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6 Settings and resources

In the VICE emulators, all the settings are stored in entities known as called resources. Each resource has a name and a value which may be either an integer or a string. Integer values are often used as boolean values with the usual convention of using zero for "false" and any other value for "true".

Resource values can be changed via the right-button menu (the settings menu), via command-line options or via the resource file.

The resource file is a human-readable file containing resource values: it is called `vicerc' and is stored in the directory `.vice/' in the user's home directory. It is possible to dump the current values of the resources into that file or load the values stored into that file as the current values, at any time. This is achieved with the "Save settings" and "Load settings" right menu items. A third menu item, "Restore Default Settings", can be used to reset all the values to the factory defaults.

A special resource, SaveResourcesOnExit, if set to a non zero value, causes the emulator to ask you if you want to save the current (changed) settings before exiting, and can be toggled with the "Save settings on exit" command from the right-button menu.

Notice that not all the resources can be changed from the menus; some of them can only be changed by manually modifying the resource file or by using command-line options.

6.1 Format of resource files

A resource file is made up of several sections; sections have the purpose of separating the resources of a certain emulator from the ones of the other emulators. A section starts with the name of an emulator in brackets (e.g., `[C64]') and ends when another section starts or when the file ends.

Every line in a section has the following format:

RESOURCE=VALUE

where RESOURCE is the name of a resource and VALUE is its assigned value. Resource names are case-sensitive and resource values are either strings or integers. Strings must start and end with a double quote character ("), while integers must be given in decimal notation.

Here is an example of a stripped-down `.vice/vicerc' file:

[VIC20]
HTMLBrowserCommand="netscape %s"
SaveResourcesOnExit=0
FileSystemDevice8=1
FSDevice8ConvertP00=1
FSDevice8Dir="/home/ettore/cbm/stuff/vic20p00"
FSDevice8SaveP00=1
FSDevice8HideCBMFiles=1
[C64]
HTMLBrowserCommand="netscape %s"
SaveResourcesOnExit=1
FileSystemDevice8=1
FSDevice8ConvertP00=1
FSDevice8Dir="/home/ettore/cbm/stuff/c64p00"
FSDevice8SaveP00=1
FSDevice8HideCBMFiles=1

Notice that, when resource values are saved with "Save settings", the emulator only modifies its own section, leaving the others unchanged.

6.2 Using command-line options to change resources

Resources can also be changed via command-line options.

Command-line options always override the defaults from .vice/vicerc, and their assignments last for the whole session. So, if you specify a certain command-line option that changes a certain resource from its default value and then use "Save Settings", the value specified with the command-line option will be saved back to the resource file.

Command-line options can begin with with a minus sign (`-') or with a plus sign (`+'). Options beginning with a minus sign may require an additional parameter, while the ones beginning with the plus sign never require one.

Moreover, options beginning with a plus sign always have a counterpart with the same name, but with a minus sign; in that case, the option beginning with a minus sign is used to enable a certain feature, while the one beginning with a plus sign is used to disable the same feature (this is an X11 convention). For example, -mitshm enables support of MITSHM, while +mitshm disables it.

6.3 Autostart settings

6.3.1 Autostart resources

AutostartPrgDiskImage
String specifying the filename of the disk image used when autostarting a prg file and "copy to D64" is enabled.
AutostartBasicLoad
Boolean, if true load to basic start using ,8 when autostarting.
AutostartRunWithColon
Boolean, if true put a colon after the load command when autostarting.
AutostartHandleTrueDriveEmulation
Boolean, if true handle (enable/disable) True Drive Emulation on autostart.
AutostartWarp
Boolean, if true temporarily enable warp mode when autostarting
AutostartPrgMode
Integer specifying the autostart mode for prg files. (0: virtual filesystem, 1: inject to RAM, 2: copy to D64)
AutostartDelayRandom
Boolean, enables a short random delay on autostart.
AutostartDelay
Integer specifying the maximum delay in frames.

6.4 Performance settings

It is possible to control the emulation speed by using the "Maximum speed" menu item in the right-button menu. The default setting is 100, which causes the emulation to never run faster than the real machine. A higher value allows the emulator to run faster, a lower one may force it to run slower. The setting "No limit" means to run as fast as possible, without limiting speed.

It is also possible to control the emulator's rate of frame update using the "Refresh rate" setting; the value ranges from "1/1" (update 1/1 of the frames of the real machine, that is 50 frames per second) to "1/10" (update 1 every 10 frames) and can be changed via the "Refresh Rate" submenu. The "Auto" setting means to dynamically adapt the refresh rate to the current speed of the host machine, making sure the maximum speed specified by the via "Maxium speed" is always reached if possible. In any case, the refresh rate will never be worse than 1/10 if this option is specified.

Note that you cannot simultaneously specify "Auto" as the refresh rate and "No limit" as the maximum speed..

Moreover, a special warp speed mode is provided and can be toggled with the "Enable Warp Mode" menu item. If this mode is enabled, it will cause the emulator to disable any speed limit, turn sound emulation off and use a 1/10 refresh rate, so that it will run at the maximum possible speed.

6.4.1 Performance resources

Speed
Integer specifying the maximum relative speed, as a percentage. 0 stands for "no limit".
RefreshRate
Integer specifying the refresh rate; a value of n specifies a refresh rate of 1/n. A value of 0 enables automatic frame skipping.
WarpMode
Booolean specifying whether "warp mode" is turned on or not.

