From: K3H (ALBERT SCHOFIELD.)
Subject: TAPE TO DISC ON THE BBC B
Transferring adventure games to disc
can be quite tricky due to the long
length of the main file. TWIN KINGDOM
VALLEY is one such game. This also has
a loader file LVAL which needs to be
CALLed at a different address before
it will work on disc.
TWIN KINGDOM VALLEY is in four parts.
TWIN, TITLE, LVAL and VALLEY?.
The first file TWIN merely sets page
to &E00 and can be dispensed with.
The second file TITLE ia a basic
program so load this in, delete line
225, and add the following lines:-
230 *KEY0 *LOAD LVAL |M *LOAD VALLEY
|M CALL&7A21 |M
240 *FX138,0,128
250 END
If you have the WATFORD DFS then the
*LOAD VALLEY in line 230 can be
changed to *MLOAD VALLEY to download
it, otherwise the file VALLEY will
have to be downloaded to &1000 by
whatever means you choose.
Now, having added the above lines,
save the file to disc as TITLE.
Load in the third file LVAL from
cassette using;- *LOAD""7A00. Then
save the file to disc using:-
*SAVE LVAL 7A00+100.
The last filename VALLEY? contains a
control code but this can be dispensed
with. Transfer this file to disc using
the one block at a time method as
described in a previous article. Save
the file to disc as VALLEY.
Set the load address to &1000. The
execution address can remain at all
zeros.
Chaining TITLE will now load and run
the game. More next month.
From: D5B (Jon Ripley)
Subject: Arc And PC Help
ReplyTo: 20G (Roy Dickens)
I am willing to answer any Archimedes
and PC questions that are posed to me.
My disc magazine, BUC, will not have
Arc/PC only programs, but will address
any questions asked about these
computers.
I can also offer help with many other
computers, including, among others,
the Amstrad, Amiga, Spectrum, and C64.
To: 999 (all members)
From: D5B (Jon Ripley)
Subject: Arc And PC User Groups
ReplyTo: Roy DIckens And Martin Wilson
Over the past few months many people
have approached me with the idea of me
starting up user groups for the PC and
Archimedes computers.
Although I would be very much able to
complete this task and also take on
the responsibility of keeping all the
groups going at once, I must say now
that I lack the computers with which
to do this.
i.e. I don't have a PC or an
Archimedes! (YET!)
However, my BBC User Group disczine
will soon be availiable on 3.5" DFS
and ADFS (see magazine for further
information). This will allow both BBC
and Archimedes owners to subscribe to
the magazine.
The BBC only programs will run under
many of the BBC and 6502 emulators now
available.
To: 999 and D7Y (Andrew Medworth)
From: D5B (Jon Ripley)
Subject: Citadel and Palace Of Magic
Whilst playing Citadel, to jump higher
and higher on the trampolines, just
hold down the up key and the jump key,
each bounce you will jump a little bit
higher if you keep these keys held
down!
I can answer anyone's questions about
Palace Of Magic (about anything); for
beginners I would suggest, funnily
enough, playing the Electron version
of the game since all the keys and
doors are letter coded. The keys and
gates are in the same place as the BBC
version so it is easy to get to know
where the keys go!
To: 999 and D7Y (Andrew Medworth)
From: D5B (Jon Ripley)
Subject: Perfect Disc Copies
Over the years many disc copiers have
come and gone, most of them little
better than the *Backup command we
have all used at some point.
Sadly, the disc protection techniques
that some people used were (and still
are) quite beyond most of the copiers,
even the most sophisticated copiers
will often fail.
The other major gripe about copiers is
that to copy an unprotected disc can
take well over 15 minutes with some
copiers taking over half an hour in
some circumstances.
Disc Duplicator 3 is a bit long winded
for my liking and people who have
copies of it will notice that there
are extra copiers which are only for
specific discs, imagine having an
individual copier for each individual
disc, quite a nightmare to produce or
use!
Of course, there is one major problem
in that they are designed to use the
8721 disc interface that is only found
on the BBC models A and B. Thus ALL
these utilities will fail when used on
anything else, like the Master, B+,
Compact, etc, etc.
The 1770/1772 disc interfaces are not
as sophisticated in some respects as
the original 8721 interface and as a
result unsuspecting buyers will find
that their wonderful new disc copiers
don't work!
The simple answer, which I discovered
after many excruciating hours of
exceedingly slow copying, is that ADI,
will copy even the the best protected
discs whether they are ADFS, DFS,
HADFS, DOS format discs (believe it or
not!) and many other disc formats used
on the BBC!
