Hacking the Commodore 64 DTV version 2

posted Feb 20th 2006 11:00am by Eliot Phillips
filed under: home entertainment hacks

c64

The original C64 DTV was a joystick containing 30 games sold in 2004. It attracted hackers because it could be modified into a fully functioning console. The latest version of the chip is being sold inside a Radio Shack Hummer game. This version fixes bugs in the original and adds several features to improve memory access and CPU speed. Before you get started there are several modifications that need to be done to improve the video and audio quality of the system. Once these mods are complete you can start playing with the machine just like an original C64. Oh, the Hummer game will look a lot better too.

[thanks av1d]

Comments [15]

Reader Comments

sweet

Posted at 11:10 am on Feb 20th, 2006 by steel maverick

old school to the maxx

Posted at 11:37 am on Feb 20th, 2006 by alio

Nice stuff!
We have a demo Hummer game laying around our store. From what I’ve seen it wouldn’t take much to improve the graphics or sound.

The thing is horrible as-is.

Posted at 12:28 pm on Feb 20th, 2006 by strider_mt2k

i miss my old c64… this may be a portal to my past.

Posted at 12:31 pm on Feb 20th, 2006 by connor

how much does one of those hummer games cost?

Posted at 2:33 pm on Feb 20th, 2006 by SpartanIV

#3 goto radioshack.com type in hummer in the search box.
Amazingly enough it will return some items one of which is the item in question for $19.97

Quote from above: “The latest version of the chip is being sold inside a Radio Shack Hummer game”

Posted at 2:44 pm on Feb 20th, 2006 by rmiller021

This is one of the cooliest mods out there I have a V1 I have hacked and works great, color is a little funny but works awesome, and has some of the best games ever creadted in the 8bit world included.

Posted at 5:31 pm on Feb 20th, 2006 by schism

The Hummer is only sold in North America but for those in Europe and Oceania there is a second generation C64 DTV that shares the same core as the Hummer. You can find more information, including where you can buy the DTV from http://www.toylobster.com/toylobsterweb/products_c64.htm and if your idea of fun is hacking toys into retro computers, drop by the DTVHacking forum at http://jledger.proboards19.com/index.cgi where you’ll find lots more info.

Posted at 9:50 pm on Feb 20th, 2006 by Golan Klinger

Looks like radioshack.com has them for about $20 Not bad for a few weekends of retro fun. As soon as the American version Flash software is fixed, it could actually be a usefull system.

Posted at 11:23 pm on Feb 20th, 2006 by OrbnLgnd

Id rather have my PSP and all kinds of Emulators (commodore, atari,snes,nes,Sega,psx). Especially because its portable :D

Posted at 10:10 am on Feb 21st, 2006 by Scavo

Ah yes, but the board in this is quite small, and it uses very little power. One could concievable make it into some sort of portable system. although, it would still be quite a bit bigger than a psp

Posted at 1:34 am on Feb 22nd, 2006 by loup

Hi.. I’m the creator of the site in question. For some reason hackaday has mirrored the site and the mirror works worse than the original. So if you are having trouble seeing it, use the original link:

http://galaxy22.dyndns.org/misc/hummerdtv/index.html

Posted at 4:13 pm on Feb 22nd, 2006 by David Murray

Where is this site for hacking the C64DTV pal, I can only find the site for the hummer unit.
I have a C64DTV with a board version EL-C64A2 – 2005/jun/24 . All the sites I find for hacking seem to have a board with a slightly different layout. Please help. I want to hack!

Posted at 10:27 am on Mar 4th, 2006 by crazy cranium

does, anyone know anything about hacking satellite cable

Posted at 11:20 am on Apr 13th, 2007 by phreakabit

Hi, i am new at this thing called C64DTV(with emulator) and i’ve notice there’s not a good example how to going from Hires to text mode!
it frustrates me to no end!
i like to see a good programming example of that in BASIC! of course you can do it in Asm language too.

Thanks a bunch.

Posted at 4:57 pm on Jan 17th, 2009 by Scott Houdek