does get donations for it so like a payed product, that properly why not Workbench now, PCUAE Does not get donations now.

Running PCUAE for the first Time on THEC64 Models or THEA500

Make sure the carousel from the firmware has loaded and PCUAE USB stick is in one of the USB ports on the machine and you can see the USB Icon on the screen.

On THE64 Mini/THEC64/THEVIC20:

Highlight Spanner Icon(Device Settings) then press Left Fire then Highlight System Information then press Left Fire again, you will see a Fake Update in there called theC64-9_9_90.bin.
Now Highlight Apply Button and then press Left Fire again, PCUAE will start and you will see a black screen for about 5 or 10 seconds and you should see Loading PCUAE, Please Read... on the screen and it should checking if the autoboot startup script is installed and if it is, it will update it automatically, if its not installed then the Autoboot Mode Screen will appear so you can activate Autoboot Mode to install it.

Now Highlight the Yes or No buttons on the screen by pressing the Right Fire button to select Yes or No, you can switch between them with the Right Fire Button, if you select Yes then select yes again after it to active Autoboot then it will activate Autoboot and copy the Autoboot Start-up Script to the firmware then PCUAE will be able to boot by itself, if you pick No then it will go back to the firmware carousel, if you install Autoboot Mode then it tell you its completed it and then should reboot the THEC64 and autoboot into PCUAE and thats it.

It should take about 40 seconds for PCUAE to boot up and show the first carousel, it will boot into 1.6.1 but in PCUAE Mode but only if you have exported Favorites 1(PCUAE ONLY), it only needs Favorites 1 Gamelist View to load into PCUAE Mode if its not included then TheCarousel Firmware will load.

On THEA500 Mini:

Run PCUAAE_StartUp(Firmware_v1.0.0).LHA if your on Firmware v1.0.0 thats in the PCUAE_Startup Folder in the USB Media Access Menu.
Activate Autoboot Mode, it will ask you if you want to when you start PCUAE from PCUAAE Startup LHA.
Once its finished activating Autoboot Mode, it will then continue to reboot THEA500 but you might need to unplug the power cable out and plug it back in cause it can get stuck(its to do with built-in Amiberry).
Turn off THEA500 and install Pandory by copying its files to PCUAEUSB://THEC64-USB-MENU folder.
Plug USB Stick back in THEA500 Mini and turn it on and wait for PCUAE to boot up, it will take about 40 seconds to load up.
You can now run mods from THEC64-USB-MENU folder, so you can now copy Pandory there now and AMiNImga too, copy its files to the AMiNImga folder and then run them in the Carousel Media Menu.
You can still run them from start up too by The Mode Changer, hold down Menu button and X button together for 2 seconds or until screen goes black, when the menu comes up pick RA Mode(Pandory Mode) you installed and wait for it to load it and it will load ever time you run THEA500 Mini until you change the mode if you have the PCUAEUSB plunged in.
Your done… 🙂 if you want to run another Mode just do the same but install and pick a different Mode, the modes are on GitHub too, download them from PCUAE Release, link https://github.com/CommodoreOS/PCUAE/releases.

TIP: If at any time you need to update the Autoboot Startup Script then just run the Fake Update again or PCUAE Startup from Media Menu.

How to Install a Mode Pack in PCUAE

To install a Mode Pack, its very easy, you download them from PCUAE Manager or from GitHub and then install them to the PCUAE USB drive.

If you want to add the Modes Packs then install them the same way as How to install PCUAE, Click on PCUAE Tab then click on Mode Packs then click on Install Amiga Mode, Install Atari Mode, Install Linux Mode or Install Vice Mode. It will ask if you want to download them, Click on Yes Button and PCUAE Manager will download them, and then click on Yes Button again to start the Install to install them to the PCUAEUSB/PCUAAEUSB Drive.

Change drive letter to the PCUAEUSB Drive or click on Browse button to find it so like G:/.

Now click on install button to copy the Mode to PCUAEUSB Drive, now wait for it to complete the install and copy over, once it closes the install setup its finished.

Now EJECT the PCUAEUSB Drive first before you remove it from your PC, now take out the PCUAEUSB from the PC and plug it into your machine and turn it on, and wait for PCUAE to boot up, ones it does then you should be able to press CTRL+F5 or Menu+RT/Menu+X Buttons to load the Mode Changer and then see the Mode you just installed and then pick it from the list in the menu.

PCUAE Key Combinations

For more info on the Modes in PCUAE, go to… How to Use the Modes, its at section 12 of this WIKI. CTRL and the F Keys – Press and Hold Down the CTRL key and then press the F key you want to use for 2 seconds in PCUAE Mode below.

CTRL+F1 – Carousel Gamelist Changer – Select one of the gamelist on the screen to load in the Carousel(in next version of PCUAE) – Not Available in on THEA500 CTRL+F3 – Carousel Version Changer – Change to a different carousel version(1.0.5,1.6.1) or 1.0.0,1.1.1 and CD32(Pro Only) and ADF Modes on THEA500. CTRL+F5 – Mode Changer – Change to a different Mode(Amiga, Atari, Linux, Retroarch, VICE Modes). CTRL+F7 – PCUAE Options Menu – A menu with options in it for PCUAE Mode.

CTRL+RESTORE – Reboot the Machine(CTRL+END on THEA500 Mini on a USB Keyboard) – This makes the machine reboot, not the emulator – Just reboots, nothing special, you never know when you need a reboot/reset button… 🙂 and it saves on you pressing the power button all the time and wearing the power button out, thats why I added it.

(THEA500)CTRL+LEFT ALT+DEL, (PCUAE)CTRL+LEFT SHIFT+F1 – Shutdown, this will power off the machine, I added it cause I was sick of pulling the power cable out all the time.

THEC64 Joystick Button Combinations

Menu, Fire and the Triangle buttons – Press and Hold the Menu Button and then press the Left Fire, Right Fire or the Left, Right Triangle buttons you want to use for 2 seconds in PCUAE Mode, this makes it easier for you use PCUAE mode on THEC64 Mini, THEC64 Joystick now works in the menus on THEC64 Mini too now.

Menu+Left Triangle Button – Carousel Version Changer – Change to a different Carousel versions – THE64 1.0.5, 1.6.1.

Menu+Right Triangle Button – Mode Changer – Change to a different Mode(Amiga, Atari, Linux, Retroarch and VICE Modes).

Menu+Left Fire 1 Button – TheCarousel Gamelist Changer – Change to a different Carousel Gamelist thats been added with the PCUAE Manager.

Menu+Right Fire 2 Button – PCUAE Options Menu – A menu with options in it for PCUAE Mode.

THEGAMEPAD Button Combinations

Press and Hold the Menu Button and then press the A, X, Y or B buttons you want to use and hold both down for 2 seconds.

Menu+Y Button – Carousel Version Changer – Change to a different Carousel versions – Manhattan – Firmware v1.0.0 or Firmware v1.1.1 and CD32/AGS A500 Modes on THEA500.

Menu+X Button – Mode Changer – Change to a different Mode(ADF, Amiga, Atari, Linux, Retroarch(Pandory) and VICE Modes).

Menu+B Button – Quick Switch – Back to PCUAE Mode.

Menu+A Button – PCUAE Options Menu – A menu with options in it for PCUAE Mode.

Menu+Menu – Quick Reset Carousel or Amiberry to go back to the Carousel.

Menu+RSB – Quick Switch – Amiberry v3/v5, Switch Between Versions in TheCarousel.

2.How To Start A Mode

Make sure you install the Mode you want to use first from the PCUAE Manager if its not installed already, the Mode Changer will show you what Modes are installed before running the Mode Changer Menu.

RT = Right Triangle button, Menu = The Menu/home button on THEC64 Joystick/THEGamepad. X = X button, A = A Button, B = B Button, Y = Y Button on THEGamepad.