I have only tried it on the B+, Master
128 and Master Compact so I am not
sure if it works on the BBC A or BBC B.
From: D5B (Jon Ripley)
Subject: MIDI On The BBC
ReplyTo: 3SQ (Tim Parsons)
If you need any help with MIDI,
whether general comments or not, send
them in to me at the BBC User Group.
BBC User Group, 56 Longstone Road,
Eastbourne, East Sussex, BN21 3SJ.
Or telephone: 01323 732597 (Anytime)
From: D5B (Jon Ripley)
Subject: Using BBC Discs On PCs
ReplyTo: D6E (Richard Harker)
There were many BBC disc readers for
the PC, although there are many new
BBC emulators being written for the PC
platform, many of them are unable to
read true BBC format discs.
The best way that you can do this, as
you have an Acorn Archimedes is to use
the much better Archimedes, BBC disc
readers, readily available from many
PD libraries, and copy the files to a
PC format disc on the Arc. From RISC
OS 3 the Arc can format, read and write
PC discs.
From: D5B (Jon Ripley)
Subject: Converting BT PABX Systems
ReplyTo: L1T (Jeremy Stanton)
I wrote this message for issue 51 but
I haven't been able to send it until
now! Jeremy have already discussed
the contents in this message but
others may be interested!
There are many different PABX systems
available and to address the problem
properly it is necessary to know which
system you are trying to convert.
As the line voltage in Egypt is around
20dc lower than in the UK, if you
plugged the system in to the phone
line there almost no chance of it
being damaged by doing so.
Many BT PABX systems will still be
able to work on lines with a 40dc
voltage. In the UK the line voltage
varies from around 50dc to 60dc.
As you are coming into this country
soon, bring the details of the system
you wish to use and either telephone
150 (customer service) or 0800 289690
(technical support) and ask to speak
to someone who can help you. Both
calls are free!
ReplyTo: D6E (Richard Harker)
From: K8G (Jonathan Harston)
Subject: 6502 Co-Pro
Once your 6502 Co-Pro is plugged in,
you then have to tell the Master that
it is there, using:
*CONFIG. TUBE
*CONFIG. INTUBE
Once this is done, it should enter the
Co-Pro whenever you press Break. To
turn off the Tube, use:
*CONFIG. NOTUBE
ReplyTo: D6G (Sprow)
From: K8G (Jonathan Harston)
Subject: 1770 disk controller
The 1770/1772 floppy disk controller
is accessed from software in exactly
the same way as the 8271, ie using
Osword &7F. It would be pointless if
it didn't. That's the whole point of
having an operating system between you
and the hardware. You ask Osword &7F
to read x number of single density
sectors to memory or whatever, and it
does it, regardless of whether it is
talking to an 8271 or a 1770.
However, if you want the really dirty
hardware details, I have the data
sheets for the 1770/1772, and I can
copy them for any interested people
for `1. And yes, I am writing an
update to the Advanced Disk System
Guide to cover the 1770.
ReplyTo: D9F (Gary Scott)
From: K8G (Jonathan Harston)
Subject: Hard disks and BBCs
You say you have a BBC with a 1770
upgrade and want to know if it can use
hard disks.
Well, the 1770 upgrade is a floppy
controller, not a hard disk
controller. Any BBC series machine
can use a hard disk, as it plugs into
the 1MHz expansion port. All the
hardware is in the hard drive casing.
What you need to be able to use it
though is ADFS. DFS cannot access
hard drives. As you have the 1770
floppy controller, you will also be
able to use ADFS disks. The 8271
cannot access the 640k format disks
used by ADFS, though any machine with
any hardware can use HADFS to provide
a ADFS-like filing system.
BBC compatible hard drives are
advertised in the 8BS adverts. You
will need the ADFS rom, which should
only be a couple of pounds as you
already have the 1770 FDC.
Oh, your next message says that you do
have ADFS. All you need then, is a
hard drive.
ReplyTo: D9F (Gary Scott)
From: K8G (Jonathan Harston)
Subject: *AFORM
If the *AFORM command on your utility
disk says 'Wrong machine', then you
have the wrong utility disk. As the
floppy controller is in a different
place in the I/O memory in the BBC and
the Master, Acorn wrote *AFORM
commands specific to the machines.
Why they didn't do the proper thing
and find out what machine it was
running on (Osbyte 0,1) and then look
for the hardware in the approriate
place, I don't know. Anyway, it
sounds like you have the Master ADFS
Utilities disk and are trying to use
it on a BBC. I have both the BBC and
Master ADFS Utilities disks, and I can
send you a copy.