Commodore 64C User manual

COMMODORE
PERSONAL COMPUTER
introductory guide
m
A quick-start guide to loading and running software
on the world's best selling personal computer

commodore 64C ™
introductory guide
A quick'Start guide to loading and running software on the
worlds best selling personal computer
• getting started 3
• the 64C keyboard 15
• using software 23
• user's manual statement 33

getting started
getting started
• yes you can—with the
Commodore 64C 2
• what you need to get started 4
• turning on the computer for
the first time 5
• the commodore 64C ports 6
• initial screen display 8
• screen messages 9
• moving around the screen 10
• trying out your new
commodore 64C 11
• about ram and rom 12
• troubleshooting chart 13

yes you can—with the commodore 64C
The Commodore 64C personal computer is a powerful, sophisticated and easy to use informa
tion processing system. With the 64C, you can process almost any kind of information-
business, personal, educational, recreational, scientific, financial, and more. And with the 64C
you can present this information in almost any form—words, numbers, pictures and sound.
With the wide-ranging capabilities of the 64C at your disposal, you can do all this:
word processing
• Type a draft
• Make changes or correct mistakes
electronically
• Print out a perfect final copy
• Create form letters and mailing lists
• Save all your material in electronic files
• Recall information with a few keystrokes
business
• Set up and maintain spreadsheets
• Set up and maintain budgets and payrolls
• Create "what if scenarios
• Perform complex statistical analysis
• Electronically calculate personal and
business tax data
• Automatically print out complete tax
forms
• Control your investment portfolio
• Create and maintain general ledgers,
accounts receivable and accounts payable
• Generate full-color graphs and charts
based on your numerical data
data base and file management
• Create your own electronic files and data
bases
• Store and control letters and documents,
and numerical, statistical and financial
data
• Create and maintain inventories
• Keep track of valuable collections (wines,
stamps, coins, records, hooks, etc.)
• Create and update status reports
• File recipes—even create your own
cookbook!
telecommunications
• Check financial market activities
• Consult airline schedules
• Do your banking
• Shop for and order merchandise
• Consult information services—like
Quantum Link™ The Source™ Delphi™
CompuServe™ Dow Jones™ The New York
Times'"—for detailed information on
almost any topic

• Electronically "mail" almost any kind o(
information, almost anywhere
• Consult encyclopedias like the World
Book and the Academic American
Encyclopedia electronically
• Send and receive personal messages and
other information through thousands of
computer bulletin hoards
• Receive newspapers on your TV or
monitor
education
• Earn college credits or just take courses for
fun with The Electronic University
• Study math, science, English, music, lan
guages and other subjects, at both elemen
tary and advanced levels
• Use light pens, drawing tablets and speech
synthesizers
• Visit the stars through your own
planetarium
• Learn how to program in languages
such as BASIC, C, COBOL, COMAL,
FORTH, FORTRAN, LOGO, PASCAL,
PILOT—and even assembly and machine
language
• Control the pace of learning—go as fast or
as slow as you like
entertainment
• Play hundreds of action games and mind
games
• Create and print out designs and pictures
in 16 vibrant colors
• Create and play music with the 64C's
versatile 3-voice, 6-octave sound
synthesizer
• Do all this in the comfort of your home—
you never have to wait in line or pay to
park the car
interfacing with other equipment
• Connect your 64C to printers, disk drives,
tape recorders, communications modems,
video monitors, television sets, stereo
equipment, video recorders, joysticks,
paddle controllers, telephones, light pens,
drawing tablets, numeric keypads, music
synthesizers, scientific equipment. . .
• Control your household appliances
• Even control your own robot servant!
IN DOING ALL THESE THINGS,
YOU CAN USE THE 64C IN TWO
WAYS:
• You can select from many prepackaged
programs (software) available on cartridge,
disk or tape.
• Or you can create and run your own
programs.
Whatever your level of expertise, you will find
that with the information in this booklet you
can begin using your 64C quickly and easily.

what you need to get started
Here's what you need to start computing
with your Commodore 64C:
• The computer keyboard, which
lets you type information and send it
to the computer
• A television set or a video
monitor, which lets you see what the
computer is doing
You can connect accessory equipment
(sometimes called peripheral equipment
or simply peripherals) to your 64C. For
example, with a disk drive or cassette
recorder, you can save your work. With a
printer, you can make a copy of your
work.
If you haven't already con
nected your equipment,
follow the directions given
in the QUICK-CONNECT
GUIDE, which is packed in
the computer box.

