u64deck v1.9.0 — Release Candidate 13
Pre-release
This is a release candidate — it's been tested on real hardware and it's solid in day-to-day use, but it's up here so people can give it a proper shakedown before I call 1.9.0 final. If something misbehaves, open an issue on the repo, or just drop me a comment or a DM and I'll log it. Genuinely, that's what an RC is for.
What's the big deal with this one
1.9.0 is all about finding your Ultimate and getting out of your way. You shouldn't have to know its IP address or fiddle with settings — you open u64deck, it goes looking, it finds the machine, and it works out the best way to talk to it.
The main stuff
It finds your Ultimate for you. Hit the Finder and it scans the network, spots your Ultimate, and shows it as a single device with both its Ethernet and Wi-Fi addresses (Ethernet's the recommended one). Doesn't matter if one interface is up or both.
Split routing. If your Ultimate's on both Ethernet and Wi-Fi, u64deck keeps the video, audio and commands on Ethernet — that's where streaming has to live — but sends the chatty status polling over Wi-Fi, which is quicker. You'll see "Ethernet · REST via Wi-Fi" in the header when that's happening. This works around a firmware thing where wired REST gets slow if Wi-Fi is also switched on (more on that below).
Mount & Run that actually runs. It waits for the machine to be ready before it starts typing, so a slow cartridge boot can't swallow the LOAD and a slow load can't lose the RUN. Click it, walk away, the program's running.
It knows streaming needs Ethernet. Streaming's wired-only (firmware, not me), so if you're on Wi-Fi it tells you straight and gives you a one-click Switch to Ethernet — everything else keeps working in the meantime.
SID Jukebox with instant HVSC search, plus "More like this" and Radio, both powered by Chris Gleissner's SIDFlow — cheers Chris. Stop behaves itself across firmwares now too.
Multi-disk handling groups disk sets automatically and pops a swap bar on screen for those "please insert disk 2" moments.
What it's been tested on
- Ultimate 64 on firmware 3.15 — full CIA1 matrix input, so games, cracktros and the Ultimate menu all see the remote keys.
- Older Ultimate 64 firmware and every current C64 Ultimate firmware (official, Spiffy, prkl) — Legacy keyboard-buffer input. Fine for BASIC, menu navigation and most things.
You don't set any of this — it figures out what the machine can do when it connects and adapts on its own.
Running it
Grab u64deck.exe from the assets below, drop it in its own folder, double-click, open http://localhost:8064, and hit "Select Ultimate…". No Python, no config, no IP to type in.
One tip on your network
If you want the smoothest ride, plug your Ultimate in over Ethernet and — if you're able to — turn Wi-Fi off on the device. There's a firmware quirk where having Wi-Fi enabled makes the wired REST side sluggish. u64deck copes with both being on (that's what the split routing is for), so it'll work fine either way — but Ethernet-only is the setup I'd recommend, especially if anything feels laggy. The README goes into it if you're curious.
Full technical changelog's in CHANGELOG.md if you want the gory detail. Last public build was Public Beta 10.4 — this candidate rolls up everything since, mainly the whole discovery and split-routing effort.