ACE 1.8
The acidulous CPC/CPC+ emulator.
Copyright © 2011-2014 Philippe Rimauro
All rights reserved.
Introduction - Why and how?
Requirements - What do you need?
Installation - Installation process
Features - What's possible?
Configuration - ACE at your command
Usage - How to use?
Scripts & tools - Going further...
FAQ - Useful advice
Known bugs - Known problems
Future - What to expect next?
History - What's news?
Credits - Who did it?
The official homepage: http://ace.cpcscene.net.
You could also:
* Read our fanzine in form of a wiki (french): http://quasar.cpcscene.net.
* Download CPC/CPC+ games, demos and tools : http://www.cpc-power.com .
* Look at the CPC demoscene's news : http://www.pushnpop.net .
Please note that the English version is a translation of the original French
version and might not be always accurate or complete yet.
You can then refer to the French documentation.
Sorry for the inconvenience.
Introduction
While PC freaks were playing around with many Amstrad CPC emulator, none was
available for MorphOS!
This could not be!
Then, I started my work... and here it is: ACE CPC Emulator.
Moreover, as MorphOS deserves what is best, ACE is not just a small little
CPC emulator; it expects to become the best CPC emulator on any platform
ever!
ACE is not based on an existing emulator and was coded from scratch, using
a real CPC a reference; it is written in C language and its GUI is based on
MUI 4.
Of course, ACE is not complete yet. Nevertheless, you can use almost the
entire CPC and CPC+ softwares without any compatibility issue. And most of
the time it works with a higher quality than the best CPC emulators
available on PC these days!
Requirements
Minimal configuration:
(for ACE to be one frame in overlay)
* MorphOS 2.5 or better.
* 2MB of free hard disk space.
* 8MB of free RAM.
* G4 at 600MHz for CPC emulation (a little bit more for the CPC+).
You will need a more powerful processor if you disable the overlay
(not a good choice!).
Installation
No real installation is needed.
Just copy the ACE drawer where you want.
Note 1: ACE uses the MCC_HexEdit MUI class from Miloslaw Smyk to display
some advanced informations in the secondary windows. If it is not installed,
you will not be able to use then. Anyway it will not affect the basic usage
of ACE.
Note 2: to use the REXX scripts bundled with ACE you need to have
the rexxsyslib.library installed in your LIBS: drawer (if not, the AREXX
commands can be used standalone with the help of RxCmd shell command or
using Lua).
Features
The current version of ACE does not offer all the features I expect yet.
However, most of the games and demos for both CPC and CPC+ are working
perfectly; actually, the quality of the emulation is already often superior
to what the existing big CPC emulators on PC/Windows can produce (enjoy!).
Emulator:
* System:
· Entire CPC and CPC+ range.
· Full Z80 emulation.
· Up to 256 expansion ROMs.
· Up to 512KB of extended memory.
* Video:
· Accurate CRTC emulation (type 1 is almost perfect, others still need
some work).
· Gate Array full emulation (all variants, perfect split rasters
management).
· CPC+ ASIC full emulation (unique quarter-cycle precision).
· CTM644, GT65 and MM12 monitors emulation.
(including dynamic analog behaviours)
* Audio:
· Full and very accurate PSG emulation (AY-3-8912).
· Extremely accurate audio DMA emulation on CPC+.
· Support for Digiblaster/Soundplayer.
* Devices:
· Accurate but incomplete FDC emulation (Format et Scan instructions are
missing).
· Accurate emulation of both floppy disc drives (real rotation speed
computation, manual drive & side switches support).
· CPC+ Cartridge port emulation.
· Emulation of the tape interface through audio files (read only).
· Printer port can be redirected to a file.
· Accurate emulation of the keyboard (including ghost key when pressing
more than three keys at once).
· Both joysticks management (up to three fire buttons) using real devices
plugged on the host machine (using USB or whatever).
· Magnum Light Phaser and Trojan Light Phazer emulation through the mouse.
· Tape to hard disc wrapper to access the host's files directly from the
CPC operating system.
Graphical interface:
* Simple and modular configuration of the CPC to emulate using tool types
(from Ambient) or arguments (from CLI).
* Ability to change the CRTC type, the Gate Array version or the screen
monitor model on-the-fly without having to reset the running program.
* SNA and DSK files management (all of them !) with automatic
on-the-fly detection and fix of the corrupted DSK.
* CPR files management for CPC+ cartridges.
* Overlay support with real pixel aspect ratio.
* Full screen support with the ability to choose the graphic mode
to use in order to get back the 50Hz smoothness if your screen monitor can
do this.
* Maskable interface in both windowed & full screen modes.
* Floppy disc drives LED activity OSD when the interface is not displayed.
* Rich breakpoints management on predefined conditions (HBL, VBL,
interrupt...), on graphical coordinates, on execution addresses, on memory
accesses and on I/O ports accesses (with the ability to use complex
conditions, masks on the break address and/or the break value) with the
option to execute scripts.
* Video beam cursor to see the cathode's ray position while on pause or in
step by step mode.
* Memory editor (management of all RAM and ROM switching, automatic
detection of the character code page depending on the installed firmware ROM).
* Z80 disassembler with highlight on opcodes and fast jump buttons
on branch instructions.
* CRTC editor (full real time read/write access to the registers).
* Z80 editor (full real time read/write access to the registers).
* Gate Array analyzer (palette display, graphic mode, interrupt
internal counter).
* PSG analyzer (played notes, tuning, and a bunch of rich
informations from the current PSG settings).
* Video information window (frequencies, beam ray position...).
* Option to use some keyboard mapping instead of a real joystick when none
is available.
* Screen monitor settings window (type, brightness, vertical hold).
* Sound volume control.
* Online help and MUI's bubbles help available everywhere to help
the beginners
* locales in French and English (including the help).
AREXX interface:
* Lot lot AREXX commands which allow to fully control the emulator and to
manipulate its memory, in order to automate things and more, to use ACE as
a real powerful cross-development station.
Configuration
ACE configuration can be modified using the tool types when launched through
Ambient, or by using simple arguments from a CLI.
Once launched, most of the main configuration options remain accessible
using the "Preferences" menu.
Tool types/Arguments :
* RS=RAMSIZE/K/N : choose the size of the CPC memory. 64KB is the minimum
and 576KB the maximum (64KB of main memory plus 512KB of expansion
memory).
Default value is 128KB (just like a stock Amstrad CPC6128).
* OS=OSVERSION/K : choose the operating system ROMs version to use. Four
versions are existing: version 1 was integrated to CPC464, version 2 to
CPC664, version 3 to CPC6128 and version 4 was embedded in the system
cartridge of 464plus and 6128plus. Practically, any operating system
version is compatible with any CPC model.
Some of the operating system versions are available for different
countries in order to adapt keyboard layout and charset; ACE will load
to one corresponding to your hosting system locale setting if possible.
Versions 1 to 3 are existing for French, Spanish, Danish and English,
version 4 is existing for French, Spanish and English, version 2 is
only available in English.
The operating system is composed of three ROMs:
- the firmware which is the boot ROM,
- the BASIC which is the applicative default ROM,
- the AMSDOS which is the disc ROM (only used on systems equiped with
a floppy disc drive interface).
All the operating system ROMs can be found in the PROGDIR:System/ of ACE.
Moreover, you can also compose the operating system by hand using the
tooltypes FIRMWARE/K, BASIC/K et AMSDOS/K.
By default the version 3 of the operating will be used; it's the one which
is compatible with most of the CPC softwares.
* FW=FIRMWARE/K : choose the firmware ROM to use. It must point to a binary
ROM file of 16384 bytes max (or 16512 bytes if the AMSDOS header is
included).
If the tooltype is not specified then the firmware ROM matching both the
selected version of the CPC operating system (see OSVERSION/K tooltype)
and the locale setting of your host system is used.
By default PROGDIR:ROMs/Firmware_?x.rom will be loaded (where x is the
version number of the operating system and ? a letter for the country).
* BAS=BASIC/K : choose the BASIC ROM to use. It must point to a binary ROM
file of 16384 bytes max (or 16512 bytes if the AMSDOS header is included).
Warning: not any BASIC ROM is compatible with any firmware ROM! You must
use BASIC 1.0 for v1 firmware, BASIC 1.1 for v2 and BASIC 1.2x for v3.
By default PROGDIR:ROMs/Basic_v1.2x.rom is used (where x is a revision
number which depends on the country: 3 for France, 1 for Spain and 0
for any other country).
* CPM=AMSDOS/K : choose the AMSDOS ROM to use. It must point to a binary ROM
file of 16384 bytes max (or 16512 bytes if the AMSDOS header is included).
The AMSDOS is the default ROM #7 which will be replaced by any installed
external ROM #7 (configurable through ROM7/K tooltype).
Warning: not any AMSDOS version is compatible with any firmware ROM! Use
AMSDOS 0.5 for firmware versions 1 to 3 and AMSDOS 0.7 for firmware
version 4. You could alternatively use the excellent PARADOS (of Richard
Wilson) which is compatible with all firmware versions.
By default PROGDIR:System/CPM05.rom will be used for firmware versions 1
to 3 and PROGDIR:System/CPM07.rom for version 4.
* ROM0/K : choose the extension ROM #0 to use. This ROM must be a bootable
ROM which will replace the default BASIC at boot time. It must then be a
background ROM (such as another BASIC, a CP/M or a Hacker).
By default none is installed.
* ROM1/K : choose the extension ROM #1 to use.
By default none is installed.
* ROM2/K : choose the extension ROM #2 to use.
By default none is installed.
* ROM3/K : choose the extension ROM #3 to use.
By default none is installed.
* ROM4/K : choose the extension ROM #4 to use.
