Re: Forlorn plea...
At 9:50 am +0100 7/4/99, Aley Keprt wrote: The Lyra 3 is already there in .dsk format. That was done weeks ago. I know, because I did it myself. Great! But why didn't you anounced it? I think many people wait for Lyra 3 (incl. me :). I did... At 4:00 pm +0100 6/3/99, Andrew Collier wrote: There's nary a *.dsk file in sight. I can't find anywhere to download The Lyra 3 from in a format I can use. Alright... The Lyra 3, as a .dsk, is now in nvg's incoming directory. Frode moved it to a readable directory a few days later, and he mentioned that on sam-users too. Andrew -- | Andrew Collier | email [EMAIL PROTECTED] | Talk sense to a | Part 2 NatSci | http://carou.sel.cam.ac.uk/ | fool and he ++-+ calls you foolish | Selwyn College Student Computer Support Team | -- Euripides
Re: Forlorn plea...
At 10:05 am +0100 7/4/99, Aley Keprt wrote: [Andrew Collier wrote:] Well like I said, I think issues 1 to 12 are on ftp.nvg already but I doubt there are plans to upload any more. It's all a very hazy area, but to declare those FRED issues as PD would be changing the legal status of some of *my* software. I'm not sure that decision would be in Colin MacDonald's hands, not unless he'd contacted every author of every program on every issue. I don't think so. If Colin MacDonald declare Fred issues as PD, they will be. ... It is Colin MacDonald's choice, whether he will want to 'distribute' Fred in DSK format instead of regular floppies. Colin MacDonald can distribute FRED how he likes, including free-of-charge by anonymous ftp. This is not the same as declaring the software to be PD, which I still don't think he can do. I haven't signed anything which would allow him to change the legal status of any of my software which might be incorporated into FRED magazine. Andrew -- | Andrew Collier | email [EMAIL PROTECTED] | Talk sense to a | Part 2 NatSci | http://carou.sel.cam.ac.uk/ | fool and he ++-+ calls you foolish | Selwyn College Student Computer Support Team | -- Euripides
DEF KEYCODE unhandled case
As I think I've probably mentioned before, the MacOS compilation of SimCoupe has very poor keyboard support. There's no symbol shift, and hardly any of the special (ie. non-spectrum) keys work properly. I was trying to do something useful with it, and started playing round with the DEF KEYCODE functionality. It occurred to me to try this: def keycode 192,chr$ 58 Three guesses what hapenned when I pressed F0 (chr$ 58 is :, which you can put at the end of other strings to prevent a carriage return) Is anybody actually keeping a list of identified ROM bugs, just in case someone gets round to doing something about it at some time or another? Andrew -- | Andrew Collier | email [EMAIL PROTECTED] | Talk sense to a | Part 2 NatSci | http://carou.sel.cam.ac.uk/ | fool and he ++-+ calls you foolish | Selwyn College Student Computer Support Team | -- Euripides
Re: SAM Scart
At 12:21 pm +0100 7/4/99, Ian Collier wrote: On Wed, Apr 07, 1999 at 10:10:53AM +0200, Frode Tenneboe wrote: Or get a lead which converts SCART into three phono plugs (stereo audio and composite video) since that's pretty much guaranteed to work as long as you have phono sockets on your tv/video (these are often provided for camcorder input). nit-pick It's not guaranteed - there exist wires which connect the phono plugs to the scart INPUT pins, which is of course the wrong conversion. In fact our camcorder came with a wire like this, as it has phono-type composite output which you may wish to plug into your SCART telly./nit-pick Andrew -- | Andrew Collier | email [EMAIL PROTECTED] | Talk sense to a | Part 2 NatSci | http://carou.sel.cam.ac.uk/ | fool and he ++-+ calls you foolish | Selwyn College Student Computer Support Team | -- Euripides
Re: Forlorn plea...
[Andrew Collier wrote:] Colin MacDonald can distribute FRED how he likes, including free-of-charge by anonymous ftp. This is not the same as declaring the software to be PD, which I still don't think he can do. I haven't signed anything which would allow him to change the legal status of any of my software which might be incorporated into FRED magazine. If you gave your contributions for free/cash , so that Colin could distribute on what ever issue of Fred he like , he would be entitled to distrubute Fred in any form he likes , even as a Image on a FTP. Also as you have Freely givin this your consent to have said contibutions in Fred for NO expliciate date or time then as long as its only offered in a FRED Issues (Disk or Image) , he may do/say and charge what he wishes without any consultaion from the author. But if , say you Contribution was taken of a Fred issue and put onto any other medium/mag or whatever that is illegal. Its what has been called a verbal contract , and as its allready on a Fred then LEGALLY its a Freds Contribution and you should always get a Credit Mention every time its used (This was stated in a Fred Issue?) Sorry about all this legal input at moo , but going thought same stuff with new venure @ moo Chris
Re: SimCoupe protected disks
Before Malcolm's untimely death he informed me that E-Copy (version 3 I think) failed to copy the protection I created for Defender... I tried *all* the PC copiers I could find and they failed too. Have you tried Cyclone (using the cart) on an Amiga then? :-) Dave I haven't. I'm not familiar with Cyclone but if it's a hardware device then it would probably manage to copy it!! It (my protection) isn't that complex!! ;-) Chris.
