Path: senator-bedfellow.mit.edu!bloom-beacon.mit.edu!news2.telebyte.nl!fr.ip.ndsoftware.net!teaser.fr!noos.fr!not-for-mail From: Emmanuel Roussin Newsgroups: comp.sys.amstrad.8bit Subject: comp.sys.amstrad.8bit FAQ v1.29 1/3 Date: Tue, 08 Jun 2004 22:25:32 +0200 Message-ID: X-Newsreader: Forte Free Agent 1.92/32.572 MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset=ISO-8859-1 Content-Transfer-Encoding: 8bit Lines: 1181 Organization: Noos NNTP-Posting-Date: 08 Jun 2004 20:22:09 GMT NNTP-Posting-Host: 212.198.25.236 X-Trace: 1086726129 news.noos.fr 25598 212.198.25.236 X-Complaints-To: abuse@noos.fr Xref: senator-bedfellow.mit.edu comp.sys.amstrad.8bit:47368 comp.sys.amstrad.8bit Frequently Asked Questions v1.29 (05/13/2004) The FAQ exists in english, french, german, spanish and dutch. The spanish and german translations arent up to date. They are are archived on : - first site : http://www.genesis8bit.com - second site : ftp://ftp.lip6.fr/pub/amstrad - FAQ archive (english text only) : http://www.faqs.org/faqs/amstrad8bit-faq ftp://rtfm.mit.edu/pub/usenet/comp.sys.amstrad.8bit The french translation was done by Pierre Guerrier and then by Pierre Thevenet. Thanks to them. This FAQ is posted twice a month on the 4th and 19th to comp.sys.amstrad.8bit, and only once on the 4th to comp.answers and news.answers Lines preceded by '+' have been added since the last FAQ Lines preceded by '*' have been modified since the last FAQ + Lines preceded by '-' will be removed in the next FAQ This FAQ is written by : - Emmanuel Roussin, roussin noos.fr, section A (CPC), D (PcW16), E (PDA600) - Mark Ray, h089 mth.uea.ac.uk, section B (Notepad) - Frank van Empel, fvempel euronet.nl, section C (PCW) + All mailto links have been removed, all emails addresses were translated + like this : a@b.com is now a b.com If you have any ideas for the FAQ, send an email to the correct person. About parts written by E.R., as english isn't my mother tongue, this FAQ has certainly typing mistakes, grammar errors, etc... I welcome the corrections. This FAQ is freeware, you can use it freely for your personal use, but we retain the copyright. For commercial use, you must ask our permission before. Parts of this FAQ are taken from the documentation of CPCEMU, some are from the main faq keeper (E.R.) and Mark Ray (Notepad part), other parts are taken from articles of the newsgroup. ------------ Table of Contents Introduction A - Amstrad CPC A0) Amstrad CPC(+), KC Compact and GX 4000 presentation A1) Emulators and utilities A1.1) emulators A1.2) utilities A2) Sources of emulators, ROMs, programs, buying hardware/software A2.0) IRC A2.1) FTP A2.2) WWW A2.3) BBS A2.4) Using programs with emulators or real CPC A2.5) Buying hardware/software A3) Transfer between CPC and PC A3.1) 3" drive on PC A3.2.1) 3,5" or 5,25" drive on CPC A3.2.2) 3,5" or 5,25" drive on CPC+ A3.3) parallel cable A3.4) RS 232 / RS 422 (Macintosh) A3.5) Companies A3.6) Tapes A4) Maps, solutions, pokes, basic loaders A4.1) Maps and Solutions A4.2) Pokes A4.3) Basic loaders A5) Hardware problems A5.1) Internal drive A5.2) External drive A5.3) Components A6) How can I help the Amstrad world ? A6.1) Updating the FAQ A6.2) Commercial games becoming freeware A6.3) Adding files to ftp.lip6.fr A6.4) Updating ALL_CPC, ALL_HW, ALL_ROM, ALL_UTIL A7) Programs A7.1) Commercial programs which are now PD, freeware or shareware A7.2) New non commercial games A8) Useful addresses and information A8.1) Snail mail addresses A8.2) Information A8.3) Email addresses A9) Fanzines A9.1) on paper A9.2) on disk A10) Additional hardware A10.1) Hard disk A10.2) Multiface II A10.3) Rombox A10.3.1) ROMCARD and RAMCARD A10.3.2) Inicron ROM-RAM-BOX A10.4) Sound Player 1 and 2 A10.5) Network A10.6) Future OS A10.7) Memory extensions A10.7.1) 2 Mo RAM extension A10.7.2) Inicron RAM-BOX A10.8) Card Tridge A10.9) CPC ISA A10.10) Amstrad MP1 & MP2 A10.11) CD-ROM A10.12) Mouse A11) Upcoming CPC meetings B - Amstrad Notepad (NC100/150/200) B0) NC 100/150/200 presentation B1) Emulators B2) How can I buy one ? B3) What peripherals can I use ? B3.1) Printer B3.2) Extra Memory B3.3) Disks B4) How do I connect it to a PC ? B4.1) Which cable ? B4.2) Settings B4.3) Converting Word Processor Files B4.4) How do I connect it to a BBC micro B5) BASIC B5.1) Where can I find basic programs ? B5.2) Can I use the Word Processor to enter listings ? B5.3) Can