From: K3H (ALBERT SCHOFIELD)
Subject: TAPE TO DISC ON THE BBC B
When transferring some games from
tape to disc, it may all seem fairly
straightforward, but when it has been
finally transferred to disc and then
run, it doesn't work. Then you have to
start again and find out why. One such
game is REPTON 2 from the Superior
collection volume two.
REPTON 2 is in three parts; REPTON2,
REPTONA and REPTONB. The first part
REPTON2 just puts up a screen and can
be discarded. The other two parts are
both locked but still work when
unlocked.
When the second part REPTONA is
transferred to disc and then *RUN, it
re-enters the tape filing system and
comes up with the searching message.
So you then start to search through
the file for the usual A9 8C A2
sequence as I described in an earlier
article and when found, the 8C altered
to 20 (space). The file is again *RUN
but the searching message still comes
up. The reason for this is because the
file is encoded and the A9 8C A2 is
just a red herring. The numbers to
look for are EB CE E0. When decoded
they become A9 8C A2. The CE needs to
be altered to 6F which when decoded
becomes 20.
You can alter this using a sector
editor but a much quicker way is as
follows.
Using an unlocking utility such as
the one on last months disc, load in
REPTONA using *LOAD""2300. Enter the
following poke:- ?&4214=&6F
Then save the file to disc using
*SAVE REPTON2 2300+2100 43A0
Load in REPTONB using *LOAD""1900
again using the unlocking utility.
Then save to disc using
*SAVE REPTONB 1900+53A0 700 E00
REPTONB will need to be downloaded to
E00 using the downloader of your
choice. Entering *RUN REPTON2 will now
load and run the game. More next
month.
ReplyTo: 999
From: W79 (Jonathan Harston)
Subject: Lost messages
I sent some messages to the issue 52
disk, but some of them vanished. I
think I accidentally sent them
personally to the people I was
replying to instead of publicly to all
members. Anyway, I've tried to
remember most of them here.
ReplyTo: D6G (Sprow)
From: W79 (Jonathan Harston)
Subject: Aries *FX111 Ram Osbyte
OSBYTE with A=&6F (111)
Read/Write Shadow Ram switch
On entry: A=&6F (111)
X determines action as:
Bit 6 - 0 Write switch state
1 Read switch state
Bit 7 - 0 No stack operation
1 Read oper'ns pop from stack,
write oper'ns push to stack
Bit 0 - 0 Select video Ram
1 Select shadow Ram
All other bits are unused and must be
set to zero.
On exit, X indicates the previous
switch state:
Bit 0 - 0 Video Ram
1 Shadow Ram
The Shadow Ram software maintains a
record of past switch states on its
own 8-deep stack. This allows a
program to write the state in order to
perform some operation, and then
restore the previous state
automatically with a read operation.
For example:
LDA #&6F
LDX #&81 Select Shadow Ram, saving
JSR OSBYTE old state on stack
:
:
:
LDA #&6F
LDX #&C0 Read current state,
JSR OSBYTE restoring previous state
from stack
The call can also be used to check for
the existence of the Shadow Ram
software. If an OSBYTE call is
unrecognised, X is always returned as
&FF. So, make a read call that should
return something that isn't &FF to
check:
LDA #&6F
LDX #&40 Read current state
JSR OSBYTE
TXA
BMI no`shadow`ram
BPL shadow`ram
or, in Basic:
DEFFNram`present
LOCAL A%,X%
A%=&6F:X%=&40
X%=((USR&FFF4)AND&FF00)DIV256
=(X%AND128)=0
This returns TRUE if shadow ram
exists, and FALSE if it doesn't.
The Watford Electronics shadow ram
card uses the same OSBYTE, but some
earlier boards use OSBYTE 34 instead
of 111. Also, some early Watford DFSs
use FX111 to select 40 or 80 track
drives instead of *OPT40, *OPT80. So,
when writing selection code, you
should make it as widely compatible as
possible by using the following code:
.RamCall
½ X=action
TXA:PHA:LDA #&22:JSR OSBYTE
TXA:BPL RamCallOk
PLA:PHA:TAX:LDA #&6F:JSR OSBYTE
.RamCallOk
PLA:RTS
½ X=returned state, A corrupted
This tries the old Watford call first,
and if that fails, uses the correct
call. It is best to do it this way
round as the prevents is calling the
Watford DFS fx111.