Re: Z80 flags for INI(R) and OTI(R)? #2 (oops!)
At some point I added a '-fullscreen 1' flag to the command-line options, but I can't remember whether the last version on the site actually has it (it'll be in the next one of course!). That flag does maximized window, not fullscreen!!! i really no idea what im talking about, but it might be because your screen is larger?... martin -- Email: [EMAIL PROTECTED] ICQ#: 11077801 AOL/CServeIM: Flupert
Re: SimCoupe protected disks
I really don't understand why so perfect WinNT so stupidly hangs. and it doesn't even do it in style like the speccy sam back in those good old days you got flashing cubes of doom now its just black at least back then you *knew* something was up (..bahh, when i was a lad etc... etc..) Because you don't believe in it strongly enough. :) It's only the display that hangs - the kernel will be going on quite happily :-) what a comforting thought :o)... though paralysed, its little hearts still beating... (put it out of its misery... its the only humane way. grrr g) I suggest you get some new display drivers. bullfrog suggested i did that so 'populous 2' would work... on a *new* computer i did... it killed my computer... moral of the story? dont buy good computers... Simon (NSFMSFT) not still fiddling my Sam for thrills :o) does this mean we can sue microsoft over any opinions you've expressed without writing that?? well, eveyone else is suing them, might as well get on the band wagon... martin -- Email: [EMAIL PROTECTED] ICQ#: 11077801 AOL/CServeIM: Flupert
RE: Real Sam Users List 30th March 1999
Any objections to me putting this as part of my Sam pages on the Net? Yes. If you put the list online, remove my email address beforehand. Paul -- Thought for the day: Bagpipes (n): an octopus wearing a kilt.
Re: SimCoupe protected disks
your are not aloud to create a copy of anything , without the copyright owners permission. Having a backup of a disk thats not used for illegal purposes , is like have a gun and NEVER thinks of firing it (Pointless) Yers. My reaction to that, though, is tough. Especially with Sam's extremely dodgy drives, keeping a backup copy of anything used frequently seems only sensible, copyright or no copyright. Paul -- Thought for the day: Concerto (n): a fight between a piano and a pianist.
Re: SimCoupe protected disks
If soomeone made a protection, he probably wanted us not to copy these diskettes. I'm affraid about copyright laws. You're afraid about copyright laws, but you advocated putting Fred issues online?! Small hint: the authors of any programs still, as far as I know, own the copyright to any use other than the one on Fred. Si Cooke knows more about this than I do, but that's correct AIUI. Paul -- Civilization won't *die* from Y2k. It'll be more like Civilization goes out drinking and the next morning discovers the importance of drinking gin out of smaller containers -- Source unknown
RE: SimCoupe protected disks
Chris White wrote: Private Email me the Disk layout (What tracks are what) , just for my curiousity Coincidentally I'd just contacted Persona about buying a few software titles to play with (I've hardly got any games!) and Defender was one of them. Sounds like a good challenge for some point - it'll give me a chance to learn about SAM disk formats. }:- Perhaps reading 'real' SAM disks in emulation might be more trouble than it's worth??? I would certainly put quality sound emulation at the top of my wish list. True , but unless you can read the disk sound is usless Especially as most of the decent stuff probably comes with some sort of disk protection! Si
Re: Real Sam Users List 30th March 1999
On Fri, 9 Apr 1999 01:52:14 +0100 Fri, 9 Apr 99 18:15:42 BST, Paul Walker [EMAIL PROTECTED] wrote: Any objections to me putting this as part of my Sam pages on the Net? Yes. If you put the list online, remove my email address beforehand. Mine as well please.
