Long Filename Browser for ZX-UNO / esxDOS

Field Programmable Gate Array based devices! As exciting as they sound
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Spezzi63
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Re: New File Browser for ZX-UNO

Post by Spezzi63 »

Hi,
again just for me ;)
So renamed the original NMI.sys in the sys directory to NMI.ORG
And the NMI.sys from the BROWSE_v0.06.zip package into the sys directory
copied where the NMI.ORG file is now also available.
Then triggered NMI
Is something going on?
Greetings,
Günter

Update:
NMI: Is something going on ?
I can't find any references to an existing 14GB card ?
Can you test another card (maybe 8GB maximum size) ?
Last edited by Spezzi63 on Thu May 21, 2020 2:00 pm, edited 2 times in total.
keithshaw3
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Re: New File Browser for ZX-UNO

Post by keithshaw3 »

yes, correct :)

Just for clarity I put all the files from Browse 0.06 package onto the card replacing as instructed.
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Re: New File Browser for ZX-UNO

Post by keithshaw3 »

I've just tried a 4gb card and it's doing the same thing, I have though just noticed that when the DIVMMC is booting from a hard reset I get an error loading RTC.SYS??
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bob_fossil
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Re: New File Browser for ZX-UNO

Post by bob_fossil »

Spezzi63 wrote: Thu May 21, 2020 12:30 pm P.S. bob_fossil: Where did the "x" for EXIT go ?
After I introduced the ability to redefine controls for v0.6 I changed all the existing keys like Q,A,X and P
to require shift - to try and stop key clashes with what the user may have defined. So you should be able to exit by pressing Shift and X.
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bob_fossil
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Re: New File Browser for ZX-UNO

Post by bob_fossil »

New test version available here.

Tried all the 3 supplied .sna files on both SpecEmu and my ZX-UNO (with the latest dev build and v0.006) and they worked without issue.

So, with the help of a 3 headed space dragon - I had another peek inside the standard NMI.SYS and found yet another undocumented esxdos API call that was being used in it's .sna file loader. I've since modified the code to work in a similar fashion and .sna / .z80 file loading still appears to work from both the .dot command and NMI on SpecEmu and my ZX-UNO. Maybe this will solve the problem? I'm out of ideas if it doesn't as it's all working here.
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Re: New File Browser for ZX-UNO

Post by XoRRoX »

I also had the problem of not being able to load .sna and .z80 files and with the latest test version, it does work :)
(Retro Virtual Machine, Spec128k).

It seems that files with names that exceed the max display size do not load, for example: Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom (1987)(US Gold).tap

- Would it be possible to remember the position in the folder list on the last (at least) 2 levels, instead of 1?

I think a folder structure like this is common:

Code: Select all

Games
 \A
  \Abadia Del Crimen, La
  \Arkanoid
  \.....
  \Agent-X - In The Brain Drain Caper
  \Agent-X II
 \B
  \......

And after having run one of the files in the

Code: Select all

Agent-X - In The Brain Drain Caper
folder and going up a level, the browser now jumps all the way back to the 1st entry on the first page, having to navigate all the way back to where one was to go into

Code: Select all

Agent-X II
folder.
keithshaw3
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Re: New File Browser for ZX-UNO

Post by keithshaw3 »

bob_fossil wrote: Thu May 21, 2020 3:11 pm New test version available here.

Tried all the 3 supplied .sna files on both SpecEmu and my ZX-UNO (with the latest dev build and v0.006) and they worked without issue.

So, with the help of a 3 headed space dragon - I had another peek inside the standard NMI.SYS and found yet another undocumented esxdos API call that was being used in it's .sna file loader. I've since modified the code to work in a similar fashion and .sna / .z80 file loading still appears to work from both the .dot command and NMI on SpecEmu and my ZX-UNO. Maybe this will solve the problem? I'm out of ideas if it doesn't as it's all working here.
Great work :)

This sorted out the .sna and .z80 file load issues :) I will also bear in mind the file length in the future just in case that's a problem as well.