6.4.2 Performance command-line options

-speed VALUE
Specifies the maximum speed as a percentage. 0 stands for "no limit". (Same as setting the Speed resource.)
-refresh VALUE
Specifies refresh rate; a value of n specifies a refresh rate of 1/n. A value of 0 enables automatic frame skipping. (Same as setting the RefreshRate resource.)
-warp
+warp
Enables/disables warp mode (WarpMode=1, WarpMode=0).

6.5 Video settings

The following right-button menu items control the video output. On emulators that include two video chips (like x128) all options but XSync exist twice, once for each chip. XSync is shared between the video chips.

6.5.1 using openGL Rastersynchronization under X11

Warning: To get full retro experience with synchronization to the vertrical raster retrace messing with X11 modelines (resolution and refresh frequencies) is necessary. This description is a suggestion - Follow this instructions at your own risk!

The following was tested under Ubuntu Linux (8.04) featuring Xorg Xserver 1:7.3+10ubuntu and mesa openGL including HW support (NVIDIA driver) supporting glx version 1.4 supplying GLX_SGI_video_sync.

It is assumed that this works also on other systems supporting the required extensions.

Preconditions:

If your systems lacks 50 or 60Hz modes you might try using `gtf' (typcally shipped with Xorg, xserver) - see related man page.

You might need to add the output such as:

# 800x600 # 50.00 Hz (GTF) hsync: 30.90 kHz; pclk: 31.15 MHz
Modeline "800x600_50.00" 31.15 800 824 904 1008 600 601 604 618 -HSync +Vsync

to you Monitor Section of /etc/X11/xorg.conf and add the resolution to the `Screen' section.

Sometimes some consistency checks within the display driver drop this resolutions again. To drop e.g. the autodetection features in the NVIDIA driver you might add Option "UseEDID" "FALSE" in section Device.

XRandR cannot cope properly with the DynamicTwinView feature of the proprietary nvidia driver. You might need

Option "DynamicTwinView" "False"

to get proper results (in Screen or Device section of you xorg.conf).

ATTENTION: Disabling such features might allow X11 to access your HW in a way that it gets damaged! You are at your own risk!

Enable fullscreen (not necessary, but makes sense):

Note that:

6.5.2 Video resources

The following resources affect the screen emulation.

UseXSync
Boolean specifying whether XSync() is called after updating the emulation window.
MITSHM
Integer specifying whether VICE should try to use the shared memory extensions (MITSHM) when starting up. The shared memory extensions make things a lot faster but might not be available on your system. You will not be able to use these extensions if you are sitting at an X terminal while running the emulator on a remote machine across a network. Valid values are: 0 = do not use MITSHM, 1 = do use MITSHM, -1 = try to autodetect availability on startup (default). The last is a simple test if the emulator runs across a network and if so disables MITSHM (If you have problems with this test please report it).
PrivateColormap
Boolean specifying whether VICE should install a private colormap at startup. This makes sense for 8-bit displays that could run out of colors if other color-hungry applications are running at the same time.
DisplayDepth
Integer specifying the depth of the host display. The value `0' (the default) causes the emulator to autodetect it.
UseFullscreen
Boolean specifying whether fullscreen mode is currently in use.
HwScalePossible
Boolean that indicates whether hardware scaling is possible or not.
openGL_sync
Boolean, if true enable Open-GL frame sync.
openGL_no_sync
Boolean, if true Open-GL sync is not available.
KeepAspectRatio
Boolean specifying whether the aspect ratio of the output window should be preserved. (0=free scaling, 1=scale with fixed aspect ratio)
TrueAspectRatio
Boolean specifying whether to use the true (non square pixels) aspect ratio.
Window0Width
Window0Height
Window0Xpos
Window0Ypos
Integers specifying the position and size of the (first) emulator window.
Window1Width
Window1Height
Window1Xpos
Window1Ypos
Integers specifying the position and size of the (second) emulator window.

6.5.3 Video command-line options

-xsync
+xsync
Enable/disable usage of XSync() when updating the emulation window (UseXSync=1, UseXSync=0).
-mitshm
+mitshm
Enable/disable usage of the MITSHM extensions (MITSHM=1, MITSHM=0).
-install
+install
Enable/disable installation of a private colormap (PrivateColormap=1, PrivateColormap=0).
-displaydepth DEPTH
Specify the display depth (DisplayDepth).
-fullscreen
+fullscreen
Enable/disable fullscreen mode

6.6 Keyboard settings

It is possible to specify whether the "positional" or "symbolic" keyboard mapping should be used with the "Keyboard mapping type" submenu (see section 2.7 The keyboard emulation for an explanation of positional and symbolic mappings).

