When I received my PET 2001 the Japanese character (CHARGEN) ROM was dead. There is no ROM image available on the internet, so I decided I would attempt to create my own using common sense, the VIC 1001 CHARGEN image, and a lot of guesswork. You can see the fruits of my labor below, and you can download the binaries from my FTP site.

I am still hoping to find someone with an original Japanese character ROM so that I can get a copy of it. If you have one in your machine, you can easily help out by typing in the program below and email me some hight resolution photos of the two screens produced. From these photos I will be able to verify if my character set is indeed correct, and modify it if need be. Or if you are so inclined, you can copy the ROM directly using an EPROM burner. You will probably need to build an EPROM adaptor too as many PET ROMs have unusual pin arrangements.

The character set demo program below displays the complete set of symbols that PET/CBM can display on its screen. Type it in and ‘RUN’ it, being sure to include the semicolon at the end of line 210. If you have an 80-column machine, you need to substitute ‘FOR I = 1 TO 11 : PRINT : NEXT’ in line 200.

After running the program, pressing any key will alternate the screen between the standard and alternative character sets.

neoncluster.com

My attempt at a standard set (POKE 59468,12)

My attempt at an alternative set (POKE 59468,14)

Program listing