I make a program auto-run ? B6) Other Programs B7) I've just crashed it B8) I've just broken it B9) Where to ask help B10) Internet resources B11) Credits C - PCW C0) PCW presentation C1) Emulators and utilities C1.1.1) Joyce C1.1.2) Joyce MAC C1.1.3) M.E.S.S. C1.2) Utilities C2) Where can I find emulators and programs ? C2.1) FTP sites C2.2) WWW C2.3) Various sources C3) Transferring between PCW and PC C3.1) 3.5" drive to a PCW C3.2) LocoLink for Windows C3.3) RS 232 C3.4) 3" drive on PC C3.5) Acoustic communication C4) Shops supporting PCW C5) Hardware C5.1) Printer C5.2) Keyboard C5.3) Disc drive C6) Additional hardware C6.1) Memory up to 51k2kb C6.2) Memory beyond 512kb C6.3) Interfaces (various purposes) C6.4) ProScan C6.5) MasterScan C6.6) Electric Studio Light Pen C6.7) Electric Studio Digitiser C6.8) Robotics Hegatron Grafpad II C6.9) Intergem interface C6.10) Disc drives C6.11) Hard disks C6.12) Margin Maker C6.13) Mice & other input devices C6.14) Teqniche keyboard C6.15) LocoLink & LocoLink for Windows C6.16) d'kTronics sound synthesiser C6.17) ISA card C6.18) Various DIY layouts C7) Fanzines D) PcW 16 D0) PcW 16 presentation D1) Emulators D1.1) CP/M v2.2 and 3.1 for the PCW16 D1.2) M.E.S.S. D2) Support E - PDA600 E0) PDA600 presentation F - CP/M --------------------------- Introduction The vote for the creation of this newsgroup passed on 28th July 1994 with 148:36, it was effectively created on 4th august 1994. It was the idea of Marco Vieth and David Long. This unmoderated newsgroup comp.sys.amstrad.8bit is open to discussions about the Z80 Amstrad computers : CPC (464, 664, 6128, 464+, 6128+), GX4000, PCW (8256, 8512, 9256, 9512, 9512+, 10), NC100/150/200 and PDA600. Appropriate topics include, but are not limited to : - CPC, GX4000, PCW, NC, PDA hardware and software, - emulators, - specific Amstrad CP/M files, overlays... - ads for selling/buying the relative hardware and software. etc... The only topic that is excluded : discussion of Amstrad PC-compatible (1512, 1640, 2x86, 3x86 and others Amstrad compatible I don't know) because these computers are really compatible, so comp.sys.ibm.pc.* newsgroups must be used, especially comp.sys.ibm.pc.classic For questions about these PC see http://web.ukonline.co.uk/cliff.lawson + and http://www.seasip.info/AmstradXT For easier reading and filtering, please use the following tags at the start of your subject line : - announce posts : [announce] - unrelated topic : [i] - for buying items : [want to buy] - for selling items : [want so sell] - for post in another language : [french], [german], etc..., but put a short summary in english to not ignore people who dont understand your language, also you will get much more help if more people can read your post. A - Amstrad CPC * A0) Amstrad CPC(+), KC compact and GX 4000 presentation 06/30/2003 + They use the Zilog Z80A processor which speed is 4.00MHz. + From SOFT968 "The system centres round the Z80A with a 4.00MHz clock" + Later it states that "Accesses to memory are synchronised with the + video logic, constrained to occur on microsecond boundaries. This + has the effect of stretching each Z80 machine cycle to be a multiple + of 4 time states (clock cycles) In practice,this alters the + instruction timing so that the effective clock rate is approximately + 3.3MHz" Amstrad made the following CPC systems : - 1) CPC 464 (Arnold 1), - 2) CPC 664 (Arnold 2), - 3) CPC 6128 (Arnold 3), there was also a CPC6128 cost down (Arnold 4 which was identical in operation to the original 6128 but had a new PCB and ASIC that reduced the board size and chip count to a mere fraction of the original size. If you open up a 6128 and the board fills the entire space you've got one of the originals. If you open one up and the board only occupies about 1/4 to 1/3 of the available space with a LOT of surrounding fresh air then you've got an Arnold 4. - 4) CPC 464+ (Arnold 5), - 5) CPC 6128+ (Arnold 6), - 6) GX 4000, the Amstrad 8 bit console. The CPC+ and GX 4000 have enhanced graphics and sound (DMA), colour palette of 4096, hardware sprites, hardware scrolling, and used 128 Ko to 512 Ko carts. Amstrad used CRTC (Cathodic Ray Tube Controller) from different manufacturers, which worked the same in the main, but do have many different characteristics. This is the reason why a demo designed for CRTC type 1, may not display correctly (or even at all), on