The keyboard settings submenu also allows you to:

6.6.1 Keyboard resources

KeymapIndex
Integer identifying which keymap is being used; 0 indicates symbolic mapping, 1 positional mapping. For the PET the even values represent symbolic mapping, odd positional. Then add 0 for UK business keyboard or 2 for graphics keyboard.
KeymapSymFile
String specifying the name of the keymap file for the symbolic mapping (see section 2.7 The keyboard emulation, all but PET and CBM-II).
KeymapSymDeFile
String specifying the name of the keymap file for the symbolic mapping (de)
KeymapPosFile
String specifying the name of the keymap file for the positional mapping (see section 2.7 The keyboard emulation, all but PET and CBM-II).
KeymapBusinessUKSymFile
KeymapBusinessUKPosFile
String specifying the name of the keymap file for the symbolic and positional mapping for the UK business keyboard (see section 2.7 The keyboard emulation, PET and CBM-II).
KeymapGraphicsSymFile
KeymapGraphicsPosFile
String specifying the name of the keymap file for the symbolic and positional mapping for the graphics keyboard (see section 2.7 The keyboard emulation, PET only).
KeymapBusinessDESymFile
KeymapBusinessDEPosFile
String specifying the name of the keymap file for the symbolic and positional mapping for the German business keyboard. (see section 2.7 The keyboard emulation, PET only).

6.6.2 Keyboard command-line options

-keymap N
Specifies which keymap is being used; 0 indicates symbolic mapping, 1 positional mapping (as for the KeymapIndex resource).
-symkeymap NAME
Specify `NAME' as the symbolic keymap file (KeymapSymFile).
-poskeymap NAME
Specify `NAME' as the positional keymap file (KeymapPosFile).
-symdekeymap NAME
Specify `NAME' as the symbolic keymap file (KeymapSymDeFile).
-buksymkeymap NAME
-bukposkeymap NAME
Specify `NAME' as the symbolic/positional keymap file for the UK business keyboard (KeymapBusinessUKSymFile, KeymapBusinessUKPosFile, PET and CBM-II).
-grsymkeymap NAME
-grposkeymap NAME
Specify `NAME' as the symbolic/positional keymap file for the graphics keyboard (KeymapGraphicsSymFile, KeymapGraphicsPosFile, PET only).
-bdesymkeymap NAME
-bdeposkeymap NAME
Specify `NAME' as the symbolic/positional keymap file for the German business keyboard (KeymapBusinessDESymFile, KeymapBusinessDEPosFile, PET only).

6.7 Joystick settings

6.7.1 Joystick resources

JoyDevice1
JoyDevice2
JoyDevice3
JoyDevice4
Integer specifying which joystick device the emulator should use for joystick emulation for ports 1 - 4, respectively (0=None, 1=Numpad, 2=Custom keys, 3=Analog joystick 1, 4=Analog joystick 2, 5=Digital joystick 1, 6=Digital joystick 2 on Unix) The available joysticks might differ depending on operating system and joystick support in the OS (Linux joystick module must be available for example).
JoyOpposite
Boolean, if true allow (usually impossible) bitcombinations for opposite directions.
ExtraJoy
Boolean, enables extra joysticks if true.
ExtraJoyType
Integer specifying the type of adapter used for the extra joysticks. (0=Classical Games/ Protovision, 1=PET, 2=Hummer, 3=OEM, 4=Digital Excess/Hitmen, 5=Kingsoft, 6=Starbyte)
Mouse
Boolean, enables mouse emulation
Mousetype
Integer that specifies the type of emulated mouse. (0=1351, 1=NEOS, 2=Amiga, 3=Paddles, 4=Atari CX-22, 5=Atari ST, 6=Smart)
Mouseport
Integer that specifies the joystick port the emulated mouse is connected to. (1=port 1, 2=port 2)
Lightpen
Boolean, enables lightpen emulation
LightpenType
Integer specifying the type of lightpen. (0=Pen with button Up, 1=Pen with button Left, 2=Datel Pen, 3=Magnum Light Phaser, 4=Stack Light Rifle)
KeySet1NorthWest
KeySet1North
KeySet1NorthEast
KeySet1East
KeySet1SouthEast
KeySet1South
KeySet1SouthWest
KeySet1West
KeySet1Fire
Integers specifying the keycodes for keyset 1.
KeySet2NorthWest
KeySet2North
KeySet2NorthEast
KeySet2East
KeySet2SouthEast
KeySet2South
KeySet2SouthWest
KeySet2West
KeySet2Fire
Integers specifying the keycodes for keyset 2.
KeySetEnable
Boolean that specifies whether user defined keysets are enabled.

6.7.2 Joystick command-line options

-joydev1 <0-8>
-joydev2 <0-8>
Set the device for joystick emulation of port 1 and 2, respectively (JoyDevice1, JoyDevice2).
-extrajoydev1 <0-8>
-extrajoydev2 <0-8>
Set device for extra joystick port 1 and 2.
-mouse
+mouse
Enable/Disable mouse grab
-mousetype <value>
Select the mouse type (0 = 1351, 1 = NEOS, 2 = Amiga, 3 = Paddles, 4 = CX-22, 5 = ST, 6 = Smart))
-mouseport <value>
Select the joystick port the mouse is attached to
-lightpen
+lightpen
Enable/Disable lightpen emulation
-lightpentype <type>
Set lightpen type

6.8 Sound settings

The following menu items control sound output:

