Spectrum Computing

Posted: **Mon Oct 21, 2019 2:19 pm**

Seven.FFF wrote: ↑Mon Oct 21, 2019 1:42 pm
PeterJ wrote: ↑Mon Oct 21, 2019 11:43 amhow do you get from installing the server, to having the Spectrum pages display.
They’re not pages, they’re spectrum files - BASIC programs, CODE files, etc, just the same as you would save to tape.

If you make a BASIC menu program %SAVE “BOOT.ZX” LINE 0 then this one should load with %LOAD “” or autorun when you connect (if you have configured auto boot), and act as your “homepage”.

Thank you. Now I understand. Much appreciated.

Posted: **Mon Oct 21, 2019 2:22 pm**

The SC site is on digital ocean droplet running Ubuntu, so shouldn't be a problem. When I have time I will have a play. Thank you. Do you know what port it runs on?

I must talk to you at some time about your Mediawiki site [mention]Guesser[/mention]

Posted: **Mon Oct 21, 2019 5:22 pm**

PeterJ wrote: ↑Mon Oct 21, 2019 2:22 pm Do you know what port it runs on?

UDP 16384

Posted: **Wed Oct 23, 2019 1:23 pm**

PeterJ wrote: ↑Sun Oct 20, 2019 5:10 pm Some years ago I purchased a Spectranet from @beanz who kindly posted it all the way from the USA.

Anyway, its been sitting in my box of random Spectrum since since I got it, but today I finally gave it a go, and its wonderful!

I thought I would post a few photos. Does anyone else have one? I note ByteDelight are remaking them.

Again sorry about the horrible solder job I did on those LEDs...I'm much better at soldering now without destroying traces.

Posted: **Wed Oct 23, 2019 1:29 pm**

There was a 2 player game apparently written for the spectranet by Winston as I recall but wasn't "released", I think @guesser played it didn't you?

Posted: **Wed Oct 23, 2019 1:47 pm**

beanz wrote: ↑Wed Oct 23, 2019 1:29 pm There was a 2 player game apparently written for the spectranet by Winston as I recall but wasn't "released", I think @guesser played it didn't you?

Do you mean Spectank? That's up to four players and was "released" as it's all in the examples section of the spectranet source. I have a copy of the game client on my tnfs server. The game server is here: http://spectrum.alioth.net/svn/listing. ... me_server_

Posted: **Wed Oct 23, 2019 1:49 pm**

Guesser wrote: ↑Wed Oct 23, 2019 1:47 pm
beanz wrote: ↑Wed Oct 23, 2019 1:29 pm There was a 2 player game apparently written for the spectranet by Winston as I recall but wasn't "released", I think @guesser played it didn't you?
Do you mean Spectank? That's up to four players and was "released" as it's all in the examples section of the spectranet source. I have a copy of the game client on my tnfs server. The game server is here: http://spectrum.alioth.net/svn/listing. ... me_server_

Yes that's the one, any chance of a screenshot? I never got to play it and never saw it.

Posted: **Thu Oct 24, 2019 1:19 pm**

No worries [mention]beanz[/mention]

You were very upfront about it before the transaction and I'm very happy. It's on my list to get the soldering iron out of the loft!

Posted: **Thu Oct 24, 2019 2:03 pm**

Any chance of someone coming up with a wireless version? I know you can get adaptors, but would it be too power-hungry for the Speccy to do it on its own?

Posted: **Thu Oct 24, 2019 2:09 pm**

Joefish wrote: ↑Thu Oct 24, 2019 2:03 pm Any chance of someone coming up with a wireless version? I know you can get adaptors, but would it be too power-hungry for the Speccy to do it on its own?

I think a wireless version would mean either building an ethernet<->wireless bridge into it, or completely redesigning the interface and firmware but just keeping the high level APIs the same. A 5V aux power port to power a compact wifi bridge adaptor would be the simplest concession to wifi if the speccy PSU is up to it.

Posted: **Thu Oct 24, 2019 3:10 pm**

Ben has expressed interest in making a wireless version, but for now a wireless bridge like this one is a cheap, easy and proven solution:

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/123910528089

Posted: **Thu Oct 24, 2019 7:08 pm**

Seven.FFF wrote: ↑Thu Oct 24, 2019 3:10 pm Ben has expressed interest in making a wireless version, but for now a wireless bridge like this one is a cheap, easy and proven solution:

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/123910528089

Yes, the website says 'We will test a affordable Wifi dongle very soon, that connects to the ethernet-socket of Spectranet.'

Posted: **Tue Jun 08, 2021 8:59 pm**

Hope you don’t mind me bringing this thread back. I just got one of these cards, it’s from Aleksey, he is selling clones on eBay from Russia.

I’d been communicating with him for around 2 months now, Aleksey has been fixing an issue with compatibility across different Z80 chips. Anyway back to the questions.

Is the Spectranet supposed to work with an Interface One?

Posted: **Tue Jun 08, 2021 9:31 pm**

Hedge1970 wrote: ↑Tue Jun 08, 2021 8:59 pm I just got one of these cards, it’s from Aleksey

Mine is in the mail... do they work identically to the normal ones? like can I use the English instructions on the web?
I'm planning to cad up a 4d poopable case for it, I'm not aware of any in existence, but I can't do that till I know the dimensionses.
So excited, but shipping is slow and Russia is farrrr

Posted: **Tue Jun 08, 2021 10:06 pm**

[mention]cat[/mention] It works exactly like the original, so all original documentation is the same for Alexsey's card.

The documentation for the card itself (the switch functions etc.) is sent by Aleksey and is the only card specific documentation.

'Tis a fine card. I play around with assembly and the card has always behaved as expected, I use the spectranet GitHub for all my reference.