a CRTC type 0 : - CRTC 0 : chipset HD6845S, - CRTC 1 : chipset UM6845R, - CRTC 2 : chipset MC6845, - CRTC 3 : CPC+ Asic, - CRTC 4 : ? The KC compact (KC mean KleinComputer = little computer) is a clone of the Amstrad CPC. It was made by VEB Mikroelectronik in East Germany (the old DDR) in 1989. It was made the year before the Berlin wall came down, and ceased production soon after. The KC compact is 95% compatible to the CPC. The functions of the Gate-Array are simulated by TTL-Logic and a Zilog Z8536 CIO. The ROMs are a patched English CPC6128 Operating system ROM (includes setup code for the Z8536) and a unpatched Locomotive BASIC v1.1 rom. The only incompatibility lies with the interrupt generation mechanism. Any program that relies on exact interrupt generation behaviour may fail to work. In some respects, the KC compact is actually more powerful than the CPC, because the interrupt frequency can be programmed, in theory the resolution could be reprogrammed, and the colour palette changed (replacing the colour rom). More details are available at http://andercheran.aiind.upv.es/~amstrad If you can read french and want to learn more about Amstrad CPC history, you should order the excellent book "Ces ordinateurs sont dangereux" by François Quentin (fquentin club-internet.fr) for 25 Euros (postage included, send an international postal order by going to your post office) to : François Quentin 9 Nonneville 28140 Loigny la Bataille FRANCE A1) Emulators and utilities A1.1) emulators There is a commercial spectrum emulator for the CPC, reviewed in Amstrad Action. The best emulator for DOS is Caprice32. For win9x, the emulators are quite good : Arnold, Winape32 and MTMW. All win9x emulators emulates CPC+, NO$CPC is the only DOS emulator which emulates CPC+. On Amiga, Emu-CPC should be the best emulator. A1.1.1) CPCEMU (PC) 06/25/98 CPCEMU by Marco Vieth, last version is 1.5b1, get ftp://ftp.lip6.fr/pub/amstrad/emulator/cpcemu15.zip * A1.1.2) Caprice32 (PC) and CPE (for PC and Amiga) and 04/28/2003 CPE, first written by Bernd Schmidt and then by Ulrich Doewich (report bugs, suggestions to caprice32 cybercube.com) since v5.1 Get ftp://ftp.lip6.fr/pub/amstrad/emulator/cpe52.zip, or if you have a 386, get ftp://ftp.lip6.fr/pub/amstrad/emulator/cpe51.zip For sources : ftp://ftp.lip6.fr/pub/amstrad/emulator/cpesrc52.zip CPE is now replaced by Caprice32, a 32bit emulator for dos (v1.11 or * 2b2) or win9x (v3.x), get it at : http://www.caprice32.cybercube.com Amiga CPE (68000, 1 Mo), last version is February 95, get ftp://ftp.lip6.fr/pub/amstrad/emulator/acpe_new.lzh A1.1.3) A-CPC (PC) (06/01/97) The Amstrad CPC emulator (v0.55beta) by Herman Dullink on PC, get ftp://ftp.lip6.fr/pub/amstrad/emulator/cpc055.zip Current beta version is v0.56 A1.1.4) PC-CPC (PC) A PC v0.40 of AMI-CPC by Ludovic Deplanque (see A1.1.7), go http://home.nordnet.fr/~ldeplanque or get ftp://ftp.lip6.fr/pub/amstrad/emulator/pccpc040.lzh and ftp://ftp.lip6.fr/pub/amstrad/emulator/amicpcut.lzh for conversion between .CPC and .DSK images disks. A1.1.5) NO$CPC (PC) 02/04/2001 Another german emulator by Martin Korth, get the dos version : ftp://ftp.lip6.fr/pub/amstrad/emulator/nocpc18d.zip for win9x : ftp://ftp.lip6.fr/pub/amstrad/emulator/nocpc18w.zip Go to http://www.work.de/nocash A1.1.6) Richard Wilson's emulators 12/23/99 Richard Wilson (author of ParaDOS) wrote no less than 3 emulators, get them at http://winape.emuunlim.com : - RWCPC for msdos : ftp://ftp.lip6.fr/pub/amstrad/emulator/rwcpc.zip - CPC emulator for windows 3.1, with debugger and assembler : ftp://ftp.lip6.fr/pub/amstrad/emulator/cpcwin10.zip - Win Ape 32, the CPC(+) emulator for win9x, it comes with a built-in compatible Maxam assembler, get v1.8b at ftp://ftp.lip6.fr/pub/amstrad/emulator/winape18.zip A1.1.7) AMI-CPC (Amiga) 02/15/98 A french CPC emulator for Amiga, by Ludovic Deplanque. Last version is v0.46, get ftp://ftp.lip6.fr/pub/amstrad/emulator/amicpc46.lzh, includes sources. See http://www.chez.com/deplanque A1.1.8) A-CPC (Amiga) A CPC emulator for Amiga by Kevin Thacker. Get ftp://ftp.lip6.fr/pub/amstrad/emulator/acpcde20.lha It's an evaluation version of the real shareware. Don't forget the web page of Kevin (see A2.2). A1.1.9) Emu-CPC (Amiga) 04/15/99 Another french CPC emulator on AMIGA by Stephane Tavenard, get EmuCPC v0.7 at ftp://ftp.lip6.fr/pub/amstrad/emulator/emucpc07.lzx