FAQ on echo conference ZX.SPECTRUM

Hello, All!

Q: Which Sinclair emulators are the most convenient and which ones you can get
toys?
A: Convenience is a rather slippery question... And the most popular among the people
are three types of emulator: Lunter emulator, adapted to work with TR-DOS;
UKV v1.2 emulator (also works with real 3D floppy disks);
Shalaev emulator (works with floppy disk images). The last two are our
authors. It was their ability to work with hobet files and tr-dos
that was the impetus for their fairly wide distribution. On them it is quite
easy to process the usual and familiar tr-dos floppy disk.
By the way, the author Nikolay Shalaev has a fidosh address, and even /;)/ reads
echo ZX.SPECTRUM. Its address is 2:5020/378.40

Q: What kind of files are with the extension *.$b, *.$c?
A: Hobet file. That is, a file copied by the hobeta program from a tr-disk floppy disk. The letter most often denotes belonging to some type. (.$w is text in Sinclair's ZX-Word format,
.$s is a picture for a screen printer...) The extension in principle can be
anything. It depends on the authors of the program that uses these files.
A: (Michael Kondratyev 2:5030/362.1) Its (hobet file) structure:
The first 13 bytes are an exact copy of the hardcode header. Next are two bytes of length
in sectors; because sheis a multiple of 256, then the first is always zero, and the second is
the number of sectors. And the last two bytes are the checksum. It is calculated
simply - all the previous 15 bytes are summed up, the number is multiplied by
257 and the sum_of_numbers_from_0_to_14 is added, i.e. 105.
In the procedure on the Z80 Asm:
; to input de = header address
ld hl,0
ld b,15
m1: ld a,(de)
add a,l
ld l,a
jr nc,m2
inc h
m2: inc de
djnz m1
add a,h
ld h,a
ld c,105
add hl,bc ; hl = Hobeta sum

Q: And the extension .$z?
A: Hobeta file, packed on the Spectrum with the zxzip program (by Michael
Kondratyev), which has become the de facto official packager of programs for ZX.
To unpack it, you need zxunzip. The author still wrote zxunzip
for IBM. There is an analogue of zxzip on IBM, but in an obscene form.

Q: People. Help pls. how to read this format .
A: Dmitry Grigoryev (2:5020/689.31):
Yes. Do you have one or more files with a .$ extension? How to launch them
depends on the existing emulator, one way or another supporting
TRDOS format (formats similar to .z80 or .tap will not help - now
most programs have sub-loads, you can’t automatically convert them to tap)
Let’s say the file name is online80.$b ;-)

Option1. You need a Z80TRDOS emulator and hobeta and hofrmt utilities.
1) Take a floppy disk, insert it into drive A and format it:
hofrmt a: /80d
2) Launch hobeta - copy online80.$b to this floppy disk with the F5 key.
3) Launch z80trdos.
4) In the menu that appears, select the TR-DOS item and enter RUN "ONLINE80"
Note: to work with 3-inch disks, you need special versions
of utilities.

Option 2. You need the Shalaev emulator and the zcop utility.
1) Create a disk image and copy the program to it:
zcop trdos.trd online80.$b
2) Launch the emulator with the “inserted” image:
spectrum trdos.trd
[or in the emulator using F5 after launch, select the disk image :IG]
3) Click “Run emulator”
4) Similar to step 4 of option 1

Option 3. You need a UKV emulator and the zcop utility version no lower than 1.0
1) Create a disk image and copy the program onto it:
zcop -f trdos.fdi online80.$b
2) Launch the emulator with the “pasted” image:
sp_emu -vatrdos.fdi
3) Similar to step 4 of option 1

If there are several files, you need to copy them all in a logical
order :(
[but this is not always a necessary parameter :IG :)]

Q: Who has a converter for .Z80 files to .$* and vice versa.
A: (Vyacheslav Mednonogov, 2:5030/461.12):
Quick conversion.z80 into the magic file format is done as follows:
-load UKV 1.x
-press ESC
-select snapshot type = z80 (in the first menu)
-load snapshot name.z80 (in the same menu)
-press F9 to continue working in the emulator
-press F10 (analogous to the magic button)
-all

(I’ll add: if you need to convert to .z80 in particular, then
after downloading UKV 1.x and running the desired program in it (from a floppy disk or disk image)
a similar sequence is performed, only after
selecting the type of snapshot and entering a name you need to save it. Also
the Lunter emulator allows you to save a snapshot. And for converting
hobet - .z80 requires a version of the Lunter emulator with tr-domain support.)

