ZEsarUX 10.3

[chernandezba]

Hi!

You can download a new ZEsarUX stable version 10.3

https://github.com/chernandezba/zesarux ... sarUX-10.3



Version 10.3 - La Abadia del Crimen edition. 10 May 2023

There are lots of changes in this version, but some of them are remarkable:
- Added machines Amstrad PCW 8256, PCW 8512, CPC 6128, CPC 664
- Fixed 3" CF2 floppy disk emulation (used on +3, CPC, PCW): the floppy disk emulation has been rewritten from scratch and now is near perfect
- Lots of improvements on Debug CPU window
- Fixed almost all annoying audio clicks on Windows version (and on SDL audio driver on Linux)


The full changelog for this version 10.3 is:

* New things added:

Added Machine Amstrad PCW 8256
Added Machine Amstrad PCW 8512
Added Machine Amstrad CPC 6128
Added Machine Amstrad CPC 664
Added Visual Floppy to see floppy disk (+3, CPC, PCW, Betadisk) activity
Added DSK disk info menu: to get tracks and sectors of a disk
Added F-Functions: Poke, Visual Real Tape, Settings, Switch footer
Added Process Switcher window, which is like a "Taskbar" on the ZX Desktop
Added ZRCP command: "close-all-menus"
Added icon/F-key to open any window identified by its name
Allow F-keys to assign extra info for actions (like window name on openwindow action, or snapshot name on linktosnapshot action)
Added more Hotswap combinations
Added Advanced menu items: now by default, advanced menu items are hidden, you should enable them on Settings->Advanced menu items
Added command line setting --machinelist to get machines list names whitespace separated
Added .POK file Smartloading
Added XEyes "Toy" to follow mouse
Added Sierpinsky Meter Type to View Sensors

* Improvements:

Improved Debug CPU:
- switched function keys "m" and "o": now "x" change mode, and "m" change memptr (to be coherent with other similar windows)
- added (hl), (de), (bc)
- added (nn) when selecting an opcode like: ld reg,(nn) and ld (nn),reg
- added (ix+d), (iy+d) when selecting an opcode like: ld reg,(IX+d), etc
- added continuos speed 4 (run 10 opcodes every time, with no pause)
- show last memory pointer when changing it
- show B register on satisfy condition for DJNZ
- added new functions OPMRV(e), OPMWV(e), OPMRA(e), OPMWA(e): these return 1 if the last opcode has set any of these variables to e.
- added pseudoregister EPC to parser to match memory bank and offset for PC register
- allow holding keys for quick cursor move, etc
- watches now show numbers in hexadecimal format

Improved Debug Console: better refresh, dynamic width
Improved Debug Messages: allow to filter by message class (DSK, PD765, etc...)
Improved Debug I/O ports window: autoresize content height when do not fit in window

Improved Configuration:
- better parsing: warning when ZEsarUX has been downgraded
- if unknown parameter on configuration file, warn the user but start anyway
- moved showing Configuration file from Running info menu to Settings-> Configuration file

Improved DSK viewer:
- better filesystem detection
- show hidden and read only files
- show disk specification format
- show where files are located on Visual Floppy

Improved View Sprites:
- sprite is no longer disabled when changing memory pointer
- you can view sprites up to 1024x1024
- show PCW common format screen

Improved ZX Desktop:
- dynamic icons (Trash, My Machine, ...) assigned on top buttons now show dynamic state (trash empty/full, current machine image, etc)
- show icon indicators for open apps on ZX Desktop
- added setting to empty Trash on exit
- fixed icons zoom level when selecting some machines that use menu gui zoom = 2 (Next, CPC, QL, etc)
- ZX Desktop size now is multiplied by GUI Zoom (Zoom 2 on machines like Next, CPC, QL, etc)
- CF2 Floppy icon (+3, CPC, PCW) now is animated when motor is on

