Are these possibly MIA titles on eBay?

[leenew]

Hi,
Are these 2 items MIA?

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Aces-High-Fou ... 2340099c30

and

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/BBC-B-softwar ... 2ed61da80c

If so, who's bidding?

Lee.

[flaxcottage]

I am for Mr T!

Edit:

We have this title as an SSD but not the documentation. Must be worth a punt. The tape can then go up to a Glen in Scotland to be archived as a UEF.

[leenew]

OK John, I will bid on the other one

Lee.

[leenew]

Got mine!
John, did you get yours?

Also, what about these?

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Strategy-11-A ... 3a96b8c768

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/BBC-HOMACC-Ac ... 3a96b8c0d5

What is HOMACC anyway?

Lee.

[paulv]

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/BBC-HOMACC-Ac ... 3a96b8c0d5

What is HOMACC anyway?

Lee.

Probably Home Accounts

http://www.acornelectron.co.uk/profs/el ... emini.html

Paul

[Arcadian]

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Strategy-11-A ... 3a96b8c768

This is either Strategy 1: INVASION or Strategy 2: HUNT FOR THE BISMARCK by ASP/Argus Press.

Either way, I have both and they're already archived as UEFs on Stairway to Hell.

Oh, I also have the ACES HIGH package - picked it up a few years ago, but it's in one of my boxes containing tapes that I've yet to get round to transferring ...

[leenew]

Oh, I also have the ACES HIGH package - picked it up a few years ago, but it's in one of my boxes containing tapes that I've yet to get round to transferring ...

Now you tell me

Mine will be off to Col in a few days anyway

Lee.

[CMcDougall]

^oww great

Home Accounts is here, by me on SSD, same as the tape:
viewtopic.php?f=32&t=7815#p80507

[flaxcottage]

Got mine!
John, did you get yours?

Affirmative. On its way. A MR T with documentation.

[lurkio]

Oh, I also have the ACES HIGH package

Now you tell me Mine will be off to Col in a few days anyway

Courtesy of Lee, here's the SSDified version of the tape -- it works in ElectrEm and BeebEm (but not in Master 128 mode, I think because it loads data at &C00):

ACESHI.ssd.zip

(13.83 KiB) Downloaded 307 times

And here's the manual, scanned and PDF'd:

http://pdf.yt/d/sP9i25Qoo5rK9jNw

Aces High manual.pdf.zip

(2.46 MiB) Downloaded 292 times

I transferred the tape to an actual floppy on an actual Beeb using DiscDoctor's *TAPEDISC command, and then I imaged the floppy with a DataCentre.

I didn't create a UEF because I realised I don't know how to do a "proper" UEF (i.e. a faithful image of the original tape) or even if such a thing is possible. But I thought I'd upload the SSD anyway as it might be useful in its own right (not least because I've added a menu, whereas the original tape just tells you to manually type *LOAD and then OLD and then RUN!)

Lee, I guess that when I return the tape you'll still want to send it to Col for UEFfing?

But first, shall I see if I can find my old scanner, get it working, and scan in the instructions? [EDIT: Done. See above.]

[richardtoohey]

I was expecting something with Spitfires etc.!

it works in ElectrEm and BeebEm (but not in Master 128 mode, I think because it loads data at &C00)

It *LOADs the selected next part to PAGE, then moves to &C00 onwards for a count of L% (usually &2300.)

So you can

Code: Select all

*LOAD BLACK-J E00
PAGE=&1000
LIST

... to see the next BASIC program code. Wonder what it uses &D00 for ... sets a DECK var and a WORK var but then doesn't seem to use them. Some peeking and poking in &D00.

EDIT: fixed the characters issue, but Master mode doesn't like the program (I'm just trying with Blackjack) - Masters seem a lot unhappier with BASIC programs that trash D00 space.

It is like 3D MUNCHY - another BASIC program that trashes D00. The killer locations seem to be:

&0DCC-&0DCE XFSCV address, ROM number

If you restore the default values:

Code: Select all

?&DCC=&8E
?&DCD=&9D

Then BASIC is happy enough to carry on.

Here is a WIP version if anyone interested. It is NOT a proper fix because it restores those two memory locations to the OS default - so at some point the games will possibly be unhappy because of it.

Also it leaves the assembly listing, and you have to press f0 (or f10 in emulator) to carry on.

[leenew]

Hi Lurkio.
Well done with the ssd-i-fication. .
Yep, dig the scanner out please
Col! Do we need this ueffing?
Btw is there an idiots guide to making an uef anywhere? (For Lurkio not me )

Lee.