Posted: **Wed Jun 09, 2021 5:13 am**

I am very much finding my feet. However the card worked once I removed my peripherals - Spectra 128+ and the IF1. That said I don’t really understand how it’s all supposed to work as I don’t have instructions. I am using Spectranet instructions from the web - bytedelight - and so far all the calls work - %cat, %mount 0, etc… Worth noting that while keen I can be a bit slow to pick up stuff so the full potential for my world may take some time to realise.

Losing my Spectra means I am back to having video through spectrum composite mod which on my flat screen means dealing with Dot crawl and with Spectranet essentially being text based this is a real pain. While I figure out the potential for Spectranet in my Speccy life I will live with it, however it’s not a solution for the long term. I can’t blame Spectra as it’s well documented on the site that it won’t work with Spectranet, it’s just that I have used Spectra for the last 5 odd years and I am used to crisp sharp displays so the composite mod is horrid and causes headaches over long periods. In addition to this clash, I can’t get Spectra to work with either of my IF1’s and so I have also lost my vDriveZX which I use quite frequently. I have not tried my Multiface yet, but losing the vDriveZX makes the Multiface redundant in my world.

Back to the card, It appears to have a TFNS server pre-programmed in firmware, which launches when you switch it on. If I let this load there does not seem to be a graceful way to “exit” to basic. However If I break into it as it loads I can then access basic and use the %mount - etc - commands of Spectranet. My aim is to set up my own local TNFS server once I can get the software for my windows machine. Unfortunately as we speak this site which gets lots of google hits for the Server software is down http://spectrum.alioth.net/. I see from our forum that it has been down for a while following some sort of bot attack. I think, or as I understand it, that once I find a copy of the Windows TNFS sever software I should see similar functionality that I get from Multiface and vDriveZX the ability to make snapshots and save them to PC. Plus I should be able to save my work on PC as well. However none of this is viable for me if I can’t get a solid display as I can’t program with DOT crawl.

Exciting stuff though, just lots to learn.

Posted: **Wed Jun 09, 2021 7:14 am**

cat wrote: ↑Tue Jun 08, 2021 9:31 pm
Hedge1970 wrote: ↑Tue Jun 08, 2021 8:59 pm I just got one of these cards, it’s from Aleksey
Mine is in the mail... do they work identically to the normal ones? like can I use the English instructions on the web?
I'm planning to cad up a 4d poopable case for it, I'm not aware of any in existence, but I can't do that till I know the dimensionses.
So excited, but shipping is slow and Russia is farrrr

There is this one https://www.thingiverse.com/thing:4838221

Posted: **Wed Jun 09, 2021 9:17 am**

Hedge1970 wrote: ↑Wed Jun 09, 2021 5:13 am It appears to have a TFNS server pre-programmed in firmware, which launches when you switch it on. If I let this load there does not seem to be a graceful way to “exit” to basic. However If I break into it as it loads I can then access basic and use the %mount - etc - commands of Spectranet. M

If you get back to basic you should be able to run

Code: Select all

%fsconfig

to get into the menu where servers are saved in 'slots' and you can edit them. Also turn off autoload if you want.

It's sloooowww but you can view an old version of the alioth site cached here: https://web.archive.org/web/20200620070 ... /Main_Page and all the downloads are still being served. That's more or less how I got my server set up, but I'm on linux.

Posted: **Wed Jun 09, 2021 9:18 am**

Hedge1970 wrote: ↑Wed Jun 09, 2021 7:14 am There is this one https://www.thingiverse.com/thing:4838221

oh, nice. that saves me a lot of effort! thanks.

Posted: **Wed Jun 09, 2021 10:59 am**

cat wrote: ↑Wed Jun 09, 2021 9:17 am ....
It's sloooowww but you can view an old version of the alioth site cached here: https://web.archive.org/web/20200620070 ... /Main_Page and all the downloads are still being served. That's more or less how I got my server set up, but I'm on linux....

Perfect thank you.

Posted: **Wed Jun 09, 2021 2:47 pm**

cat wrote: ↑Wed Jun 09, 2021 9:18 am
Hedge1970 wrote: ↑Wed Jun 09, 2021 7:14 am There is this one https://www.thingiverse.com/thing:4838221
oh, nice. that saves me a lot of effort! thanks.

Caviat - I’ve never 3D printed before…. Just printed it out, it’s nice, but I would have preferred if the case held the edge connector and hence held the circuit board and the header together. But of course I can add that feature if I so wish going forward.

Posted: **Wed Jun 09, 2021 2:50 pm**

Hedge1970 wrote: ↑Wed Jun 09, 2021 2:47 pm
cat wrote: ↑Wed Jun 09, 2021 9:18 am oh, nice. that saves me a lot of effort! thanks.
Caviat - I’ve never 3D printed before…. Just printed it out, it’s nice, but I would have preferred if the case held the edge connector and hence held the circuit board and the header together. But of course I can add that feature if I so wish going forward.

Oh yeh, I see what you mean! I'll try and pop it into freecad and see what I can and can't in that regard

Posted: **Thu Jun 10, 2021 11:43 am**

Is anyone actively using an original Dylan Smith or bytedelight Spectranet on a 48k speccy? I would like to compare functionality to better understand if the ShamaZX NET / Spectranet compatible unit I have is as compatible both with other spectrum peripherals and also with the onboard functionality.

Posted: **Thu Jun 10, 2021 2:08 pm**

Does anybody know if the NEXT can connect to a Spectranet server?

Posted: **Thu Jun 10, 2021 4:50 pm**

stupidget wrote: ↑Thu Jun 10, 2021 2:08 pm Does anybody know if the NEXT can connect to a Spectranet server?

I dont know I am afraid and I dont own a Next so cant try for you,

Spectrum Computing

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