Improved ZX Vision:
- added windows-style TaskBar called "Process Switcher"
- added Process ID (PID) for all windows
- text input fields now handle repeated keys
- some text input fields now have history of last items, and history is saved on configuration file
- added function to maximize all windows
- allow reducing character height
- improved window list showing spent time on each window and pid of each window/process
- improved rendering background windows
- yes/no confirmation dialogs are translated to si/no in Spanish and Catalan
- added more menu translations to Spanish and Catalan

Improved DSK extractor: better filesystem detection
Improved ZSF Snapshots: allow to save ROM contents, useful when running custom roms
Improved File selector: can show recent folders (press space on recent files)
Improved changing pointer on some windows: can use an expression when changing memory pointer on Debug CPU, View Sprites, Hexdump, Disassemble, Poke
Improved changing to machines with big displays (Next, QL, CPC...): zoom is autochanged to 1
Improved joystick type selection
Improved Raspberry Pi emulation: performance parameters are not changed by default anymore, you must use "--changeslowparameters" on slow Rpi like Rpi1 or 2

* Fixes:

Fixed Spectrum +3 disk emulation: the disk emulation layer has been rewritten from scratch and now is near perfect.
Just some statistics from testing 943 total Spectrum +3 disks:
-Unprotected games: 98.3 % working
-Paul Owens protected games: 85.7 % working
-Speedlock protected games: 54.2 % working
-Alkatraz protected games: 0 % working
-Unknown method protected games: 0 % working (a total of 15 disks that seem to be protected but don't know the method)

Fixed almost all annoying audio clicks on Windows version (and on SDL audio driver on Linux)
Fixed empty results when querying some games on Speccy online browser
Fixed random crash on startup on Linux when executing some network operations (check updates, check last users, send updates)
Fixed segfaults when exiting using CTRL-C
Fixed autoload on Spectrum +3
Fixed bug that may crash ZEsarUX when changing to a machine with bigger resolution. It seems to affect Linux and Windows but not Mac. This is a bug that has always existed (a "long life bug" XD)
Fixed showing creator on DSK file viewer
Fixed pause: can now return when pressing mouse button too
Fixed assembler parsing expressions (NN) and NN is an hexadecimal number
Fixed debug step over and sending keys to emulated machine
Fixed setting "set machine snap load" when loading .Z80 version 1 snapshots
Fixed real joystick menu disabled on Mac OS when switching border
Fixed putting Text Adventure Map window on background

* Misc Changes:

Persistent writes on DSK files (+3/CPC/PCW disks) are now disabled by default

* As always, there are some other minor bugfixes and improvements


Enjoy!

César

[+3code]

- Fixed almost all annoying audio clicks on Windows version (and on SDL audio driver on Linux)

Thanks, to me this was one of the main reasons to avoid most of the time this good emulator.

[PeterJ]

Agreed. Thanks @chernandezba for fixing this bug. As @+3code says it makes it so much more usable.

[Pegaz]

- Fixed 3" CF2 floppy disk emulation (used on +3, CPC, PCW): the floppy disk emulation has been rewritten from scratch and now is near perfect

After a long time, I have tested this version, mainly because of the +3 fdc emulation, but this claim is still too ambitious.
Almost all protected games which I tried, do not load at all, saving with copy programs doesnt work, similar to SpecEmu and other emulators, which are based on Woody's fdc765 libs.
The only emulator that really works near perfect in +3 disk mode is Spectaculator.
SpecEmu might be able to do better, if it gets write support for eDSK files.
Fuse and RealSpec are next in line, but they still have more compatibility issues.

[chernandezba]

After a long time, I have tested this version, mainly because of the +3 fdc emulation, but this claim is still too ambitious.
Almost all protected games which I tried, do not load at all, saving with copy programs doesnt work, similar to SpecEmu and other emulators, which are based on Woody's fdc765 libs.
The only emulator that really works near perfect in +3 disk mode is Spectaculator.
SpecEmu might be able to do better, if it gets write support for eDSK files.
Fuse and RealSpec are next in line, but they still have more compatibility issues.