http://www.info.univ-angers.fr/pub/puerto/raphael/fr/doc/emucpc.html A1.1.10) !CPC (Acorn) 07/18/99 !CPC is a CPC emulator for Acorn RISC OS machines (Archimedes/RISC PC) by Mark RISON. Get ftp://ftp.lip6.fr/pub/amstrad/emulator/cpc0728.zip Get the sources at http://www.acorn.com/~mrison/en/cpc or get ftp://ftp.lip6.fr/pub/amstrad/emulator/cpcs0728.zip A1.1.11) !CPCemu (Acorn) This emulator for Acorn RISC OS machines is written by Andreas Stroiczek, aka Face Hugger. Get v1.10 at ftp://ftp.lip6.fr/pub/amstrad/emulator/cpcem110.zip or on ftp://ftp.uni-kl.de/pub/acorn/long/emulator ftp://ftp.uni-stuttgart.de/pub/systems/acorn/riscos/emulator A1.1.12) CPC++ (Unix and MAC) 03/02/2002 This emulator for SunOS, Linux and MAC is written by Brice Rive. Go at http://bricerive.free.fr/cpc A1.1.13) SIMCPC (PC) Presumably the first CPC emulator written, for PC XT/AT by GHE, Aachen. It is only black and white, with additional ROMs. Get ftp://ftp.lip6.fr/pub/amstrad/emulator/simcpc.zip A1.1.14) Multi-Machine, or MTM (win9x) 01/11/2000 Get MTM v1.30b by Paul Hodgson at ftp://ftp.lip6.fr/pub/amstrad/emulator/mtmw130b.zip MTM is a win9x multi-machine emulator. It emulates Amstrad CPC(+), Sinclair ZX80/81 and Spectrum, Jupiter Ace and Elan Enterprise. It can read .WAV or .CDT (digitalized Amstrad tapes). http://www.geocities.com/TimesSquare/Stadium/4428 A1.1.15) Arnold (win9x, MACos, Unix/Linux), Arnold Jr (Java) 10/24/2001 A CPC(+) emulator by Kevin Thacker for win9x, get binaries and sources at http://arnold.emuunlim.com Get the MACos conversion by Richard Bannister at http://www.bannister.org/software Andreas Micklei is working on the Linux version, get patches at http://www.cpcszene.de/users/nurgle Arnold Junior is a different emulator, the emulation is very simple. It uses the z80 emulation from Jasper (Spectrum emulator at http://www.spectrum.lovely.net The source to Arnold Jnr is available from http://www.arnoldemu.freeserve.co.uk * A1.1.16) Zsim (PC) 05/06/2003 * Zsim v2.42 by Jurgen G. Weber, it simulates a CP/M Z80 machine. It DOES NOT simulate CP/M. It includes a PD CP/M compatible operating system and a program to format CP/M disks, so you can run CP/M programs. It can read DATA and SYSTEM disks directly. * http://www.jwi.de/zsim A1.1.17) Yage (PC) 07/15/99 Yage v0.91 by Antoine Pitrou, a CPC emulator which handles demos like 'The demo' and 'divine megademo'. Get ftp://ftp.lip6.fr/pub/amstrad/emulator/yage091.zip * A1.1.18) CPCE (msdos/win9x) 05/06/2003 * A spanish Amstrad CPC emulator for msdos/win9x by CNGSOFT, go http://cpce.emuunlim.com A1.1.19) CPC-emulator (Linux/Unix) 02/05/2001 CPC-emulator for Linux/Unix with X11 version 023 by Ulrich Cordes, features .DSK (with large formats : 720 Ko), sound, debugger. go http://www.amstrad-cpc.de A1.1.20) M.E.S.S. (PC, MAC, Amiga) 10/23/2001 Multi-Emulator Super System (Amstrad CPC, PCW, and NC) is available on : http://www.mess.org For using PcW16 emulation, get ftp://ftp.lip6.fr/pub/amstrad/misc/pcwos.zip * A1.1.21) Arnimedes (PC) 05/06/2003 * Arnimedes for msdos and win9x, by Oliver Lenz, get it at http://www.arnimedes.de A1.1.22) XCPC (Unix/X11R6) 10/24/2001 An Amstrad CPC emulator by Olivier Poncet for unix and X11R6 at : http://xcpc.emuunlim.com + A1.1.23 CoPaCabana (win9x) 05/06/2003 + A french windows Amstrad CPC emulator at : + http://copacabana.emuunlim.com A1.2) Utilities A1.2.1) SNA2GIF (PC) SNA2GIF v1.1 by Marco Vieth is included in CPCEMU, it extracts screens from snapshots to GIF format. A1.2.2) SNAP GRAB (PC) SNAP GRAB v1.1 is a freeware by Georg Schwarz to extract screens from snapshots to Multiface II format, which can be seen on real CPC even with a multiface. If you want to see the picture on your PC, you will need CPC2x (see A1.2.3), get SNAPGR11.ZIP. A1.2.3) CPC2x (was CPC to TIFF) (PC) CPC2x v2.0 by Michael Stroucken converts Amstrad CPC screens to the graphic TIF and GIF format. Get CPC2X.ZIP with sources and binaries for MSDOS and CP/M. A1.2.4) CPC file system (PC) 10/24/2001 CPCfs v0.85.3 by Derik van Zutphen, it transfers CPC files between .DSK files and DOS files, in the two ways. There is a useful batch mode. http://home.t-online.de/home/derik/cpcfs.htm Better get CPCXFS, the updated version by Kevin Thacker which supports now extended .DSK, bugs removed, other updates, at : http://andercheran.aiind.upv.es/~amstrad A1.2.5) Multiface II to Snapshot (PC) M2TOSNA v1.1 by James McKay