How to Start Mode Changer – Press and hold down CTRL(Menu)key and then press F5(RT Button)(X Button)key and hold down both keys(buttons) for about 2 seconds.
Wait for it to load, it will check to see what Modes are installed first and show it on the screen so you know what Modes are available, then it will load the Mode Changer Menu, now use CRSR keys and SHIFT to navigate the Mode Changer Menu or use THEC64 Joystick and highlight a Mode then press RETURN(Left Fire button)(A Button)
The Mode will start to load and you notice the machine doing a reboot, maybe take 30 seconds to boot the Mode, you should then see the Modes screen on your screen. There are more detail below about the Modes in section 12 of this WIKI.

What’s New:

You can enable Autoboot Mode using PCUAE Startup in Firmware v1.0.0 or Firmware v1.1.1 now, all good… :).

Installing PCUAE on THEA500 Mini… Here… https://thec64community.online/thread/1399/running-pcuae-thea500-mini-updated

And for THEC64 Mini, THEC64 and THEVIC20… PCUAE Manager Here… https://thec64community.online/thread/603/pcuae-manager

It should take about 5 or 10 seconds to switch Amiberry versions.

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(THEC64 Only)REMEMBER to export Favorites_1 gamelist from PCUAE Manager into the PCUAE USB Drive otherwise PCUAE Mode will not load and you will just see the games on the firmware, even if you have added other carousel gamelists, you will not see them until you do, Favorites_1 folder enables PCUAE Mode.

The Games folder has now moved to the root of the USB Drive, the same place where the Modes are kept, the Game folder is linked to PCUAE-USB-Drive:/Carousel_Games/Games folder so its still there but will not read the games from that folder, it gets overmounted, so that Games folder points the Games folder on the root, I have included a PCUAE Mode Games Pack too so you can now install the games without having to import them from PCUAE Manager, just install them to the root of the USB Drive, if you do not want a Gameslist then just delete it from the Games folder, just make sure you keep Carousel Gamelist Favorites_1, you will need it to enable PCUAE Mode, if its not there then it will enable Firmware Mode instead.

The Games Pack is 285 MB and it includes the default Gamelist Set plus OneLoad Gamelist Set, you can download the games pack on here in the latest PCUAE release.

(THEA500 Only)You might get a warning on the PC when you unplug the USB Drive from THEA500 Mini and plug it in the PC(on Windows), a notification will pop up on the bottom right above the clock, it will say:

There is a problem with this drive, scan the drive now to fix it

If you click on it then a box pops up and says:

Do you want to scan and fix USB Drive(G:)?

There might be a problem with this drive or disc. This can happen if you remove this device or disc before all files have been written to it

Its not PCUAE doing it, its THEA500 Mini marking the drive, I have not got a clue why, when you scan it for errors it will say it has not found any, so its false, it must be marking the USB Drive when you put it in the machine, it could be cause I am using a 64GB SD Card, cause you meant to be using a 32GB or less but I don’t think so, it does not do it when its in THEC64 and it running PCUAE on the same drive, very weird.

1.About PCUAE and Overview

PCUAE Overview – Quick Start Guide, Modes, Options, Shortcut Keys.

PCUAE is a series of scripts and modifications, it allows you to run games from USB on the Carousel(PCUAE) and different versions of the Carousels and different Modes on the machines, For THEC64 Mini, THEC64 Maxi, THEVIC20 plus now for THEA500 Mini too. It is been developed by Spannernick(RetroNuts).

“PCUAE is made as a Modular program – Modular programming is a software design technique that emphasizes separating the functionality of a program into independent, interchangeable modules, such that each contains everything necessary to execute only one aspect of the desired functionality. Thats why each Emulator or Function thats added is called a Mode, it stands for MODulE. like VICE MODulE.

“”I made this for me originally and thought it would be good to share, this was the first thing I made like this, never really played around with Linux before, accept CommodoreOS32bit 1.3 but that was more of a theme customision then changing how Linux works, first time for everything, as they say… :)”. Spannernick“

You do not have to use a USB Stick with PCUAE, you can use a SD Card with a USB SD Card reader or a USB SSD Drive, PCUAE works with both, just check that the carousel can see it OK and on PCUAE you can see the USB Icon on the Carousel’s dock on the screen or in PCUAAE, see its USB Icon on its carousel, you see it like its one of its games, but make sure its on MBR and partitioned with FAT32, it will not see it if its on NTFS or Ext2, 3 or 4.

You can use whatever size USB Drive you like so from 32GB upwards, the bigger the better, you will need over 10GB space for just AMIGA Mode, I use a San Disk Extreme 64GB SD Card (THEA500)with Atolla USB HUB with SD Card reader and (THEC64)ANKER 8in1 USB Card Reader, I olny use one SD Card.

We now have 6 main modes in PCUAE and 4 optional Modes.

Everything in PCUAE runs from the USB Drive not from the firmware so once you turn the machine off and take out PCUAE then turn the machine back on then it will boot up the firmware again.

Updating Amiberry and Firmware v1.1.1 in THEA500 without the USB Drive Plugged In

PCUAE can temporary update the firmware to v1.1.1 now for you if your on v1.0.0, its if you do not want to full update THEA500 Mini yourself yet. To enable it you will need Autoboot Mode activated cause it runs it in the Autoboot Start-Up Script, you can enable it inside The Mode Changer now, once its enabled it will copy a version of manhattan(The Carousel) and Amiberry to the firmware so it can mount it over them and so it works without the USB Drive plugged in, let it run once with the USB Drive in so it can copy over the files first then next time you boot it without the drive in it will boot up in Firmware v1.1.1, it does not copy over the original firmware only overmounts them so if you disable it, it will load Firmware v1.0.0 again.

You do not need to update your machine to Firmware v1.1.1 if you do not want to, this can do it for you without any risks.

Main Modes

(THEC64)PCUAE Mode – Enhanced with multiple 254 Game Slots per Carousel and 1 Info Game Slot for info on what Carousel your on, and a Favorites Carousel for the games you like the most, Add games using PCUAEManager and change TheCarousel in TheCarousel Changer. (THEA500)PCUAE Mode – Load TheCarousel Manhattan v1.0.0 or 1.1.1, can not add games at the moment to its carousel, this would need a coder to do this, I am not a coder, when you change the carousel in PCUAE it will change the carousel in the firmware too so its uses the same one so if your on Manattan v1.0.0 then it will change it to v1.1.1 if you select TheCarousel Manhattan v1.1.1 in TheCarousel Changer.
(THEC64/THEA500)Amiga Mode – Run it as A1200 with Classic Workbench 1.3 with extra Ram Card(Like my A1700), load games with Tiny Launcher using WHDLoad from HDF(Amiga Hard Drive File) or change it using The AMIGA Mode Menu in The Mode Changer..
(THEC64/THEA500) ATARI Mode – Load Atari 8Bit Machines(800/600XL/800XL/65XE/130XE) Load Atari 16bit Machines(520ST/1040ST/MEGA/TT/FALCON), change it using The ATARI Mode Menu in The Mode Changer.
Linux Mode(THEC64/THEA500) – Turn the machine in to a Linux system, you can edit CJM files or edit D64 files in PCUAE with this so do not need to use a PC to do it, Eg: Enable Accurate Disk by editing the D64 File with _AD and change it name to Game_AD.d64 to load in it in USB Media Access in THEC64.
RA Mode(THEC64) – Run Retroarch 1.7.0 and most of its Emulators, not all work because of THEC64 Models Ram, thats only 256MB on its PCB. Pandory A500(THEA500) – Customised version of Retroarch for THEA500 by Pandory Team and can run all Emulators, download it by using the PCUAE Menu and its download link.
VICE Mode(THEC64/THEA500) – 7 Classic Machines(PET/VIC20/C64/PLUS/4/C128/C64DTV and Super CPU C64(Slow)) with VICE Config Menu options.
Amiga Games Selector(AGS) for THEA500, you can run it in PCUAE and download it by using the PCUAE Menu and its download link or its torrent download.

Optional Modes

Gadget Mode(THEC64 Models) – Connect to a PC and access the PCUAE USB stick and Export games from PCUAE Manager to PCUAE USB stick, this is not the Internet.
Restore Toolkit(THEC64/THEA500 Models) – Backup or Flash the Full NAND CHIP(Where the firmware is stored) on the machines. This now works on both THEC64 Mini and Maxi FEL Modes, I need to do more work on this when I get the time, THEA500 FEL Mode needs adding to it.
PCUAE Network Mode(THEC64 Models) – Connect to the internet to load BBS boards in VICE Mode(PCUAE1.9.0+).