"Near" perfect doesn't mean perfect. Anyway, you need to read the changelog, I'm not cheating anyone:

* Fixes:

Fixed Spectrum +3 disk emulation: the disk emulation layer has been rewritten from scratch and now is near perfect.
Just some statistics from testing 943 total Spectrum +3 disks:
-Unprotected games: 98.3 % working
-Paul Owens protected games: 85.7 % working
-Speedlock protected games: 54.2 % working
-Alkatraz protected games: 0 % working
-Unknown method protected games: 0 % working (a total of 15 disks that seem to be protected but don't know the method)

[^m00h^]

Hi chernandezba,

what are the 15 disks ?

[chernandezba]

Hi chernandezba,

what are the 15 disks ?

Alien Storm (Erbe).dsk
Bonanza Bros - Side B (Spectrum).dsk
Footballer Of The Year 2.dsk
G-Loc (Erbe).dsk
G-Loc - Side A.dsk
G-Loc - Side B.dsk
Gauntlet 3 - Side 1 (Erbe).dsk
Gauntlet 3 - Side 2 (Erbe).dsk
Turbo Outrun - Side 1 (Erbe).dsk
Turbo Outrun - Side 2 (Erbe).dsk
Turbo Outrun - Side A.dsk
Turbo Outrun - Side B.dsk
Turrican - Side A.dsk
Turrican - Side B.dsk
X-Out.dsk

[Pegaz]

@chernandezba

These days, I've been testing a lot of heavily protected +3 games and when I saw this announcement, I couldn't resist trying it too.
Virtually all emulators that support the +3 model work fine with unprotected games and with them the overall stats look pretty good.
I narrowed down the choice to the most stubborn ones, which give me the best insight into the quality of the emulation.
Funnily enough, the other day @TheMartian (SpecIde author), told me twice, that her +3 disk emulation is "terrible".
For a moment I forgot how modest she was and I believed her.
Today I took a couple of dozen protected games (mostly Speedlock and Alcatraz) and guess what - they all worked!
On Zesarux, as you clarified, only a few (speedlock ones) worked in this batch.
Maybe it's all a matter of semantics, but one thing is certain - SpecIde +3 disk support is far from "terrible", I can only imagine what it will look like when it become "near perfect".

[chernandezba]

@chernandezba

These days, I've been testing a lot of heavily protected +3 games and when I saw this announcement, I couldn't resist trying it too.
Virtually all emulators that support the +3 model work fine with unprotected games and with them the overall stats look pretty good.
I narrowed down the choice to the most stubborn ones, which give me the best insight into the quality of the emulation.
Funnily enough, the other day @TheMartian (SpecIde author), told me twice, that her +3 disk emulation is "terrible".
For a moment I forgot how modest she was and I believed her.
Today I took a couple of dozen protected games (mostly Speedlock and Alcatraz) and guess what - they all worked!
On Zesarux, as you clarified, only a few (speedlock ones) worked in this batch.
Maybe it's all a matter of semantics, but one thing is certain - SpecIde +3 disk support is far from "terrible", I can only imagine what it will look like when it become "near perfect".

Yeah.
Specide emulator is becoming an awesome emulator and emulating things perfect (or near perfect ) like the snow effect.
The problem with +3 disk emulation (and all floppy disks) is that’s an analogic component which spins at (almost) regular speed. It has nothing to do with emulating a SD/MMC card for example. You need to think “different” and , in my case, forgot almost anything I have emulated before.
It took me two months of work (almost every afternoon) to emulate it from scratch. Although it has been a hard work, it’s very satisfactory all I have done with it.
I intend to support all protected disks, and I wanted to release this version with it fixed, but I needed to take a rest on floppy disk emulation and spend my time on other ZEsarUX parts.

Thanks for trying it and be sure it will improve in next versions

Cheers

[Pegaz]

It took me two months of work (almost every afternoon) to emulate it from scratch. Although it has been a hard work, it’s very satisfactory all I have done with it.
I intend to support all protected disks, and I wanted to release this version with it fixed, but I needed to take a rest on floppy disk emulation and spend my time on other ZEsarUX parts.