Q: What kind of file with the .fdi extension?
A: An image of a tr-dos disk in the UKV emulator format. You can work with it in the same way
as with .trd using zcop v1.2. There is also a utility from Mikhail
Kondratiev fdi2trd, designed for converting from one disk image
to another.

Q: The UKV emulator (the launched file is named sp_emu) to a floppy disk in the drive
swears, saying no disk, although it sees the hobeta perfectly...
A: (Ilya Vasilyev 2:5030/461.22) It’s just that on fast cars for UKV you need to
delay the drive promotion, i.e. you need to launch it with
the -d key (and here you need to enter a number from 1 to 255 - timedelays);
For example, on the 133rd stump, UKV is launched only with the key -d255
sp_emu.exe -d255
Another problem may be in wIN 95, it is Mazda that controls all direct
access to the disks (even if it itself is not loaded, then the enti functions for it
runs dos 7.0 which the above-mentioned Mazda installs instead of others)
Sometimes this option helps: boot from the disk on which
the system from dos 6.22 or similar is installed, completely bypassing all configs and start
subj with the -d key (see above).

Q: How to get a clean file disk image (.trd) for the Shalaev emulator?
A: Use zcop by Rick Murray. Running with the name of a non-existent
(*)disk image file creates one. Then you can simply copy this file.
There is also a small program from Mikhail Kondratiev (trdisk.com),
which is designed to format a disk image.

Q: We have Shalaev emulator, blank disk image (.trd), how to write a hobet file to it?
A: Use zcop. Namely - zcop name.trd 1.$c 2.$c ... Where name.trd is
(*)the name of the disk image file. 1.$c - names of hobet files.

Q: Is there a utility that doesreverse action - extracts files *.$b, *.$c, etc. from *.trd
?
A: Oh... Use zcop. zcop name.trd extracts all files from the disk image
(*) into the current directory.
Although you can go the other way. We drop the disk image with an emulator (until 2.04
this was possible...) onto a disk formatted for tr-dos 5'25, then using hobeta
we copy the necessary files to ms-dos

Q: In August 1996, Enlight'96 was held in St. Petersburg - a party of demomakers.
For the first time, the Specrum platform was presented there. The results
shocked the world. :) But where can I get all the works that took part
in zx-compo? Preferably Internet servers...
A: (Peter Sobolev 2:5030/84)
All releases are at ftp.enlight.ru/pub/demos/enlight96/zx
Results and other information - www.enlight.ru

Q: Is there a Russian ZX-oriented FTP or WWWсервер?
A: (Sergei Novikov 2:5020/689.1; Dmitry Grigoryev 2:5020/689.31)
http://www.geocities.com/hollywood/8003
ftp.ogre2vsk.edu.lv/acid-nature/speccy/
http://www.uniyar.ac.ru/~fantom/museum/zx/
A: (Alexey Ivanov 2:5020/689.100):
www.corbina.ru/~recalder/spectrum/
www.chat.ru/~fatality
www.chat.ru/~liroy
www.uniyar.ac.ru/museum/spectrum/

Q: Are there any files dedicated to the ZX-Spectrum?
A: Yes. This is fileha SPECTRUM. Its moderator is Nicolas Rodionov
(2:5030/25.0). Distributed in St. Petersburg, Moscow and several other
regions.
A: (eug...@mavlin.vt.rovno.ua (Tyukaev Eugene Vladimirovich):
there are a lot of questions about faeha for the Spectrum, well then
I'm ready to make you happy! after a long and persistent search, I found a ftp
on which many files are stored, including SPECTRUM, here it is:
ftp://bbs.ogo.ru/spectrum/*.*

Q: I can’t even read a single Spectrum disc. :( Help me!
A: Well, what can I say... A multicard on IBM is not perfect. :(
The recommendations are as follows - use FUT (this is on the Spectrum), do not
format in fast, not in turbo. Or you can use DCU 2.32. It is possible
to also format disks under tr-dos on IBM with hoformat. If this
is not helps, try sealing half of the index
hole on a 5'25 floppy. In some cases it helps.