6.8.1 Sound resources

Sound
Boolean specifying whether audio emulation is turned on.
SoundSpeedAdjustment
Integer specifying what speed adjustment method the audio renderer should use. Possible values are:
SoundSampleRate
Integer specifying the sampling frequency, ranging from 8000 to 48000 Hz (not all the sound cards and/or sound drivers can support all the frequencies, so actually the nearest candidate will be chosen).
SoundBufferSize
Integer specifying the size of the audio buffer, in milliseconds.
SoundSuspendTime
Integer specifying the pause interval when audio underflows ("clicks") happen. 0 means no pause is done.
SoundDeviceName
String specifying the audio driver. Implemented drivers are: These drivers will actually be present only if the VICE configuration script detected the corresponding devices at the time of compilation.
SoundDeviceArg
String specifying an additional parameter for the audio driver (see SoundDeviceName).
SoundRecordDeviceName
String specifying the filename used for sound recording.
SoundRecordDeviceArg
String specifying additional arguments for sound recording.
SoundFragmentSize
Enum specifying the fragment size (0: small, 1: medium, 2: large)
SoundVolume
Integer specifying the master volume in percent. [100] (0..100)s
SoundOutput
Enum specifying how the type of sound output. Output is selectable between 'system' (system decides to use mono or stereo output based on the presence of a stereo sid), 'always mono' (output is always mono, stereo streams are mixed into a mono stream) or 'always stereo' (output is always stereo, mono streams are multiplexed to a stereo stream). (0=system, 1=mono, 2=stereo)

6.8.2 Sound command-line options

-sound
+sound
Turns sound emulation on (Sound=1) and off (Sound=0).
-soundsync N
Specify N as the sound speed adjustment method (SoundSpeedAdjustment).
-soundrate RATE
Specifies the sound playback sample rate (SoundSampleRate).
-soundoutput <output mode>
Sound output mode: (0: system decides mono/stereo, 1: always mono, 2: always stereo)
-soundbufsize SIZE
Specifies the size of the audio buffer in milliseconds (SoundBufferSize).
-soundfragsize <value>
Set sound fragment size (0 = small, 1 = medium, 2 = large)
-sounddev NAME
Specifies the name of the audio device (SoundDeviceName).
-soundarg ARG
Specifies an additional parameter for the audio device (SoundDeviceArg).
-soundrecdev <name>
Specify recording sound driver
-soundrecarg <args>
Specify initialization parameters for recording sound driver

6.9 Tape settings

These settings are used to control the hardware-level emulation of the Tape drive.

6.9.1 Tape resources

DatasetteResetWithCPU
Boolean specifying whether to reset (rewind) the tape when resetting the CPU.
DatasetteZeroGapDelay
Integer specifying the delay in cycles for a zero in the tap.
DatasetteSpeedTuning
Integer specifying the number of cycles added to each gap in the tap.

6.9.2 Tape command-line options

-dsresetwithcpu
+dsresetwithcpu
Enable/Disable automatic Datasette-Reset
-dszerogapdelay <value>
Set delay in cycles for a zero in the tap
-dsspeedtuning <value>
Set number of cycles added to each gap in the tap

6.10 Drive settings

These settings are used to control the hardware-level emulation of the Disk drives. When hardware-level emulation is turned on, only drives 8 and 9 are being emulated.

The following settings affect both drives:

The following settings, instead, are specific of each drive:

6.10.1 Drive resources

RawDriveDriver
String specifying the name of the device to be used for raw block access.
DriveTrueEmulation
Boolean controlling whether the "true" drive emulation is turned on.
DriveSoundEmulation
Boolean controlling whether the drive noise emulation is turned on.
Drive8Type
Drive9Type
Drive10Type
Drive11Type
Integers specifying the model number for drives 8 to 11. Possible values are 1541, 1542 (1541-II), 1570, 1571, 1573 (1571CR), 1551, 1581, 1001, 2000, 2031, 2040, 3040, 4000, 4040, 8050, 8250.
Drive8ParallelCable
Drive9ParallelCable
Drive10ParallelCable
Drive11ParallelCable
integer controlling what type of parallel cable is emulated for drives 8 to 11. (0: none, 1: speed-DOS, 2: Professional DOS, 3: Formel64)
Drive8ProfDOS
Drive9ProfDOS
Drive10ProfDOS
Drive11ProfDOS
Booleans controlling whether Professional DOS is emulated or not for drives 8 to 11.
Drive8RAM2000
Drive8RAM4000
Drive8RAM6000
Drive8RAM8000
Drive8RAMA000
Drive9RAM2000
Drive9RAM4000
Drive9RAM6000
Drive9RAM8000
Drive9RAMA000
Drive10RAM2000
Drive10RAM4000
Drive10RAM6000
Drive10RAM8000
Drive10RAMA000
Drive11RAM2000
Drive11RAM4000
Drive11RAM6000
Drive11RAM8000
Drive11RAMA000
Booleans controlling whether a RAM block is emulated at the respective block or not for drives 8 to 11.
Drive8ExtendImagePolicy
Drive9ExtendImagePolicy
Drive10ExtendImagePolicy
Drive11ExtendImagePolicy
Integer specifying the policy for 40-track support for drives 8 to 11. Possible values are 0 (never extend), 1 (ask on extend), 2 (extend on access).
Drive8IdleMethod
Drive9IdleMethod
Drive10IdleMethod
Drive11IdleMethod
Integers specifying the idling method for the drive CPU. Possible values are 0 (none), 1 (skip cycles), 2 (trap idle). See section 6.10 Drive settings.
DosName1541
DosName1541ii
DosName1570
DosName1571
DosName1571cr
DosName1581
DosName2000
DosName4000
DosName2031
DosName2040
DosName3040
DosName4040
DosName1001
DosName1551
Strings specifying the names of the ROM images for the drive emulation.
DriveProfDOS1571Name
String specifying the filename of the 1571 professional DOS ROM image.