converts CPC Multiface II files to 64 Ko and 128 Ko snapshots files. Look for M2TOSNA1.ZIP. A1.2.6) CPDread and CPDwrite (PC) 06/03/99 Copy Protected Disk reader v3.24 by Ulrich Doewich, for transferring CPC disks into the common DSK file format of CPC emulators. It uses the extended DSK format which manages copy protected disks better. Get CPDR324.ZIP CPDwrite v1.03, for writing back .DSK to a disk, even with protected games, get CPDW103.ZIP A1.2.7) MACTerm (MAC) Transfer files between CPC and MAC with a parallel cable, get CPCTERM.ZIP A1.2.8) 22disk (PC) 08/06/2000 22disk is a shareware utility by Sydex (http://www.sydex.com) which can read/write/format CP/M disks on PC. It can read CPC disks formats with a file called CPMDISKS.DEF which comes with CPCEMU, or EURO.DEF (ftp://ftp.lip6.fr/pub/amstrad/emu-uti/eurodef.zip) or my own file (ftp://ftp.lip6.fr/pub/amstrad/emu-uti/gen8-def.zip). You shouldn't use it under OS/2 or win95, unless you have the last version (ftp://ftp.lip6.fr/pub/amstrad/emu-uti/22dsk144.zip). Sydex has removed 22disk since 2000 from public distribution, but is still for sale on their web site. A1.2.9) DIC (PC) 06/14/97 Disc Image Copier by Tim Rieman, transfer DATA and SYSTEM disc from CPC to PC with a parallel cable, get : ftp://ftp.lip6.fr/pub/amstrad/emu-uti/dic130.zip For conversion from PC to CPC, see A1.2.11 A1.2.10) AIFF decoder (Unix, PC, Amiga) 02/28/2000 AIFF decoder by Pierre Guerrier, a tool for retrieving data from sampled Amstrad CPC tapes, C sources included. Get programs from author homepage or : - MSDOS port v1.2 by Ulrich Doewich : ftp://ftp.lip6.fr/pub/amstrad/emu-uti/pcdcdr12.zip - Amiga port by Kevin Thacker : ftp://ftp.lip6.fr/pub/amstrad/emu-uti/amiaiff.lzh A1.2.11) PC2CPC (PC) PC2CPC v2.0 by James Churchill converts CPC emulator EDSK images to 3" disks via the CPCEMU parallel link, look for ftp://ftp.lip6.fr/pub/amstrad/emu-uti/pc2cpc.zip For conversion from CPC 3" disk to PC .DSK see A1.2.9 A1.2.12) DSK-CPC (CPC) 09/01/99 DSK-CPC by Divine Coding (divine_coding yahoo.com) reads a .DSK or .EDSK image from a 3.5" 720Kb DOS disc and writes the image to a CPC disc, thus recreating the original software disc. It can can cope with copy-protected software. Get it at : http://www.divine.freeserve.co.uk/cpc.html A1.2.13) CPCKEY (PC) 06/08/2001 CpcKey v0.3 for msdos use the CPCEMU parallel link for : - command/replace CPC keyboard with the PC keyboard, - send files between CPC and PC - modify the CPC memory, poke during games - automatic procedures, etc... - compatible Intel HEX format A1.2.14) SEND2 (CPC) 06/15/97 SEND2 v1.2 by J.GUEZENNEC (jguezenn icor.fr) is a complete parallel transfer package which is an amelioration of CPCPARA.BAS : - 3" disk transfer (DATA, SYSTEM, IBM), - ROM transfers, - tape transfers. A1.2.15) TransCPC CPC transfile project, a project aimed at simulating a small file system on the Amstrad CPC with the files being stored on a PC hard disk. The project is complete, there is no plan to improve it. Get ftp://ftp.lip6.fr/pub/amstrad/emulator/transcpc.zip The CPC asm code needs Devpac or similar to be compiled, and any PC assembler for the PC asm code. A1.2.16) ReadScr (PC) A PC utility for ms-dos by Ark for viewing Amstrad CPC screens, with palettes or not, get ftp://ftp.lip6.fr/pub/amstrad/graphic/readscr.zip A1.2.17 CPC2TAPE (PC) 08/16/99 A dos utility (comes with C sources) to transfer Amstrad files from a PC to the CPC directly via the sound card, or to tapes, get ftp://ftp.lip6.fr/pub/amstrad/emu-uti/cpc2tape.zip A1.2.18) SLIP/IP stack 04/24/99 A SLIP/IP stack developped by mrison hotmail.com for Amstrad CPC6128s with Amstrad serial interfaces. Using this, you can establish a SLIP connection from your Amstrad and then ping it. To find out more, go to http://www.altsoft.demon.co.uk/cpcip It's probably easiest if you connect your CPC to a Linux box, using a null modem, and the instructions assume this, but there's no reason in principle why you couldn't connect via a modem. A2) Sources of emulators, ROMs and programs ROMs are now included with CPCEMU and CPE, with the permission of Amstrad and Locomotive Software. If you have ROMs on a romboard, you can get them for use with an emulator, get CPCEMU, it comes with a basic program to transfer a ROM to a file. + A2.0) IRC 10/20/2002 You can exchange files with Internet Relay Chat, but its primary goal is to chat with