turning on the computer for the first time
—if you are using a television set
1. MAKE SURE THAT YOU
HAVE CONNECTED THE COM
PUTER PROPERLY TO THE
TELEVISION SET.
Follow the instructions in the QUICK-
CONNECT GUIDE.
2. SET THE CHANNEL SELEC
TOR SWITCH ON THE BACK OF
THE COMPUTER.
Set the switch (marked L-H ) to either
channel 3 or channel 4—whichever is not
used in your area.
3. TURN ON THE TV SET.
4. TURN ON THE COMPUTER
The red POWER light on the top left side
of the computer then comes on and the
initial screen display appears.
—if you are using a monitor:
1. MAKE SURE THAT YOU
HAVE CONNECTED THE COM
PUTER PROPERLY TO THE
MONITOR.
Follow the instructions in the QUICK
CONNECT GUIDE.
2. TURN ON THE MONITOR.
3. TURN ON THE COMPUTER.
The small red POWER light on the top
left side of the computer then comes on
and the initial screen display appears.

the commodore 64C ports
CONTROL
PORTS
For joysticks, mouse, eic.
POWER
PORT
EXPANSION
PORT
L/H
TV Channel Selector
(3 or 4)

f 1 f I ?
VIDEO
PORT
41 A.
I I
SERIAL
PORT
CASSETTE
PORT
USER
PORT

initial screen display
Shortly after you turn on your computer, you should see a display like the one
shown below on your television set or monitor:
—the cursor
Notice the small flashing rectangle at the upper left part of the screen, just below
the word READY. This rectangle is called the cursor. The cursor marks your posi
tion on the screen. When you type in something or when the computer responds to
something you have typed in, the cursor moves accordingly.
the cursor
—adjusting the screen display
If the screen display is not clear, adjust
the controls on your television set or
monitor. If you don't get a picture at
all, use the troubleshooting chart in the
QUICK-CONNECT GUIDE to check
your connections.

screen messages
If you press the RETURN without having entered something that the computer can
understand, you may see a message on the screen from the computer (e.g., SYN
TAX ERROR). These messages arc the computer's way of telling you that it can't
act on the information you have entered. In some cases the messages arc self-
explanatory, but in some cases you may need an explanation of the message.
Appendix A of the Commodore 64C System Guide lists and explains the error
messages for the 64C.

moving around the screen
You can move around the screen by moving the cursor. To do this, you use the two
keys marked with arrows, located at the right end of the bottom row of the main
keyboard.
You don't have to keep tapping a
CRSR key to get it to move more than
one space. Just hold the key down and
the cursor will continue to move until it
reaches the position you want it to be
in. Remember that you also must hold
down the SHIFT key at the same time
if you are moving up or to the left.
-SHIR" Cr'sR m
IW SHIFT CfiSR m m
*~ the cut
. CRSR in muvc tlw
Cunof nelii
■ CRSR "'
Here's how the cursor keys work:
Press CRSR to move the
cursor down
Press SHIFT CRSR to move
the cursor up
SI HIT
Press CRSR to move the
cursor right
Press SHIFT CRSR to move
the cursor left
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trying out your new commodore 64C
Here's a simple program to show you that you can get your 64C to do things with
out
knowing all about programming or BASIC or machine language.
First, hold down the SHIFT key and press the CLR HOME key. This "clears" (that
is, erases) the screen. Then type the following lines exactly as they appear. Press the
RETURN key after each line.
The numbers at the beginning of each line tell the computer that you are entering a
program. Pressing the RETURN key after you type each line tells the computer to
"save" that line (that is, to keep the line in the computer's memory).
After you have finished typing line 30 and have pressed RETURN for that line, use
the
SHIFT and CLR HOME keys to clear the screen again. Then type RUN and
press RETURN, and follow the computer's instructions. If you get any kind of error
message on the screen, you have probably made a typing mistake. Just clear the
screen (use SHIFT/CLR HOME) and start again.
There are many prepackaged software programs that you can use with not much
more experience than it takes to use this little sample program. Once you "load"
such a program ("loading" means putting the program in the computer's memory),
the program instructs or 'prompts" you about what to do. The section in this
booklet called using software tells you how to "load" and "run" prepackaged
software programs.
If you are interested in learning how to create and run your own programs using
the 64C and the BASIC programming language, see the COMMODORE 64C SYS
TEM GUIDE—Learning to Program in Basic 2.0—the other book that comes packed
with the 64C computer.
11

