65c02 emulator for the BenEater memory layout implementation

## [RUN IT ONLINE!](https://manuflosoyt.github.io/65c02-SIM/)

Emulated components: CPU, VIA, ACIA, SID, GPU, 32KB RAM, 32KB ROM, 7,5KB VRAM (6,25KB usable by CPU)

· Documentation · Report Bug · Request Feature

🧰 Getting Started

🏃 Run Pre-compiled Binaries

Go to releases and download the latest release (and SDK if needed). Here

Run the Simulator

Run the application and select the binary file you want to run.

📦 SDK

Each release includes an SDK.zip file containing everything needed to develop for this simulator:

• Binaries/: Example C and Assembly programs.
• Linker/: Linker configurations and BIOS.
• GPU/: GPU assets and conversion tools.
• SID/: Sound assets and conversion tools.
• compile-bin.sh: Script to compile programs.
• image-to-bin.sh: Script to convert images.
• midi-to-bin.sh: Script to convert MIDI files.

Windows Users (WSL2)

Since all the provided automation scripts (.sh) are written for Bash, Windows users need to set up WSL2 (Windows Subsystem for Linux) to use the SDK or to compile the project from source.

To install Fedora on Windows 10/11:

1. Open PowerShell or Command Prompt as Administrator.
2. Run the following command:

    wsl --install FedoraLinux-43

3. Open the newly installed Fedora application and configure your user account.
4. Install the requiered dependencies from the prerequisites section bellow.

Once set up, you can run all the commands described below (and in the Build from Source section) directly from the Fedora terminal.

Compile and run assembly or C programs from ./Binaries/ into the output/rom folder:

./compile-bin.sh <program_name>

(Note: This tool automatically handles both .s and .c files, and also the special eater ROM target.)

Convert images to VRAM binary format into the output/vram folder:

./image-to-bin.sh <image_name>

Convert MIDI files to SID assembly code into the output/midi folder:

./midi-to-bin.sh <midi_file>

🛠️ Build from Source

Prerequisites

To compile the simulator from source or use the SDK, you need the following dependencies:

Fedora (dnf)

sudo dnf update
sudo dnf install gcc-c++ ninja-build mesa-libGL-devel mesa-libGLU-devel libX11-devel libXrandr-devel libXinerama-devel libXcursor-devel libXi-devel wayland-devel libxkbcommon-devel mingw64-gcc mingw32-gcc alsa-lib-devel pulseaudio-libs-devel cmake cc65 openssl-devel mingw64-openssl mingw64-openssl-static mingw64-zlib-static wget curl git tar gcc git-core make fribidi-devel pipewire-devel libXext-devel libXfixes-devel libXScrnSaver-devel libXtst-devel dbus-devel ibus-devel systemd-devel mesa-libGLES-devel mesa-libEGL-devel vulkan-devel wayland-protocols-devel libdrm-devel mesa-libgbm-devel libusb1-devel libdecor-devel pipewire-jack-audio-connection-kit-devel libthai-devel liburing-devel zlib-ng-compat-static python3-jinja2 ccache ucrt64-gcc ucrt64-gcc-c++ ucrt64-crt ucrt64-headers ucrt64-binutils ucrt64-openssl-static ucrt64-zlib-static ucrt64-openssl ucrt64-zlib libsndfile-devel ffmpeg-devel ImageMagick dosfstools mtools

Compile and Run Locally

Clone the project

git clone https://github.com/ManuFlosoYT/65c02-SIM

Build for Linux:

Build for Linux:

./build-linux.sh
# Check build errors or force a clean build
./build-linux.sh --clean

Build for Windows (using MinGW):

./build-win.sh
# Check build errors or force a clean build
./build-win.sh --clean

Benchmark room.bin in headless mode (reproducible cycles/s and MHz):

./scripts/compile-bin.sh room
./scripts/benchmark-room.sh --runs 5 --cycles 200000000

Build optimized profiling binary (O3 + symbols + no strip):

./scripts/build-linux.sh --perfdebug
# LTO variant
./scripts/build-linux.sh --perfdebug-lto

Run automated PGO pipeline with room.bin:

./scripts/pgo-room.sh
# Optional local CPU tuning
./scripts/pgo-room.sh --native

👋 Contributing

Contributions are always welcome!

The entire UnitTests/ folder has been AI generated, sorry for the mess. 😅😅

🤝 Contact

@ManuFloso (discord)

Project Link: https://github.com/ManuFlosoYT/65c02-SIM

💎 Acknowledgements

Use this section to mention useful resources and libraries that you have used in your projects.

• Ben Eater
• Obelisk 6502
• Masswerk 6502

⚖️ License & Copyright

The emulator source code (C++) in this repository is licensed under the MIT License.

However, this project includes historical software and derivative works that are subject to their own copyrights:

• Microsoft BASIC (MSBASIC): The assembly files located in Linker/msbasic/ are derivative works of the original Microsoft BASIC for the 6502 (Copyright © 1977 Microsoft). These files are based on the restoration work by mist64/msbasic and the adaptations by Ben Eater.
• WozMon: The file wozmon.s contains the source code for the Apple 1 System Monitor (WozMon), originally written by Steve Wozniak (Copyright © 1976 Apple Computer, Inc.).

These files are included for educational and preservation purposes to demonstrate the emulator's capabilities.