6.10.2 Drive command-line options

-truedrive
+truedrive
Turns true drive emulation on (DriveTrueEmulation=1) and off (DriveTrueEmulation=0), respectively.
-drivesound
+drivesound
Turns drive sound emulation on (DriveSoundEmulation=1) and off (DriveSoundEmulation=0), respectively.
-drive8type TYPE
-drive9type TYPE
-drive10type TYPE
-drive11type TYPE
Specifies the drive types for drives 8-11, respectively. Possible values for TYPE are 1541, 1542 (meaning 1541-II), 1551, 1570, 1571, 1573 (meaning 1571cr), 1581, 2000, 4000, 2031, 2040, 3040, 4040, 1001, 8050 and 8250.
-parallel8 <type>
-parallel9 <type>
-parallel10 <type>
-parallel11 <type>
Set parallel cable type (0: none, 1: standard, 2: Dolphin DOS)
-drive8idle NUM
-drive9idle NUM
-drive10idle NUM
-drive11idle NUM
Specifies NUM as the idling method for drives 8-11 (0: no traps, 1: skip cycles, 2: trap idle), respectively (Drive8IdleMethod, Drive9IdleMethod), Drive10IdleMethod), Drive11IdleMethod).
-drive8extend NUM
-drive9extend NUM
-drive10extend NUM
-drive11extend NUM
Specifies NUM as the track 40 extend policy in drives 8 and 9, respectively (Drive8ExtendImagePolicy, Drive9ExtendImagePolicy).
-dos1541 <name>
-dos1541II <name>
-dos1551 <name>
-dos1570 <name>
-dos1571 <name>
-dos1571cr <name>
-dos1581 <name>
-dos2000 <name>
-dos4000 <name>
-dos2031 <name>
-dos2040 <name>
-dos3040 <name>
-dos4040 <name>
-dos1001 <name>
Specify the ROM names for the 1541, 1541II, 1551, 1570, 1571, 1571cr, 1581, 2000, 4000, 2031, 2040, 3040, 4040 and 1001 emulation respectively.
-drive8ram2000, +drive8ram2000
-drive9ram2000, +drive9ram2000
-drive10ram2000, +drive10ram2000
-drive11ram2000, +drive11ram2000
Enable/Disable 8KB RAM expansion at $2000-$3FFF
-drive8ram4000, +drive8ram4000
-drive9ram4000, +drive9ram4000
-drive10ram4000, +drive10ram4000
-drive11ram4000, +drive11ram4000
Enable/Disable 8KB RAM expansion at $4000-$5FFF
-drive8ram6000, +drive8ram6000
-drive9ram6000, +drive9ram6000
-drive10ram6000, +drive10ram6000
-drive11ram6000, +drive11ram6000
Enable/Disable 8KB RAM expansion at $6000-$7FFF
-drive8ram8000, +drive8ram8000
-drive9ram8000, +drive9ram8000
-drive10ram8000, +drive10ram8000
-drive11ram8000, +drive11ram8000
Enable/Disable 8KB RAM expansion at $8000-$9FFF
-drive8rama000, +drive8rama000
-drive9rama000, +drive9rama000
-drive10rama000, +drive10rama000
-drive11rama000, +drive11rama000
Enable/Disable 8KB RAM expansion at $A000-$BFFF
-drive8profdos, +drive8profdos
-drive9profdos, +drive9profdos
-drive10profdos, +drive10profdos
-drive11profdos, +drive11profdos
Enable/Disable Professional DOS
-profdos1571 <name>
Specify name of Professional DOS 1571 ROM image

6.11 Peripheral settings

VICE is able to support some special peripherals:

These features depend on some kernal traps that replace the existing routines in the original Commodore operating system with custom-made C routines.

6.11.1 Settings for file system devices

These settings deal with the drive-like peripherals connected to the bus of the emulated machine. The first setting relates to the parallel IEEE488 interface. With this interface a special engine is used to listen to the bus lines to translates them to the filesystem code. Thus the PET will always detect a drive for example, but it can also use drives 10 and 11 even together with true disk drive emulation.

Four peripherals, numbered from 8 to 11, are accessible; each of them provides the following settings:

Note that, by default, all drives except 11 create P00 files on save, while drive 11 creates raw CBM files. Those files come without any header, but also with the filename restrictions given by the operating system VICE runs on.

6.11.1.1 Resources for file system devices

IECDevice8
IECDevice9
IECDevice10
IECDevice11
Booleans that specify whether IEC device emulation for device #8 to #11 is enabled.
FileSystemDevice8
FileSystemDevice9
FileSystemDevice10
FileSystemDevice11
Enum specifying the device type for device 8-11 (0: NONE, 1: FILESYSTEM, 2: OPENCBM (Real), 3: BLOCK DEVICE (Raw))
FSDevice8ConvertP00
FSDevice9ConvertP00
FSDevice10ConvertP00
FSDevice11ConvertP00
Booleans specifying whether on-read support for P00 files is enabled on drives 8, 9, 10 and 11 respectively (on by default).
FSDevice8SaveP00
FSDevice9SaveP00
FSDevice10SaveP00
FSDevice11SaveP00
Booleans specifying whether the drives should create P00 files instead of plain CBM ones (on by default for drives 8-10, off for 11).
FSDevice8HideCBMFiles
FSDevice9HideCBMFiles
FSDevice10HideCBMFiles
FSDevice11HideCBMFiles
Booleans specifying whether non-P00 files should be invisible to programs running in the emulator (do not hide by default).
FSDevice8Dir
FSDevice9Dir
FSDevice10Dir
FSDevice11Dir
Strings specifying the directories to which drives 8, 9, 10 and 11 have access.