other internet users. There are 3 IRC channels : - #CPC, every days on IRCNet - #CSA8, every SUNDAY at 3:00 pm, on Undernet (best server is the London Netcom server, see http://www.csa8.com ; - #CPC, on irc.emm.fr - #CPC on irc.neoxys.org port 6667 A2.1) FTP sites 01/18/2002 If you have problems accessing FTP sites, use the following method : ftp://anonymous@ftp.lip6.fr/pub/amstrad/emulator/cpcemu15.zip - ftp://ftp.lip6.fr/pub/amstrad, thanks to Remy Card, http://www.genesis8bit.com/files.html (HTML front-end with the list of all files, size and description included). all questions about this site should be directed to roussin noos.fr files comes from 'Genesis, the 8bit generation BBS' (see A2.3). - ftp://andercheran.aiind.upv.es/pub/cpc/ADATE, thanks to Sergio Bayarri or creating the site, and to Kevin Thacker for maintaining it. Send what you have in /pub/cpc/ADATE/incoming. This site contains tape images (.cdt) and disk images (.dsk). The aim of this site is to preserve games, so only original games are allowed. No hacked or modified games will be allowed. Please see the documentation at this site about creating tape-images using existing tools. (voc2tzx) - ftp://ftp.nvg.ntnu.no/pub/cpc, thanks to Arnt Gulbrandsen for creating the site, and to Nicholas Campbell for maintaining it. Send what you have in /pub/cpc/incoming or email to nich otto.org, look for the HTML front-end : http://tacgr.emuunlim.com - ftp://ftp.math.uni-hamburg.de/pub/misc/cpc_emu mirror of ftp.nvg.unit.no - ftp://ftp.demon.co.uk/pub/cpm, thanks to Paul Martin, specific Amstrad CP/M related files. Paul Martin (pm nowster.demon.co.uk) will send anyone, who can give him proof (photocopy of the CP/M disk with the serial number for example) that they have original Amstrad CP/M Plus, the binary ROM images of his "CP/M Plus ROMs" for free. - http://www.cantrell.org.uk/mirrors, mirror of lip6 and nvg - Two Mag FTP site A2.2) WWW 04/24/99 You will find them at : - http://www.genesis8bit.com the FAQ maintainer homepage with Amstrad news, the AFC association (sells belts, 3,5" drives, the zine Amstrad Live, a CD with all lip6 files and other 8bit computer files), FAQ (english, french, german in HTML and text), all emulators, gallery of CPC users, the most comprehensive Amstrad links, list of books and hardware, etc... Two other important web sites : - http://www.amstrad.com the official Amstrad web site - http://andercheran.aiind.upv.es/~amstrad the biggest Amstrad web page by Kevin Thacker A2.3) BBS 01/20/2001 - Genesis the 8bit generation (2:320/220) : +33 1 53 95 32 43 (modem/ISDN) & 44 (modem), Paris (FRANCE), sysop : Emmanuel Roussin. There are about 139 Mo of Amstrad files (CPC, PCW, NC and PDA600). - ZNODE 51 : +49 89 961 45 75, in Germany, from 15:00 to 3:00 CET (MEZ), up to V32b, CPC files. - The Dream Machine (2:442/600) : +44-1222-689812, Cardiff, Wales, U.K., V21 through v34/VFC, sysops : David J. Thomas and Rachael Munns, this bbs carries CPC and CP/M files, and the c.s.a.8 newsgroup. - Chill out zone : +49 821 2290356, Augsburg, Germany, v21 to v32b, sysop : Dark Sector, CPC files (coming from Razormaid). - SchnickSchnackBBS (FidoNet: 2:2448/615): +49-234-9620318, Bochum, Germany, V34, X75, sysop: Armin Schaefer, this bbs carries cpc files and it is the home of CPCNet, a german speaking network for Amstrad 8bit-users based on Fido and ZConnect-technology. For infos on CPCNet write to CPCNet p2.zebulon.ftg.donut.de - Chaos Cottage : +44 1736 756633, Hayle, Cornwall, U.K., V34,sysop : Nigel Woolcock (jacob spuddy.mew.co.uk), CP/M file area (mainly PCW) with 5 Mo, AMSTRAD, CPM, CPMTECH fido echos and the csa8 newsgroup available. A2.4) Using programs with emulators or real CPC A2.4.1) DSK files These files are images of a disk, you "insert" a disk with F3 in CPCEMU, and F6 with CPE, then you can type CAT to see the files, RUN"file_name" to run a program (.BAS or .BIN). A2.4.2) CPC files 10/27/2001 Three solutions to use plain CPC files : a) put them in the TAPE directory, type |TAPE then the usual RUN" b) WinAPE comes with a ROM image called CPCDOS. Simply select the ROM (probably best below AMSDOS in ROM 6), then you can use |DOS, |DOS.IN, |DOS.OUT, |CD c) inject them in a .DSK file with CPCFS (see A1.2.4) : - create an empty .DSK : CPCFS -nd empty.dsk (you can omit the .dsk) - inject files : CPCFS empty -mp *.