Gadget Mode has 2 sub modes – THEC64 Models ONLY

USB Mode to Import and Export Games from/to PCUAE Manager to the PCUAE USB Stick and NAND Mode for Backing up NANDB only as a image that the firmware is on.

Quick Start Guide

How to install PCUAE

You will need a PC with Windows 10/11 on it for everything to work properly.

First, download PCUAE Manager from here. You install PCUAE Manager the same way you do with PCUAE Menu, but pick a location on your PC not on the PCUAE USB Drive, C:/ Drive is recommended, it will install to the C:/ Drive under C:\Games\Project Carousel USB\PCUAE Manager folder if you do not change it, once its installed click on its icon on the desktop to load PCUAE Manager. Once PCUAE Manager has opened then click on the PCUAE Tab(or if a PCUAE update has come up then click on its Yes Button to download the PCUAE Menu) and you will see PCUAE Install to a USB drive, click on that item. PCUAE Manager will then ask if you want to download PCUAE, click on Yes Button and it will start downloading the PCUAE Menu, it will not take long, then it will ask do you want to install PCUAE, click on Yes button again to start the setup so you can install PCUAE Menu.

PCUAE Manager notifies you if there is a new version of PCUAE Menu when it becomes available on GitHub.

Running PCUAE for the first Time

Make sure the carousel from the firmware has loaded and PCUAE USB stick is in one of the USB ports on the machine and you can see the USB Icon on the screen.

On THE64 Mini/THEC64/THEVIC20:

Highlight Spanner Icon(Device Settings) then press LFire then Highlight System Information then press LFire again, you will see a Fake Update in there called theC64-9_9_90.bin.
Now Highlight Apply Button and then press LFire for the last time, PCUAE will start and you will see a black screen for about 5 or 10 seconds and you should see the Autoboot Mode Screen appear so you can activate Autoboot Mode, if you want to activate it then press LFire on Yes or No buttons on the screen, if Yes then it will Activate Autoboot and copy the Autoboot Start-up Script to the firmware so PCUAE can Autoboot, if No then it will continue to load PCUAE, this screen will only show once, once its closes the screen you should see Two Boot Screens, RGL Boot Screen, the machines boot screen and then PCUAE Boot Screen then a black screen again for 10 seconds, maybe a little longer, then it will boot into TheCarousel Firmware if you have not exported Favorites 1 with PCUAE Manager.
It should take about 40 seconds for PCUAE to boot up and show the first carousel, it will boot into the same carousel your machine uses but in PCUAE Mode but only if you have exported Favorites 1(PCUAE ONLY), it only needs Favorites 1 Gamelist View to load into PCUAE Mode if its not included then TheCarousel Firmware will load.

On THEA500 Mini:

Run PCUAAE_StartUp(Firmware_v1.0.0).LHA if your on Firmware v1.0.0 thats in the PCUAE_Startup Folder in the USB Media Access Menu.
Activate Autoboot Mode, it will ask you if you want to when you start PCUAE from PCUAAE Startup LHA.
Once its finished activating Autoboot Mode, it will then continue to reboot THEA500 but you might need to unplug the power cable out and plug it back in cause it can get stuck(its to do with built-in Amiberry).
Turn off THEA500 and install Pandory Mode by copying its files to Modes/Pandory_Mode folder.
Plug USB Stick back in THEA500 Mini and turn it on and wait for PCUAE to boot up, it will take about 40 seconds to load up.
Start The Mode Changer, hold down Menu button and X button together for 2 seconds or until screen goes black, when the menu comes up pick RA Mode(Pandory Mode) you installed and wait for it to load it and it will load ever time you run THEA500 Mini until you change the mode if you have the PCUAEUSB plunged in.
Your done… 🙂 if you want to run another Mode just do the same but install and pick a different Mode, the modes are on GitHub too, download them from PCUAE Release, link https://github.com/CommodoreOS/PCUAE/releases.

How to Install a Mode Pack in PCUAE

To install a Mode Pack, its very easy, you download them from PCUAE Manager and then install them to the PCUAE USB drive or from here(GitHub)

If you want to add the Modes Packs then install them the same way as How to install PCUAE, Click on PCUAE Tab then click on Mode Packs then click on Install Amiga Mode, Install Atari Mode, Install Linux Mode, Install Retroarch Mode or Install Vice Mode. It will ask if you want to download them, Click on Yes Button and PCUAE Manager will download them, and then click on Yes Button again to start the Install to install them to the PCUAEUSB/PCUAAEUSB Drive.

Change drive letter to the PCUAEUSB Drive or click on Browse button to find it so like G:/.

Now click on install button to copy the Mode to PCUAEUSB Drive, now wait for it to complete the install and copy over, once it closes the install setup its finished.

Activate Autoboot Mode to enable other Modes

Once you have activated Autoboot then ALL Modes will work and be activated(enabled).

PCUAE now has a Autoboot Mode Screen when you run PCUAE in THEC64 or THEA500 for the first time from the Fake Update/USB Media Access(PCUAAE_Startup.ahl) so you can Activate Autoboot Mode straight away, it will only show this screen once, more info about it is in Running PCUAE/PCUAE for the first Time above.

You can still activate/deactivate Autoboot Mode in the Mode Changer/PCUAE Options Menu and Add/Remove Autoboot Start-Up Script to/from the Firmware. Select Add/Remove Script Button and then just press Yes button to add the start-up script that activates Autoboot Mode or Yes to remove it, it depends on what the Yes button shows, if its Activated or not. This needs copying to the firmware (only once) to enable Autoboot Mode. Modes will not work until you Add Autoboot Start-Up Script to the firmware. Only run this again to remove the script from firmware if needed. DO NOT disable or enable this over and over, cause you could mess-up your firmware, use the Autoboot Mode Button after you have used Add/Remove Script Button to disable/enable it, if you need too, more info on Autoboot Mode is at 7. How to use Autoboot Mode.

PCUAE Key Combinations

Key Combinations

(THEA500)CTRL+LEFT ALT+DEL, (PCUAE)CTRL+LEFT SHIFT+F1 – Shutdown, this will power off the machine, I added it cause I was sick of pulling the power cable out all the time.

THEC64 Joystick Button Combinations

Menu+Left Triangle Button – Carousel Version Changer – Change to a different Carousel versions – THE64 1.0.5, 1.6.1.

Menu+Right Triangle Button – Mode Changer – Change to a different Mode(Amiga, Atari, Linux, Retroarch and VICE Modes).

Menu+Left Fire 1 Button – TheCarousel Gamelist Changer – Change to a different Carousel Gamelist thats been added with the PCUAE Manager.

Menu+Right Fire 2 Button – PCUAE Options Menu – A menu with options in it for PCUAE Mode.

THEGAMEPAD Button Combinations

Press and Hold the Home Button and then press the A, X, Y or B buttons you want to use and hold both down for 2 seconds.

Home+Y Button – Carousel Version Changer – Change to a different Carousel versions – Manhattan – Firmware v1.0.0 or Firmware v1.1.1 and CD32/AGS A500 Modes on THEA500.

Home+X Button – Mode Changer – Change to a different Mode(ADF, Amiga, Atari, Linux, Retroarch(Pandory) and VICE Modes).

Home+B Button – Quick Switch – Back to PCUAE Mode.

Home+A Button – PCUAE Options Menu – A menu with options in it for PCUAE Mode.

Home+Menu – Quick Reset Carousel or Amiberry to go back to the Carousel.

Home+RSB – Quick Switch – Amiberry v3/v5, Switch Between Versions in TheCarousel.

2.How To Start A Mode

Make sure you install the Mode you want to use first from the PCUAE Manager if its not installed already, the Mode Changer will show you what Modes are installed before running the Mode Changer Menu.

RT = Right Triangle button, Menu = The Menu/home button on THEC64 Joystick/THEGamepad. X = X button, A = A Button, B = B Button, Y = Y Button on THEGamepad.