6.11.1.2 Command-line options for file system devices

-iecdevice8
+iecdevice8
Enable/Disable IEC device emulation for device #8
-iecdevice9
+iecdevice9
Enable/Disable IEC device emulation for device #9
-iecdevice10
+iecdevice10
Enable/Disable IEC device emulation for device #10
-iecdevice11
+iecdevice11
Enable/Disable IEC device emulation for device #11
-device8 <type>
-device9 <type>
-device10 <type>
-device11 <type>
Set device type for device 8-11 (0: NONE, 1: FILESYSTEM, 2: OPENCBM (Real), 3: BLOCK DEVICE (Raw))
-fs8 PATH
-fs9 PATH
-fs10 PATH
-fs11 PATH
Specify the paths for the file system access on drives 8, 9, 10 and 11, respectively (FSDevice8Dir, FSDevice9Dir, FSDevice10Dir and FSDevice11Dir).
-flipname <name>
Specify name of the flip list file image

6.11.2 Printer settings

The VICE emulators can emulate printers connected to either the IEC buffer or the user port. Emulation can be achieved by redirecting the printer output to a file or by piping it through an external process. This is defined by so-called printer device file names; a printer device file name can be either a simple path, or a command name preceeded by a pipe symbol `|'.

For example, printer device `filename' will cause the output to be appended to the file `filename', while printer device `|lpr' will cause the lpr command to be executed and be fed the printer output. The printer output will not be converted but saved as printed by the emulated machine.

Up to three printer devices may be specified through the following resources:

So, basically, by default printer device 1 will dump printer output to `print.dump'; printer device 2 will print it via lpr directly to the printer and device 3 will print it via petlp (a not-yet-complete utility that will produce Postscript output from the Commodore printer code) and then to the printer via lpr.

6.11.2.1 Printer resources

IECDevice4
IECDevice5
Booleans that specify whether IEC device emulation for device #4 and #5 is enabled.
PrinterTextDevice1
PrinterTextDevice2
PrinterTextDevice3
Strings specifying the printer devices (see section 6.11.2 Printer settings).
Printer4TextDevice
Printer5TextDevice
Integer (ranging from 0 to 2, for device 1-3) specifying what printer device (see section 6.11.2 Printer settings) the IEC printer is using.
Printer4
Printer5
Integer specifying how the IEC printer (device 4-5) is being emulated. (0: NONE, 1: FS, 2: REAL)
Printer4Driver
Printer5Driver
String (ascii, mps803, nl10) specifying the IEC printer output driver.
Printer4Output
Printer5Output
String specifying the IEC printer output device.
PrinterUserport
Boolean specifying if the user-port printer is being emulated.
PrinterUserportTextDevice
Integer (ranging from 0 to 2, for device 1-3) specifying what printer device the user-port printer is using.
PrinterUserportDriver
String specifying the user-port printer output driver.
PrinterUserportOutput
String specifying the user-port printer output device.

6.11.2.2 Printer command-line options

-iecdevice4
+iecdevice4
Enable/Disable IEC device emulation for device #4
-iecdevice5
+iecdevice5
Enable/Disable IEC device emulation for device #5
-device4 <type>
-device5 <type>
Set device type for device 4-5 (0: NONE, 1: FS, 2: REAL)
-prtxtdev1 <name>
-prtxtdev2 <name>
-prtxtdev3 <name>
Specify name of printer text device or dump file
-pr4txtdev <0-2>
-pr5txtdev <0-2>
Specify printer text output device for IEC printer #4-5
-pr4output <name>
-pr5output <name>
Specify name of output device for device #4-5 Specify name of output device for device #5-5
-pr4drv <name>
-pr5drv <name>
Specify name of printer driver for device #4-5 Specify name of printer driver for device #5-5
-pruser
+pruser
Enable/disable emulation of the userport printer emulation (PrUser=1, PrUser=0).
-prusertxtdev <0-2>
Specify printer text output device for userport printer
-pruseroutput <name>
Specify name of output device for the userport printer
-pruserdrv <name>
Specify name of printer driver for the userport printer

6.11.3 Disabling kernal traps

If you have compatibility problems, you can completely disable Kernal traps with the "Disable kernal traps" option. This will of course disable all the features that depend on it, such as the fast 1541 emulation (so you will have to turn true 1541 emulation on if you want to be able to read or write disk images) and tape support.

6.11.3.1 Resources to control Kernal traps

VirtualDevices
Boolean specifying whether all the mechanisms for virtual device emulation should be enabled. Serial IEC devices use kernal traps, parallel IEEE488 devices use an own IEEE488 engine. Both are switched on and off with this resource.