So now I need to sort being dumped back to basic when I SHIFT_N to the original NMI.

ok I've sorted the RTC issue, it seems to have been asking for a file from the Dr Slump package and now I've installed that I get no error.

I managed to get it to switch between the two NMI's once then tried in-game , it failed and now just dumps me back to basic again when I switch from TEST007 to Dr slump, it does, however, switch the other way with no issues.

I get some more success if I start off with Dr. Slump then switch to TEST007 it then switches back without resetting to basic, but only once then it fails if I try again.

Very confusing...

K
Last edited by keithshaw3 on Thu May 21, 2020 5:26 pm, edited 2 times in total.
akeley
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Re: New File Browser for ZX-UNO

Post by akeley »

bob_fossil wrote: Wed May 20, 2020 9:19 pm Definitely sounds like an esxdos mismatch with the ZX-UNO. What version of the ZX-UNO firmware are you running?
azesmbog wrote: Wed May 20, 2020 9:21 pm There is only one idea.
Update esxDOS to version 0.87
Thank you for replying.

I should've said I did try to put different esxDOS versions on SD, including 0.8.5, which is apparently the one in Uno (according to the guy who built it). So in theory one of them should match it, but didn't.

I have also tried to update esxDOS before and it didn't work. Just tried again and it did - turns out I was naming the file wrong. So it's working OK now (0.8.7)

My firmware is EXP26 190218. I guess I could try and update it, but where do I find the update file? Is that the FIRMWARE.ZX1 from this github repo?

I undestand that then I could try you awesome new browser? esxDOS is great'n all, but ability to see the long filenames would be a game changer for me (literally). I have 14k+ files on my SD and trying to read these names in 8 letter format is a pain.

I also second the request for some sort of position memory.

[mention]keithshaw3[/mention] if you mean RTC error in esxDOS booting sequence, then it's quite common (and harmless).
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Re: New File Browser for ZX-UNO

Post by keithshaw3 »

akeley wrote: Thu May 21, 2020 5:17 pm @keithshaw3 if you mean RTC error in esxDOS booting sequence, then it's quite common (and harmless).
That's good to know, it seems to have sorted itself out now, see the previous response.
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Re: New File Browser for ZX-UNO

Post by bob_fossil »

akeley wrote: Thu May 21, 2020 5:17 pm
My firmware is EXP26 190218. I guess I could try and update it, but where do I find the update file? Is that the FIRMWARE.ZX1 from this github repo?

I undestand that then I could try you awesome new browser? esxDOS is great'n all, but ability to see the long filenames would be a game changer for me (literally). I have 14k+ files on my SD and trying to read these names in 8 letter format is a pain.

I also second the request for some sort of position memory.

@keithshaw3 if you mean RTC error in esxDOS booting sequence, then it's quite common (and harmless).
You can get the EXP27 files from here:

http://www.zxuno.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=14&t=3993

You need to be on the latest ZX-UNO firmware otherwise the keyboard won't work correctly - which I think is the FIRMWARE.ZX1 you linked to. As long as you have esxdos NMI working now, you should be able to use the new browser. You don't need the EXP27 core but it does fix some Z80 emulation issues.
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bob_fossil
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Re: New File Browser for ZX-UNO

Post by bob_fossil »

XoRRoX wrote: Thu May 21, 2020 3:57 pm
It seems that files with names that exceed the max display size do not load, for example: Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom (1987)(US Gold).tap

- Would it be possible to remember the position in the folder list on the last (at least) 2 levels, instead of 1?

I think a folder structure like this is common:

Code: Select all

Games
 \A
  \Abadia Del Crimen, La
  \Arkanoid
  \.....
  \Agent-X - In The Brain Drain Caper
  \Agent-X II
 \B
  \......

