Posted Thu Jul 18, 2019 6:28 am
Not fully correct.
I’ll quote the english wiki from icomp:
Since the Chameleon emulates an entire C-64, doesn't it degrade the C-64 into a fancy docking station?
No. A lot of the original ICs are still used in cartridge mode. Similar to the CMD SCPU, the Chameleon replaces the following things:
The CPU
The main memory (RAM)
BASIC and Kernal (ROM)
The MMU/Memory mapping (PLA)
Additionally, due to how the VGA output is produced, some tiny details related to the VICII memory fetching also need to be done by the Chameleon. Crucial for the chameleon to work is the CPU being replaced, because this is required to "know" the current state of the processor port ($00/$01). Replacing Memory is needed for the turbo mode to work (the internal memory can only be accessed at 1Mhz).
In particular the following things are not replaced: CIA, SID, VICII, plus most of the glue logic - which is the reason for why it is currently still more compatible in cartridge mode than standalone (where everything runs on the chameleon, of course)