By default none is installed.
* ROM5/K : choose the extension ROM #5 to use.
By default none is installed.
* ROM6/K : choose the extension ROM #6 to use.
By default none is installed.
* ROM7/K : choose the extension ROM #7 to use. This ROM is historically the
disc ROM of the CPC (the AMSDOS). To avoid compatibility problems with
some softwares you should always configure a disc ROM at this slot (the
bundled CP/M ROM or the PARADOS replacement ROM).
When provided the internal AMSDOS rom will be invalidated and this ROM #7
will be used instead.
By default none is installed.
* ROM8/K : choose the extension ROM #8 to use.
By default none is installed.
* ROM9/K : choose the extension ROM #9 to use.
By default none is installed.
* ROM10/K : choose the extension ROM #10 to use.
By default none is installed.
* ROM11/K : choose the extension ROM #11 to use.
By default none is installed.
* ROM12/K : choose the extension ROM #12 to use.
By default none is installed.
* ROM13/K : choose the extension ROM #13 to use.
By default none is installed.
* ROM14/K : choose the extension ROM #14 to use.
By default none is installed.
* ROM15/K : choose the extension ROM #15 to use.
By default none is installed.
* A=DRIVEA/K : choose the disc image file to preload in drive A.
* B=DRIVEB/K : choose the disc image file to preload in drive B.
* TAPE/K : choose the tape audio file to preload in tape reader.
* SNA=SNAPSHOT/K : choose the snapshot file to preload into the CPC.
* CPR=CARTRIDGE/K : choose the cartridge file to preload into the CPC+
Note: CPC+ emulation mode is forced at startup when a cartridge to preload
is specified.
* FILES/K/M : give a list of files to preload into ACE.. The list can
contain any type of file, disc image, audio file, snapshot file or
cartridge file ; ACE will load them together depending on their type.
Si several disc image files are given in the list, the first one will be
loaded in the drive A and the second one in the drive B, all other disc
image files will be ignored. For other file types, only the first one of
each type will be used, the other ones are ignored.
* PLUS=CPC+=AMSTRADPLUS/S : activate the CPC+ emulation at start-up.
CRTC type 3 and Gate Array version 40489 will be automatically selected
and CRTC and GATEARRAY options are ignored.
* CRTC/K/N : choose the type of CRTC to use. You can change the type of CRTC
at anytime while the emulator is running. Please note that at the moment
only CRTC 1 is fully supported, CRTC 0 is just some compatible mode and
the other CRTC types are not emulated at all.
By default CRTC 1 is used.
* GATEARRAY/K/N : choose the version of the Gate Array to use (possible
values are 40007, 40008 or 40010). You can change the version of the Gate
Array at anytime while the emulator is running.
By default the Gate Array 40010 is used (the latest one).
* BRAND=MANUFACTURER/K : choose the brand of the CPC to emulate. All the
manufacturers planed by Amstrad are possible (ISP, Triumph, Saisho,
Solavox, Awa, Schneider, Orion and Amstrad).
By default Amstrad is used, except for German speaking countries where
Schneider is used.
* 64K=64KEXPMEMSCHEME/S : activate the emulation of a 64Kio-based model
(basically a CPC464, CPC664 or 464 plus). On these models the main RAM is
switched rather than the extension RAM when using non-existing memory
pages.
* NDI=NODISCINTERFACE/S : totally disable the emulation of the floppy disc
drive interface. This way you are able to emulate a stock CPC464 or
464plus. The disc interface car be enanled/disabled at anytime while ACE
is running.
* EP=EMULATEPRINTER/S : by default ACE does nothing with the data sent to
the printer port the the emulated CPC. This option activates the data
capture to a file (by default it is stored into
PROGDIR:Log/ACE_printer.log). You can change the file name with the
option PRINTERFILE.
* PF=PRINTERFILE/K : choose the printer data capture file name.
* DB=DIGIBLASTER/S : activate the emulation of a Digiblaster/Soundplayer
connected to the CPC. This option is disabled by default because the
Digiblaster connects to the printer port; it can produce noise in the
sound when it is initialized/used (which is often the case). The
Digiblaster can be (un)plugged at anytime while ACE is running. It is a
good choice only to plug it when required.
* LD=LIGHTDEVICE/K : activate the emulation of a light gun device through
the mouse pointer. Two models are handled, the Magnum Light Phaser and
the le Trojan Light Phazer (CPC+ specific). Use the argument
MagnumLightPhaser or TrojanLightPhazer to select the one you expect. The
light gun can be (un)plugged at anytime while ACE is running. It is a
good choice only to plug it when required.
* DKB=DKTRONICSBUGS/K : activate the emulation of the DK'Tronics bugs.
When using a DK'Tronics the upper ROM is visible in the area &4000-&7FFF
instead of &C000-&FFFF if it is switched on while RAM pages &4000-&7FFF
and &C000-&FFFF are swapped (&C3 mode of the Gate Array) and the shadowing
of the RAM by I/O ASIC page of the Amstrad Plus is not handled.
* TAP=TAPEAUTOPLAY/S : activate the autoplay feature of the tape reader. You
will no longer have to press play after having inserted a tape. This
option can be enabled ou disabled at anytime while ACE is running.
* THD=TAPE2HD/S : activate the tape to hard disc wrapper which allows you to
directly access the files of your hard disc from the CPC operating system
through the tape interface (by default you will have access to the files
from PROGDIR:Share/). You can change the shared directory using the option
TAPE2HDPATH. This wrapper can be activated/deactivated at anytime while
ACE is running.
* TAPE2HDPATH/K : choose the shared directory through the tape to hard disc
wrapper.
By default "PROGDIR:Share/" is used.
* AV=AUDIOVOLUME/K/N : choose the start-up sound volume. The volume can be
changed at anytime while ACE is running.
By default the volume is at 100%.
* AU=AHIUNIT/K/N : choose the AHI unit to use.
By default ACE uses unit 0.
* NAF=NOAUDIOFILTER/S : by default ACE filters out the frequencies from the
PSG (Programmable Sound Generator) which are not in the audible audio
spectrum (the PSG, aka AY-3-8912, can indeed create sounds up to 62.5kHz
whereas the human ear can only hear frequencies up to 20kHz). Such sounds
cannot be sampled by the audio sound card that might produce bad artefacts
(because of aliasing). If you really have some professional sound card or
if you prefer to rely on the AHI driver filters, you can disable the
embedded filter with this option (generally not a good idea).
* NS=NOSOUND/S : by default ACE plays sounds. This option disable the sound
at start-up. You can change the sound state at anytime while ACE is
running.
* FULL=FULLSCREEN/S : switch ACE to full screen mode at start-up. Full
screen mode can also the switched on/off at anytime while ACE is running.
* ID=SCREENMODE/K/N : by default ACE clones Ambient screen to open its
own screen in full screen mode; it is generally what you expect. Anyway,
you can specify a mode ID to use instead. It can be useful if your screen
supports 50Hz (or 100Hz) frame rate that you want ACE to use in order to
have a smoother display (most CPC games and demo are running at 50Hz).
* NO=NOOVERLAY/S : by default ACE tries to use overlay mode. This option
tells ACE not to do so. Generally overlay should always be preferred
because it is faster and it looks better. Moreover, the software rendering
(without overlay) is limited and should only be used as a last chance. The
overlay mode can also be activated/disabled at anytime while ACE is
running.
* NW=NOWARN=NOWARNINGS/S : by default ACE displays warning messages when bad
DSK or SNA files are loaded. This option disable these messages.
* NSI=NOSNAPSHOTICONS/S : by default ACE saves the snapshots with an icon
(an .info file) representing what is on the display. With this option
these icons will ont be saved anymore.
* NAG=NOANTIALIASEDGRABS/S : by default, ACE saves antialiased screen grabs
using a filter that mimics the actual rendering on a CPC color screen
monitor. With this options no filter will be applied to the grabs.
* OSC=OFFSCREENCOLOR/K/N : when ACE is running windowed or in full screen
mode with a ratio different from the real CPC screen, some margins are
automatically added at the top/bottom or left/right of the display to
ensure the original CPC pixel ratio. With this option you can choose the
color of this border in the form of a 24 bit RGB value.
By default it is a dark grey (0x181820).
* SLC=SCANLINECOLOR/K/N : when overlay rendering is disabled, a very slow
software rendering is used. You can specify here a 24 bits RGB value to
use to fill the odd lines instead of duplicating the even lines into them.
The display will be twice as fast. This option had no effect in overlay
mode.
* MS=MAXFRAMESKIP/K/N : specify the maximum number of frames allowed to be
skipped in a row to maintain a full speed emulation. You should not
usually activate this option but it might be interesting on low-end
configurations.
By default it is 0; which means that frame skipping is forbidden.
* KJ=KEYJOY/S : set this option to use the keyboard instead of a real
joystick 0 ("up", "down", "left", "right", "control" (fire 2), "left alt"
(fire 1), and "left shift" (fire 3) are used). This option can be
activated/disabled at anytime while ACE is running.
* WS=WILDSPEED/S : disable the accurate speed emulation limit for a real
CPC. In this wild mode, the emulator runs at the maximum possible speed on
your computer. However, the relative speed of the emulated CPC chipsets
remains accurate and the emulation quality is not altered. This mode can
be activated/disabled at anytime while ACE is running.
* MR=MAXFRAMERATE/K/N : specify the maximum frame per second to display in
wild speed mode. The greater is this value the slower the wild speed
will be because the display update is very CPU consuming. Also, note that
values greater than the refresh frequency of your monitor (generally 60Hz)
are useless.
The default value is 10.
This option has no effect if the wild speed mode is not activated.
