Games behaving differently on the Next

[R-Tape]

[mention]R-Tape[/mention]. Any reason why you aren't feeding sound through the TV? Does your Scart lead have a separate audio cable?

I don't have a SCART that I can interface with the Next at the moment. I bought a VGA - VGA, which looks like a serial port, and am using 'PC' as input for the TV. Sound isn't part of the deal. Sorry I'm pig-ignorant of these things: what are the choices if I want accurate picture/timing and sound?

Still adding games to the SD card, each game with their own folder containing the TAP, TZX and/or Z80 file

This is fun isn't it? Feels like a massive shopping spree.

and a Poke folder.

Something I would really like to see on the Next is the ability to POKE a game without a .POK file (but not to replace it). E.g. press the NMI button, type the memory address and byte you want to POKE it with. Is this even possible? If yes, could it please be considered

[redballoon]

This is fun isn't it? Feels like a massive shopping spree.

I’ve been finding setting up the games with each folder and files very therapeutic, especially through these difficult times. It’s also been a great way to remind yourself of great games as well as finding new ones to play!

[PeterJ]

Something I would really like to see on the Next is the ability to POKE a game without a .POK file (but not to replace it). E.g. press the NMI button, type the memory address and byte you want to POKE it with. Is this even possible? If yes, could it please be considered

I've not tried it, but doesn't the Next have Multiface emulation? Can't you do Pokes via that?

[Seven.FFF]

It’s there on the NMI menu, under debug tools > memory browser.

[R-Tape]

I’ve been finding setting up the games with each folder and files very therapeutic, especially through these difficult times. It’s also been a great way to remind yourself of great games as well as finding new ones to play!

Can you remember the first one you downloaded?

Among my earliest were Buzzsaw, BaldyZX, Dingo, Phaeton, Papyrus (I was playing it a lot then), GLUF, Slubberdegullion, MazeDeathRally(TomD's), More Tea Vicar, Mr Do!.

[R-Tape]

It’s there on the NMI menu, under debug tools > memory browser.

Thaaankyou. Sorry

I saw POKEs in the menu and thought it was all there. There's a lot to take in here

[TheSMoG]

I don't have a SCART that I can interface with the Next at the moment. I bought a VGA - VGA, which looks like a serial port, and am using 'PC' as input for the TV. Sound isn't part of the deal. Sorry I'm pig-ignorant of these things: what are the choices if I want accurate picture/timing and sound

[mention]R-Tape[/mention] You already have everything you need.

Something I would really like to see on the Next is the ability to POKE a game without a .POK file (but not to replace it). E.g. press the NMI button, type the memory address and byte you want to POKE it with. Is this even possible? If yes, could it please be considered

[mention]R-Tape[/mention] It's already possible

[R-Tape]

I don't have a SCART that I can interface with the Next at the moment. I bought a VGA - VGA, which looks like a serial port, and am using 'PC' as input for the TV. Sound isn't part of the deal. Sorry I'm pig-ignorant of these things: what are the choices if I want accurate picture/timing and sound

@R-Tape You already have everything you need.

Something I would really like to see on the Next is the ability to POKE a game without a .POK file (but not to replace it). E.g. press the NMI button, type the memory address and byte you want to POKE it with. Is this even possible? If yes, could it please be considered

@R-Tape It's already possible

Useful! Is it described in your manual somewhere? There's no index or contents in my copy so I can't find it. Thankfully SevenFFF has explained.

[PeterJ]

Oh no, I’ve set the WiFi up ok, I meant you can also connect your Next to your local network so you don’t have to transfer games to the SD card. You can just open them (I think) from where they are on tour network.

Does anyone know the default port that the ESP8266 uses. I'm just setting this up.

I'm fine with Server Address, Gateway address, Network Mask, WiFi SSID, and WiFi password

[PeterJ]

Useful! Is it described in your manual somewhere? There's no index or contents in my copy so I can't find it. Thankfully SevenFFF has explained.

The PDF has an index.

https://www.specnext.com/zx-spectrum-ne ... t-edition/

You will need 7zip to unzip it. Pity they didn't use the default zip format.

https://www.7-zip.org/

[PeterJ]

It’s there on the NMI menu, under debug tools > memory browser.