Q: Has anyone connected a Spectrum floppack to a 5.25? And it's (infectious)
800 kilos, hence all the difficulties with connecting,
then describe the process itself in all details.
A: (Evgeny Milun). 2:5057/18.73)
In order for the 720th floppy drive to work normally on the IBM, the first thing is to
unhook the 2nd leg... The second thing is to return the jumpers to their normal state,
the same as they were on the Spectrum. The third thing is to set them in some BIOSes. "5'25 drive 1.2Mb".

Q: Is it possible to connect a 3.5" drive to the Speccy? What improvements are needed?
A: (Danil Ermakoff 2:5080/43.30) Yes, a 3.5" drive connects to the Speccy
without any problems, just install the appropriate connectors on the
controller cables andnutrition. Don't forget that you need to use
720kb floppy disks (without the hole on the right side of the floppy disk), or cover
this hole on a 1.44Mb floppy disk. It is possible that you will also need
to ground the 2nd pin in the drive connector (DD/HD switching), but
everything works OK for me even without this!

Q: HoBeta refuses to read/write 3.5" disks. What should I do?
A: (Danil Ermakoff 2:5080/43.30) Indeed, at the whim of the author, HoBeta
cannot work with disks 3.5". Fortunately, this problem is solvable
not simply, but very simply, just replace one byte, and so:
HoBeta v2.15 unpacked length - 48014. At offset #0000B7C2 we replace
#01 with #04, and that’s it! And remember: for normal operation, HoBet's disks on
Speccy must be formatted with DCU 2.32, FUT or
similar programs, but not with the DOS format"xxxxxxxx" command!

Q: When I assembled Leningrad, I have since written quite a large
number of programs for my Speccy, and they all remained on cassettes.
How to process programs on IBM cassette tape?
A: (From the Zart doc by Rick Murray):
ZART allows you to work with a tape recorder connected to the LPT port,
for example, copy from a tape to .tap format. And you can process .tap
on the Lunter emulator or use the same ZART or others
utilities for translation into hobeta. In general, I recommend using ZART
for such purposes.

Tape recorder adapter diagram for IBM PC.
Borrowed from G. A. Lunter.
LPT
Out 10k 120k
<─────██████─────■─────█ █████───────────────────■ PBO (2)
│
═╪═
│ 4n7
─┴─ ┌───────■ +5v (16)
│
To tape recorder 4k7 ▐█▌
▐█▌
│
25k ▐█▌ ____
▐█▌<──■──■ BUSY (11)
In 330 680n │ │
>─────────██████────────Ґ ───────────────┼────┘
│
■───────■ PE (12)
│
│
LPT connector means ■───────■ GND (19)
25-pin, i.e. which sticks out in the │
computer. In and Out─┴─
with t.z. computer. Those. the output of the tape recorder is connected to In
┌───────■ (1)
│
└───────■ (10)

(*)
Notes: zcop's author Rick Murray has released a new version zcop, which also works
with disk images of the UKV emulator (sp_emu), there are some differences
from the first option. and therefore read the documentation on it, it is a very useful activity. :)

With all kinds of regards and wishes.
Igor.

P.S. Not all answers have been personally verified by me, because if there is anything, I’m glad to hear
additions/corrections.
... The Phoenix bird was reborn from the ashes, but crowed.

IG> Q: ل إسشط جة صشةجةشء, ثدشدpءر ؤإجءإش دآpءشخدإ ؤإتسش×ةإ - ×ظؤإجرإش ةع *.trd
IG> ئءتجظ *.$b, *.$c ة ش.ؤ.?
IG> A: ïب... ًدجطعصت zcop. zcop name.trd ×ظشءسثة×ءإش ×سإ ئءتجظ ةع دآpءعء ؤةسثء

^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^ صسشءpإجد

ٌ خإ ذpدفءہسط,
Dovgaluk Pavel [َةسشإحء ٍéôي MUST DIE]
... ëصذجہ tagline. Hإؤدpداد.

IG>> Q: Is there a utility that does the opposite - extracts from
IG>> *.trd
IG>> files *.$b, *.$c, etc.?
IG>> A: Oh... Use zcop. zcop name.trd pulls out all files from the image
IG>> disk

PD> ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^ outdated

Not outdated, but what is needed, the rest is from the evil one ;)

__ With cre...@online.nsk.su
__/// Best 39:245/1.0@amiganet
\XX/ Regards 2:5000/28.19@fidonet

__ With cre...@online.nsk.su
__/// Best 39:245/1.0@amiganet
\XX/ Regards 2:5000/28.19@fidonet