* FD=FASTDRIVES/S : active the fast drive emulation mode of the floppy disc
drives. Track and sector access are done with no delay which makes the
disc read/write operation faster. Warning: this option must be used with
care because it is not compatible with some protected softwares and
demos. This fast drive mode can also be activated/disabled at anytime
while ACE is running.
* CKR=CARTRIDGESKEEPEXTROM/S : disable the automatic deactivation of the
extension ROMs when a CPC+ cartridge is inserted. This deactivation
prevents problems with cartridges incompatible with extension ROMs. For
some reason you might need to disable this behavior (i.e. when using the
original system cartridge instead of the one emulated by ACE).
* CKR=CARTRIDGESKEEPEXTROM/S : disable the automatic deactivation of the
extension ROMs when a CPC+ cartridge is inserted. This deactivation
prevents problems with cartridges incompatible with extension ROMs. For
some reason you might need to disable this behavior (i.e. when using the
original system cartridge instead of the one emulated by ACE).
* LM=LAUNCHMODE/K : choose the launch mode of ACE executable. By
default ACE will ask the user to decide what to do if an instance of ACE
is already running. If the value SINGLE is specified only one instance is
allowed and any new launch attempt will put to front the already running
instance and insert optional media given in parameter. If the value
MULTIPLE is given, a new instance of ACE is started every time.
* UBC=USERBREAKPOINTCOMMAND/K : choose a command to execute every time a
breakpoint is activated. The place holder "%s" can be used to get the
AREXX port name of the ACE's instance.
By default no command is launched.
* DISCSPATH/K : choose the default path to the image disc files for the
file requesters.
By default "PROGDIR:Discs/" is used.
* TAPESPATH/K : choose the default path to the tape audio files for the
file requesters.
By default "PROGDIR:Tapes/" is used.
* CARTRIDGESPATH/K : choose the default path to the cartridges files for
the file requesters.
By default "PROGDIR:Cartridges/" is used.
* SNAPSHOTSPATH/K : choose the default path to the snapshot files for the
file requesters.
By default "PROGDIR:Snapshots/" is used.
* GRABSPATH/K : choose the path where to save the screen grabs.
By default "PROGDIR:Grabs/" is used.
* D=DEBUG/S : no effect in ACE public version.
Usage
In addition to the main window, ACE offers some secondary windows to watch
and alter in real time the emulation behavior. Also, ACE has a hard disc
wrapper and an AREXX interface to make your dreams come true.
Main window - The emulator
'About the emulated CPC' window - We know who you are!
Memory editor - Let's peek and poke!
Z80 editor - Beating heart
CRTC editor - Control the display
PSG analyzer - Sounds and musics
Gate Array analyzer - Colorful CPC!
Video information - Watch the monitor
Z80 disassembler - One more step!
Screen monitor preferences - Brightness and darkness
Breakpoints manager - Pay its right-of-way
Hard disc wrapper - An opened door
AREXX interface - The area of gurus
Main window
ACE is really simple to use; it just acts like a real CPC. Anyway, some tips
are good to know.
Gadgets:
On the top and the bottom of the CPC screen display lie two groups of
gadgets.
The ones on the top let you handle disc, tape and cartridge images using the
different tabs, and loading/saving snapshot files and screen grabs using the
buttons on the right. Some of the tabs might be disabled depending on the
CPC configuration (single floppy disc drive, old generation CPC...).
Moreover, some LED and icons let you know about the disc drives activity and
configuration (forced side B, fast drives mode...).
At the bottom the gadgets let you set the state of the CPC. On the first row
you will find:
- The volume setting.
- The choice of the screen model.
- The choice of the Amstrad CPC type (it will automatically select the
proper CRTC and Gate Array).
- The choice of the CRTC type.
- The choice of the Gate Array version.
- The different buttons to control the emulator (speed, play/pause,
reset).
Keyboard:
The host's keyboard mainly matches the CPC's keyboard. To improve the
comfort, I advise you to use the firmware ROM which matches your keyboard
(that should be the default because ACE chooses the firmware ROM according
to your system's locale configuration):
- Firmware_fx.ROM : French version, good to use with azerty
keyboards, preferably Amiga, Mac or PC Belgium version (azerty PC
French versions unfortunately differs from all others azerty
keyboards).
- Firmware_vx.ROM : English version, good to used with qwerty
keyboards, preferably UK.
- Firmware_sx.ROM : Spanish version.
- Firmware_dx.ROM : Danish version.
In addition to the "f0-f9", "." and "ENTER" keys (which are available from
the numeric pad), some other keys have a specific mapping:
- DEL is on "<-" ("backspace").
- CLR is on "delete".
- COPY is on "left-alt".
- ESC is on the key just above the "tab" key ("->|").
Moreover, some keyboards cannot handle a large number of keys pressed at
the same time. It can be a problem in some particular cases; eg. to activate
the cheat-codes (for example, in Batman The Movie, you must press the keys
"E", "D", "2", "0" and "9" simultaneously to jump to the next level). That's
when the "right-alt" key comes into play. As long as you keep it pressed,
all the other keys you might press (and release) will be kept pressed in the
emulated CPC. To use the previous example, if your keyboard doesn't allow
you to press five keys simultaneously, just keep the "right-alt" pressed and
then press the keys "E", "D", "2", "0" and "9" one by one, et voila! All the
keys will of course be released when the "right-alt" key is released.
In addition to this, some other keys can be used:
- Home has same effect than "control" + "left" (start of line on CPC).
- End has same effect than "control" + "right" (end of line on CPC).
- Page up has same effect than "control" + "up" (start of a BASIC line,
page up under Protext, ...).
- Page down same effect than "control" + "down" (end of a BASIC line,
page down under Protext, ...).
- - from numpad pause the emulator.
- + from numpad restart the emulator.
- * from numpad mask/unmask the controls.
- / from numpad activate/disable the full screen mode.
- F1 let you insert a disc image in the drive A.
- F2 let you insert a disc image in the drive B.
- F3 let you insert a tape.
- F4 insert a cartridge (Amstrad Plus only).
- Shift + F1 eject the disc image from the drive A.
- Shift + F2 eject the disc image from the drive A.
- Shift + F3 eject the tape.
- Shift + F4 eject the cartridge (Amstrad Plus only).
- F9 let you load a snapshot file.
- F10 let you save a snapshot file.
- F11 save a screen grab (in the grab drawer).
- F12 has same effect than "enter" from the numpad (just in case of this
key would be missing; like on PowerBook G4 keyboards).
The other keyboard shortcuts are just the ones from the Intuition menu.
Joysticks:
Both joysticks are emulated, including the three buttons (yes, there are
really three wired fire buttons on CPC!).
The CPC joystick 0 is controlled by the one plugged into the port 1 (joy
port) on the host, while the CPC joystick 1 is controlled by the one plugged
into the port 0 (mouse port).
When activating the option "Joystick 0 on keyboard" (or the tool type
KEYJOY) the keys "up", "down", "left", "right", "control" (fire 2),
"left-alt" (fire 1), and "left-shift" (fire 3) are used to simulate the
joystick.
Mouse:
The middle mouse button allows you to mask/unmask the controls and a
double-click on the display area switches from windowed to full screen and
vice versa.
More over, if the light gun emulation is activated, the mouse pointer is
replaced by a cross in order to be used as a target, and the click is the
fire button.
Also, note the the mouse pointer will be automatically hidden when not
moving in full screen.
"About the emulater CPC" window
This window will give you various information about the CPC that ACE is
currently emulating depending on your settings.
A nice picture of the corresponding CPC model is also displayed.
Computer
Nothing complicated here, the brand, the model and the locale of the CPC
are displayed.
Devices
Here is some indications about the floppy disc drive interface, the tape
interface and the cartridge port.
Floppy and tape interfaces might be absent, internal or external depending
on the CPC model while the cartridge port is obviously only available on
Amstrad Plus.
Note: the state of the tape interface will be displayed in italic if the
tape to hard disc wrapper is activated.
System
The firmware version, the internal disc ROM used and the total amount of
avaible memory are displayed in this section.
Note: the type of the internal disc ROM will be displayed in italic if it is
overridden by an external ROM #7.
Memory editor
This window allows you to manipulate the emulated CPC memory.
Refresh
For usability and performance reasons, the informations from this window are
not updated in real time (it would change at any time!).
The window content is automatically updated every time the emulator is
paused (manually or because of a breakpoint), or manually whenever you want
by pressing the "Refresh view" button.
Configuration
In addition to this button, there is a "Refresh mappings" button which will
resynchronize the memory configuration of the editor (ROM and RAM mappings)
with the one from the emulated CPC. The "Match the emulator's mappings" will
force the editor to always match the memory configuration from the emulated
CPC.
Then there are some memory configuration selection gadgets (warning: theses
have actually no effect on the memory state of the emulator itself; just the
editor's view is affected). Some of them are only active when emulating an
Amstrad Plus.
Content
The main part of the window displays the content of the memory depending on
the above memory configuration. The left side is the hexadecimal view while
the right part is in ASCII. The ASCII is is converted to the CPC charset
code page (depending on the firmware ROM or a manual selection on the
"Windows" -> "Convert CPC ASCII to...").
The address to display can be selected manually or directly from the content
of a Z80 register.
At the bottom, a small text displays the current address position of the
cursor within the editor. The "Disassemble..." button will open the
disassembler window at the cursor address.
Note: the read-only accessible memory areas and displayed with
their address into parenthesis.
Z80 editor
This editor allows you to visualize and modify the Z80 state of the emulated
CPC at any time.
Refresh
The information are updated in real-time and are always valid.
Content
Anything else is something anybody knowing the Z80 will be able to manage.