about ram and rom
You have probably read or heard the terms RAM (Random Access Memory) and
ROM (Read Only Memory) used in connection with computers. These terms refer
to the two types of memory used by a computer in processing information.
RAM is memory that you can use AND change. For example, you can use RAM
to enter a program, and you can change that program while it is in RAM. The
64C can hold about 64,000 characters (bytes) of information in its RAM. This
memory can be directly used by you, and it can be changed by you.
ROM is memory that can only be used by the computer itself to perform and con
trol its internal activities. ROM cannot be changed by you, although there are
methods that you an use to see what values are in ROM. Your 64C also has 20K of
standard ROM (Read Only Memory).
The computer keeps track of how much RAM you have used and how much you
have left. The computer also keeps track of the contents and status of ROM. So,
unless you are interested in creating your own programs, you generally need not be
concerned about RAM and ROM.

troubleshooting chart
Symptom
Cause Remedy
Indicator light not 'ON"
No picture (Monitor)
No picture (TV)
Randc
Pictun
Sound
■■:
■.■■.;
pattern on screen wit]
ith po. ,r or no color
th excess background
i cartridge in
noise
pi net1
Picture OK, but no sound
Sound OK, but no picture
Computer "locked" (cursor not flashing)
Computer not turned ON
Power supply not plugged into computer
Power supply not plugged into external power
Bad fuse
Monitor not connected and/or not turned on
Im orreci hookup
TV not connected and/or turned on
Cable toTV not plugged in
Computer and/or TV set for wrong channel
Cartridge not properly inserted
Poorly tuned color controls
Volume too high
Volume too low
Audio input ol monitor audio/video cable not
i nnne< ted
[f using external amplifier, connections or settings
not correct
See "No picture" listings above
C Computer inadvertently received instructions to
disable keyboard; or the printer, cassette or disk drive
is in listening mode
Computer displays garbled symbols on the screen Overheating
Make sure power switt h is in ON' position
I lux k power socket for loose or disconnected power
cable
Check connection with wall outlet
Replace fuse
Check monitor conne< t ions and/or
ON/PIT switch
Check computer hookup to VHFantenna terminal;
Check TV power connection and ON/OFF switch
Check output cable connection to TV
Set computer to same channel :>s TV 0 ur 4)
Turn power OFF and reinsert cartridge
Adjust color controls on TV nr monitor
Adjust volume
Adjust volume
( Connect audio cable io monitor audio input
Connect sound jack to AUX input on amplifier and
selet i AUX input
Sec "No picture" listings above
While depressing ilu-RlN ^TOPkcy
press RESTORE key twice; or reset the peripherals by
turning off and on; or turn the computer off and on
Pull plug on power supply and allow to cool down
(make sure ;iir flow around power supply is not
restricted)
NOTE: Stati< electrii ity generated by walking on rugs or carpeting can damage computer equipment. If such
conditions exist, he sure tndist harge the static electricity by touching ;i metal objci t before touching! he computer or
other equipment.
Also, power surges can damage computer equipment or cause data to he lost or garbled. You can avoid this by
installing an inexpensive surge protection device, available at your local electronics or hardware store.
13

the 64C keyboard
the 64C keyboard
• what the keyboard is
used for
• keyboard modes
• the commodore 64C
keyboard layout
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what the keyboard is used for
The 64C keyboard is basically a standard typewriter keyboard with some extra keys.
You use the keyboard to tell the computer what you want it to do. You also use the keys
to reply to any messages or questions the computer displays on the screen. (These mes
sages and questions are sometimes called "screen prompts" or simply "prompts".)
Most of the letter, number and symbol keys on the Commodore 64C's keyboard look
and work like the corresponding key on a standard typewriter. In addition, many or
these keys can produce special graphic symbols, which arc indicated on the front of the
keys. There are also a number of special keys that let the Commodore 64C computer do
much more than a typewriter can do. The keyboard illustration shown locates these
special keys and tells how you use them.
For a detailed description of key functions see the COMMODORE 64C SYSTEM
GUIDE.
Feel free to experiment at the keyboard. There is little chance that anything you do
at the keyboard can cause harm, and you will benefit from the "hands on"
experience.
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