And after having run one of the files in the

Code: Select all

Agent-X - In The Brain Drain Caper
folder and going up a level, the browser now jumps all the way back to the 1st entry on the first page, having to navigate all the way back to where one was to go into

Code: Select all

Agent-X II
folder.
I tried loading the following file off my test SD card:

Code: Select all

TAP/Games/new/Dizzy VII - Crystal Kindom Dizzy (2017) v1.0.2.tap
which displays with the '...' truncation in the browser and it loaded correctly. The browser always uses the underlying 8.3 filename when launching a file so it shouldn't matter what is shown on screen. Does the .tap load outside of the browser - e.g. with the .tapein command? What was the full path of the file on the disk?

I can add position remembering. How many levels should it remember - 2, 4, 8? You can always use cursor left and right to fast scroll pages in the browser or Shift + Q / A to jump to the first / last entry in the list.
Spezzi63
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Re: New File Browser for ZX-UNO

Post by Spezzi63 »

keithshaw3 wrote: Thu May 21, 2020 5:25 pm
akeley wrote: Thu May 21, 2020 5:17 pm @keithshaw3 if you mean RTC error in esxDOS booting sequence, then it's quite common (and harmless).
That's good to know, it seems to have sorted itself out now, see the previous response.
Dummy RTC.SYS
https://tinyurl.com/yat4kxfz
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Re: New File Browser for ZX-UNO

Post by keithshaw3 »

thanks, that will come in handy :)
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Re: New File Browser for ZX-UNO

Post by XoRRoX »

Some files not loading - probable cause: RVM

I think I discovered the reason for the issue for files not loading; it seems to have to do how Retro Virtual Machine is reading the file system.
With the following folder structure:

Code: Select all

...\Indiana Jones - El Idolo de Oro\
...\Indiana Jones and the Fate of Atlantis\Indiana Jones and the Fate of Atlantis (1992)(US Gold).Tap
...\Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade\Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade (1989)(US Gold).Tap

In the title of the browser, the folder names both show as /ZXSPECTR/J/INDIANAJ/

When I navigate to any Indiana Jones folder other than Ed Idolo de Oro and return to BASIC by pressing break and CAT, it's showing the Ed Idolo de Oro folder.

In Retro Virtual Machine when I do a CAT in the folder where the Indiana games subfolders are, it's showing 4 x INDIANAJ while on my real hardware (+2B & divMMC) that's shown as INDIANA~1, INDIANA~2.

I don't have my Uno at hand so not able to test how it's on that, but I suspect it's the same as the divMMC and thus no problem.


Store selection position

I tend to say "all" but don't know the implications on the code so will go with "as much as possible" ;)


Slow down key repeat.

The navigation keys repeat from the moment they're pressed, causing it sometimes to skip over the file intended to be selected. What about building in some sort of delay before repeat, like in Spectrum BASIC?
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bob_fossil
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Re: New File Browser for ZX-UNO

Post by bob_fossil »

XoRRoX wrote: Fri May 22, 2020 10:18 am
Store selection position

I tend to say "all" but don't know the implications on the code so will go with "as much as possible" ;)


Slow down key repeat.

The navigation keys repeat from the moment they're pressed, causing it sometimes to skip over the file intended to be selected. What about building in some sort of delay before repeat, like in Spectrum BASIC?
I've implemented store selection position in a way that works without levels. However, it only works for folders. So if you navigated inside the folder:

Code: Select all

\Tapes\Games\A\Agent-X - In The Brain Drain Caper
and then selected '..' or pressed delete to go back to the 'A' folder, the selection will now be on the 'Agent-X - In The Brain Drain Caper' folder entry, rather than on the first '..' entry. This only works for folders - to remember the position of a file, I'd need to store away the path and file index and reload that in when you restart the browser. Hopefully this is better than nothing. :) This option is disabled by default (it does require extra processing to figure out which entry it needs to move back to). To enable it, run the brwscfg .dot command, enable the 'Remember last folder' setting and save.