Each Z80 register can be edited and some specific informations are also
displayed such as the pointed addresses or the related flags.
At the bottom, a small part of the Z80 to be executed is displayed from the
current PC address. You can also use this area to check or set execution
breakpoints in the same way than in the disassembler or the
breakpoints management windows (only when the breakpoints are enabled).
Also, hand resetable counters for frames, lines and microseconds are
available to easily measure the time used by a routine.
At the bottom, some controls similar with the ones from the main window
(with mode options) are available.
CRTC editor
This editor allows you to visualize and modify the CRTC state of the
emulated CPC at any time.
Refresh
The information are updated in real-time and are always valid.
Content
Anything else is something anybody knowing the CRTC will be able to
understand.
PSG analyzer
This editor allows you to visualize the PSG state of the emulated CPC at any
time.
Refresh
The information are updated in real-time and are always valid.
Content
Informations from this window are numerous and smart, the MUI's bubbles help
will inform you about their exact signification.
Gate Array analyzer
This editor allows you to visualize the Gate Array state of the emulated CPC
at any time.
Refresh
The information are updated in real-time and are always valid.
Content
Informations from this window are easy to understand and the MUI's bubbles help
will give you any additional description about them.
Video information
This window allows you to get informations about the video synchronization
and beam ray.
Refresh
The information are updated in real-time and are always valid.
Content
The MUI's bubbles help will inform you about the exact signification of each
field of this window.
Disassembler
With this window you can disassemble any memory zone of the emulated CPC.
Refresh
For usability and performance reasons, the informations from this window are
not updated in real time (it would change at any time!).
The window content is automatically updated every time the emulator is
paused (manually or because of a breakpoint), or manually whenever you want
by pressing the "Refresh disassembly" button.
Configuration
In addition to this button, there is a "Refresh mappings" button which will
resynchronize the memory configuration of the editor (ROM and RAM mappings)
with the one from the emulated CPC. The "Match the emulator's mappings" will
force the editor to always match the memory configuration from the emulated CPC.
Then there are some memory configuration selection gadgets (warning: theses
have actually no effect on the memory state of the emulator itself; just the
editor's view is affected). Some of them are only active when emulating an
Amstrad Plus.
Content
The main area of this window justs display the disassembly code. The origin
address can be set manually or by catching the current PC value. It is also
possible to lock it to PC (of course, free navigation within the memory will
then be disabled).
Be aware of the fact that the Z80 opcodes are of variable size. They can be
from one to four bytes long, the origin address is then highly important.
Actually, if you set it to an address that would cut a instruction into
two parts, the disassembly code will not be reliable for the next two or
three opcodes.
For anything else, this disassembler features advanced navigation
capabilities. First, a bookmark of preferred addresses is available to jump
easily into huge or expanded code. A bookmark can be set by selecting it
(using the small toggle buttons at the bottom of the bookmark address
buttons) and then by clicking on a address on the left column of the
disassembler view.
You can also set some execution breakpoints by using the checkbox gadgets
while the small lamps tell you about the activation state in a more direct
way than the breakpoints management window (this feature is only
available when the breakpoint support is enabled).
Then, the last column on the right side let you directly set the origin
address to a branch instruction target (JP, JR, CALL, ...).
At the bottom, a small text recalls the current address position of the
first address of the window. The "Dump..." button will open the
memory editor window with the cursor set at this address.
Screen monitor preferences
This window allow you to choose the type of monitor to use and to set it
just like with a real monitor. Unlike the other secondary windows, it is not
accessible from the "Windows" menu but from the "Preferences" one.
Breakpoints manager
This is the main control window of the configurable breakpoints. Unlike the
other secondary windows, it is not accessible from the "Windows" menu but
from the "Monitoring" one (or by clicking on the "More..." button of the
breakpoints toolbar from the Z80 window.
Moreover it is only accessible when the breakpoints feature is enabled
(using the menu or the breakpoint on/off button from the Z80 window).
It is composed of three pages.
Execution breakpoints
With this page you can show, add, modify or delete execution breakpoints.
They are addresses on which the emulator pause when the Z80 tries to execute
an instruction from there.
The condition allow you to describe an expression that must be true to
consider the breakpoint (detailed information about condition are provided
through the related bubble help).
The mode allow you to choose between the "Stopper" and the "Watcher" modes.
The "Stopper" mode is a standard breakpoint while the "Watcher" mode will
just update the match count without breaking.
The step information let you choose if it must break every time (step of 0)
or every "step" times.
The name allow you to give a name to a breakpoint in order to make everything
more readable when a lot of breakpoints are used. You can also use this name
from scripts in order not to rely on hardcoded addresses.
This type of breakpoint can also be directly set by using the checkbox
gadgets from the disassembler and Z80 editor windows.
Memory breakpoints
With this page you can show, add, modify or delete memory breakpoints. They
are addresses on which the emulator pause when the Z80 have read and/or
written something from/to them.
The address mask filters the actual bit from the full address to match.
As an example a mask of &FF00 for an address at &9D00 will match all
addresses &9Dxx.
The value let you select a specific value to match. Like with the address
a mask can be set on the value. By default the mask is zero which means
that any value matches (no relevant bit to test).
Other parameters are the same than for the execution breakpoints.
I/O ports breakpoints
This page is very much like the previous one but acts on the I/O ports.
Note 1: on any of these pages double-clicking on an already set breakpoint
let you reset the related match count.
Note 2: you can set 64 breakpoints of each type.
Scripts & tools
ACE comes with a set of basic tools that will hopefully evolve with the time
to become a full featured toolkit.
Most of these tools are based on the AREXX interface.
If you create your own REXX or Lua scripts do not hesitate to send them
back to me so that I could add them to the next versions of ACE.
REXX scripts:
JoyFury.rexx will let you win with no effort in the games that expect you to
quickly move your joystick from left to right to progress (typically the
sport games). It takes one input parameter to set the left-to-right speed
(default value is 20000 microseconds).
ACE.AmIRx is a small REXX script of no use that you can install in the
"Rexx/" drawer of AmIRC. Once installed, it can be executed through the
"ARexx" menu of AmIRC (or by typing "/rx ACE") in order to send informations
about the current ACE usage into the active IRC window. It can also be used
as a standalone script (it will then address the first found instance of
AmIRC to send the messages).
CrossDevExample.rexx is a more complex script design to demonstrate the
cross-development capabilities of ACE (by generating a small classic demo
effect from nothing installed into the CPC side).
It performs:
* An ACE reboot.
* An appropriate MEMORY into the BASIC.
* An ACE pause.
* Some tables calculation and poking directly into ACE memory.
* The example code source assembling using Pasmo (Z80 assembler),
* The loading of the generated binary into ACE memory.
* An ACE restart.
* An appropriate CALL into the BASIC to launch the created program.
This script is an adaptation of the program available on our Quasar Net:
http://quasar.cpcscene.net/doku.php?id=coding:aurore_boreale.
The table generator program in BASIC was converted to REXX (trivial) and the
assembler code is almost the same (just a few adaptations to have it work
with Pasmo instead of Maxam).
It could be improved by passing some parameters from REXX to Pasmo instead
of relying on fixed EQU for the computed tables. Anyway, it is a good base
to guess what could be done with the ACE's AREXX port!
Note: to work this script requires:
* rexxmathlib.library from Thomas Richter,
* Pasmo from Julián Albo (must be in your "Path").
Frequently asked questions
ACE supports up to 256 ROMs... but I only see 16 ROM parameters?!
Arguments actually only exist for the first 16 extension ROMs. If you really
need to configure ROMs up to 256, you can perform the operation by using the
"FLASHROM" command from the AREXX port. But keep in mind that the firmware
only initialize the first 16 foreground ROMs.
16 ROMs is enough in most cases.
Why do ACE only manage 512KB of expansion memory?
This is the standard limit envisaged by Amstrad at the moment of the CPC
conception. The only way to manage more memory is to use some specific
extensions (like the 2MB Memcard from RAM7).
Considering the poor support for this kind of interface, I don't think that
adding a related emulation would be of any real use.
What about the quality of the various CRTC types regarding demos?
To tell you the truth, only the CRTC 1 emulation is fully accurate. others
support needs to be improved. Please, always prefer CRTC 1 and choose other
CRTC only for demo specifically requiring it. Next versions of ACE will
focus on improving CRTC 0 in order to have the same quality than the CRTC
1. CRTC 2 is not that important and will be done later.
Of course, the CRTC 3 is mandatory to use the Amstrad Plus emulation and
works properly.
I often have warning messages when opening DSK files!
The DSK format is really awful and the tools used to generate them from the
real physical discs are often bugged. Practically, the informations
contained into the DSK files are not sufficient (when they are not simply
wrong) to permit a really accurate FDC and floppy disc drive emulation.
A complex on-the-fly fixing mechanism is built into ACE in order to try to
rebuild the missing or altered informations; the warning messages are
related to this behavior. You can disable them with the option "NOWARNINGS"
or by using the "Preferences" menu (fixes are always applied but you will no
longer be informed about them).
In a next version of ACE, a brand new disc image format will be introduced
to avoid all the FDC emulation problems related to the DSK format. Import
or export to DSK will remain possible when applicable.
Why an inserted DSK is not modified when I write into it from ACE?
It is, but not in real time.
ACE does not manage directly the DSK files. Instead they are loaded and
converted into an internal structure. When you update the content of
an image disc from ACE, only this internal structure is modified. The DSK
file will be modified from this internal structure when it is ejected from
ACE or if you quit ACE.
Moreover, ACE will try to keep the original format when it updates the DSK
file. Standard DSK remain standard and Extended DSK remain extended. If a
Standard DSK was altered in a way in cannot be saved in this format anymore,
ACE will ask you to confirm that you want to convert it to Extended DSK.
