@(#)trivia: Commodore Trivia by Jim Brain (brain@mail.msen.com) @(A): Introduction I had the good fortune of receiving some fine back issue of magazine and old books from a friend in Michigan (thanks Gaelyne), so I got busy reading and gleaning. The result is a new crop of trivia questions guaranteed to rack your brain and have you reachin' for those numerous Commodore publications. Go ahead, I won't mind. As some may know, these questions are part of a contest held each month on the Internet, in which the winner receives a donated prize. I encourage those who can received the newest editions of trivia to enter the contest. This article contains the questions and answers for trivia editions #23-26, with questions for the current contest, #27. If you wish, you can subscribe to the trivia mailing list and receive the newest editions of the trivia via Internet email. To add your name to the list, please mail a message: To: brain@mail.msen.com Subject: MAILSERV Body: subscribe trivia Firstname Lastname help quit @(A): Trivia Questions A publication describing BASIC on the Commodore makes the claim that BASIC variables are limited to 5 characters, with the first two being significant. The example to prove this point in the book is given as: ABCDE=5 works, while ABCDEF=6 does not. The following questions refer to this claim: Q $160) What is wrong with the above statement? A $160) Variables can indeed be longer than 5 characters. Q $161) What causes the variable ABCDEF to fail? A $161) The variable name fails becase the BASIC keyword "DEF" in it. Q $162) How long can variable names really be? Extra Credit: Who was the book publisher? A $162) As long as the maximum command line length. Theoretically, using automated code generation, you can get a variable name that is just shy of 255 characters in length. Oh, and Abacus wrote the offending book. The Commodore LCD Computer system, much like the Commodore 65, was a product that never reached the market. Do you remember this pint-size CBM machine? Q $163) How many keys were on the CLCD keyboard? A $163) 72 keys, including 8 function keys and 4 separate cursor keys. Q $164) What does LCD in the Commodore LCD stand for? A $164) Liquid Crystal Display. Q $165) Was an internal modem to be includes? A $165) Yep, A 300 bps auto dial/auto answer modem. Q $166) Like the Plus/4 the CLCD unit had integrated software. What programs were included? A $166) As referenced in $158, there are 8 integrated programs: Word Processor File Manager Spreadsheet Address Book Scheduler Calculator Memo Pad Telecommunications Package Q $167) How many batteries of what type did the CLCD use for power? A $167) 4 AA alkaline batteries. Q $168) Approximately how much did the CLCD unit weigh? A $168) 5 pounds. Q $169) What version of BASIC was to be included with the CLCD computer? A $169) 3.6. It contained all of Basic 3.5 plus a few extras. Q $16A) The CLCD unit contained a port that could be used with a Hewlett-Packard device. What did the device do? A $16A) An HP bar code reader. Q $16B) What microprocessor did the CLCD unit utilize? A $16B) The 65C102 CPU. This CPU was built using the 65C02 core from Western Design Center, who licenses the popular 65C816S CPU as well. CBM licensed this chip at little or no cost as a result of a lawsuit settlement between WDC and CBM over 6502 architecture patent infringements. Q $16C) In addition to the usual inclusion of standard Commodore ports, what two industry standard ports were included on the CLCD? A $16C) Centronics Parallel (printer) port, and an EIA-232 (RS-232C) port. Q $16D) How much RAM did the CLCD computer include? A $16D) 32kB of battery backed RAM. Q $16E) How many pixels are on the LCD screen on the CLCD machine? A $16E) 480 x 128 or 61440 pixels Q $16F) How much ROM did the CLCD computer contain? A $16F) 96kB of ROM, which held the OS and the integrated programs. Q $170) What text is displayed on the screen of a Commodore 128 upon bootup? A $170) The following text is centered on either the 40 or 80 column screen: COMMODORE BASIC V7.0 122365 BYTES FREE (C)1985 COMMODORE ELECTRONICS, LTD. (C)1977 MICROSOFT CORP. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED Q $171) How many bytes free does a Commodore 128 have on powerup? A $171) As shown above in Q $170, 122365 bytes. Q $172) On the Commodore B-128 series, the bell beeps at the right margin. What column is the default right margin on the B-128? A $172) Column 70. Q $173) When a Commodore C64 is hooked up to a 1541 and an MPS 801 printer, everything is powered up and connected correctly, and the floppy won't load. What is wrong? A $173) The printer is offline. Put the printer on-line, and the floppy will operate correctly. Q $174) How do you access the "hidden message" in the C128DCR? A $174) One brute force way: While in the machine language monitor, type: m f63f5 f640b Q $175) Some of you may remember the Commodore Magic Voice cartridge. If so, how many words was in the base unit's vocabulary? A $175) 235 Q $176) Who write the 3+1 software bundled with the Commodore Plus/4 in ROM. A $176) Tri Micro wrote the code, and created a version for the C64. It turns out that the 3+1 software included with the Commodore Plus/4 was originally designed to be but one of the many choices for bundled software with the 264. When the focus changed, 3+1 became the only software bundled, and some assumed Commodore had written it. (Ref. RUN April 1985:43) Q $177) The BASIC extension "Simon's BASIC" was created by whom? A $177) David Simons (Ref: Commodore Power/Play April/May 1985:56-7) Q $178) Simons' BASIC was influenced a lot by what other computer manufacturer's BASIC? A $178) Hewlett Packard. (Commodore Power/Play April/May 1985:56) Q $179) How many commands does Simons' BASIC add to the Commodore 64? A $179) 114. (P/P Apr/May 1985:57) Q $17A) In the United Kingdom, there was an extension to Simons' BASIC developed by David. Among other things, what major complaint about the original BASIC extension does it address? A $17A) Renumbering GOTOs and GOSUBs when renumbering a program. Q $17B) In the Commodore Plus/4 File Manager, there exists two bugs, which show up if you have over a certain number of records. What is this magic number? A $17B) When merging over 255 records in the Word Processor, a printout might stop early int the file and continually reprint a single record, or entering one record might trash another record. (RUN April 1985:43) Q $17C) Commodore Semiconductor Group (CSG) manufactured an 8500 IC. What common IC number is this IC functionally equivalent to? A $17C) The 6502. The change in number owes more to a change in manufacturing process than anything else. Q $17D) How many BASIC commands were included in BASIC 3.5, not including the monitor commands? A $17D) 80. (RUN November 1984:37) Q $17E) On the Commodore VIC-20, 64, and C16 keyboards, what row and column pins on the keyboard connector does the letter D correspond to? A $17E) Row 2 Column 2. (RUN July 1984:109) Q $17F) What is special about the keys in Row 4 of the hardware keyboard matrix? A $17F) Column 2-4 spell out CBM. (RUN July 84:109) Q $180) Most people know what CPU is in a Commodore disk drive, but what CPU powers the venerable CBM 1525 printer? A $180) You had better sit down.... The 1525 is powered by an Intel 8039 8-bit microcontroller. Actually, this isn't so hard to believe, since Commodore didn't actually develop the printer, but used a Seikosha GP-100 printer mechanism for the unit, and most likely contracted Seikosha to develop the firmware. Q $181) What is the maximum number of characters per line on a CBM 1520? A $181) 80. 22 columns per inch times 3.63... inches of usable paper width. Q $182) Commodore rarely manufactured its own printer mechanisms. Who's mechanism did Commodore use in the DPS 1101? A $182) The Juki 6100 printer mechanism. Q $183) What is unique about the DPS 1101 printer? A $183) It is daisy-wheel, but Commodore made other daisy-wheel printers. what makes it unique is that it is the only such serial daisy-wheel made for the Commodore line. Q $184) Which was the first Commodore modem with DTMF dialling capabilities? A $184) The first to offer some kind of DTMF support was the Commodore 1660 modem. The modem itself didn't provide any DTMF support, but included a cable to allow the SID to output to the phone line. Thus, with the SID's ability to reproduce DTMF tones, the modem could tone dial. Note that this was only possible on the C64, which has a SID. The first mode to INCORPORATE DTMF into the modem itself was the 1670. Q $185) Which was the last Commodore 8-bit peripheral drive developed? A $185) By develop, we are referring to actually produced models. With that