I've also increased the delay when moving the selection.

Test version with these two changes can be downloaded here.

Would appreciate feedback, especially for the increased delay on the selection movement.
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Re: New File Browser for ZX-UNO

Post by XoRRoX »

I tested on real hardware and it works a treat - thanks :)

I don't know how far you like to take it, but could you consider this feature?

Regarding running specific commands on specific files extensions, what about a more flexible config file system with a text file containing the extension + command to execute, something in the form of:

pt3 playpt3
stc playstc
tfm playtfm

When Enter is pressed, the extension is read, checked if it's internally supported by the browser. If not, then the text file is parsed and, if found, the appropriate command executed with the file under the cursor as a parameter.

This way one can add support when new commands for other formats are released.

I don't know if it's possible for the browser to call the command and, when the command has finished processing or is cancelled, continue where it left off, or if it's needed to exit the browser and give control to the command.
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bob_fossil
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Re: New File Browser for ZX-UNO

Post by bob_fossil »

XoRRoX wrote: Fri May 22, 2020 1:57 pm I tested on real hardware and it works a treat - thanks :)

I don't know how far you like to take it, but could you consider this feature?

Regarding running specific commands on specific files extensions, what about a more flexible config file system with a text file containing the extension + command to execute, something in the form of:

pt3 playpt3
stc playstc
tfm playtfm

When Enter is pressed, the extension is read, checked if it's internally supported by the browser. If not, then the text file is parsed and, if found, the appropriate command executed with the file under the cursor as a parameter.

This way one can add support when new commands for other formats are released.

I don't know if it's possible for the browser to call the command and, when the command has finished processing or is cancelled, continue where it left off, or if it's needed to exit the browser and give control to the command.
Is the keyboard delay any better now?

As for the feature request, it's something to think about. Some .dot commands like snapload can be executed from inside the NMI / .dot command without issue. On the ZX-UNO I use the loadpzx .dot command to provide PZX tape file support. If I try and load this from inside the NMI / .dot command it starts to run and then crashes. The only reliable way I could make it work was to quit the program, wait a bit and then execute some resident code to type the appropriate command and filename into BASIC to run the command. So it's do-able. Continuing or switching back once the command has finished would be the hard part.
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Luzie
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Re: New File Browser for ZX-UNO

Post by Luzie »

Loading of /sys/NMI.ORG via Shift+N don´t seem to work anymore in BROWSE_TEST007-2.zip/.browse v0.07a2 ?!

Could you please add display size of the file the cursor stands on? And maybe show it´s 8.3-filename?

Regards,

Luzie
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Re: New File Browser for ZX-UNO

Post by XoRRoX »

Sorry about not letting you know about the key repeat. On my +2 & divMMC it seems OK.
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Re: New File Browser for ZX-UNO

Post by bob_fossil »

Luzie wrote: Fri May 22, 2020 3:49 pm Loading of /sys/NMI.ORG via Shift+N don´t seem to work anymore in BROWSE_TEST007-2.zip/.browse v0.07a2 ?!

Could you please add display size of the file the cursor stands on? And maybe show it´s 8.3-filename?

Regards,

Luzie
Not work as it in crashes or not work as in it doesn't do anything? Did BROWSE_TEST007-1.zip work? The changes I made for BROWSE_TEST007-2.zip shouldn't have changed the NMI reloading code. I've just tried it on SpecEmu and with my ZX-UNO and it's still working for me. Remember that switching NMI only works when the browser is launched from the NMI. If you start from the .dot command, Shift + N is disabled.