What is the difference between "Reset" and "Cold reset"?
A reset simply emulates a CPC hard reset. It means that all the chipsets and
the microprocessor are initialized but not the memory. It is just the very
same behavior you would have on a real CPC with a hard reset button (like
the one on the Multiface Two or the Hacker).
A cold reset is like if the CPC was just on-powered, everything including
the memory is reset.
By default ACE emulates a CPC6128, how to configure it for another CPC model?
The main difference between the CPC models is related to the version of the
firmware and BASIC ROMs installed. The CPC6128 uses version 3 of the
firmware while the CPC664 uses a version 2 and CPC464 a version 1. The CPC+
range uses a firmware version 4 with a BASIC 1.40.
You should take care of the BASIC ROM installed:
- BASIC 1.00 is only compatible with firmware ROM version 1,
- BASIC 1.10 is only compatible with firmware ROM version 2,
- BASIC 1.2x and 1.40 are only compatible with firmware ROM version 3 or 4.
Is case you really don't want to emulate a CPC6128 but an older CPC model
you can use the 64KEXPMEMSCHEME tooltype to fit the way 64Kio based models
are handling expansion RAM. You can also make use of DKTRONICSBUGS tooltype
to simlate a DK'Tronics expansion RAM (which have some flaws regarding
internal expansion RAM of the 128Kio base models).
If you want to emulate a stock CPC464 ou 464plus you can disable the floppy
disc drive interface though the NODISCINTERFACE tooltype (or using the
menu).
If you wan to emulate a stock CPC664/6128 or 6128plus with no external disc
drive, you can disable the B drive through the menu.
Eventually, you can configure any amount of memory.
How to have a smooth 50Hz display like on CPC?
CPC games and demos are running at 50Hz. To have a perfectly smooth display
like on a real CPC, you must then have the very same frame rate frequency
(or a multiple of it) on your system.
Generally, you will not have a 50Hz graphic mode available by default.
However it is really easy to create one from MorphOS monitor preferences
(just be sure that you create a 16, 24 or 32 bits color depth screen).
If your screen monitor supports 50Hz frame rate (you may need to alter its
default auto-detected capabilities), just create a new screen mode at
exactly 50.0801Hz. Then, get the mode ID, and put it into the tool type
SCREENMODE of ACE (eg. SCREENMODE=0x40920058).
Till now, each time ACE uses the full screen mode, it will be at 50Hz and
everything is smooth like on a real CPC!
Unfortunately, a lot of games and demos do not match the default 50Hz
frequency... and they will not be smooth again... There is no real
solution (because the screen frequency can change at any time). Anyway, you
can get the program's frame rate from the video information window and then
create a new screen mode at this frequency.
Known bugs
* Writing on weak sectors only alter the first version of the sector. This
is a crappy side effect of the awful SDK format. This issue will disappear
as soon as a new file image format is implemented.
* Full screen mode does not work like expected when the overlay is not
activated. The "non-overlay" mode is not very interesting, then no real
work was done on it. Please, use overlay.
* Audio quality is altered in wild speed mode.
* Audio can grate while manipulating windows quickly or if a time-consuming
application is running. ACE only uses AHI in device mode at the moment, it
does not ensure real time performing with small audio buffers. A library
mode, more precise, will be implemented in a future version.
* On PowerBook G4 the arrow keys sometimes hold some other ghost keys when
pressed at a fast rate and/or at the same time. It obviously occurs while
playing games. You can restore the keyboard state by pressing RALT (which
releases all the pressed keys including the ghost ones) but it is not very
usable during a game. The best solution to avoid this problem is either to
use an external USB keyboard or a joystick.
Future
Lot of things are planed!
* Full featured CRTC 0, 2, 3 and 4 support.
* Implementation of HFE2/IPF disk support instead of DSK.
* Advanced grabbing capability (sound and video).
* Support of symbols in disassembler.
* Graphical memory mapping window.
* New AREXX commands and new REXX and Lua scripts.
* Better foreign keyboard support.
* VirtualNet96 support.
* New OpenGL rendering engine.
* Sound in AHI library mode.
* Time-machine emulation.
* And more...
History
* Version 1.8 (19/11/2014):
- Added a check on the screen mode to prevent ACE from being launched on
an incompatible (8 bit) screen.
- Added drag and drop support on main window and appicon for disc, tape,
cartridge and snapshot files.
- Re-introduced experimental automatic frame skip mode and MS=MAXFRAMESKIP
tooltype (disabled by default).
- Added screen grabbing feature and related GRABSPATH tooltype and GRAB
AREXX command.
- Added shortcut key F11 to save snapshot at will.
- Added pixel modes and changed buffer management scheme of the display
module.
- Added NW alias for NW=NOWARN=NOWARNINGS tooltype.
- Save an icon with a screen grab when creating a snapshot (can be
disabled using the NSI=NOSNAPSHOTICONS tooltype or the preferences
menu).
- Minor improvements in the window to show information about the currently
emulated CPC.
- Fixed some internals regarding update triggers.
- Fixed some potential memory trash at double start.
- Added a NAG=NOANTIALIASEDGRABS tooltype to save raw grabs (also
available from the preferences menu).
- Changed catalog versioning which is now bumped to version 10.0 and will
not change anytime soon; that way translators could provide some
alternative catalog that will remain compatible with upcoming versions
of ACE (only the newly introduced texts won't be translated using
alternative catalogs).
- Fixed an audio shift in sample computation that was introduced with tape
integration.
- Added automatic append ".sna" extension to snapshots saved through the
file requester if missing.
- Adjusted some compilation flags and removed some misleading casts in
the code in order to ease AmigaOS 4.1 port.
* Version 1.7 (15/06/2014):
- Added tape emulation through audio files (readonly for now).
- Added TAPESPATH tooltype to choose the tape audio files default path.
- Added firmware ROM for French CPC464.
- Replaced CP/M 0.7 ROM that was wrong in previous packages.
- Added OS=OSVERSION tooltype to choose the operating system version
number to use (from 1 to 4). Note that any version of the operating
system is compatible with any CPC model; even version 4 that was used on
Amstrad Plus is fully compatible with old generation CPC range. By
default version 3 is used because most softwares are known to work with
it.
- Added NDI=NODISCINTERFACE tooltype to totally disable the floppy disc
drive interface in order to emulate a stock CPC464 or 464plus.
- Reworked the Preferences menu to make it easier regarding the new
options.
- Added a check to disable the Trojan Light Phazer if it was active when
switching from Amstrad Plus to Amstrad CPC emulation (Trojan Light
Phazer is only available on Amstrad Plus).
- Fixed a bug in the Tape2HD wrapper that resulted in a corrupted
firmware ROM when it was disabled at runtime.
- Added TAPE tooltype to specify a tape audio file to be inserted at
startup.
- Added TAP=TAPEAUTOPLAY tooltype to activate automatic play when a tape
is inserted.
- Moved all system ROM used by default in a "System" drawer rather than
the "ROMs" drawer which is supposed to be used for user's extension
ROMs.
- Fixed a small layout but in the disassembler window.
- Added AREXX commands related to tape management.
- Fixed a bug in event handling where the tab systems for the devices
cought some key pressed prior to the emulator engine.
- Changed some keyboard shortcuts.
- Added a CPM=AMSDOS tooltype to configure the build-in disc ROM 7 (this
is different from ROM7 which represents an external ROM 7).
- Fixed bad help node reference in screen monitor preferences window.
- Avoid any other brand than Amstrad when Plus emulation is activated.
- Added a window to show information and picture about the currently
emulated CPC.
- Added some icons for ACE's main drawer and for discs, tapes, cartridges,
snapshots and ROMs drawers.
- Added some icons to devices tabs.
- Added preconfigured project icons to emulate stock CPC464, CPC664,
CPC6128, 464plus and 6128plus.
- Added some preferences that were only available through tooltypes into
the menu so that they can be changed at runtime.
- Changed the way of obtaining the name of the screen to open in full
screen mode to always match the application instance.
- Added a sanity check on the breakpoint command at startup (invalid
command templates are now ignored).
- Reworked CLI start mode to better deal with PROGDIR:.
- Fixed a long standing bug during startup that prevented ACE from being
launched several times from shell or from project icons.
- Added a request to let the user choose what to do when ACE in already
running and a new one was launched.
- Added AREXX command to control ACE iconification.
- Added filetypes & icons for Ambient to recognize DSK, CPR and SNA files.
- Added generic multi-parameter FILES tooltype that auto-recognize
provided file types and load them in the proper way into ACE.
- Added LM=LAUNCHMODE tooltype to change the default launch mode of ACE
executable from "Ask user" to "Single" or "Multiple".
- Added an access to the help guide through the menu (useful when no HELP
key is available on the keyboard).
* Version 1.6 (21/04/2014):
- Fixed a bug in saved execution address in file header when using the
Tape2HD wrapper.
- Fixed start-up colors on Gate Array (PulkoMandy).
- Fixed swapped grey and green color tables for screen monitor emulation
in CPC emulation mode (Krashan & PulkoMandy).
- Fixed light devices menu flags to avoid multi-selection.
- Fixed a bug in the disassembler for block instructions.
- Added a missing size field in the file headers created through the
Tape2HD wrapper.
- Fixed a bug in CASOutChar implementation of the Tape2HD wrapper
(PulkoMandy).
- Improved compability of CASInChar implementation of the Tape2HD wrapper.
- Fixed inconsistencies in English translation.
- Fixed vocabulary for some French translations.
- Reworked main window layout to save space.