How to Start Mode Changer – Press and hold down CTRL(Menu)key and then press F5(RT Button)(X Button)key and hold down both keys(buttons) for about 2 seconds.
Wait for it to load, it will check to see what Modes are installed first and show it on the screen so you know what Modes are available, then it will load the Mode Changer Menu, now use CRSR keys and SHIFT to navigate the Mode Changer Menu or use THEC64 Joystick and highlight a Mode then press RETURN(Left Fire button)(A Button)
The Mode will start to load and you notice the machine doing a reboot, maybe take 30 seconds to boot the Mode, you should then see the Modes screen on your screen. There are more detail below about the Modes in section 12 of this WIKI.

PCUAE Mode(PCUAE ONLY) TheCarousel v1.6.1 C64 Joystick Swap/Soft/Hard Reset/Freeze Buttons.

These Shortcut Keys/Buttons ONLY work on TheCarousel v1.6.1 and on the C64 Mode Only, they are not available for the VIC20 Mode. Press these Shortcut Keys/Buttons below only on the C64 Screen or in a C64 Game that is running from the Carousel.

Switch Joystick Ports

TheCarousel 1.6.1 To switch the joystick in use, between joystick port 1 or port 2 when running a C64 program, press and hold THEC64 Joystick ☰(Menu) button and then press Joystick Ⓐ(A) Button for port 1 or Joystick Ⓑ(B) Button for port 2. This will override the J1 filename flag or CJM primary port setting, if either are supplied.

To perform a soft or hard reset, or cartridge freeze on THEC64 Mini/Maxi or THEVIC 20(C64 Mode only), (Mini1.3.2)you will need a compatible USB PC keyboard.

Soft Reset

TheCarousel 1.6.1 A soft reset may be performed by holding the Left SHIFT key and pressing F12 on the Mini or on the Maxi The Power Button when in classic mode. This will usually leave most of the C64 memory *intact

Hard Reset

TheCarousel 1.6.1 A hard reset is done by holding the Left SHIFT and pressing on THEC64 Mini the Windows key and F12 key on the USB Keyboard or on THEC64 Maxi – THEC64/VIC20 Key(Commodore Key) and the Power Button when in Classic Mode. This will reset the C64 memory and clearing it.

Cartridge Freeze

TheCarousel 1.6.1 A cartridge freeze is done by holding down the Right SHIFT key then press on THEC64 Mini – the F12 key on the USB keyboard or on THEC64 Maxi – pressing the Power Button when in classic mode. If you are running a suitable cartridge image, such as a Super Snapshot or Action Replay, it will instigate the inbuilt cartridge features whilst leaving the C64 memory *intact.

The PCUAE Option Menu

THEC64 Joystick works on the PCUAE Options Menu with THEC64 Mini so you can use it now to navigate the menu and press LFire as RETURN or RFire to switch between OK and Cancel buttons at the bottom of the PCUAE Option Menu. You can use the CRSR Keys and SHIFT too, to navigate or on a USB Keyboard use the Arrow keys and Enter and use Left and Right Arrow keys to switch between OK and Cancel buttons at the bottom of the PCUAE Option Menu.

If using Classic Mode C64/VIC20 BASIC Screen, use CTRL+F7 to load the PCUAE Option Menu, its so the save screen does not pop up as your loading the PCUAE Option Menu. There are more options in this menu for you to try out, more info about that in a other section of this wiki.

(THEA500 ONLY) Toggle Enable/Disable Amiberry Host-Run in V1.1.1, you can now enable it or disable it in this menu, it copies ab to the firmware and overmounts amiberry binary now only so does not delete it like before, alot safer and you can disable it easier, it overmounts it in the Autoboot Start-Up Script so you need to activate that first.

The Carousel Gamelist Changer(CGC)in PCUAE

Press and Hold CTRL(Menu) and then hold down F1(Left Fire) for 3 or 4 seconds to launch the Carousel Gamelist Changer screen. Select one of the gamelist on the screen to load in the Carousel. Make your own carousels on the PC with PCUAE Manager. Each carousel can hold up to 255 entries. Look below for more info on How to Load Gamelists in CGC.

You can load games that do not work on the carousel in Media Access.

How To Load Media Access in PCUAE From TheCarousel

If you click on the Gamelist Slot that on the carousel game covers, that tells you what gamelist your on(like for Favorites Gamelist: Games Favorites 1) that is highlighted when you load a Carousel Gamelist in the CGC, and then press fire, it will load Basic(Classic Mode) for you, then all you do is press Menu button on THEC64 Joystick and then select Media Access, then its File browser with pop up on the screen and you can see the files on the USB Drive. The File Loader dose not work it can not read the files from the USB Stick, I have tried to fix it but it just will not see the file on the USB, you can not load 2,3 and 4 disk games in it anyway, you can only do that in Media Access. You do not need 2 file browsers on THEC64 anyway so just ignore the old File Loader now.

3.PCUAE Restore Toolkit in PCUAE on THEC64

PCUAE Restore Toolkit in a Recovery tool, you can flash or backup the whole of the NAND on your machine. It can be run it in FEL Mode by having the PCUAE USB Drive in the machine when you run THEC64 Mini FEL Mode, it will automatically boot up on the screen when you run FEL Mode, It will only work on THEC64 Mini FEL Mode at the moment. Hopefully sometime in the future it will work on THEC64 Maxi FEL Mode too.

You can back up or flash the whole NAND(NANDA/NANDB) from THEC64 Mini/THEC64 Maxi and THEVIC20, this fixes problems with the NAND and if it has errors on the NAND and the machine will not boot up and it needs wiping and then rewrite and flashing the firmware back to the machines NAND. FEL Mode for THEC64 Mini and THEC64 Maxi/VIC20 is now included with PCUAE Restore Toolkit, you will need it if you need to fix your machine one day, well PCUAE is a All In One Modification.

You will need the NAND backups that are on here to flash your NAND with, the only NAND at the moment that is not available is THEVIC20 NAND Backup, thats will be added in the next update.

More info here on How to Start RT in FEL Mode and Flashing THEC64 Mini/Maxi… https://projectcarouselusb.online/how-to-start-rt-in-thec64-maxi-fel-mode

4.How to Load Gamelists in CGC(Carousel Gamelist Changer)in PCUAE on THEC64

Press and hold the CTRL key then the F1 key or Press the Menu button and left fire button(THEC64 Joystick) then the screen will come up use THEC64 Joystick to select a new gamelist in the Carousel Gamelist Changer Screen. Select a new gamelist and press RETURN or Fire and the Carousel will load with up with 254 game slots from that folder, 1 Game Slot of the Info Games Slots so you know what Gamelist your on when the carousel loads up. To make your own gamelists see PCU Manager WIKI. You can create a whole range of carousels to sort games, demos etc. How you want to e.g. alphabetically, by year, by game type etc. You can import from GameBase with PCUAE Manager – huge collection too. Once imported you can sort then export to carousels/folders You can use them in VICE Mode too and export them as cjm files to extragames folder too, you be able to load them in VICE Mode and in the File Loader in Carousel/Classic Modes too. Vice Mode can not load the games from the carousel cause they are compressed in gz files.

5.How to use the Firmware Carousel and update the Firmware in PCUAE

You can switch to the Firmware Carousel, it will disable PCUAE so you can safely upgrade firmware while using PCUAE USB stick, to start it use CTRL+F3 to bring up the Carousel Changer Menu and then select TheCarousel Firmware. Boot into the Firmware Carousel to upgrade the machine then once the firmware is upgraded (check settings menu) use CTRL+F3 to bring up Carousel Changer Menu again to select one of TheCarousel’s(1.0.5, 1.3.2, 1.5.2 or 1.6.1) to exit out of it.

WARNING If you try to upgrade the firmware using the PCUAE USB Drive without going into TheCarousel Firmware, it will overwrite PCUAE and corrupt it, In this case you will need to format the PCUAE USB Drive and reinstall PCUAE again so PLEASE BE CARFUL

Alternatively you can power down the machine, remove PCUAE USB Drive and update the firmware using a clean USB Stick or SD Card. Reinsert PCUAE USB Drive, restart the machine to Start PCUAE again or Start PCUAE by using the fake update in settings if it does not autoboot.