6.11.3.2 Command-line options to control Kernal traps

-virtualdev
+virtualdev
Enable (VirtualDevices=1) or disable (VirtualDevices=0) virtual devices.

6.12 RS232 settings

The VICE emulators can emulate the RS232 device most of the machines have. The C64, C128 and VIC20 emulators emulate the userport RS232 interface at 300 and 1200 baud. The C64 and C128 can also use the 9600 baud interface by Daniel Dallmann, using the shift registers of the two CIA 6526 chips. The PET can have a 6551 ACIA RS232 interface when running as a SuperPET, and the CBM-II has such an ACIA by default. The C64 and C128 emulators can emulate an ACIA 6551 (also known as Datapump for example) as extension at $de**.

Emulation can be achieved by either:

It is possible to define up to four UNIX serial devices, and then decide which interface should be connected to which device. This is done by so-called rs232 device file names; an rs232 device file name can be either a simple path, or a command name preceeded by a pipe symbol `|'. If the path specifies a special device (e.g. `/dev/ttyS0') it is recognized by VICE and the emulator can set the baudrate.

For example, rs232 device `filename' will cause the output to be written (not appended) to the file `filename', while printer device `|lpr' will cause the lpr command to be executed and be fed the rs232 output. The rs232 output will not be converted but saved as sent by the emulated machine. The same holds true for the rs232 input. If the command writes data to the standard output it will be caught by VICE and sent back to the emulator. Also the data sent by the pseudo device will be sent back to VICE.

For example you can setup a null-modem cable between two serial ports of your PC, setup one port for login and use the other in VICE. Then you can login from your emulator via the RS232 emulation and the null-modem cable to your machine again.

You can not simply run a shell from VICE, as the shell will notice that it does not run on its own pseudo terminal and will thus buffer its output. You need to write some program that opens an own pseudo terminal and runs the shell from there (not yet finished).

Up to four RS232 devices may be specified through the following resources:

For the first two devices you can change the baudrate the tty device is set to by specifying it on the commandline or in the menu. This baudrate is 9600 by default for the latter two, but can be changed only by resources (The baudrate is independent from the baudrate the emulator actually expects).

6.12.1 RS232 resources

RsDevice1
RsDevice2
RsDevice3
RsDevice4
Strings specifying the RS232 devices (see section 6.12 RS232 settings).
RsDevice1Baud
RsDevice2Baud
RsDevice3Baud
RsDevice4Baud
Integer specifying the RS232 baudrate devices if the device file points to a special device (like `/dev/ttyS0'; see section 6.12 RS232 settings).
Acia1Dev
Integer (ranging from 0 to 3, for device 1-4) specifying what RS232 device (see section 6.12 RS232 settings) the ACIA is using (all except VIC20).
Acia1Irq
Integer specifying which interrupt to use. 0 = none, 1 = IRQ, 2 = NMI (C64 and C128 only)
RsUserEnable
Boolean specifying if the user-port RS232 interface is being emulated (C64, C128 and VIC20).
RsUserBaud
Integer specifying the baudrate of the user-port RS232 interface (C64, C128 and VIC20).
RsUserDev
Integer (ranging from 0 to 3, for device 1-4) specifying what RS232 device the user-port interface is using (C64, C128 and VIC20).

6.12.2 RS232 command-line options

-rsdev1 NAME
-rsdev2 NAME
-rsdev3 NAME
-rsdev4 NAME
Specify NAME as RS232 devices 1, 2, 3 and 4, respectively (RsDevice1, RsDevice2 RsDevice3 and RsDevice4).
-rsdev1 BAUDRATE
-rsdev2 BAUDRATE
-rsdev3 BAUDRATE
-rsdev4 BAUDRATE
Specify BAUDRATE as baudrate for the RS232 devices if the device name specifies a special device (like `/dev/ttyS0' for example, see section 6.12 RS232 settings; RsDevice1Baud, RsDevice2Baud RsDevice3Baud and RsDevice4Baud).
-myaciadev <0-3>
Specify RS232 device the ACIA should work on
-rsuser
+rsuser
Enable or disable emulation of the userport RS232 emulation (RsUser; C64, C128 and VIC20)
-rsuserbaud <baud>
Set the baud rate of the RS232 userport emulation.
-rsuserdev <0-3>
Specify device for the userport RS232 emulation (RsUserDev; C64, C128 and VIC20).

6.12.3 RS232 usage example

Here we give you a simple example how to set up an emulated C64 using the modem connected to your PC. The following list shows each step.

Attach your modem to your PC at a serial port.
Normally you should set it up to use the modem as "/dev/modem".
start VICE
Setup VICE to use your modem as "serial device 1"
Go to the RS232 settings menu and change "Serial 1 device" to "/dev/modem" (or the device where you attached your modem to) Then go to the RS232 settings menu and change "Serial 1 baudrate" to the baudrate your modem should run at. Watch out, e.g. on Linux there is an additional multiplier to multiply with the baudrate (so e.g. 19200 gives 115200 or so baud) See the "setserial" manpage on Linux for example. However, most modems should be able to autodetect the speed to the computer as well.
Select the RS232 emulation your programs use
If you want to use the Userport emulation, go to the RS232 settings and change "Userport RS232 Device" to "Serial 1". If you want ACIA emulation (swiftlink or what's it called?) then change "ACIA $DE** device" to "Serial 1".
Enable the emulation
Go to the RS232 settings and select either "ACIA $DE** emulation" or Userport 300/1200 baud or CIA 9600 baud emulation.
Load your program and start it.
If it is able to detect an RS232 cartridge like swiftlink or so, try to detect the ACIA emulation if enabled. Otherwise just set the baudrate to either 300, 1200 or 9600 according to what you enabled in the VICE menu for the userport.