- Added DKB=DKTRONICSBUGS tooltype to activate emulation of the DK'Tronic
expansion memory bugs (DK'Tronics have trouble managing &C3 type memory
commutation while an upper ROM is connected and does not handle the
Amstrad Plus ASIC I/O page shadowing).
- Added 64K=64KEXPMEMSCHEME tooltype to emulate 64Kio based CPC expansion
memory scheme instead of common 128Kio based scheme (on 64K based CPC
the main memory is switched when accessing non-existing memory pages
instead of the build-in 64Kio expansion RAM of the 128Kio based CPC).
- Slightly decreased the default size of the main window in overlay mode.
- Added the current beam position to the video information window.
- Reworked Z80 and CRTC windows.
- Added user-resetable counters for microseconds, scanlines and frames.
- Removed breakpoints from the main windows to put them into the Z80
window.
- Added breakpoints on bad HBL/VBL timings (Vanity-proof mode!).
- Added a real step by step mode (no need to enable/disable it by hand
anymore).
- Added STEP switch to the START AREXX command to control the step by step
mode easily.
- Added missing notifications for some AREXX command to synchronize the
GUI.
- Added support of OSD LED in non-overlay mode.
- Added a fast forward OSD which reflect the wild speed mode status.
- Fixed again the last known issue with CRTC 1 emulation which was not
properly fixed in version 1.5.
- Added little endian CPUs compatibility (Pulkomandy).
- Added AREXX command to get and reset the user-resetable counters.
- Added AREXX command to get the type of the last activated breakpoint(s).
- Added UBC=USERBREAKPOINTCOMMAND tooltype to provide a command that will
be executed at each encountered breakpoint.
- Added watcher mode to the configurable breakpoints.
- Replaced breakpoints threshold condition by a step matching.
- Moved video monitor preferences from main window to a separate window.
- Added possibility to give an optional name to the configurable
breakpoints.
- Added possibility to provide a complex condition for breakpoint
matching.
- Optimized the breakpoints runtime.
- Fixed several issues in CRTC 0/2/3/4 emulation.
- Added on-screen break to request the emulator to pause at a pointed
position on the screen.
- Added AREXX command to control on-screen break feature.
- Removed deprecated opcode breakpoint (replaced by the real step by step
mode).
- Moved CPC characters conversion from memory editor, Z80 editor and
Disassembler windows to the menu (it is now global to any window
displaying characters from the CPC memory).
- Added access to all existing conversion tables (automatic, English,
French, Spanish and Danish) instead of only automatic and English ones.
- Added menu option to enable or disable the decoding of system RST in
disassembly displays (it was always active till now).
- Added Danish firmware ROM (CPC6128 version) to the ACE's package.
- Added Danish language detection for automatic firmware ROM selection at
start-up.
- Improved built-in MUI Custom Class to handle the charset conversion in
input mode when editing through the chars field.
- Added possibility to retry when updating a DSK failed because of a
shared lock.
- Improved address input class in text mode.
- Added alphabetic sort to Tape2HD catalog display.
- Added OSD symbol when emulator is paused.
- Changed default frame rate from 60 to 10 fps in wild speed mode to
maximize speed-up.
- Improved AREXX command KEYBOARDSTROKE to handle the charset conversion
from local to CPC.
- Added some safety delay in wild speed mode.
- Added missing support for HSync cancelling while running on CRTC 0/1.
* Version 1.5 (07/04/2013):
- Fixed about box text.
- Fixed minor bug in start-up error handling.
- Internal disc image format improvements.
- Z80 source code clean-up.
- Added possibility to unplug the drive B (CP/M will detect a single drive
system and will perform accordingly).
- Fixed the last known issue with CRTC 1 emulation (CRTC 1 might be
perfect!).
- Slightly improved CRTC types 0, 3 and 4 emulation.
- Activated access to all CRTC types (CRTC 0, 2, 3 and 4 are not accurate
yet).
- Activated access to all Gate Array variants except 40008.
- Management of the color differences between the Gate Array variants.
- Added controls to change brightness and vertical hold settings.
- Added CPC+ ASIC full support (including all known bugs regarding DMA,
interruption management and ASIC emulated PPI).
- Changed some layouts in the memory editor and memory disassembler
windows.
- Added CPC+ ASIC MMU modes access to memory and disassembler windows.
- Fixed a bug in memory editor and disassembler windows which could try to
display no longer valid ROMs when using REXX ROM configuration commands
and custom mappings.
- Changed the way of allocating the emulator data structure to prevent
potential stack overflow in the future.
- Fixed a potential bug in emulator's memory initialization.
- Optimized Z80 I/O port decoder.
- Slightly increased the default size of the main window.
- Improved color rendering of the Gate Array analyzer window (it now
displays the color really used on the emulator side depending on the
Gate Array version).
- Added CPR cartridge image file support (a faked cartridge is smartly
emulated from the CPC firmware & basic ROMs if none is inserted to ease
switching between CPC & CPC+ at runtime without useless resets just
because of different ROM configurations).
- Added CARTRIDGESPATH tooltype to choose the default path of the
cartridge image files (CPR). It defaults to "PROGDIR:Cartridges/".
- Added CPR=CARTRIDGE tooltypes to choose the cartridge (CPR) to plug at
startup (only possible if the emulated CPC is an Amstrad Plus).
- Added PLUS=CPC+=AMSTRADPLUS tooltype switch to force Amstrad Plus
emulation at start-up (CRTC and Gate Array tooltypes are then ignored).
- Fixed a bug that prevented AHI device from being released at exit.
- Audio management in now handled by the emulator engine class just like
everything else and any emulator object can now have its own audio
feedback.
- Fixed read values on CRTC 3 and 4.
- Added F9 and F10 key shortcuts to plug/unplug a cartridge.
- Added light gun emulation through the mouse at request (Trojan Light
Phazer and Magnum Light Phaser are supported).
- Added CPC+ ASIC register internal cycle timing management (one pixel
width split raster update depending on the Z80 update instruction).
- Added build-in tape to hard disk wrapper to grant access to a share
directory from the emulated CPC itself (with full speed, long filenames,
and directory navigation according to the CPC firmware capabilities).
You can now use directly the content of your hard disk from the CPC tape
interface and avoid DSK when applicable (only system-friendly softwares
can be installed). The navigation through the folders is done using the
OPENIN command (there is no CD command on CPC) in the Amiga way ("/" for
parent and ":" for root directory). You can of course create files from
the CPC side, but not directories. You can interrupt a directory
listing using [ESC] and pause it pressing [CONTROL]. The shared folder
defaults to "PROGDIR:Share/" and can be configured using the TAPE2HDPATH
tooltype.
- Added TAPE2HD tooltype to activate the tape to hard disk wrapper by
default.
- Fixed some issues with the internal debug logging system.
- Added error request when tooltypes are invalid.
- Fixed an issue with flickering display in wild speed mode (this bug was
introduced with version 1.4).
- Fixed quit confirmation window that could lock when several instances of
ACE were running simultaneously.
- Added CPC+ support to snapshots (compatible with the standard CPC+ chunk
of the snapshot format v3).
- Added ACE signature in saved snapshots.
- Added CARTRIDGESKEEPEXTROM tooltype to be able to disable the feature of
ACE which automatically disable any external ROM when inserting a
cartridge.
- Added INSERTCARTRIDGE, EJECTCARTRIDGE, GETCARTRIDGDENAME, CRTC and
GATEARRAY AREXX commands (RickD).
- Added AMSDOS-like automatic extension fallback at files loading on the
Tape2HD wrapper to ensure better compatibility with installed softwares.
* Version 1.4 (18/07/2012):
- Improved automatic frame skipping.
- Improved internal events handling.
- Optimization of the Gate Array emulation code.
- Added specific emulation of the Gate Array 40007, 40008, 40010 and their
reimplementations in form of ASIC 40226 and 40489 (only the 40007 &
40010 are available in the public version at the moment).
- Fixed a potential issue in the emulation speed regulation (PowerBook G4).
- When applicable, the audio device is now used to regulate the emulation
speed to prevent a synchronization issue (PowerBook G4).
- Removed the audio task (audio management is now simply done in the
emulation task).
- Added a frame double buffering to avoid a rare race condition where the
displayed frame could be damaged by the one in computation.
- Video frame buffer memory is now directly handled by the emulation task
instead of the GUI task.
- Remove the FRAMESKIP option which was really never working properly and
became useless with the new internal events handling mechanism
- Added a MANUFACTURER option to choose the brand of the CPC to emulate
within ISP, Triumph, Saisho, Solavox, Awa, Schneider, Orion and Amstrad
(Amstrad is used by default, except for German speaking countries where
Schneider is preferred).
- Fixed the Gate Array analyzer window which could have a wrong size.
- Added mapping of "enter" from the CPC numeric keypad on "F12" (useful
for keyboards without this key on the keypad; for example the
PowerBook G4).
- HexEdit.mcc MUI class is now optional (advanced windows which require it
will just suspend some of their displays if the class is missing).
- Fixed a bug introduced while migrating from gcc 2 to gcc 4 which
prevented multiple instances of ACE being in full screen mode at the
same time.
- New more user-friendly icon.
- Fixed some typos in French and English catalogs (RickD).
* Version 1.3 (14/05/2012):
- Fixed default font when a custom full screen mode is configured.
- Avoid opening of full screen larger than the screen resolution.
- Added again key repeat for shortcuts.
- Fixes in DSK extensions management.
- Improved malformed DSK detection.
- Removed on-the-fly GAP#3 and tracks size recalculation on complex cases.
- Fixes in FDC read track, read data and write data commands.
