Welcome!

Congratulations! You are the owner of the MEGA65 personal computer, a modern recreation of the Commodore 65. The Commodore 65 was the unreleased successor to the highest selling computer of all time, the Commodore 64.

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The MEGA65 personal computer

Your MEGA65 comes with an excellent User’s Guide that describes the machine’s features, including a command reference for its built-in BASIC programming language. This Welcome Guide is an unofficial supplement to the User’s Guide, intended for new owners.

By following this guide, you will:

  • Explore your MEGA65 right out of the box!

  • Learn important concepts for maintaining your MEGA65

  • Prepare a microSD card for storage and software upgrades

  • Open your MEGA65 to install and upgrade components

  • Update your MEGA65 to the latest versions of the software

  • Learn about features still in development and known issues with the hardware

  • Find out how to learn more and connect with the MEGA65 community

This Welcome Guide will refer to the official User’s Guide, so keep it handy!

Note

Your MEGA65 came with a User’s Guide that was printed in early 2022, even if your computer shipped more recently. The PDF version has been updated since then to describe features recently added to BASIC 65. Download the latest PDF, and see Recently added features in this Guide.

Why a Welcome Guide?

The MEGA65 is brought to you by the MEGA Museum of Electronic Games & Art e.V., a registered voluntary association and non-profit organization. The core team of talented engineers and a community of contributors and patrons made this possible. They continue to improve and refine the capabilities of your upgradable machine.

This unofficial Welcome Guide is intended to help new owners get up and running. It describes common issues that you may encounter and their remedies. These issues may not apply to future versions of the MEGA65 hardware or software, and may not be described by the official documentation. It is based on the author’s own experiences and discussions among new owners troubleshooting these issues.

If you notice anything in this guide that needs updating, or if you discover a topic not covered by the official manual that you feel new owners should know about, please report an issue, email me (I’m Dan), or DM dddaaannn#7325 in the MEGA65 Discord. Thank you!

The MEGA65 personal computer