ReplyTo: D4J (O.Debus)
From: W79 (Jonathan Harston)
Subject: Master Compact Serial Port
The Master Compact Serial Port Chips
are available from Acorn, order code
ADF15,C232. They're about a tenner.
ReplyTo: L1T (Jeremy Stanton)
From: W79 (Jonathan Harston)
Subject: MOS++, etc.
I've been thinking of blowing a
replacement Mega-bit MOS rom,
replacing some of the roms. The main
problem is getting a 128k 28-pin
EPROM. They don't seem to exist. The
rom in the Master is a factory-blown
Rom, so doesn't have a programming
line. My current line of thought is
to use two 64k EPROMs on a small
carrier board.
Also, some of the sideways roms have
MOS code in them:
Rom 15: Terminal Most is MOS code
Rom 14: View MOS from &BA00
Rom 13: ADFS No MOS code
Rom 12: Basic No MOS code
Rom 11: ViewSheet No MOS code
Rom 10: Edit No MOS code
Rom 9: DFS SRam code, and MOS
code from about &B800
What I've been currently looking at is
the following:
Rom 15: Terminal+Utils
Rom 14: HADFS Support + MOS at &BA00
Rom 13: HADFS
Rom 12: Basic
Rom 11: NewView (my extended VIEW)
Rom 10: ANFS with EBTEL code
Rom 9: <spare> with MOS from &B800
HADFS and HADFS Support would give
DFS, ADFS, HADFS, DOSFS and CPMFS.
ReplyTo: D7Y (Andrew Medworth)
From: W79 (Jonathan Harston)
Subject: Printer DIP switches
The printer not line-feeding is not a
problem associated with the 8BS text
file reader, it just reads text files.
When you ask it to print, it just
passes the job on to another program.
The problem is therefore that the
default printer driver supplied with
the 8BS issue disk is not configured
for your printer. It can be altered
with Makelp, but the easiest thing to
do is, when you press P to print, it
gives you a prompt:
Printout with **lp
Change that so it says:
Printout with **lp +
ie, press SPACE, then + before
pressing RETURN. The printer driver
then double-spaces, which on your
printer will give normal spacing.
ReplyTo: D9F (Garry Scott)
From: W79 (Jonathan Harston)
Subject: BBC B Service Manual
I have BBC B/B+ Service manuals
available, as well as some other
publications, both available and in
the pipe-line:
BBC B/B+ Service Manual,
Full-size, A4 `12.00
Half-size, A5 `6.00
HADFS Reference Manual `5.00
The Treaty of Union of the Kingdom of
Scotland and England `1.00
The Yards of Whitby, map `3.00
And in the pipe-line:
BBC User Guide, updated edition
BBC Disk System Guide, covering DFS,
ADFS, Solidisk, Watford, HADFS, you
name it, all in one book
Econet System User Guide
All prices include UK p&p.
ReplyTo: 999
From: W79 (Jonathan Harston)
Subject: Menu Reader
I've made a slight update to the Menu
Reader program, so the output can now
be sent to a disk file suitable for
loading into word processors, etc.
ReplyTo: D8J (John Robson)
From: W79 (Jonathan Harston)
Subject: ADFS vs ANFS
The ANFS won't help or hinder your
disk problem, as that is the Network
filing system. Your ANFS Master must
also have ADFS in it if it is
accessing disks. The *CONFIG. FDRIVE
setting determines the drive speed.
Most modern drives can cope with
FDRIVE 3 which is the fastest. Try
that on both machines, and if the
drives don't work, progressively
reduce the setting until it does.
ReplyTo: 999
From: W79 (Jonathan Harston)
Subject: Telephones
My 'phone number in the contacts list
is now: (0114) 233 2682
D6G
Sprow
999
SUBJECT - SCANNING
Dear All,
Marvellous though BBC hand
scanners are I think flatbed ones beat
them hands down for quality when
scanning photos etc...
If you need anything flatbed scanning
post it to me (see addresses note
elsewhere) along with money equal to
what Chris Richardson would charge.
EDITOR (JUST SUPPLY RETURN POSTAGE AND
MEDIA)
I'll scan it,convert it to a B&W
BBC screen and post it back to you
in a similar manner to Chris.
*ALL MONEY GOES TO 8BS FUNDS*
*I'M NOT STEALING CHRIS' THUNDER*
EDITOR (NO, YOU ARE HELPING, ROBERT!)
Hope this service may be of use to you,
Robert Sprowson.