- Added a delay in case of disc swapping without a prior ejection (B.A.T.,
Fugitif, Crime),
- Added support of the DSK extension "Offset-info" from Simon Owen in
read and write modes.
- Added a confirmation request when a is disc containing modifications
that cannot be written with the original DSK format/extensions.
- Fixed a FileInfoBlock misusage in the import DSK routine.
- Fixed a bug in the Gate Array line counter introduced with version 1.2.
- Fixed a bug in CRTC vertical synchronization trigger (improves Madness
Demo),
- Fixed a bug in the Gate Array horizontal synchronization introduced with
version 1.2 (The Demo).
- Added a lock on the video display to avoid MUI push method overhead.
- Slight improvement in automatic frame skipping mechanism.
- Fixed a timing bug with OUTD and OUTI when addressing the Gate Array
(Beb).
- Added a tool type and a menu option to activate the fast disc emulation
mode (warning: this option is not compatible with some softwares).
- Changed the "Color" gadget by a "Lamp" gadget for the disc activity LED.
- Improved internal MUI notifications.
- Fixed a bug in I/O port breakpoints management.
- Simplified CRTC emulation code.
- Improved offset management on CRTC 1.
- Added interlaced mode support (register 8).
- Simplified Gate Array, PSG and video information windows.
- Changed triggering of offset CRTC register updates within the CRTC
emulation (Dream Demo End, Impossible).
- Full management of partial pixels and display artefacts during
horizontal and vertical synchronization start/end (Camembert 4, Dream
Demo 6, Dream Demo End, Madness Demo).
- Fixed a bug in vertical synchronization trigger when vertical total
adjust is on-the-go (3D Scroll, Take It Easy).
* Version 1.2 (29/01/2012):
- Migration from gcc2 to gcc 4.
- Double-click support in the main window to toggle full screen mode.
- Add of a disassembler based on the work of Cristian Dinu (support all
opcodes including undocumented and custom Amstrad firmware RST).
- Improved Z80 editor window (view of the code from PC and abstract of the
stack from SP)
- Improved memory editor window.
- New fix in CRTC 1 emulation when registers 12 & 13 are modified while
the additional lines (R5) are displayed (phi2x).
- Fix of border disabling on CRTC 1 when register 6 is reset at a non-zero
value during the first line of a split-screen (phi2x).
- Fix VBL activation trigger while the additional lines (R5) are
displayed.
- Improved PSG analyzer, Gate Array analyzer and CRTC editor windows.
- Add of a new full features disassembler window (easy navigation through
the code branches, syntax highlight, breakpoints, ...).
- Better internals between CRTC and Gate Array modules.
- Better internal notification system between GUI and emulator.
- Added an fast toolbar for breakpoints configuration in main window.
- Disabled menu item not active when breakpoints a not enabled.
- Added a breakpoint management window.
- Added an AREXX command to configure advanced breakpoints.
- Better keyboard management.
- Added on-the-fly charset conversion between local and CPC code page.
- Added Spanish and Danish v1.0 firmware ROMs in ACE archive.
- Fix a bug in PSG register selection (phi2x).
* Version 1.1 (18/09/2011):
- Added Gate Array's half cycle support (synchronization between Gate
Array, CRTC and Z80 is now perfect).
- Fixed sync/display alignment for CRTC 0, 1 & 2 (it was right only for
CRTC 3 & 4).
- Fix in CRTC 1 emulation when registers 12 & 13 were modified while
vertical adjust was managed (R5).
- Slight improvement in CRTC 0, 2, 3 & 4 emulations (only CRTC 0 & 1 are
actually activated in the public version).
- Fix an interrupt management issue when a VSync started while a HSync was
already running.
- Fixes in the English translation (Stefan A. Haubenthal).
- Improvements in the French version.
- The Graph.mcc class from MorphOS 2.x is now optional (Stefan A.
Haubenthal).
* Version 1.0p1 (16/08/2011):
- Omitting arguments OFFSCREENCOLOR or SCANLINECOLOR generated a hit in $0
(Grzegorz Kraszewski).
- Some bad hits occurred on foreign systems when no catalog was matching
the locale (Grzegorz Kraszewski).
* Version 1.0 (15/08/2011) :
- First public version.
Credits
Architecture and coding:
* Philippe 'OffseT' Rimauro - mailto:offset@cpcscene.net
Additional coding:
* 'RickD'
Icons:
* David 'Davebraco' Braconnier
Tests :
* David 'Davebraco' Braconnier
* 'RickD'
* Antoine 'Tony' Reneaut - mailto:tony@cpcscene.net
Documentation and translation:
* Philippe 'OffseT' Rimauro - mailto:offset@cpcscene.net
Thanks to:
* Julien 'Targhan' Nevo for his support on PSG emulation.
* Matthieu 'Grim' Gauzentes for his accurate electronic measures from
the real CPC chips for color and audio balance.
* Gilles 'Zik' Rimauro for his accurate electronic measures from the
the real CPC for synchronizations signals, and his advice on ACE look
and feel.
* Reloaded development team; their source code helped me to see how to
do some things, but also how not to do some others.
Tools:
* MorphOS SDK and its numerous examples.
* Cubic IDE from Dietmar Eilert.
* SimpleCat from Guido 'Geit' Mersmann.
* DT2Raw from Christian 'tokai' Rosentreter.
* Bin2C from Guido 'Geit' Mersmann.
* Dt2RawImage from Ilkka 'itix' Lehtoranta.
* lzmaLoader from Harry 'Piru' Sintonen.
AREXX interface
ACE exposes an extended AREXX interface that will allow you to do almost
everything you want! With the help of REXX, everything is possible,
everything can be automated! Your creativity will have no limits!
Here is the list of the available commands on the ACE's AREXX port.
Application commands:
* VERSION: Return the ACE version number.
* HIDE: Iconify ACE.
* SHOW: Show ACE if it was iconified.
* QUIT: Quit ACE.
* FULLSCREEN ACTIVATE/N,TOGGLE/S: Return the full screen status. If ACTIVATE
is set, TOGGLE is ignored. Setting ACTIVATE at 1 activates the full screen,
0 go back to the windowed mode. TOGGLE switches the current mode.
* ICONIFY ACTIVATE/N,TOGGLE/S: Return the full screen status. If ACTIVATE
is set, TOGGLE is ignored. Setting ACTIVATE at 1 iconifies ACE,
0 go back to the windowed mode. TOGGLE switches the current mode.
* SCREENTOFRONT: Put the screen ACE is opened on to front.
* SCREENTOBACK: Put the screen ACE is opened of to back.
* WINDOWTOFRONT: Put ACE's main window to front.
* WINDOWTOBACK: Put ACE's main window to back.
* WARNINGS ACTIVATE/N,TOGGLE/S: Return or change the warnings display
preference (warnings are about the DSK or SNA loading).
* KEYJOY ACTIVATE/N,TOGGLE/S: Return or change the keyboard mapping of
joystick 0 preference.
Emulator commands:
* RESET HARD/S: Reset or reboot the emulator.
* PAUSE: Pause the emulator.
* START STEP/: Restart the emulator. If TYPE is specified, only one single
Z80 instruction will be executed (step by step mode).
* CRTC CRTC=TYPE/N : If TYPE is specified, select the CRTC type to
emulate (0 to 4, 3 is Amstrad Plus). If not, return the current emulated
CRTC type.
Warning: the Gate Array version might be changed too if it is not
compatible with the new CRTC type.
* GATEARRAY GATEARRAY=VERSION/N : If VERSION is specified, select
the Gate Array version to emulate (40007, 40010, 40226 or 40489, the last
one is the Amstrad Plus). If not, return the current emulated Gate Array
version.
Warning: the CRTC type might be changed too if it is not compatible with
the new Gate Array version.
* WILDSPEED ACTIVATE/N,TOGGLE/S: Return or change the wild speed
preference.
* AUDIO=SOUND ACTIVATE/N,TOGGLE/S: Return or change the audio preference.
* INSERTDISC FILE/A,DRIVE: Insert a disc image FILE in to the drive DRIVE
(0/1 or A/B, drive A is the default one).
* EJECTDISC DRIVE: Eject the disc image from the drive DRIVE.
* GETDISCNAME DRIVE: Return the file name of the disc image inserted in the
drive DRIVE.
* INSERTTAPE FILE/A TAP=TAPEAUTOPLAY/S : Insert the audio file FILE in the tape
reader and go to play if TAPEAUTOPLAY is specified.
* EJECTTAPE : Eject the audio file from the tape reader.
* PLAYTAPE : Press play on the tape reader.
* STOPTAPE : Press stop on the tape reader.
* GETTAPENAME : Return the name of the audio file inserted in the tape reader.
* INSERTCARTRIDGE FILE/A FORCE/S : Insert a cartridge CPR FILE in the
cartridge port (Amstrad Plus only). FORCE will switch the ACE in Amstrad
Plus mode if it was not the case.
* EJECTCARTRIDGE : Eject the cartridge image file inserted (Amstrad Plus only).
* GETCARTRIDGENAME : Return the file name of the cartridge image inserted in
the cartridge port (Amstrad Plus only).
* LOADSNA FILE/A: Load a snapshot file named FILE.
* SAVESNA FILE/A: Save a snapshot of the current emulator state into a file
named FILE.
* GRAB FILE RAW/S : Save a screen grab corresponding to what is currently
displayed by the emulated CPC. If FILE is omitted then the grab
is automatically saved in the default directory and the used file name is
returned. If RAW is specified, then a non anti-aliased grab is saved
(aspect ratio will not be handled either).
* FLASHROM FILE/A,ROM/A/N: Load a file named FILE as an upper ROM number
ROM.
* REMOVEROM ROM/A/N: Remove the upper ROM number ROM.