Thanks for trying it and be sure it will improve in next versions

Cheers

I'm really looking forward to it.
If possible at all, please add write support to eDSK files, it would bring significant quality to +3 disk emulation.

[chernandezba]

I'm really looking forward to it.
If possible at all, please add write support to eDSK files, it would bring significant quality to +3 disk emulation.

If you use an extended dsk file for writing and you write “normal” data (something that is not used to write protected disks) it should work. If you write something different from “normal” it will fail. What are you trying to write that fails for you?

[Pegaz]

If you use an extended dsk file for writing and you write “normal” data (something that is not used to write protected disks) it should work. If you write something different from “normal” it will fail. What are you trying to write that fails for you?

I try to use two excellent copy programs, especially Kobrahsoft's DB1 for cloning copy protected disk images.
For now, only Spectaculator manages to clone some of such images, but it also has certain issues when recording to the destination disc.
Another program is Plus-3-Mate, but it crashes everywhere except on SpecEmu, which unfortunatelly treats eDSK files as read only.
Overall, I havent found a satisfactory solution with any emulator, yet.
Spectaculator and SpecEmu are close, but not quite.
Zesarux, like several other emulators, successfully loads DB1 (patched), as well as the source disk, but then gets stuck when writing to the destination disk image at the beginning of the process.
Plus-3-Mate crashed during loading of certain copy parts, so I couldn't test it him.
Here are both programs with manuals, if you want to check it out.
https://easyupload.io/8x8rrb

[PeterJ]

Here are both programs with manuals, if you want to check it out.

Are these different to the files already in the archive?

[Pegaz]

Are these different to the files already in the archive?

I took Plus-3-Mate from the archive, but I think this partially patched DB1 version is not there.
We had a discussion about this three years ago and that's when I made this patched disc, following the @Stu
instructions...
viewtopic.php?p=37269&hilit=Kobrahsoft#p37269

[PeterJ]

OK. Thanks @Pegaz.

[^m00h^]

Wonderful, waiting for 100% +3 disk emulation and huge thanks for support Haiku OS version of emulator!

[edjones]

Another program is Plus-3-Mate, but it crashes everywhere except on SpecEmu, which unfortunatelly treats eDSK files as read only.

I'm sure it was something related to the AY chip on a +3 and how it differs slightly from the 128/+2 that causes that crash/reset. The details are probably on the WoS forums but its search seems to be down atm.

[Pegaz]

I'm sure it was something related to the AY chip on a +3 and how it differs slightly from the 128/+2 that causes that crash/reset. The details are probably on the WoS forums but its search seems to be down atm.

I don't know about it, but this is a +3 disk application and supports dual drive operation.
As I said, program only works on SpecEmU, which tells me it's correct.
The problem is that I cannot use it, because SpecEmu doesnt have write support for eDSK files.
With all the other emulators I've tried, it just crashes...

[edjones]

This reason why some emulators just reset with that disk is because they don't do:

"On the ZX Spectrum 128 and ZX Spectrum +2, reading from BFFDh will return the floating bus value as normal for unattached ports, but on the ZX Spectrum +2A, +3, +2B, and +3B machines, it will return the same as reading from FFFDh."

[Edgar]

Hiya. I've been trying to get to grips with this emu but I always have problems with really glitchy menus and windows:



No matter the display settings it always ends like this. I'm using version 10.3 on Windows 10 x64 Pro with an nVidia GTX1080ti with the latest drivers.

Is there anything I can do?

Thanks for any help or tips.

[chernandezba]

Hiya. I've been trying to get to grips with this emu but I always have problems with really glitchy menus and windows:



No matter the display settings it always ends like this. I'm using version 10.3 on Windows 10 x64 Pro with an nVidia GTX1080ti with the latest drivers.

Is there anything I can do?

Thanks for any help or tips.

Disable full screen settings, sometimes it generates those kind of glitches

Cheers