Spectrum Computing

v0.12

• NMI.SYS now uses DivMMC memory pages. This removes the need to save the contents of the memory to the TMP folder whih should remove the speed bottleneck / delay on certain brands of SD-Card when entering the NMI. Thanks to [mention]velesoft[/mention] for providing information and advice on utilising the additional memory in the DivMMC. 'No NMI write (Slow SD Cards)' option in BRWSCFG is now deprecated.
• .browse dot command now uses DivMMC memory pages to save / restore the memory.
• Fullscreen browser now supports screen preview for v2/3 .z80 files (NMI only).
• Fullscreen browser now shows 'DIR' text for directories.
• If you saved a snapshot with the same name as an existing one, the operation would generate an error but the existing file was deleted.
• Fixed redrawing issue when deleting some characters in the text input field.

Download here.

bob_fossil wrote: ↑Thu Oct 08, 2020 10:04 pm v0.12

• NMI.SYS now uses DivMMC memory pages. This removes the need to save the contents of the memory to the TMP folder whih should remove the speed bottleneck / delay on certain brands of SD-Card when entering the NMI. Thanks to [mention]velesoft[/mention] for providing information and advice on utilising the additional memory in the DivMMC. 'No NMI write (Slow SD Cards)' option in BRWSCFG is now deprecated.

Unfortunetly this breaks compatibility with the original DivIDE interface. The Browser does not run there anymore. Version 0.11 works flawlessly though. Would be good if it would be possible to check for 128k of memory and use it only when available? If not, please make version 0.11 available somewhere for DivIDE users who don't have 128k of ram.

Hello,
the link still points to version 0.11

arakar wrote: ↑Fri Oct 09, 2020 8:40 am Hello,
the link still points to version 0.11

When I download, I get 0.12

So I put here 0.11 for download: https://forum.tlienhard.com/phpBB3/down ... p?id=10879

Interesting, it seems there is a cache problem. When using Edge for download, I get the old file, when using Firefox, I get the new file.

As previously mentioned, whenever I do a new release the previous BROWSE_latest.zip is renamed to it's version number. So you can download v11 from here.

What about .SCR files ? Is possible show picture from browser ? One idea: add possibility show .LCE files with length 13824 bytes (2*6912) in interlace mode

What about size of used Divmmc memory ? Any free 8kB ram pages ?

velesoft wrote: ↑Fri Oct 09, 2020 11:02 pm What about .SCR files ? Is possible show picture from browser ? One idea: add possibility show .LCE files with length 13824 bytes (2*6912) in interlace mode

You should be able to view .SCR files with the current version.

I am thinking of adding a plugin system which executes a binary file based on the file extension. So for FOOBAR.SCR or FOOBAR.LCE you'd have a SCR file or a LCE file which would get loaded by the browser to handle the file type. This would do whatever is needed for the file and then return back to the browser.

velesoft wrote: ↑Fri Oct 09, 2020 11:04 pm What about size of used Divmmc memory ? Any free 8kB ram pages ?

As I understand it, esxdos uses pages 0-4. so the browser NMI uses pages 5-10 to store the 48k of RAM. The .browse dot command uses pages 5-8 to store the memory from 32768 onwards which gets overwritten by the browser.

Browser use also zx ram 49152-65535 ? Here may be on zx 128 any zx ram page and locked paging. For example if you in basic write CLEAR 49151: OUT 32765, 50 (OR VALUE 53) then at 49152 is mirrored zx ram page 2 or 5 with disabled paging.

velesoft wrote: ↑Sat Oct 10, 2020 8:15 am Browser use also zx ram 49152-65535 ? Here may be on zx 128 any zx ram page and locked paging. For example if you in basic write CLEAR 49151: OUT 32765, 50 (OR VALUE 53) then at 49152 is mirrored zx ram page 2 or 5 with disabled paging.

Yes, the browser uses 49152-65535 to store the 8.3 filenames and any associated long filenames.

bob_fossil wrote: ↑Sat Oct 10, 2020 11:16 amYes, the browser uses 49152-65535 to store the 8.3 filenames and any associated long filenames.

Then you may need small memory test before start browser - if is in area 49152-65535 set ram page 2 or 5 and memory paging is locked then memory is unusable = disable NMI or show message "computer need reset..." etc...

velesoft wrote: ↑Sat Oct 10, 2020 4:16 pm

bob_fossil wrote: ↑Sat Oct 10, 2020 11:16 amYes, the browser uses 49152-65535 to store the 8.3 filenames and any associated long filenames.

Then you may need small memory test before start browser - if is in area 49152-65535 set ram page 2 or 5 and memory paging is locked then memory is unusable = disable NMI or show message "computer need reset..." etc...