6.13 Monitor settings

This section lists command-line options specific to the built-in monitor.

6.13.1 Monitor resources

KeepMonitorOpen
Boolean, if true the monitor window may stay open when the emulation is running, eg to look at trace-point output. (Not all ports/UIs support this, in that case this setting has no effect.)
MonitorServer
Boolean specifying whether the remote monitor server is enabled.
MonitorServerAddress
String specifying the address the remote monitor server listens to (ip4://127.0.0.1:6510)

6.13.2 Monitor command-line options

-moncommands FILENAME
Execute the commands from the file FILENAME in the monitor after starting up. This command line switch is mainly thought to load labels and to set breakpoints. Not all other commands are useful to be executed in this way, some may even lead to strange effects.
-initbreak <address>
Set an initial breakpoint for the monitor. Addresses with prefix "0x" are hexadecimal.
-remotemonitor
+remotemonitor
Enable/Disable remote monitor
-remotemonitoraddress <name>
The local address the remote monitor should bind to

6.14 Machine settings

6.14.1 Machine resources

MachineVideoStandard
Integer that specifies that video standard of the emulated machine. (-1: PAL, -2: NTSC, -3: NTSC (old), -4: PAL-N)

6.14.2 Machine command-line options

-pal
Use PAL sync factor
-ntsc
Use NTSC sync factor
-ntscold
Use old NTSC sync factor
-paln
Use PAL-N sync factor

6.15 Memory settings

6.15.1 Memory resources

RAMInitStartValue
Integer specifying the value for the very first RAM address after powerup
RAMInitValueInvert
Integer specifying the length of the memory block initialized with the same value
RAMInitPatternInvert
Integer specifying the length of the memory block initialized with the same pattern

6.15.2 Memory command-line options

-raminitstartvalue <value>
Set the value for the very first RAM address after powerup
-raminitvalueinvert <num of bytes>
Length of memory block initialized with the same value
-raminitpatterninvert <num of bytes>
Length of memory block initialized with the same pattern

6.16 Miscellaneous settings

This section lists generic resources that do not fit in the other categories.

6.16.1 Miscellaneous resources

Directory
String specifying the search path for system files. It is defined as a sequence of directory names, separated by colons (`:'), just like the PATH variable in the shell. The special string `$$' stands for the default search path, which is initialized at startup to the following value:
LIBDIR/EMUID:$HOME/.vice/EMUID:BOOTPATH/EMUID:LIBDIR/DRIVES:$HOME/.vice/DRIVES:BOOTPATH/DRIVES
where: Notice that the middle entry points to a default location in the user's home directory. Here private ROM versions (e.g. speeddos or JiffyDos) can be stored for example. See section 4 System files. for a description of the method used to load the emulator's system files.
HTMLBrowserCommand
String specifying the command to run the help browser. The help browser can be any HTML browser, and every `%s' in the string is replaced with the name of the toplevel file of the VICE documentation. For example, the default value `netscape %s' runs Netscape Navigator.
SaveResourcesOnExit
Boolean specifying whether the emulator should save changed settings before exiting. If this is enabled, the user will be always prompted first, in case the settings have changed.
DoCoreDump
Boolean specifying whether the emulator should dump core when it gets a signal.
NetworkServerName
String specifying the name of the remote server.
NetworkServerBindAddress
String specifying the IP of the remote server.
NetworkServerPort
Integer specifying the port used for network play.
NetworkControl
Integer specifying whether the emulator is running as server or client (0: client, 1: server)
LogFileName
String specifying the filename of the current log file.
FliplistName
String specifying the filename of the current flip list. (Drive 8 only)
ConfirmOnExit
Boolean specifying whether to show a confirmation dialog on exit.
AttachDevice8Readonly
AttachDevice9Readonly
AttachDevice10Readonly
AttachDevice11Readonly
Booleans that specify whether to attach images on drives 8 to 11 read-only.
RomsetArchiveName
String specifying the filename of the ROM set archive (.vra) file ["default"]
RomsetArchiveActive
String specifying the active configuration of the current ROM set archive [""]
RomsetFileName
String specifying the filename of the ROM set resource file ["default"]
RomsetSourceFile
Boolean specifying the type of currently used ROM set (0: .vra Archive, 1: resource file) [1]

6.16.2 Miscellaneous command-line options

-directory SEARCHPATH
Specify the system file search path (Directory).
-htmlbrowser COMMAND
Specify the command to run the HTML browser for the on-line help (HTMLBrowserCommand).
-saveres
+saveres
Enable/disable automatic saving of settings on exit (SaveResourcesOnExit=1, SaveResourcesOnExit=0).
-confirmexit
Confirm quiting VICE
+confirmexit
Never confirm quiting VICE
-core
Enable generation of core dumps (DoCoreDump=1)
+core
Disable generation of core dumps (DoCoreDump=0)


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