28-09-2022, 03:54 PM
Thanks to CheshireNoir for his help on this project after a few initial hiccups, see https://microbeetechnology.com.au/forum/thread-541.html Last year I updated some of the ROMs in my normal PC85 which gave me a few games instantly without having to load in a tape. Working great 
I was wanting to leave my Prem PC85 in original state as best as I could but again wanted the benefit of instant game play. So decided to go down the MultiROM way as all I have to do is replace 1 rom, the useless (today it is) Viatel rom H, with the small adaptor and a larger rom. Remove the MultiROM unit and re-place the Viatel ROM and its back to original condition. The MultiROM unit in place
Microbee never provided many games in ROM, so in anticipation of the MultiROM unit I had already made a few more game ROMs, some 8k long some 16k long as announced here https://microbeetechnology.com.au/forum/thread-557.html Bought a couple of cheap 27c2001 EPROMS from China which were good and wrote multirom_1.rom to one of them. There are 100's of options for the Hex Rotary Switch needed, I ended up deciding on one similar to this from Mouser. Its small, about 1cm square, and I have it just hanging out the back of the 'bee.
All installed and power up the 'bee. Boots to selection screen, press V (for Viatel) and instantly the game starts depending on what setting you have the Rotary Hex Switch set to. Pressing V will start what's in the 1st half of the 16k section of the rom that the rotary switch is set to. To get to the upper 1/2, at the Menu I press Return and at that menu I move the cursor to PAK 12 and press Return. The 16k long games occupy the whole of the 16k so must be started with selecting V from main Menu or PAK 4 from the menu after pressing Return. To play another game, you just turn the Hex Rotary Switch to whatever, and do an ESC RESET that does a warm boot back to the opening Menu so you can start the next game. Reset alone just tends to either restart the game or jumps you back to Basic prompt, where you could just type in MENU to get to the main Menu. No need to power down between each game.
So, my final Premium PC85 looks like this with small Hex Rotary Switch out the back. The Hex Rotary Switch can be poked in under the top cover while the 'bee is in Storage or Travelling. As you can see, I printed out a list of all the games in the rom and what settings needed to start the game.
The Multirom was initially all tested on a PC85b unit. The Premium has colour built in and the version of Defender is the original Monochrome version which has no idea about colour. So as a result, when its run, the bottom 1/2 of the screen is a coloured mess. So to fix that problem, hit B (BASIC) from the main Menu, then type in HIRES2 and hit Return. Now type in PAK4 and the game starts without the colour issue.
Now its time to start playing some of these games.
I was wanting to leave my Prem PC85 in original state as best as I could but again wanted the benefit of instant game play. So decided to go down the MultiROM way as all I have to do is replace 1 rom, the useless (today it is) Viatel rom H, with the small adaptor and a larger rom. Remove the MultiROM unit and re-place the Viatel ROM and its back to original condition. The MultiROM unit in placeMicrobee never provided many games in ROM, so in anticipation of the MultiROM unit I had already made a few more game ROMs, some 8k long some 16k long as announced here https://microbeetechnology.com.au/forum/thread-557.html Bought a couple of cheap 27c2001 EPROMS from China which were good and wrote multirom_1.rom to one of them. There are 100's of options for the Hex Rotary Switch needed, I ended up deciding on one similar to this from Mouser. Its small, about 1cm square, and I have it just hanging out the back of the 'bee.
All installed and power up the 'bee. Boots to selection screen, press V (for Viatel) and instantly the game starts depending on what setting you have the Rotary Hex Switch set to. Pressing V will start what's in the 1st half of the 16k section of the rom that the rotary switch is set to. To get to the upper 1/2, at the Menu I press Return and at that menu I move the cursor to PAK 12 and press Return. The 16k long games occupy the whole of the 16k so must be started with selecting V from main Menu or PAK 4 from the menu after pressing Return. To play another game, you just turn the Hex Rotary Switch to whatever, and do an ESC RESET that does a warm boot back to the opening Menu so you can start the next game. Reset alone just tends to either restart the game or jumps you back to Basic prompt, where you could just type in MENU to get to the main Menu. No need to power down between each game.
So, my final Premium PC85 looks like this with small Hex Rotary Switch out the back. The Hex Rotary Switch can be poked in under the top cover while the 'bee is in Storage or Travelling. As you can see, I printed out a list of all the games in the rom and what settings needed to start the game.
The Multirom was initially all tested on a PC85b unit. The Premium has colour built in and the version of Defender is the original Monochrome version which has no idea about colour. So as a result, when its run, the bottom 1/2 of the screen is a coloured mess. So to fix that problem, hit B (BASIC) from the main Menu, then type in HIRES2 and hit Return. Now type in PAK4 and the game starts without the colour issue.
Now its time to start playing some of these games.
---------------------------
ChickenMan
ChickenMan