* RAWKEYPRESS KEY=CODE/A/N: Simulate a key press of the key CODE (being the
physical key number from the CPC keyboard layout).
* RAWKEYRELEASE KEY=CODE/A/N: Simulate a key release of the key CODE.
* RAWKEYSTROKE KEY=CODE/A/N,DELAY/N: Simulate a key press then release of
the key CODE (physical key number of the CPC keyboard) by waiting a
DELAY (in microseconds) between the actions. The default DELAY is 19968
microseconds (one frame), the max value is 1000000 microseconds (one
second).
* KEYBOARDSTROKE STR=STRING/A/F: Simulate a full key press and release from
a string STRING. It is different from RAWKEYPRESS, RAWKEYRELEASE and
RAWKEYSTROKE because this command depend on the type of keyboard (AZERTY ou QWERTY)
and the installed firmware ROM is used to perform the translation.
Cross-development commands:
* POKE ADR=ADDRESS/A/N,VAL=VALUE/A/N,LINEAR/S: Poke a byte VALUE at the
address ADDRESS in the emulated CPC memory. If LINEAR is set, the address
will be considered as linear to the full CPC memory (0x0000-0xFFFF = main
RAM, 0x10000-0x1FFFF = first 64KB page of the extension RAM, ..).
* PEEK ADR=ADDRESS/A/N,LINEAR/S: Peek a byte.
* LOAD FILE/A,ADR=ADDRESS/N,OFT=OFFSET/N,LEN=LENGTH/N,LINEAR/S,RAW/S:
Load the content FILE from OFFSET, with a maximal LENGTH, at ADDRESS. If
RAW is set, then any binary header will be ignored. ADDRESS is mandatory
if no header is present.
* SAVE FILE/A,ADR=ADDRESS/A/N,LEN=LENGTH/A/N,EXE=EXECUTION/N,LINEAR/S,RAW/S:
Save a part of the CPC memory into a FILE.
* OUT PORT/A/N,VAL=VALUE/A/N: Put a byte VALUE on the CPC port address
PORT.
* INP PORT/A/N : Read a byte from the CPC port address PORT.
* BREAKPOINTS ACTIVATE/N,TOGGLE/S: Return or set the breakpoints
preference.
* SETBREAKCONDITIONS VBL/S,HBL/S,OPCODE/S,INT=INTERRUPT/S,DISC=DISCACCESS/S,
BADVBL/S,BADHBL/S: Set or unset a break condition.
* ADDBREAKPOINT TYPE/A,ADR=ADDRESS/A/N,ADRMASK=ADDRESSMASK/N,ACCESS,
VAL=VALUE/N,VALMASK=VALUEMASK/N,CONDITION,STEP/N,NAME,WATCHER/S: Set a
breakpoint of type TYPE (EXECUTE, MEMORY ou PORTS) named NAME for an
access ACCESS (READ-ONLY, WRITE-ONLY ou READ-WRITE), at the address
ADDRESS, depending on a mask ADDRESSMASK, for a value VALUE with a mask
VALUEMASK every STEP under the condition CONDITION.
Note 1: If WATCHER is specified the breakpoint will not stop and will just
update the match count.
Note 2: If a breakpoint with the same options exists, then the
CONDITION, STEP, NAME and mode (WATCHER) are updated.
Note 3: Value and mask are ignored for execution breakpoints.
Note 4; Default address mask value is 0xFFFF (it means "exact match").
Note 5: Default value mask is 0x00 (it mean "any value match").
* REMOVEBREAKPOINT TYPE/A,ADR=ADDRESS/N,ADRMASK=ADDRESSMASK/N,ACCESS,
VAL=VALUE/N,VALMASK=VALUEMASK/N,ALL/S: Remove a breakpoint of type
TYPE (EXECUTE, MEMORY or PORTS) for an access ACCESS (READ-ONLY, WRITE-ONLY
or READ-WRITE), at the address ADDRESS, with a mask ADDRESSMASK, for a
value VALUE using a mask VALUEMASK. If ALL is specified then
all the breakpoints of type TYPE are deleted (other parameters are then
ignored).
* AF VAL=VALUE/N: Get or set the AF register of the Z80.
* BC VAL=VALUE/N: See AF.
* DE VAL=VALUE/N: See AF.
* HL VAL=VALUE/N: See AF.
* SP VAL=VALUE/N: See AF.
* PC VAL=VALUE/N: See AF.
* AFx VAL=VALUE/N: Secondary register; see AF.
* BCx VAL=VALUE/N: Secondary register; see AF.
* DEx VAL=VALUE/N: Secondary register; see AF.
* HLx VAL=VALUE/N: Secondary register; see AF.
* IX VAL=VALUE/N: See AF.
* IY VAL=VALUE/N: See AF.
* I VAL=VALUE/N: 8 bit register; see AF.
* GETUSERCOUNTER TYPE/A : return the current value of the user counter of
type TYPE.
Theses counters counters are associated to the ones from the Z80 window and the
possible values are:
. MICROSECONDS for the microseconds counter.
. LINES for the line counter.
. FRAMES for the frame counter.
* RESETUSERCOUNTER TYPE/A : reset remet the user counter specified with
TYPE.
The possible values are the same than from GETUSERCOUNTER.
* GETLASTBREAKTYPE : return the status for the last activated
breakpoint(s). This option is very useful inside scripts executed at
breakpoints activation because it allows you to know in which conditions
the break occurred. The status is returned in the form of a string formated
as followed:
[Execution][I/O Port][Memory][Interrupt][HBL][VBL][Bad HBL][Bad VBL][Disc access][Step by step][On screen break]
Each section under brackets is related to a type of breakpoint and will
contain "-" if the associated type of breakpoint was not active during the
last break. If it was active, then the related section will contain its
name if it was named or a string with the name of the type of breakpoint
if it was not.
* ONSCREENBREAK X/A/N,Y/A/N : set a breakpoint for the display position
X,Y. This position are related to the video frame fly
and do not depend of graphic resolution.
Note: this breakpoint is related to the breakpoint "Break on the
mouse clicked position" available from the "Monitoring" menu and only one
can be set at once.
Tape to hard disc wrapper
ACE allows you to share a directory from your hard disc with the emulated
CPC through the tape interface. With this feature you can read and write
files of a directory of your choice . Loading operations are in full speed
(from the CPC point of view the files are loaded/saved with no delay), you
can use long file names up to 16 characters (firmware maximum limit), and
you have access to subdirectories.
Configuring the wrapper:
Once the option "Tape to hard disk wrapper" activated from the ACE
configuration menu, you then have access to the shared directory through
the tape interface. You can also use the tooltype TAPE2HD to activate the
wrapper by default.
If a disk ROM is installed (which is generally the case) you have to use
the command "|TAPE" to use the tape interface (the "|DISC" command switches
back to the disc interface). Once done, all the file operation commands
(CAT, LOAD, SAVE, OPENIN, OPENOUT...) will grant you access to the shared
directory of you hard disc.
This directory defaults to "PROGDIR:Share/" but you can change it by using
the TAPE2HDPATH tooltype. For security reasons it is not possible to access
to files outside this directory (except the ones from subdirectories).
Moreover only files compatibles with the 16 characters file name limit are
visible (the others are hidden and a message inform you about their
existence).
Using the wrapper:
The CAT command which lists the files might display a lot of entries if your
directory is full of stuff. The scrolling could then prevent you from
reading the first files of the list. To solve this issue, you can use the
[CONTROL] key to hold the catalog display. Also, you can press [ESC] to
simply cancel the catalog listing at any time.
Moreover, the catalog is displayed in a detailed way much more useful than
the AMSDOS defaults.
Here is an example:
[HOME]
Favorite Games/ [DIR] |
Favorite Demos/ [DIR] |
Menu.bas 11938 B$0170 0000 2E22|
Music.bin 4055 B&6380 4000 0480|
Music.wav 4MB*Data |
Readme.txt 3456 B*ASCII |
And how to understand it:
* The first line displays under brackets the name of the current
directory; HOME indicates the root of the shared directory.
* The keyword [DIR] indicated a directory entry.
* The size of the files is displayed in bytes (B), kilobytes (KB),
megabytes (MB) and even gigabytes (GB) depending on their size.
* The type of the files is displayed using the common firmware flags:
$ For a BASIC file.
& For a binary file.
% For a protected file.
* For a non-system file (ASCII or raw data).
Finally, you have to know that the CPC operating system does not allow
directory browsing ; no command exists for such operation. To access to the
directories using the hard disc wrapper, you simply have to use the "OPENIN"
command with the name of the directory to enter followed by a "/" sign
(anyway, directories are always displayed with this trailing slash in the
catalog). Please note that the directory names are then limited to 15
characters instead of 16. To go back to the parent directory, you just have
to use OPENIN"/", while OPENIN":" will put you directly into the root shared
directory (jut like in AmigaShell through the CD command).
During file opening in reading mode, in order to be more compliant with
existing programs, the file extensions management defaults in the same way
the AMSDOS does. If a file name is less than 8 characters long, reading
attempts will be done with pending ".", ".bas" then ".bin" extensions.
During file opening in write mode, no default extension management is done.
(like for the original tape interface).
Technical details:
From a technical point of view, this wrapper is implemented with the help
of a modified firmware ROM and an Z80 illegal instruction. When the tape to
hard disc wrapper is disabled, the emulation is not altered at all. Once
activated, he firmware ROM is patched on the fly to make use of the special
illegal instruction. Then, every time the Z80 emulation encounters this
instruction during the firmware ROM code execution, the wrapper specific
functions are engaged.
Warning: the wrapper will not work if you do not use of the official
Amstrad firmware ROM version (all of them are compatibles).