I go to all the trouble of making a LFN browser and you want to see the 8.3 filename? :) It's unlikely that I'll add it in the main display. I may add a hotkey to show additional file properties - e.g. size, 8.3 filename for the selected file. Why do you need to know the 8.3 filename?
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Luzie
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Re: New File Browser for ZX-UNO

Post by Luzie »

bob_fossil wrote: Fri May 22, 2020 5:46 pm Not work as it in crashes or not work as in it doesn't do anything? Did BROWSE_TEST007-1.zip work? The changes I made for BROWSE_TEST007-2.zip shouldn't have changed the NMI reloading code. I've just tried it on SpecEmu and with my ZX-UNO and it's still working for me. Remember that switching NMI only works when the browser is launched from the NMI. If you start from the .dot command, Shift + N is disabled.
Hi, it did nothing. But you supplied me with the solution: I launched it from commandline instead via NMI. Maybe you could at this as a hint into of Help-screen? :D
bob_fossil wrote: Fri May 22, 2020 5:46 pm
I go to all the trouble of making a LFN browser and you want to see the 8.3 filename? :) It's unlikely that I'll add it in the main display. I may add a hotkey to show additional file properties - e.g. size, 8.3 filename for the selected file. Why do you need to know the 8.3 filename?
I like a quick way to find the 8.3 filename to verify I´m on the same file when using Non-LFN-aware NMI.SYS like Dr. Slumps or the Original NMI.SYS. And: File-Info via Hotkey would be absolutely sufficient for me.
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Re: New File Browser for ZX-UNO

Post by bob_fossil »

v0.07
  • Initial support for saving snapshots in NMI. Shift + S now saves a 48k/128k .SNA file.
  • Initial support for POKEs in NMI. Shift + K lets you enter up to 8 POKES which are then applied when you exit.
  • Added support for X8 (28mhz) turbo mode on ZX-UNO (needs EXP27 core). Thanks to azesmbog for supplying the register information to enable this.
  • Shift + U now attaches a .TRD file to a virtual device (0-3). The attached devices are shown as 0123 in the bottom status line when attached.
  • Rewrote .SNA / .Z80 loading code to work more like the original esxdos NMI to fix reported issues.
  • Added setting 'Remember last folder' to BRWSCFG. If you're several levels deep in a folder tree, when you navigate to the parent folder, the highlight will be put on the folder you were just inside rather than back at the start of the entries for that folder.
  • Added additional delay for keypresses when moving the selection and not scrolling to make it less 'twitchy'.
  • Shift + L will now exit the browser and auto type the selected filename into BASIC (.dot command only).
  • Shift + F will now show information about the selected file.
  • Shift + I / O will attach the selected .TAP file to tape input / output.
Download.
akeley
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Re: New File Browser for ZX-UNO

Post by akeley »

Sorry to hijack your thread with my troubles again, but I managed to brick my Uno while trying to update it to E27 (by using the ZX1 firmware from github....*eyeroll.gif*)

It is now displaying a colour pattern, with some text about Spectrum core loaded and waiting for Bios. Uto's FAQ says this is a good thing and it's possible to recover from here by using BIOS .tap file loaded via EAR. And to ask for that file in the forum. The forum is quite dead though, with one bloke telling me to read Uto's guide...surreal stuff :)

Posting on the offhand chance somebody went through this rigmarole and knows what to do next....
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Re: New File Browser for ZX-UNO

Post by Luzie »

akeley wrote: Sun May 24, 2020 3:23 pm Sorry to hijack your thread with my troubles again, but I managed to brick my Uno while trying to update it to E27 (by using the ZX1 firmware from github....*eyeroll.gif*)
I´m pretty sure you can find help here in the forum if you do not hijack this thread and post your problem instead in a suitable Forum section.
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Re: New File Browser for ZX-UNO

Post by akeley »

Luzie wrote: Sun May 24, 2020 3:36 pm I´m pretty sure you can find help here in the forum if you do not hijack this thread and post your problem instead in a suitable Forum section.
This is the only live Uno thread on this forum I could see, with possible high-concentration of Uno users (who are otherwise a reare breed), so I though a a few unrelated posts wouldn't really cause that big a disturbance. But okay, whatever.

I must admit though, that of all my retro-purchases this is the only one I truly regret - it's been nothing but headache since day one.
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