Nice, that makes it much easier than my suggestion

[TheSMoG]

As it was raised previously in this thread and since I wrote the manual a few clarifications:
1. 50Hz HDMI is NOT the same as a 50Hz PAL. The particulars have been explained in this thread ad-nauseam by [mention]1024MAK[/mention] and [mention]AA[/mention] and others so I won't repeat them one more time. The reason why 60Hz HDMI was originally selected as default is that ALL HDMI displays will do 60Hz but only some will do 50Hz. The same thing applies to VGA monitors. I live in Greece (a PAL country) and most of the VGA monitors here cannot do 50Hz. Granted almost all TVs in Europe can do 50Hz HDMI but not everyone wants to plug their Spectrum Next on their HDMI TVs. Some got wives with really strong arms and access to rolling pins
2. HDMI timings are "bent" regardless of 50 or 60Hz. That means that all multicolor effects and multicolor engines will CURRENTLY have issues UNLESS they were written with the Next in mind. (See note below)
3. The default mentioned by [mention]1024MAK[/mention] no longer applies and the relevant text will be removed from the second edition of the manual. Reason being that the TestCard serves the purpose of finding the best mode that works on your monitor and therefore THERE IS NO DEFAULT anymore. I forgot to remove the text from the manual as I was rushing towards the deadline as the Testcard information supersedes it. So that's my bad. Sorry, you can sue me (Not really)
4. There ARE SOME monitors that can do VGA timings while connected to HDMI. These are not many and are usually restricted to "good brands". For example my Samsung S27D39DH CAN as well as my Acer D321HQU for example. So users of such monitors can see using their TestCard (which they can force on boot) using VGA modes and these WILL HAVE perfect timings so the things that do not work with

Code: Select all

timing=7

WILL work on these monitors.
5. A very cheap "Mini brand" VGA to HDMI adapter will also do perfect timings (These go about 5 Euros on Amazon); they're a bit offset on HDMI displays however and that's why we do not recommend them
6. There will be BOTH additional Spectrum Cores with PERFECT timing AND HDMI output(via display buffering but lacking Next features) observing the settings you set in your config.ini and an improved HDMI timing setting in the regular Next core as mentioned about 30 times in this thread already. The former will arrive earlier than the latter. Multicore and passing of parameters, memory and settings to additional cores has just been completed and is being tested NOW so expect this WHOLE discussion to be moot extremely soon anyway
7. As displayed in previous messages, despite the discussions about compatibility and claims that the Next is incompatible, it has been demonstrated that one way or another (be it with extra options in the TAP loader, by special patches, skewed timings and whatnot), the Next is more compatible than any other Spectrum model that came before it. While we can argue until we're blue in the face and that's everyone's prerogative obviously, I believe (and I hope) it makes more sense to report things that may not work to the team so we can investigate the how and why and what's the fix rather than combat each other to the death. There's no point really. The ZX Spectrum Next is still being actively worked on and it improves with every iteration of the core, the firmware and the operating system. There are a lot more things being worked on that you know nothing about and I guarantee you will surprise you very much in a positive way.

[Seven.FFF]

Does anyone know the default port that the ESP8266 uses. I'm just setting this up.

If you mean TCP/IP port, it doesn’t have a Next-facing TCP-IP stack. It communicates with the next using AT modem commands. Here’s an AT manual for the Espressif firmwares: https://github.com/Threetwosevensixseve ... 2.0.0).pdf

Or do you mean Z80 I/O port?

Note that the Espressif firmware is different from what you probably used with your arduino. You can actually switch between firmwares using my .espupdate tool, so you could potentially run your arduino firmware and custom program, if you’re willing to put in a bit of work dumping it from your other ESP and packaging it up into .esp format using my tools.

[PeterJ]

I would have thought at the time, the Spectrum 48K Rubber Key was the most compatible Spectrum ever as it run everything available at the time.

Seriously though, thank you for the clarifications.

[PeterJ]

Does anyone know the default port that the ESP8266 uses. I'm just setting this up.

If you mean TCP/IP port, it doesn’t have a Next-facing TCP-IP stack. It communicates with the next using AT modem commands. Here’s an AT manual for the Espressif firmwares: https://github.com/Threetwosevensixseve ... 2.0.0).pdf

Note that the Espressif firmware is different from what you probably used with your arduino. You can actually switch between firmwares using my .espupdate tool, so you could potentially run your arduino firmware and custom program, if you’re willing to put in a bit of work dumping it from your other ESP and packaging it up into .esp format using my tools.