6.How to use Gadget Mode in PCUAE

Gadget Mode only works on THEC64 Maxi and THEVIC20 and not on THEC64 Mini. If you are fed up swapping USB from TheC64 to PC and back try this, you will need a USB A to USB A Cable.

You might have one of these cables in the cupboard if you had an external CDROM or Hard Drive some time ago. Some have 2 USB A plugs on one end and one USB A on the other end. If you haven’t got one they are available to but online quite easily.

USB A to USB A Cables on Amazon

More details about the different Gadget Mode capabilities on the next couple of pages. The USB stick will be mounted as a drive on the PC

USB Mode(USBOTG)

For this to work you will need a USB A to USB A Cable and connect one end to the USB Port on the back of the machine(THEC64 Maxi/THEVIC20 Only) and the other end plugged into a USB port of your PC running Windows 7/10 or Linux.

To Enable USB Mode… Load PCUAE Options Menu(PCUAE Mode Only) by using its shortcut on the keyboard or THEC64 Joystick shortcut, you can see more info on that in the Quick Start Guide at the top of this Wiki, once the menu is up then go to Option 4. Start Gadget Mode then press RETURN or LEFT FIRE button. Once your in there then press on Yes button with RETURN or LEFT FIRE button to continue. Now you have now 2 options USBM/NANDM(USBMode) or STARTUSBM(USBMode), USBM/NANDM run USB Mode now or STARTUSBM run it automatically in the background, more info below.

If you press the USBM/NANDM Button and then press USB Mode button, it will run USB Mode now and show itself on the screen until you eject the PCUAE USB stick and then it reboots the machine.

If you press the STARTUSBM Button for USB Mode that runs in the background, it will be enabled in the background and only will pop up on the PC desktop on a carousel thats works with THEC64 Maxi or THEVIC20, Amora or Ares Carousels, You will now need to go back to PCUAE Mode and it will pop when the carousel loads up.

Run PCUAE Manager then Export, the select To Carousel and then it will auto detected the PCUAE USB stick from the machine and then you can export the Games or Gamelists you want to the Games folder on the PCUAE USB stick.

The transfer rate is lower than a normal USB Rate, it about as fast as USB 1.1 so like between 355kb/s to 710kb/s but it is fast enough for transferring games to the USB stick using PCUAE Manager, This is equivalent to having the USB stick plugged in to your PC.

MAKE SURE THAT YOU EJECT THE USB STICK after you have finish transferring the games from PCUAE Manager, then PCUAE will reboot the machine cause the files on the PCUAE USB stick will need to be refreshed and then you will see the games you have added or changed, if you have done this correctly you should see them in TheCarousel when PCUAE Mode reloads.

You do not need to close PCUAE Manager, you might want to add more games after rebooting the machine and if USB Mode is running in the background you can transfer games over at anytime.

Gadget Mode doses not work with THEC64 Mini at the moment, USBOTG(USB On The Go) is not enabled in its kernel so it can be enabled in PCUAE but the USB stick will not pop up on the PC desktop.

NAND Mode

WARNING If Windows says THEY NEED FORMATTING. DO NOT FORMAT THEM. CLICK ON THE CANCEL BUTTON ONLY, IF YOU FORMAT THE NAND YOU WILL KILL YOUR MACHINE. DO NOT FORMAT YOUR NAND.

You can copy (make an image of) your nand by using Win32 Disk Imager application on Windows 7/10 or a disk imaging app on Linux and copy NandA and NandB.

Once you have created images, eject the Nanda and Nandb on the PC then PCUAE will reload TheCarousel. Gadget Serial Port Parmeters-: 115200,N,8,1, look in Device Manager on Windows 7/10 to see what port the Gadget Port is on to add it to putty or another terminal program.

You should see the NAND as two new disk drives with their own drive letters now. Windows 7/10 you will not be able to see what is in the drives. You can’t see inside NandA because it is an Android Kernel and not a file system. You can see inside NandB in Linux because it is an Linux ext4 file system. You can make an image of both NandA and NandB on Windows 7/10 using Win32 Disk Imager.

7.How to use Autoboot Mode

You now need to activate this to use PCUAE now. You can now activate Autoboot Mode by using the Autoboot Mode Screen that comes up automatically when you run the fake update/PCUAE Startup LHA for the first time so all you do is press the YES button on the screen to activate Autoboot and thats it.

You will want this if you want to start directly into Other Modes, they do not work without it. Let me put it simply, you want this and then forget about it 😉 N.B. Autoboot adds a small file to the firmware. It lies dormant if no USB with PCUAE on is inserted into a USB port and boots to stock firmware. You would not know that is was there.

Most PCUAE users will want to use Autoboot Mode. Alternatively boot to firmware and use the fake firmware option to launch PCUAE, it is slow and all Modes will not work and are deactivated.

You need to first Activate Autoboot by adding the Autoboot Start-Up Script, to the firmware, do this first before anything else, look at Add/Remove Autoboot Start-Up Script Button below if you have not activated Autoboot Mode yet.

If you want to Add/Remove Autoboot Start-Up Script to/from Firmware then just press Yes or No buttons. This needs copying to the firmware (only once) to enable Autoboot Mode. Modes will not work until you Add Autoboot Start-Up Script to the firmware. Only run this again to remove the script from firmware if needed. DO NOT disable or enable this over and over, cause you could mess-up your firmware, use the Autoboot Mode Button after you copied the Autoboot Start-Up Script to the firmware to disable/Enable it, if you need too.

8.How to use Jiffy DOS

Jiffy DOS is a C64 Kernel replacement that speeds up disk access. It loads a file up to 50% faster but while this mode is enabled you will not be able to load Tap Cassette files. If you do a lot of disk and file access this is for you.

Take a look at manuals here. http://www.jbrain.com/pub/cbm/manuals/JiffyDOS/

The command Keys F1, F3, F5, F7 contain shortcuts to Disk commands.

IMPORTANT You can not use Jiffy DOS without Accurate Disk flag (_AD) added to your disk image, it does not work without it so make sure its added to the disk name you want to load by putting ‘_AD’ in the disks name, Example: mygame_AD.d64 or add it to its cjm file.

About JiffyDos

JiffyDOS is an enhanced DOS for the C64, SX-64, and C128 computers. The software is programmed onto ROM chip that replace the Kernel ROM chip on the VIC-20 or C64 motherboard and the DOS ROM chip in the 1541 disk drive. JiffyDOS is intended to provide greater speed, commands and convenience than on stock systems.

Being ROM-based, JiffyDOS is able to provide performance without the compatibility problems of cartridges and other speed-enhancement systems.

It was created by Mark Fellows in 1985 and and its last version was 6.01 – 1989.

In 2012 Retro Innovations released JiffyDOS for the VIC 20.

Speed comparisons Table 1 illustrates the speed increases that can be obtained with JiffyDOS.

Note that the times shown are rounded off to the nearest second, and do not take into account the disk spin-up delay (approx. 1/2 second) or the time required for directory searching, which varies in relation to the size of the particular directory, which varies in relation to the size of the particular directory. Other factors may also inﬂuence results on individual systems.

Table 1:C-64, SX-64, C-128 in 64 Mode

St=Stock JD=JiffyDOS —————————————————————-1541———–1571————1581 ——Disk Operation————————————St——JD——St—–JD——St—–JD

Load 202-block program (PRG ﬁle)————-124 12 124 9 102 8

Save 100-block program (PRG ﬁle)————–75 24 75 20 40 15

Read 125-block SEQ or USR ﬁle—————–84 15 84 13 63 9

Write 100-block SEQ or USR ﬁle—————–81 27 81 24 44 17

Read 64 154-byte REL records——————40 14 40 14 37 10

Write one 154-byte REL records————-.350 .125 .350 .120 .325 .110

Read/Write 16K on command channel——-47 9 47 9 47 9

9.How to Change to PAL/NTSC & 50/60Hz – THEC64 Maxi/THEVIC20 only

This switch between 50Hz and 60hz and back, this option does the same thing the Video Output Screen does when you switch on THEC64 Maxi machine on for the first time and it allows you to pick what region your in, 50Hz Outside North America or 60Hz North America. I made this because there is no option in the settings to change it again, you can only use the Video Output Screen once.