Not sure I understand the issue. The NMI copies 16384 - 65535 to the divMMC banks and restores this back on exit. Why wouldn't 49152 - 65535 get restored by this operation? If the 128 paging is locked, can't I still copy 49152-65535 to somewhere else (divMMC memory) and then restore it?

bob_fossil wrote: ↑Sat Oct 10, 2020 5:43 pm

velesoft wrote: ↑Sat Oct 10, 2020 4:16 pm Then you may need small memory test before start browser - if is in area 49152-65535 set ram page 2 or 5 and memory paging is locked then memory is unusable = disable NMI or show message "computer need reset..." etc...

Not sure I understand the issue. The NMI copies 16384 - 65535 to the divMMC banks and restores this back on exit. Why wouldn't 49152 - 65535 get restored by this operation? If the 128 paging is locked, can't I still copy 49152-65535 to somewhere else (divMMC memory) and then restore it?

If you set on zx128 ram page 2 from 49152 then area 32768-49151 is mirrored with area 49152-65535. Then if you write byte 255 to address 32768 then will be visible also on 49152.
And zx ram page 5 is mirrored with zx videoram area 16384-32767

idea for nmi start:

You can before start nmi detect if zx model is 128 or 48 kB.
If is detected only 48kB model then backup zx memory to divmmc and use this detection code :
XOR A
LD (16384),A
LD (32768),A
LD A,5
LD (49152),A
LD A,(16384)
CP 5
JR Z,END
LD A,2
LD (49152),A
LD A,(32768)
CP 2
JR Z,END
LD A,(32768)
END: RET

If this code return in register A value 5 or 2 then is detected zx128 with locked memory paging and set incorrect zx ram page. Need reset for unlock memory....
If A = 255 then detected zx spectrum 16kB model. Here is zx ram 32768-65535 unusable.
Value 0 sign usable zx ram in full address space.

For problematic values 5 , 2 , 255 you can also disable nmi / automatic return from nmi. Or load original nmi code (run also on zx16 and not use higher ram)

Optimised code:

XOR A
LD (16384), A
LD (32768), A
LD A, 5
LD (49152), A
LD A, (16384)
CP 5
RET Z
LD A, 2
LD (49152), A
LD A, (32768)
RET

New test version available here.

This version includes the new plugin system which allows the browser to support filetypes in an extensible manner. The 'BPLUGINS' sub folder in the 'BIN' directory holds all the available plugins which provide support for:
If you copy the contents of the 'BIN' folder from the .zip file onto your card / device you should be good to go.

The 'plugins' folder has the source and documentation explaining how you can write your own browser plugin. I've also built a version of the browser for devices without 128k of MMC memory - though I haven't tested this (it built OK ). This is in the 'No_MMC_Memory' folder. This doesn't support plugins but it will have any additional bug fixes or features that don't require MMC memory.

There's been a lot of changes so apologies if I've broken anything.

Idea for LCE and SCR plugin.
Add manual or automatic loading of next screen files....

Hi,

Does the new test version load all the file types listed out of the box or are there some adjustments needed within the plugin config?

Keith.

keithshaw3 wrote: ↑Mon Nov 02, 2020 5:11 pm Hi,

Does the new test version load all the file types listed out of the box or are there some adjustments needed within the plugin config?

Keith.

Yes it should, so long as you've copied the BPLUGINS folder into the BIN folder. Plugins are loaded by the file extension so as long as you don't do anything silly like rename a .scr file to a .z80 it should work fine.

Great, thanks I will give it a test in the week and let you know if I encounter any issues

Works great thanks, any chance of adding .TZX support?

Keith.

keithshaw3 wrote: ↑Mon Nov 02, 2020 9:06 pm Works great thanks, any chance of adding .TZX support?

Keith.

I think I should dampen your hopes for .TZX-Support:

From post (in 2017!) "esxDOS on ZX Next FAQ" on: http://board.esxdos.org/viewtopic.php?pid=279#p279

lordcoxis:
Question: Will esxDOS have .TZX support? Is it a Next exclusive feature?
Answer: Yes, but only for standard data blocks using the ROM loader (just like ResiDOS). It's not a Next exclusive feature.

I think I should dampen your hopes for .TZX-Support:

From post (in 2017!) "esxDOS on ZX Next FAQ" on: http://board.esxdos.org/viewtopic.php?pid=279#p279

lordcoxis:
Question: Will esxDOS have .TZX support? Is it a Next exclusive feature?
Answer: Yes, but only for standard data blocks using the ROM loader (just like ResiDOS). It's not a Next exclusive feature.

Oh, Thanks for the info, I didn't realise it wasn't a feature of esxDos, that's a bummer, guess I will just have to keep converting using an emulator