Table of Contents
NEC PC-8001
The NEC PC-8001 is a home computer developed by NEC. It was released in 1979 in Japan and became one of the most popular personal computers in the country during the early 1980s. It featured a Zilog Z80-compatible NEC uPD780C CPU running at 4 MHz, 16-32 KB of RAM, and Microsoft N-BASIC in ROM. The PC-8001 series includes the original PC-8001 (1979), PC-8001 mkII (1983), and PC-8001 mkII SR (1985).
This system scrapes metadata for the “pc80” group(s) and loads the pc80 set from the currently selected theme, if available.
Quick reference
- Emulator: MAME
- Folder:
/userdata/roms/pc80 - Accepted ROM formats:
.d77,.d88,.1dd,.dsk,.n80,.bin,.zip,.7z
BIOS
| MD5 checksum | Share file path | Description |
|---|---|---|
bios/pc8001mk2sr.zip | MAME BIOS ROM set for PC-8001 mkII SR |
The pc8001mk2sr.zip BIOS file must match the version of MAME used in your version of Batocera. You can verify your BIOS files from the Batocera menu: GAME SETTINGS > MISSING BIOS CHECK.
ROMs
Place your NEC PC-8001 ROMs in /userdata/roms/pc80.
Most PC-8001 software comes as disk images (.d88, .d77) or tape images (.n80). After booting, software on disk may auto-load, or you may need to type commands in BASIC (e.g. CLOAD for tape images or RUN for disk images).
Emulators
MAME
MAME (Multiple Arcade Machine Emulator) is a multi-purpose emulation framework that aims to preserve decades of software history. In Batocera, MAME can be used as either a standalone emulator or as a libretro core in RetroArch.
Since PC-8001 emulation uses MAME, the specific machine variant can be selected:
- pc8001 - Original PC-8001 (1979)
- pc8001mk2 - PC-8001 mkII (1983)
- pc8001mk2sr - PC-8001 mkII SR (1985)
MAME configuration
ES setting name batocera.conf_key | Description ⇒ ES option key_value |
|---|---|
| Settings that apply to all cores of this emulator | |
EMULATOR pc80.emulator | Choose the MAME variant to use. ⇒ MAME mame, libretro: MAME libretro:mame. |
RetroArch
RetroArch (formerly SSNES), is a ubiquitous frontend that can run multiple “cores”, which are essentially the emulators themselves. The most common cores use the libretro API, so that's why cores run in RetroArch in Batocera are referred to as “libretro: (core name)”. RetroArch aims to unify the feature set of all libretro cores and offer a universal, familiar interface independent of platform.
RetroArch configuration
RetroArch offers a Quick Menu accessed by pressing [HOTKEY] + 
which can be used to alter various things like RetroArch and core options, and controller mapping. Most RetroArch related settings can be altered from Batocera's EmulationStation.
libretro: MAME
The libretro version of MAME can also be used to emulate the PC-8001. It uses the same MAME BIOS and ROM sets as the standalone version.
Controls
The NEC PC-8001 is a computer system, so it primarily uses a keyboard for input. A physical USB keyboard is strongly recommended for the best experience.
| Action | Key/Button |
|---|---|
| Type text / input commands | Physical keyboard |
| MAME menu | Tab |
Troubleshooting
Black screen on boot
Make sure the correct BIOS file (pc8001mk2sr.zip) is in the /userdata/bios/ folder and matches the MAME version used in Batocera. Use GAME SETTINGS > MISSING BIOS CHECK to verify.
Software won't load
Try a different machine variant (pc8001 vs pc8001mk2 vs pc8001mk2sr) as some software is only compatible with specific models.
No keyboard input
Ensure your USB keyboard is connected before launching the game.
Further troubleshooting
For further troubleshooting, refer to the generic support pages.