This menu is useful if you want to experiment with PAL or NTSC speed on your monitor or have different games that work on PAL or NTSC only.

Now you can play any game on EU or USA machine without resetting the machine and the right speed. This saves you from losing all your saved game files which happens because you have to reset the machine first so this wipes the saves files, then pull the HDMI cable out and as it rebooting put it back in again and hope it brings up the Video Output screen(sometimes it dose not, its hit or miss), it does not always work and it can wear out your HDMI connector by pulling the cable in and out all the time, and you will start to have problems seeing the screen on the TV cause of a worn out HDMI Connector, this is the safest way to do it.

10.How to Hide Splash Screens

Select Toggle Hide Splash screens to enable or disable the display of RGL and PCUAE Logos and the start-up jingle at boot up.” It displays a black screen instead of Retro Games LTD & PCUAE logos It looks cool in VICE Mode, it starts up like the original machine… :-).

11.How to use LINUX Mode

WARNING You can corrupt the Nand firmware so take care in LINUX Mode ;-).

You can copy files to and from the firmware using the LXDE file browser, so be carful.

You can now Press CTRL+F5 in LINUX Mode to bring up the Mode Changer Menu to change to a different Mode now or you can exit Linux Mode with CTRL+F3 to return to PCUAE Mode quickly or use THE C64 Joystick now.

Please Note…. You may need a USB Hub with THEC64 Mini to connect a mouse and keyboard to use this. You will need to install the additional LINUX Mode pack and MAKE SURE Autoboot Mode is enabled fully NO Mode works without it, you need to activate it or enable it if you have disabled it.

When you launch this, a full X windows session will boot up, it uses the LXDE Desktop from the LXDE Project. If you are finish with using LINUX Mode then you can also exit by using the Logout button on the start bar in the LXDE Desktop with the mouse, this will exit LINUX Mode and boot the Mode Changer so you can change to a different Mode..

12.Get GUID from a Controller or Joystick and How to use SDL2 Gamepad Tool

How To Get GUID from a Controller or Joystick The SDL2 Game Tool is in ‘\Carousel_Games\Options\Controllers\’ if you need to install it on Linux, you can run its exe file from its folder on the USB Stick on Windows, no need to install it.

The GUID Discovery

When you select this option it will read the GUID String from the second controller or joystick that is plugged into the machine. The first joystick, your main joystick is needed to work with the option menu in PCUAE so do NOT unplug it. It will take the data from any USB device that was the last one discovered/plugged in, it doesn’t check whether it’s a joystick/gamepad or not so if you run The GUID Discovery and do not have a second joystick or game controller plugged in, it will read the USB Stick instead cause it was the last device thats plugged in that it’s reading, it see the main joystick as the first device. When you run The GUID Discovery it copies the GUID from the device to the ‘testjoys.txt’ file and show the GUID on the screen. Make sure you plug in the right one you want to read first before you select this option. Once it has completed, use Gadget Mode/Linux Mode or your PC to go to ‘USB:\Carousel_Games\Options\Controllers\‘ and look for the file ‘testjoys.txt’ that contains the GUID string and the joystick manufacturer/name string that will look like…” ‘03000000790000001c18000011010000,SPEEDLINK COMPETITION PRO Game Controller for Android’. Then use SDL2 GamePad Tool on your PC from:” ‘\Carousel_Games\Options\Controllers\SDL2_Gamepad-Tool\gamepad-tool.exe’

You can run the gamepad-tool.exe if you are using Gadget Mode on the machine by clicking on it with your mouse on Windows, it does not need installing for it to work, then you can make the full GUID string thats needed in gamecontrollerdb.txt file for the machine to reconise your controller or joystick.

How To Use the SDL2 Gamepad Tool on Windows to make the full GUID string

Connect the controller or Joystick to a computer(PC) using Windows 10
Launch the gamepad-tool.exe on Windows from ‘\Carousel_Games\Options\Controllers\SDL2_Gamepad-Toolgamepad-tool.exe’.

If you connected multiple gamepad select the one you used to get GUID on the machine make sure that one is plugged in to the PC. If it is still plugged in the machine, unplug it and plug it into the PC, then pick it from the drop down list in the SDL2 Gamepad Tool.

You might need to change the mapping because it will probably be wrong in the app, press ‘Make New Mapping’ and follow the instructions and look at the next page to see how the mapping on THEC64 Joystick is set and map yours to that so the buttons work.
Now do this, press ‘Copy Mapping String’ and find mappings database file in ‘\Carousel_Games\Options\controllers\’ folder.” Edit the file called gamecontrollerdb.txt with notepad++ and paste the GUID mapping string line at the end of the file. Now add the new GUID you got earlier from The GUID Discovery option 10 in PCUAE Option Menu and copy it from ‘testjoys.txt’ file and copy over the top of the GUID string and joystick manufacturer/name string you added with the SDL2 Game Tool.”
Add ‘platform:Linux,’ at the end of GUID mapping string line, look for ‘platform:Windows,’ in the line and delete it. Now you should have a fully working GUID string. Now save it and see if your controller or joystick works in the machine.”

Tip from jj0. The easiest way to map a new joystick is to use the SDL2 Gamepad Tool on a PC to map the joystick directions and buttons to your” preference.

Take the way the official THE64/VIC20 joysticks are mapped into account as a reference:

THE64 Joystick gamecontrollerdb.txt input name

Left Fire lefttrigger Right Fire righttrigger Left Triangle x Right Triangle y” Menu 1 a” Menu 2 b” Menu 3 back” Menu 4 start” Left/Right leftx” Up/Down lefty” ——————————————————————————————

Note that for Left/Right and Up/Down it uses the left analog stick mapping, but it also works fine using dpleft/dpright and dpup/dpdown instead. So if your controller only reports dp and not leftx/lefty then you can still use it.

Then take the entire mapping string that the SDL2 Gamepad Tool generates, change the GUID number (if different) to the one given by option 10, put the line in the gamecontrolerdb.txt echo ” and remove any other lines with the same GUID number.

13.How to use PCUAE Network Mode

This allows you to use the internet on your THEC64MINI, THEC64 Maxi and THEVIC20 by load up BBS Boards in VICE Mode and C64 Mode…. FINALLY… 🙂 You will need a compatible Ethernet Adapter for this to work, the .ko files that are loaded in to the kernal when it recognises a compatible adapter are in PCUAE USB:/Carousel_Games/Options/PCUAE_Network_Mode/Mini or Maxi/lib/modules/3.4.39 so you need to find a network Adapter that compatible with the ko files that are included with PCUAE Network Mode. You can use WIFI Adapters Dongles too, you will need to put your routers wireless network SSID and Password in PCUAE Options Menu and PCUAE Network Mode Settings, then it will connect and give you a IP Address. I have only tested it with 2 Adapters, this one… DM9601 USB2Ethernet Adapter and it works ok….. https://www.ebay.co.uk/sch/i.html?_from=R40&_trksid=p2047675.m570.l1313&_nkw=Ethernet+RJ45+Connector+To+USB+2.0+LAN+Network+Card&_sacat=0 Here is a PCUAENM USB Network Adapters compatibility List, you can add the USB Ethernet/WIFI Adapters/Dongles you have tested with PCUAE Network Mode, if they work or not work so we have a record of what ones are ok and which ones are not, please help filling it in… 🙂 just add a adapter the same way I have.

docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/19VruLK59SFVOeYtsTnog4mWo_EKTlwrTQm-_-o4u3Qk/edit?usp=sharing

Starting PCUAE Network Mode

You need to first plug in the Ethernet Adapter into one of the USB Ports on the Machine before starting PCUAE, in the right side on THEC64 Mini, you can use a 4 Port Hub with the DM9601 USB2Ethernet Adapter, I do and it works ok, and does not need power plugged into the USB Hub for it to work or plug it into the back USB Port on THEC64 Maxi/THEVIC20, unless your using that for Gadget Mode. PCUAE Network Mode is now enable automatically and runs in the background but do not do anything until you plug in a USB Ethernet Adapter/USB WIFI Dongle. PCUAE Network Mode Settings are in PCUAE Options Menu(CTRL+F7) Option 1 or in Mode Changer(CTRL+F5) Option 10, if you want to check if it has a IP Address the select Option 2 in its Settings menu, press RETURN to Scan for its IP Address, it does not have one go and check if its installed its drive ok, use Option 3, options 2 and 3 in the PCUAE Network Mode Settings it will tell you what to do in them, If your using a USB WIFI Dongle then you will need to go to Option 4 to put in your routers SSID and Password so it can connect to the WIFI Network, Once you have and saved it and the USB Ethernet Adapter/USB WIFI Dongle working then load up VICE Mode, Make sure you have install VICE Mode first. Once VICE Mode has loaded then press CTRL+0 to load into Strike Term 2014 Final, you should see it loading up now and are now in the program.