I'm just listing the questions asked by the script. In this case the server is the Next. I'm not sure what to enter for the port.

ip=input("Server Address: ")
pt=input("Server port: ")
gw=input("Gateway address: ")
mk=input("Network Mask: ")
ss=input("WiFi SSID: ")
pw=input("WiFi password: ")
cfg=open("server/zxnftp.cfg", "w")

[TheSMoG]

Useful! Is it described in your manual somewhere? There's no index or contents in my copy so I can't find it. Thankfully SevenFFF has explained.

The PDF has an index.

https://www.specnext.com/zx-spectrum-ne ... t-edition/

You will need 7zip to unzip it. Pity they didn't use the default zip format.

https://www.7-zip.org/

I don't use the default zip format because I hate it ( Seriously though, there's a limit on uploads on specnext.com so 7zip was best suited as it shaved just enough to allow me to upload it). It's still available on my Google Drive here: https://drive.google.com/open?id=1FpI_C ... 5syLw9XYt5

[Seven.FFF]

I'm just listing the questions asked by the script. In this case the server is the Next. I'm not sure what to enter for the port.

ip=input("Server Address: ")
pt=input("Server port: ")
gw=input("Gateway address: ")
mk=input("Network Mask: ")
ss=input("WiFi SSID: ")
pw=input("WiFi password: ")
cfg=open("server/zxnftp.cfg", "w")

Ah, you mean what port does that ftp program use, not the ESP. No idea, you’ll have to ask Alex who wrote it.

[PeterJ]

That's fine [mention]TheSMoG[/mention]. It just means downloading an additional software tool for Windows users. Thanks for the Google Drive link. That's much better.

[PeterJ]

I'm just listing the questions asked by the script. In this case the server is the Next. I'm not sure what to enter for the port.

ip=input("Server Address: ")
pt=input("Server port: ")
gw=input("Gateway address: ")
mk=input("Network Mask: ")
ss=input("WiFi SSID: ")
pw=input("WiFi password: ")
cfg=open("server/zxnftp.cfg", "w")

Ah, you mean what port does that ftp program use, not the ESP. No idea, you’ll have to ask Alex who wrote it.

OK, FTP is normally port 22, but I will check with him. I got the server address (The ESP8266) via the Android App Network Scanner which is excellent for scanning your home network. You can also use nmap if you are on Linux.

[Seven.FFF]

I think it’s a client/server pair, so don’t you just choose a port for the server and tell the client to connect to the chosen port?

[PeterJ]

Does anyone know the default port that the ESP8266 uses. I'm just setting this up.

If you mean TCP/IP port, it doesn’t have a Next-facing TCP-IP stack. It communicates with the next using AT modem commands. Here’s an AT manual for the Espressif firmwares: https://github.com/Threetwosevensixseve ... 2.0.0).pdf

Or do you mean Z80 I/O port?

Note that the Espressif firmware is different from what you probably used with your arduino. You can actually switch between firmwares using my .espupdate tool, so you could potentially run your arduino firmware and custom program, if you’re willing to put in a bit of work dumping it from your other ESP and packaging it up into .esp format using my tools.

I used this:

https://randomnerdtutorials.com/how-to- ... duino-ide/

[TheSMoG]

Useful! Is it described in your manual somewhere? There's no index or contents in my copy so I can't find it. Thankfully SevenFFF has explained.

[mention]R-tape[/mention]The NMI menu is described albeit not in length in Chapter 20. The reason why it isn't, is that its functionality was still being enhanced when the chapter was being written. The second edition will have more details. At some point I'll write a very detailed post/blog (something anyway) about why the manual is the way it is, why some things are missing and what were the reasons behind some non-obvious choices I had to make. I believe it will make for an interesting read

[Seven.FFF]

AT+CIFSR from .uart will make the ESP tell you it’s own IP address.

[PeterJ]

I think it’s a client/server pair, so don’t you just choose a port for the server and tell the client to connect to the chosen port?

Thanks. I will check, there are a few grammatical issues in his readme which makes it a bit of a struggle (for me at least), but will contact him to find out. Its a very exciting project and most welcome. I'm excited to try it out. I love these sorts of projects.

[PeterJ]

If you offer a printed version for sale of the second edition manual, please consider including the Index. Thank you.