Mame, disks and program formats

[Under4Mhz]

At the moment, I'm using mame with the -quickload1 option to load up a com file and run it.

When I run any mame machines that support floppy disks, I get a blank screen.

The premium plus boots to a menu and I can select "boot disk", but I don't have a bootable disk.

Do I need an operating system on these disks to load them?

What's the best way to put a com file on a disk (or tape?) and load it onto the machine?

What's the preferred format (disk, tape or com file) for games?

[ChickenMan]

First, I suggest you join the Repository for access to lots of bootable disks, manuals, etc. https://microbeetechnology.com.au/MTFR_A...Access.htm

MAME that uses disk versions of a Microbee yes requires a bootable disk, as in real life. But you could try Nanowasp ( http://nanowasp.org/ ) to boot an individual file, just need to enter its start addy as 256.

I personally find ubee512 emulator the most advanced and generally trouble free emulator, again its in the Repository and then use HOST2CPM or CPM2HOST for moving files to and from your PC's HD to a DSK image.

Most games on the Microbee work out of BASIC as a *.BEE file with a start addy of 0900h (the default) so that it can work on the earlier ROM based bees as well as the later disk based bees.

[Under4Mhz]

What's the best way to load a .BEE file into an emulator?

[ChickenMan]

In Nanowasp, click on tape then choose file. Then select it from the list and from the main screen type in run.

[Under4Mhz]

I'm struggling to create a cpm dsk image.

I've tried using cpmtools 2.21, but it doesn't seem to create valid disks.
When I create a ds40 disk (using the diskdefs from cpmtools 2.10) I get in mame:
Fatal error: Device 5.25" quad density floppy drive load failed: Unable to identify the image format

When I try to add files to an existing boot disk using the ds40 format, mame gives:
Ignoring MAME exception: Incorrect layout on track 5 head 0, expected_size=105000, current_size=1126784
Fatal error: Incorrect layout on track 5 head 0, expected_size=105000, current_size=1126784

I can't use the cpmtools 2.10 from the repository since there's only a i386 version and I'm running i686 Linux. I tried using the diskdefs in cpmtools 2.21 but that didn't make a difference.

I've tried using z88dk.appmake to make a disk, but the disk appears as empty.

What to you use to create cpm disks? Can I get a copy the of the cpmtools 2.10 source if there was a specific problem that needed to be patched?

[Ernest]

Try Googling UB512 Emulator and follow the first hit.
As ChickenMan says “I personally find ubee512 emulator the most advanced and generally trouble free emulator”
What you are trying to do is very straightforward using that emulator.

Ernest

[ChickenMan]

ubee512 is in our Public Repository with ubeedisk, patched-cpmtools, etc. cpmtools only moves files to and from a disk image, you really need to boot an existing image from the Repository in ubee512 and then use INIT or CONFIG or DISK or SYSGEN depending what sort of disk you trying to create in B:. Do NOT use HD 5.25" disks as you wont have to much success, just use DD so called 360kb disks. Or as others have done, get any boot disk from the Repository in the size your after, boot up in ubee512 and delete all the un-needed files. You can then use cpmtools to move what ever files to that image. Use ubeedisk to finally write the image to a real floppy preferably using a 40 track 5.25" double sided drive and DD disks (as used in original 'bees).

[Under4Mhz]

When I run ubee512, I get:

Code:

$ ./ubee512
init: Unable to load icon image: /home/pchandler/.ubee512/images/ubee512-logo.bmp
roms_load: Unable to continue ROM load operation, no ROM image file(s).
init: Failed roms_init
main: Fatal error during initialisation.

$ ls

config/  disks/  doc/  images/  libs/  patches/  roms/  src/  tools/  ubee512*

$ ls roms/

basic_5.22e.rom  charrom.bin  rom1.bin

I've put the above rom files in the roms directory. What else do I need to do?

I can't run the patched cpmtools-2.10 in the repository because there's only 32bit (386) builds. Linux only supports 64bit (686).

I'd like to be able to manipulate disks via the command line, since I want to have a disk image as a result of my build process automatically.

[ChickenMan]

In the ROMs folder I assume you have these 3 roms as a minimum,

charrom.bin
rom1.bin
bn56.rom

and when you use ubee512 you need to use it like ubee512 -a filename.dsk and it will boot filename.dsk as if its running on a 512k Premium Microbee.

[Ernest]

Looks to me there is something more fundamentally wrong.
The Emulation is not finding the image file either.
Not knowing much about Linux, two possibilities that flag.
1) the .ubee512 directory?? Try it without the period?
2) your path maybe either undefined or too long.
Try putting the Ubee512 directory onto the desktop and run from that directory.
With no other switches a simple running of ubee512 with no switches and default everything but the three rom images and a boot.dsk should boot up as a Premium 512 with that default boot.dsk

Ernest