Troubleshooting

If your having problems not working with your USB Ethernet Adapter/USB Dongle. Step 1 Go to PCUAE Options Menu Options 1 PCUAE Network Mode Settings. Step 2 Pick Option 2 IP Scanner and scan to see if it has a IP Address, if it does then its installed it and its not connected ok. Step 3 If no IP Address the pick Options 3 Driver Scanner and see if it has installed the driver, if it has then it should work. Step 4 Make sure you have used Option 3 if your using a USB WIFI Dongle cause it need the SSID and Password from your Router to connect to the WIFI network.

If none worked then A: it could be the adapter might not work with the machine, not everyone will its trial and error, or B: it could be it need a driver for your device and it not in there, post about it on the PCUAE Network Mode thread on the forum and your PID and VID of the device and we see what we can do.

Strike Term 2014 Final Help

Dialling a BBS from the Phonebook

Now Press F5 for the Dialler and Phonebook Page then pick a BBS board from the Phonebook by pressing its letter(a, b, c, d and so on, on the keyboard), you will see it name in the box below and then press Return key to load the BBS Board, if you press B key and RETURN then you should see it say… EX: Dialling: borderlinebbs.dyndns.org:6400 Status: Waiting for Carrier it will then connect to the BBS and the screen will change and start to load the BBS Board and show it on the C64 screen. You are now connected to the BBS board.

Add a BBS to the Phonebook

You can if you want add your own BBS Boards into ST2014, pick a letter that is not used, like S, now press the S key, now to edit the S cell just press 3 key on the keyboard for Edit Current Cell and then put in the name of the BBS board then its IP address then its port number, its like 6400, it will now ask for the screen thats used, pick Commodore(if that do not look right when you connect to it then try another screen by editing it after you have added the BBS), then it will ask for the users ID name and password, you can just press RETURN to leave them blank, if you do not have that at the moment, it can be edited later the same way, finished. You have added a BBS Board now to the S Cell in the Phonebook… :), just remember to save the list after you added a BBS, otherwise you have to put it in again when you close ST2014, to save the Phonebook press 4 Key on the keyboard to save it, it will say Are you sure Y/N –> now press Y key to save the Phonebook to ST2014 disk.

If the connection drops or you get no carrier in ST2014 then press CTRL+RESTORE to reset the connection and it will reload ST2014.

Link about ST2014 below, it’s made by Alwyz, there is no manual for it, you just have to play around with it and teach yourself how to use it, I had too… 🙂 alot of options in ST2014 are self explanatory, if you have done BBsing before then you know how to use it, most Telnet Terminal programs are the same on the C64. More tips soon. https://1200baud.wordpress.com/2014/05/17/striketerm-2014-final/

14.How to use the Modes

AMIGA Mode

Make sure Autoboot is activated or this mode will not load. These keys work on AMIGA Mode.

CTRL-F1 – Amiga Frame Rate Menu – Change the speed of the emulator, its on Frame Rate 3 by default, you can pick between 1 and 5.

CTRL+F3 – Quick Switch – To Go Back to PCUAE Mode.

CTRL+F5 – Mode Changer – To change to a different Mode.

CTRL+1 – SDL/GL Display Menu Mode – Virtual or USB Keyboard and Mouse Mode, you can use the RA Menu to load games.

CTRL+2 – Load Simon CD32 Game.

CTRL+F7 – Reset Amiga – SDL Display might takes 10 to 30 seconds to reset.

You can now use Classic Workbench GAAE 1.3, Classic Workbench Advanced(THEC64) SP(THEA500 Mini), AMiNImiga, Tiny Launcher, AGS2 Menu(THEA500 Menu), Tiny Launcher, you can load than in the Mode Changer under AMIGA Mode.

If you get a Volume Workbench1.3 is not validated then all you do is look to see if you can see if the USB Sticks light is flashing, if it is then wait for it to stop and then press the retry button and it should then load, if it still doing it after you try that then turn off the machine for 1 minute and turn back on and press the retry button again and it should load then fine.

How To Add Your Own Controller/Joystick to AIMGA Mode

This is the same as RA Mode, Amiga Mode uses Retroarch. The controller/joystick .cfg files need to be put into the autoconfig folder in Amiga Mode emulator\retroarch folder under the autoconfig\sdl folder. USB:\Carousel_Games\Options\AMIGA_Mode\amiga\emulator\retroarch\autoconfig\sdl

You can do this by looking in the autoconfig folder and look in the folders sdl2, udev and then editing the cfg files in there for your joystick/controller, you need to look at the first line in the .cfg file that says input_driver = “sdl2”, input_driver = “udev” and change it to input_driver = “sdl” and then save the file and puting it into the sdl folder in the autoconfig folder, this is how Retroarch reads its controllers/joysticks then Amiga Mode should see your joystick/controller.

RA Mode uses sdl and Retroarch uses sdl2 so there are no contorllers/joysticks.cfgs files for sdl so you have to make them using the sdl2 or udev folders in autoconfig folder, RA Mode does not support sdl2 or udev, only sdl thats because thats what the carousel/firmware uses.

ATARI Mode

Workbench 1.3 not validated

If you get on the screen Workbench 1.3 not validated and Classic Workbench 1.3 will not load if you press Retry button and is stuck on its gray Amiga screen then boot the Boot-cwb1.3.hdf image file in WinUAE and you will see the HD on the bottom bar in BOLD meaning its loading from the HDF image, Wait for it to change from BOLD to normal HD, once it has then click on Retry button and then it should load Classic Workbench 1.3, now close WinUAE and then put the USB Drive back into the machine and it should load it ok now.

Make sure Autoboot is activated or this mode will not load.

From PCUAE Mode – To activate Atari Mode use the Mode Changer Menu (CTRL-F5) Once Donkey Kong (Atari800 emulator) is loaded, you can switch emulators by pressing CTRL+1 for Atari800 emulator, CTRL +2 for Atari ++ Emulator and CTRL +3 for Atari 5200 Emulator, it will load that Emulator. Atari800 Emulator to start automatically from PCUAE mode first and run the 1981 Donkey Kong game from the cartridge. When switching emulator it doesn’t turn off like Vice Mode it does because for some reason I haven’t yet figured out why, it would give a black screen and no emulator so to get around the problem i have to let the machine do it reboot and then the emulator circuit works fine and shows the emulator on screen, so that’s why it may seem longer take to switch emulator, it would not be more than 30 should take seconds to switch emulators from Atari800 Emulator to Atari++ Emulator.

Load a game into Atari800 Emulator

Open Menu – using F1 key then select Run Atari Program and press RETURN to load a game from extragames / Atari_Games folder on the USB stick open, go to one of the folders you want to load from (folders Cartridges, Disks or Tapes) to get out of a menu item press TAB or Restore key, after doing that you need to go to (use the CRSR Up and Down key) down currently only works becauseTHEC64 has only two cursor keys, Down and Right cursor keys on the CRSR keys but you can also use a USB keyboard) Cartridge Manager (to navigate to an item in the menu, you can press the first letter on the keyboard which it starts with, so if you press C on the keyboard, Cartridge Manager highlighted and just hit return to open that item) and remove the Donkey Kong cartridge by tapping highlight it and press the INST DEL key to delete it, use the Tab or Restore key to get out and open the menu close and now the game you selected will run. I managed to update the mapping on the F keys so that they are now… F1 = Menu key, F3 = Option key, F5 Selection key, F7 = Start button

Loading a game in Atari++ Emulator

You can use the THEC64 joystick to scroll through the Atari ++ menu move, to make it work, press fire once and move then right and then left with the joystick and you should see the small mouse arrow should go to the next item in the menu, you can also plug in a USB mouse and use that instead use, that also works.