definition, the 1581 holds this title. For models not actually produced, The prototype 1590-D-1 3.5" 1.44 MB model owned by Jack Vander White probably was the last under development. Q $186) What is the maximum size of RAM available for use for program storage on an expanded VIC-20 A $186) 3583 bytes are available for BASIC programs and their variables. Q $187) One of the most poular magazines for computers in the 1980's was COMPUTE! What Commodore content magazine did it give birth to? A $187) COMPUTE!'s Gazette. Q $188) In a strange twist of irony, COMPUTE! was itself descended from a Commodore content magazine. Which one? A $188) The PET Gazette. The PET Gazette was started in April 1978 by Len Lindsey. For the first year, the magazine was sent out for free to at times 4000 people. In August of 1979, Small Systems Services, headed by Robert Lock, purchased the magazine from Len and changed the name to COMPUTE. The focus changed from PETs to all computer systems at that time. The first issue of COMPUTE. appeared in the Fall of 1979. It seems the relationship between Len Lindsay and Robert Lock was less than ideal, but I refer readers to INFO #15, page 8 for the scoop. Q $189) COMPUTE! underwent a name change very shortly after introduction. What subtle change was made to the name? A $189) COMPUTE. changed to COMPUTE! Notice the change? Q $18A) How were LOADSTAR and Commodore Microcomputing-Power/Play once connected? A $18A) In the mid 1980's, LOADSTAR distributed the type in programs for both magazines in the disk magazine. Q $18B) What is the fastest Commodore ever clocked a 6502 or derivative CPU in a machine? A $18B) The CSG65CE02 CPU, clocked at up to 3.54 MHz in the Commodore 65 (64DX) prototype. Q $18C) Name one byte that yields the same character when printed and poked to a Commodore screen. A $18C) Any byte between 32 and 63 will produce identical results. Q $18D) Quick, which chr$ value flips to uppercase/lowercase mode? A $18D) chr$(14) Q $18E) Quicker, which chr$ value flips it back to uppercase/graphics? A $18E) chr$(142) Q $18F) How do you get INPUT to not display a question mark? A $18F) open 1,0:input#0,a$ Q $190) In reference to Commodore, what does TOI stand for? A $190) The Other Intellect. Evidently, it was the computer the CBM engineers were working on before the VIC-20 project. The name sounds like it was dreamed up after the fact. In either case, this machine might have been the "Color PET" mention in _The Home Computer Wars_ that Chuck Peddle was designing before company shifted to the VIC architecture. Q $191) Name two values that, when poked to the screen, will yield the identical character appearance. A $191) 32 and 96 or 160 and 224. Space and reverse space. 103 and 106 or 101 and 116. Left and right lines. Q $192) What chr$ codes lock out and re enable the shift/commodore keyboard flip from uppercase to lowercase on the VIC-20? A $192) chr$(8) and chr$(9), respectively. Q $193) What chr$ codes lock out and re enable the shift/commodore keyboard flip from uppercase to lowercase on the C64? A $193) chr$(8) and chr$(9), respectively. Q $194) What chr$ codes lock out and re enable the shift/commodore keyboard flip from uppercase to lowercase on the C128? A $194) chr$(11) and chr$(12), respectively, while in 128 mode. Q $195) On CBM machines prior to the VIC-20, what chr$ code outputs the same character as chr$(44), the comma. A $195) 108. Q $196) Is the character described in $195 of any use? A $196) To put commas in strings read via INPUT. Remember, INPUT treats a comma (chr$(44)) as a delimiter between input fields, but chr$(108) does not produce the same effect, so you could replace 44 with 108 in data written to disk, and read it in with INPUT. Q $197) The speed of Commmodore BASIC increased dramatically after the first OS upgrade in 1979. Why? A $197) Jim Butterfield supplies us the answer: "The original PET 2001 suffered from the same kind of "screen sparkle" that was later seen in the early Commodore 64. So the original code would write to screen memory only during the "refresh" period; that really slowed down the speed of output to the screen. By the time the first revised PET came out, the screen sparkle was solved, and characters were delivered to the screen with no wait. (The new operating system also did a massive relocation of system variables, and used zero