* (the files must be in the current directory, the DSK can be somewhere else) To extract files from a .DSK : CPCFS image.dsk -mg *.* XTI by Pierre Guerrier can also put amsdos files into a DSK. Note that there are MAC and Amiga ports of XTI. A2.4.3) How to run programs with a CPC or emulator ? Type CAT to get the directory of the disk, mostly programs are run with a BASIC loader, so looks for *.BAS, then type RUN"name.BAS" (.BAS can be omitted). If there isn't a basic loader, run the .BINary program directly : type RUN"name.BIN" (.BIN can be omitted). Some disks doesn't have a real directory, and must be launched with the CP/M command : |CPM. For running tapes on a real CPC, type RUN", the CPC will launch the first program on the tape. A2.4.4) How to format a disk 01/03/2003 On a CPC, use the formatting utility on your CP/M disk (diskit) or the following basic program : 5 ' QuickFormat by Adrian Forbes 10 MODE 1:PRINT"Please Wait..." 20 GOSUB 150 30 MODE 1 40 INPUT "(D)ata or (V)endor";f$ 50 PRINT "Sure (Y/N)" 60 a$=INKEY$:IF a$="" THEN 60 70 IF LOWER$(a$) 'put 'not equal to' here, cant do it in HTML' "y" THEN GOTO 60 80 MODE 1 90 PRINT"Insert disc to format in drive A":PRINT"Then press a key..." 100 CALL &BB18 110 MODE 1 120 PRINT"Formatting..." 130 |QF,f$ 140 GOTO 30 150 ch=0 160 add=&4000 170 ln=310 180 FOR x=1 TO 8 190 READ a$:a=VAL("&"+a$) 200 POKE add,a 210 add=add+1 220 ch=ch+a 230 NEXT 240 READ ch$ 250 IF ch 'put 'not equal to' here, cant do it in HTML' VAL("&"+ch$) THEN PRINT"Error in line";ln:END 260 ln=ln+10 270 ch=0 280 IF ln 'put "not equal to' here, cant do it in HTML' 510 THEN GOTO 180 290 CALL &4000 300 RETURN 310 DATA 21,8D,40,01,91,40,C3,D1,354 320 DATA BC,FE,01,C0,21,9A,40,06,37C 330 DATA 09,36,00,23,36,00,23,36,F1 340 DATA 00,23,36,02,23,10,F2,21,1A1 350 DATA 88,40,CD,D4,BC,22,89,40,410 360 DATA DD,6E,00,DD,66,01,23,5E,310 370 DATA 23,56,1A,FE,44,CA,80,40,35F 380 DATA FE,64,CA,80,40,3E,41,32,39D 390 DATA 8C,40,11,00,00,06,28,C5,1D0 400 DATA 21,9A,40,7A,06,09,77,23,21E 410 DATA 23,23,23,10,F9,3A,8C,40,278 420 DATA 06,05,21,9C,40,CD,73,40,288 430 DATA 06,04,21,A0,40,CD,73,40,28B 440 DATA 21,9A,40,DF,89,40,14,C1,378 450 DATA 10,D5,C9,77,23,23,23,23,2B1 460 DATA 23,23,23,23,3C,10,F4,C9,295 470 DATA 3E,C1,32,8C,40,C3,3F,40,33F 480 DATA 86,00,00,07,00,00,00,00,8D 490 DATA 00,97,40,C3,09,40,C9,51,2FD 500 DATA C6,00,20,00,00,00,00,00,E6 510 DATA end On a PC, use 22disk, look for A128 A2.5) Buying hardware/software A2.5.1) Auctions sites Auctions sites like http://www.ebay.com are good places to find hardware and software A2.5.2) Emmaüs (only in France) It's possible to find interesting things in Emmaüs shops (at Brest for example), like at Trappes (http://www.emmaus-trappes.com/informatique A2.5.3) Tradinpost - You can buy a selection of games cartridges for the CPC+ and the GX4000, cartridges are unboxed and without instructions. Price £7.99 each including postage and packing in United Kingdom, also programs for CPC/PCW, go at http://www.tradeinpost.com John Thackeray (email : Tradingpost btinternet.com) Trade in Post Victoria Road Shifnal Shropshire TF11 8AF Tel/Fax : 00 44 (0)1952 462135 A3) Transfer between CPC and PC Later mentions of DDI-1 can also be replaced by FD-1 (which comes without the interface for the 464) A3.1.1) 3" drive on PC (part one) 10/22/2002 A working solution on this site A3.1.2) 3" drive on PC (part two) 01/11/2000 Porting files across from CPC to PC is easy, at least, if you have a DDI-1 disk drive ! You need to follow exactly these instructions. As is usual with things like this, you do everything entirely at your own risk. I have done this on my own PC without damaging it, but cannot guarantee that it will work with yours. If you do damage your computer, it is YOUR FAULT. Note of the FAQ keeper, I have a report of someone trying out the following instructions, who had his controller burnt, and another whose 3" drive died, so beware. These instructions only apply to the DDI-1 package. They MAY work with the FD1 3" second drive, and will definitely NOT work with the internal drives on 6128s, 664s, and 6128+s. Install 22DISK! You will need to tell it you have no A: drive, and that B: is a 360K drive, physical unit 0, on the Primary adapter, with step-rate of 12 milli-seconds. You will also need the CPMDISKS.DEF file from CPCEMU. 