[CMcDougall]

^hi Lee, my idiots bible here:
viewtopic.php?f=6&t=5987#p56019
Don't use the free Audacity music program, as its utter useless to make a .WAV

if no weird blocks, changing names etc, no real need for a .UEF / .CSW (but still nice to keep original File Names/ Load/ Exec/ Locked address)

[lurkio]

if no weird blocks, changing names etc, no real need for a .UEF / .CSW (but still nice to keep original File Names/ Load/ Exec/ Locked address)

There didn't seem to be any weird blocks. The two tapes seemed to be totally unprotected. All the files were unlocked, and the manual tells you to *LOAD them in! And I believe DiscDoctor's *TAPEDISC command preserves the load and exec addresses.

I scanned in the manual and PDFified it. I can't seem to upload the PDF file here at the moment, so I've uploaded it elsewhere and linked to it in my previous post, above.

[lurkio]

I was expecting something with Spitfires etc.! :lol

Ha!

Here is a WIP version if anyone interested.

I am! Thanks for the analysis. What the heck is XFSCV though?!

I'm sure there are good reasons why the Master was designed in such a way as to break backward compatibility with various bits of Beeb software, but it's still rather annoying!

[richardtoohey]

XFSCV - eXtended Filing System Control Vector - this let's you specify an address (and ROM number) that * commands are vectored through.

So the BASIC programs move themselves (or their data) and trash that vector - then * commands don't work.

It's something to do with that - something on the Master is a little bit more sensitive - but I haven't worked out 100% what yet. If I set the vector back to what it should be on a Master, the titles in this set (and 3D MUNCHY, the other title I looked at) - start working on the Master. But obviously it's not a real solution, because at some point they want the code/data they stored at those two locations ...

BUT if you wreck the vector on a BBC B, it's not happy, either - so I'm still missing a piece of the puzzle.

[richardtoohey]

I'm sure there are good reasons why the Master was designed in such a way as to break backward compatibility with various bits of Beeb software, but it's still rather annoying!

Not entirely fair - the memory space was documented but there were plenty of warnings not to muck around with it or make assumptions - stick to OS calls etc.

But on the other hand, with so little memory to play with, people got creative.

[leenew]

Did anybody bag this:

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Olympic-Spect ... true&rt=nc

As far as I can see it is MIA...

Lee.

[Arcadian]

That's just Micro Olympics (originally by Database Software).

IIRC all that Alternative did was change the packaging.

[Rich Talbot-Watkins]

It's something to do with that - something on the Master is a little bit more sensitive - but I haven't worked out 100% what yet

Since I had the same problem when I had a Master, I can tell you what this is. The difference between the Master and OS 1.20 is that the tape filing system in the Master lives in ROM 15 instead of in the OS. So, even in *TAPE mode, the Master still requires the XFSCV to be set up to point to the appropriate code in ROM 15 (OS 1.20 simply repoints the regular FSCV to a routine in the OS).

'*' commands go through FSCV before they're passed to OSCLI (so that they can implement '*' commands only when they are the current filing system), so even if there's no filing system access after the FSCV vector has been trampled, any * commands in the BASIC program (e.g. *FX) will go through FSCV and screw up.

I used to get around this by changing *FXs / *TVs to the appropriate OSBYTE call, e.g. *FX15 would become:

Code: Select all

A%=15:CALL-12

which unfortunately was a few more characters, so I often had to shorten other bits of the program so it didn't overrun its allotted space.

[richardtoohey]

Thanks, Rich.

That answers my question (hhhmmm, I'm hijacking a thread again - might move this one to a new thread.)

The two programs I've looked at will need a bit of tweaking to sort out all the OS calls, but at least it looks possible!

[lurkio]

Since I had the same problem when I had a Master, I can tell you what this is.

Ah, thanks, Rich!

It is NOT a proper fix because it restores those two memory locations to the OS default - so at some point the games will possibly be unhappy because of it.

But possibly not, right? I assume it's still possible that a game won't touch the relevant mem locations for XFSCV?

It looks like Blackjack only uses &D00 to &D8F, so if you load that chunk of memory separately, and pre-define the user-defined chars, you can arrive at a version of Blackjack that seems to run fine in BBC B mode and in M128 mode in BeebEm:

ACESWHY.ssd.zip

(14.7 KiB) Downloaded 150 times

(If I seem to be duplicating your WIP above, Rich (@richardtoohey), it's coz I'm a bit dense and couldn't get your version to run in BeebEm!)

hijacking a thread again - might move this one to a new thread

Probably wise.

[CMcDougall]

Predict - Mayday software 1983

not paying £18 though to find out......
http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Predict-BBC-M ... 6016.l4276

[flaxcottage]

Think this needs to go in the LOL Price thread!

[lurkio]

Predict - Mayday software 1983 not paying £18 though to find out...... http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Predict-BBC-M ... 1604404176

How about a tenner?:

• http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Predict-BBC-M ... 2636374800

Bargain!

[Arcadian]

I think DaveE may have this tape - so I'd resist buying the ebay copy for now!