For ROMS (Cartridges) – Select Cartridge, open your rom / bin- image from Extragames / Atari_Games / Cartridges folder, Select Cart type (check a box, e.g. 16k), then click on Preferences – Exit menu and continue.

For disk image – Select disk drive and make sure it is enabled by pressing Enable.1 then open your atr image from the extragames / folder Atari_Games / Disk, then click on Preferences – Cold Start, Exit menu and continue

Loading Atari 5200 Emulator

Its basically the same as the Atari800 Emulator, Open Menu – using F1 key then select Run Atari Program and press RETURN to load a game from extragames / Atari_Games folder on the USB stick open, go to one of the folders you want to load from Cartridge, if you just load the Bios screen it will crash, but you can still load a game and then reset it.

RA Mode

Make sure Autoboot is activated or this mode will not load.

These keys work on RA Mode.

None – CTRL+F1 To Go Back to PCUAE Mode – CTRL+F3 Mode Changer – CTRL+F5

Keys that can be used while you’re in RA Mode.

RA 1.7.0 – CTRL+1 RA 1.9.6 – CTRL+2

What emulators work will depend on how much ram it uses and if Retroarch can load the core.

To load a emulator select Load Core and then Load Content to load a game you want to run in the emulator. RA 1.7.0 runs better then RA 1.9.6 cause it uses less ram then RA 1.9.6 does but does depend on how big the core is too. You can at the moment only use the virtual keyboard and mouse, I hope to fix it sometime now I have got them working in Amiga Mode.

How To Add Your Own Controller/Joystick to RA Mode

The controller/joystick .cfg files need to be put into the autoconfig folder in RA Mode’s two Retroarch folders under the autoconfig\sdl folder. USB:\Carousel_Games\Options\RA_Mode\retroarch1.7.0\retroarch\autoconfig\sdl USB:\Carousel_Games\Options\RA_Mode\retroarch1.9.6\retroarch\autoconfig\sdl

You can do this by looking in the autoconfig folder and look in the folders sdl2, udev and then editing the cfg files in there for your joystick/controller, you need to look at the first line in the .cfg file that says input_driver = “sdl2”, input_driver = “udev” changing it to input_driver = “sdl” and then puting it into the sdl folder in the autoconfig folder, this is how Retroarch reads its controllers/joysticks then RA Mode should see your joystick/controller.

VICE Mode

Make sure Autoboot is activated or this mode will not load.

CTRL+F1 – None at the moment.

CTRL+F5 – Mode Changer Menu

CTRL+F7 – VICE CONFIG Menu(in Yaft)

CTRL+1 to 7 – select a VICE machine to run

Hold down both keys together for about 2 to 3 seconds or until you see the screen change and go black.

The Commodore PET – Vintage 1977 green screen beauty. Commodore Vic20 – 1982 The Friendly Computer. Commodore 64 – 1983 The best seller. Commodore Plus/4 – Less popular but an interesting machine. Commodore 128 – 128K, CP/M and C64 Mode on GO64. Super CPU C64 – This one only runs about half speed Commodore 64 DTV – A C64 with games built into a joystick. CTRL+/ (forward slash) – Turn off CTRL 1 to 7 in VICE Mode only(this will disable the CTRL+F keys too). You need this if you are in a VICE machine to do some programming, if you need to change the colour of the cursor by using CTRL and one of the number keys.

Information on Changing CBM Machines

You can change machines in VICE Mode by using CTRL+1 to 7

7 Computer Modes available.

PET (CTRL+1) VIC-20 (CTRL+2) C64 (CTRL+3) Plus/4 (CTRL+4) C128 (CTRL+5) SuperCPU64 (CTRL+6) it does work but only at low frame rate C64 DTV (CTRL+7)

Menu button on thec64 Joystick will bring up VICE Emulator settings.

CTRL+F7 or Menu and RIGHT Fire on THEC64 joystick to load the PCUAE VICE Mode Configuration Menu.

CTRL+RESTORE(CTRL+Tab on a USB PC Keyboard) – This makes the machine reboot, not the emulator, Just reboots, nothing special, you never know when you need a reset button.

CTRL+F5 to exit VICE Mode and select a different Mode.

If you leave VICE Mode it does remember what machine you used last, next time you boot up to the carousel and switch to VICE Mode it will be on the last machine you used.

VICE Settings Menu

Press the joystick Menu button and you will see the VICE Settings menu. Use this menu to explore the full power of the emulated machine. e.g. configure keys or joystick settings. If you have set Full Height mode in VICE Configuration Menu then be sure to set Full Borders in VICE Settings display menu and then save your configuration for next time. When VICE Mode loads up, the first machine it loads into is the C64 by default. There is an option in VICE Configuration Menu that enables Full Height Display, it allows you to see more of the border. On THEC64 Mini it will be a 4:3 display instead of stretched across the screen. The screen is a bit smaller but better than when stretched and not the right aspect ratio. It is hard to get a proper size screen on THEC64 Mini because of resolution limitations. You can disable the CTRL key shortcuts in VICE Mode if you want to use the keyboard in Basic. This is useful in Vice Mode to avoid launching a different Vice machine while typing a program. Press CTRL key and Forward Slash (CTRL+/) Keys on THEC64 Maxi/VIC20 or on a USB PC keyboard on THEC64 Mini to disable or enable the CTRL key combination.

16.PCUAE Info

Pandory Mode added to The Mode Changer and with New Background Music and 50/60hz switch under Bash Playlist, this only works in PCUAAE if you run Pandory from USB Menu then it will load Pandory normally.

Pandory and PCUAAE in Action… https://youtu.be/lteh5z8EYc8

Pandory is now called RA Mode so its inline with PCUAE and Workbench Mode is now AMIGA Mode.

You will need to download AMiNIMiga from its website to use it in AMIGA Mode… https://www.aminimiga.com Pandory Download link … https://github.com/emuchicken/pandory-a500/?fbclid=IwAR1pvE_1kYJXwSttG64coDvgdeyOiIUmXojErOfDvR6ij9soWvNO4oTnvM4

IMPORTANT

INSTALL PCUAE AND ACTIVATE AUTOBOOT MODE BEFORE installing The NEW UPDATE FROM RGL v1.1.0 or 1.1.1, HOST RUN had been REMOVED from Amiberry now, HOST RUN Works IN PCUAAE only. You WILL NOT be able to run PCUAE if you have updated before installing PCUAE Autoboot Mode. You will now have to wait for another hack to come out that will allow you to run Linux code from within the carousel, like the Fake Update on PCUAE and THEC64.

About the other Modes

It has 5 modes that you can add by installing them, PCUAAE Mode comes with the Main PCUAE Setup install so thats why there are 6 Modes.

I call them Modes cause RGL added to THEC64 – Carousel Mode, Classic Mode and Boot Mode so that gave me the idea and they are like modules, part of a module program that has other modules added to it, to give it more functionality.

Run the Mode Setup.exe by double clicking on its setup file and then click on browse to find the PCUAE USB Stick you want to use the Mode on, and then click on Extract button to start the install and wait for it to finish, once finished it will disappear.

Look for the Mode Packs in PCUAAE v2.0.0 release.

PCUAAE Mode – Load TheCarousel Manhattan v1.0.0 or 1.1.1.
AMIGA Mode – Run AMiNIMiga, Your own Workbench or Built-in Workbench.
ATARI Mode – You can run ATARI 800, 800XL/XE and 5200 Emulators, like on PCUAE.
LINUX Mode – Based on LXDE, made by jj0 post here https://thec64community.online/thread/487/thec64-windows-mod.
VICE Mode – Run 7 CBM Machines from the VICE Emulator with VICE Mode Config Menu.
RA Mode – Pandory With New Background Music and 50/60hz switch under Bash Playlist.