page very heavily, to the dismay of home programmers. When asked about this, Commodore pointed proudly at the "new, higher speed". But in fact it was the screen reorganization that caused 95% of the improvement)." --Jim Related to this question is $00C, which implies that the "sparkle" problem was fixed in the original PETs, so some people increased the performance of the original PET by setting the RETRACE line mentioned above to an output, which fooled the system into thinking the video was ALWAYS in RETRACE mode. Q $198) COMAL, a programming language available for Commodore computers, was created by whom? A $198) Borge Christensen and Benedict Lofstedt, although Borge is given the most credit. Q $199) At the 1980 COMDEX, Commodore PETs proved instrumental during a crisis. What happened? A $199) The following is excerpted from _The Whole PET Catalog_, page 21: "PET PROVEN USEFUL" During the 1980 MGM Grand fire in Las Vegas, Commodore moved its entire COMDEX '80 booth dowstairs to help track rooms, guests, etc. According to _InfoWorld_, 7 PETs with OZZ data-bases (predecessor to SILICON OFFICE) were used for two straight days. Local police agreed they could not have kept of the guests as well as the PETs did. Also, untrained operators quickly learned the system. In the crisis, PET was both powerful and useable. Q $19A) Who designed the PET/CBM 8032 computer? A $19A) Bill Seiler, the able assistant to Chuck Peddle, designed the unit. Q $19B) What was the "cursor gone out to lunch" bug in the first PETs? A $19B) No answer available yet (I can't find my notes!) Q $19C) On a PET/CBM (early models), what will "POKE 14,1" do? A $19C) If done immediately prior to an INPUT, the poke will suppress the question mark prompt. Q $19D) What version of BASIC would not utilize disk drives? A $19D) BASIC 1.0 Q $19E) Who is Lyman Duggan and why is he important? A $19E) He is one of the founding fathers of the Toronto PET User's Group (TPUG), along with Jim Butterfield. Q $19F) Jim Butterfield notes to me that he received plenty of help in creating the first PET memory map (Q $0D8) from the Sphinx group, who published critical information in their early newsletters. How did Commodore influence the name of the group? A $19F) The name "Sphinx" was chosen because of the way early PETs resembled the Great Sphinx, the Lion with the head of a pharoah. Q $1A0) Commodore produced an assembler for the 128 called HCD65. What does HCD stand for? Q $1A1) Who wrote most of RAM DOS? Q $1A2) What is the name of the first C64 disk copy program? (hint: it sported a "gas gauge".) Q $1A3) What was the case color of the original Commodore 64s? Q $1A4) There are at least two ways to enter 64 mode from 128 mode on a C128: go 64 and sys 65357. They produce the same result (64 mode), but they differ in at least one noticable way. How? Q $1A5) What CPU powers the B-128 computer system? Q $1A6) What type of drive mechanisms are in the D series hard drives from Commodore? Q $1A7) Commodore produced a 16kB RAM expander for the Commodore VIC-20. What is its model number? Q $1A8) Commodore produced at least one disk drive with an optical track one sensor. Which drive? Q $1A9) The Commodore PET series used the IEEE bus to communicate with peripherals. Each peripheral had a unique ID. What range of IDs are supported by the PET? Q $1AA) Many people have developed Commodore software with the PAL assembler. What does PAL stand for? Q $1AB) Many people remember Compute's Gazette. This magazine is best known for the word processor program it shared with thousands of subscribers. Name the program? Q $1AC) In some 6502 assemblers, the opcode "bge" is available. It stands for "branch if greater than or equal to". What more common opcode is this opcode referring to? Q $1AD) If I wanted to do a "blt" (branch if result less than), what 6502 opcode would i use? Q $1AE) Each Commodore peripheral has a device number, which is associated with a type of device. 8-15 implied disk drive, 4-5 implies printer. These have remained constant from the PET to the C128. However, one peripheral in the PET was phased out and its device number was reused. What device number was reused? Q $1AF) What is the maximum amount of general purpose RAM can one utilize in a stock C64? (I need an exact number here) =========================================================================