0 Install 22DISK with CPMDISKS.DEF coming with CPCEMU or the one from EURODEF.ZIP 1 open your PC, following all usual precautions such as turning off the power and discharging any static electricity on your body! 2 Unplug any floppy drives. This step is important. (See note 1) 3 Find the connector that is meant for the B: drive. (It is probably on the same cable as the connector for the A: drive. The A: connector has a twist in it. The B: connector is the other one!) 4 Plug it into your DDI-1 drive unit. You may have to file the keyway on the connector off. (Different PCs have different keyways on their connectors, so you may not have to attack it with a file. So much for standardisation!) 5 Turn the DDI-1 drive on first, then the PC. When it does the Power-on test, press DEL to enter the setup menu (you have got an AMI BIOS haven't you?). Tell it you have no A: drive and a 360K 5.25" B: drive. (See note 2) 6 Use 22DISK to read (not under OS/2 or windows 95), write and format your 3" disks to your heart's content ! You could also use ANADISK I suppose. 7 When you've finished, restore the machine its original state. As well as using CPC disks, you'll probably be able to use Spectrum 3 disks if you have an appropriate CPMDISKS.DEF. If of course you want to use Speccy disks... Note 1 : Amstrad's disk drive is reasonably standard, but not quite! When you install it, it claims to be both your physical drive 0 and physical drive 1. As such, if you expect it to be just drive 1 (B:), and leave unit 0 (A:) still plugged in, it will promptly ram the heads of unit 0 hard against the end stop, promptly trashing your unit 0. I found this the hard way, and had to buy a new 3.5" floppy drive. Note 2 : If you don't have an AMI BIOS, then this will be different. You may have to run a program from a system disk which came with your computer. The pin-outs of the 3" drive are _identical_ to the ones of a 5.25" drive - it will just plug in. It's a long time since I was inside my Einstein, but I'm pretty sure that drive is a 40track SS unit - what a PC would call a 180K drive. Things like the Disk Change line may be different, but if you set up your PC to ignore that (and possibly tell it it's a 360K drive), you should be OK. I've used a 3" drive (actually a Double-sided model) with an original IBM XT in this way. A reply to the last two paragraphs : It actually depends on the type of 3" drive. Some of them had a 34 way connector like the IBM PC 5.25 " drive (i.e. PCB gold plated edge connector) and are compatible. Genuine Amstrad drives on the other hand have a 26-way PCB header which contains all the useful signals, although some have been removed. I remember, that the 34 way connectors are only nearly compatible. In those days around 1985, I connected a CPC 464 External drive to another CPM computer with standard 5.25" drives like the PC-drives. It was necessary to swap the lines since the pin numbering was mirrored compared to the standard. I also think that the exact layout depends on the version of the computer (CPC 464/664/6128). So be careful and do not ruin your hardware by building sh circuits! (It shouldn't be very difficult to verify which are the GND-lines ) A complement to this reply The Amstrad and PC disk connections are as follows: 26 pin Amstrad disk drive: Index 2 * * 1 GND DS0 4 * * 3 GND DS1 6 * * 5 GND Motor 8 * * 7 GND Dirn 10 * * 9 GND Step 12 * * 11 GND Wdata 14 * * 13 GND Wenable 16 * * 15 GND Track0 18 * * 16 GND WProt 20 * * 19 GND Rdata 22 * * 21 GND Side 24 * * 23 GND N.C ? 26 * * 25 GND 34 pin Standard disk drive: Head Load 2 * * 1 GND In Use ? 4 * * 3 GND DS3 6 * * 5 GND Index 8 * * 7 GND DS0 10 * * 9 GND DS1 12 * * 11 GND DS2 14 * * 13 GND Motor 16 * * 15 GND Dirn 18 * * 17 GND Step 20 * * 19 GND Wdata 22 * * 21 GND Wenable 24 * * 23 GND Track0 26 * * 25 GND WProt 28 * * 27 GND Rdata 30 * * 29 GND Side 32 * * 31 GND N.C. ? 34 * * 33 GND Note that on the Amstrad drive, DS3 and DS2 are missing. The pins marked with a ? may have been redefined on some drives (e.g. on high density PC drives, one of them is used to change the drive current - I can't remember which now), also on very old single sided drives, the Side signal used to be used to reset the drive. If you are using a 34 way connector drive in an Amstrad, you may want to hard wire Head Load to be permanently enabled (if it is used - not all drives do). --- http://www.genesis8bit.com for comp.sys.amstrad.8bit FAQ and more ! If you want to email me, dont forget to change the address .