Re: SimCoupe protected disks
your are not aloud to create a copy of anything , without the copyright owners permission. Having a backup of a disk thats not used for illegal purposes , is like have a gun and NEVER thinks of firing it (Pointless) Yers. My reaction to that, though, is tough. Especially with Sam's extremely dodgy drives, keeping a backup copy of anything used frequently seems only sensible, copyright or no copyright. anyway... backups are only illegal when its specifically said that its illegal... otherwise its fine innit?... i mean, some software does say that your not allowed, but most doesnt - and none that i can remember on the Sam ever did having said that, disks protected with the special disk protection are kind of saying this implicitly - but it wouldnt be legally binding unless they said it explicitly... bear in mind, i know nothing. martin
SimCoupe interrupt timings
First of all, apologies for the attachment, but it's absolutely tiny and it might help with investigating one of SimCoupe's remaining inaccuracies. Basically, in one of the bits of code I've been doing recently I made a very silly error in the interrupt handler, which by fluke works on a real Sam but fails in SimCoupe (had it not worked at all, I would natuarally have noticed and fixed the bug straight away...) It seems my code was reading the status register, and jumping for LINEint correctly, but performing the wrong test for FRAMEints and jumping to the FRAMEint handler iff the corresponding status register bit was high. My guess is that on a real Sam, this would work because (after deciding that FRAME interrupts weren't interesting after all) the interrupt would still be active and the code would immediately jump back to 56, and do it all again, until eventually there comes a point when the FRAMEint bit goes high again and the interrupt gets handled properly. What we also found was that after a line interrupt had been properly handled, in SimCoupe the frame interrupt routine was being called. So presumably the interrupt must still have been active but the LINE bit of the status register had gone high. so... I wrote a little program to test exactly how long the interrupts were actually active for, and got a rather unexpected result. At a frame interrupt, this program spins round a little interrupt handler incrementing B for as long as interrupts are generated. At a line interrupt, B is stored for display and reset for the next frame. Load the code at the start of a page, and PRINT USR it. Press SPACE to exit. On my Sam, the result displayed is 3. So we're running three full times though that code before the interrupt goes away, which takes roughly 180 t-states (assuming, and I may be wrong, that the RET at the end of the routine never gets executed until after the interrupt goes away, and that jumping to an interrupt takes 12 tstates just like an RST.) On SimCoupe (MacOS, 0.72v3) , the displayed result is 0. Which is rather odd. Because it either means that B has never been incremented, or that B was incremented exactly 256 times which I don't believe. (The line interrupt has definitely been handled, because I can poke whatever I like into the initial result field, and it will be overwritten by 0). Have I missed something obvious? Why does it appear that frame interrupts just aren't occurring? Perhaps someone with the unix version handy can do some more detailed testing. Here's the source of my test program USEIX: EQU 221 USEIY: EQU 253 CLUT: EQU 248 LINE: EQU 249 STATUS:EQU 249 LMPR: EQU 250 HMPR: EQU 251 VMPR: EQU 252;constants ORG 32768 DI IN A,(VMPR) LD (VMPRS),A IN A,(LMPR) LD (LMPRS),A IN A,(HMPR) LD (HMPRS),A AND 31 OR 32 OUT (LMPR),A LD (SPSTORE),SP JP LMEM ;setup (run in section A for mode 1 interrupts) HMEM: LMPRS: EQU $+1 LD A,00 OUT (LMPR),A VMPRS: EQU $+1 LD A,00 OUT (VMPR),A SPSTORE: EQU $+1 LD SP, RESULT:EQU $+1 LD BC, EI RET ORG $-32768 DEFS 56-$ ;instruction timings from David Zambonini's article in BOAI ;ts is a usable clock cycle rather than the more conventional t-state ;not that it makes much difference here, since we're mostly interested ;in counting instructions executed in the border area ;at frame interrupt we do not save time on * instructions EX AF,AF' ;4 ts IN A,(STATUS) ;16* ts RRA ;4 ts JPLINEINT: EQU $+1 JP NC,LINEINT ;12 ts INC B;4 ts EX AF,AF' ;4 ts EI;4 ts RET ;12 ts LMEM: LD A,191 OUT (LINE),A; set up a line interrupt EI MAINLOOP: LD A,7F IN A,(FE) RRA JR C,MAINLOOP ; this loop only uses AF ; so our interrupts can happily use everything else DI LD A,255 OUT (LINE),A HMPRS: EQU $+32769 LD A,00 OUT (HMPR),A JP HMEM LINEINT: LD A,B LD (RESULT),A ; store the number of loops round frameint LD B,0 ; reset for another count EX AF,AF' EI RET
RE: SimCoupe protected disks
At 4:37 pm +0100 8/4/99, Si Owen wrote: Don't some demos also use strange formats to allow more data to be packed onto disks, rather than to protect them. Anyone have any samples? The only full-disk demos I'm currently aware of are The Lyra 3 by ESI and the Juggler by Codigo. Both of them use the perfectly standard 2x80x10x512 format. Most recent games use their own formats. ISTR some old sam-users discussion about Legend Of Eschan, whose structure sounded quite imaginative. Andrew -- | Andrew Collier | email [EMAIL PROTECTED] | Talk sense to a | Part 2 NatSci | http://carou.sel.cam.ac.uk/ | fool and he ++-+ calls you foolish | Selwyn College Student Computer Support Team | -- Euripides
Re: SimCoupe protected disks
I'm affraid about copyright laws. I'm no legal expert, but isn't it just considered a backup copy as long as you still own the original version? your are not aloud to create a copy of anything , without the copyright owners permission. That's wrong, or at least, wrong in England (I think). fx: semi-informed waffle alert! Most of the things you'll find in the average software license agreement are unenforcable in the UK. It's protection by intimidation, the software company says you may not do this, that or the other and hopes that most people believe them, and don't it. But they also say this does not affect your statutory rights, because they are not allowed to reduce the consumer's rights below a certain minimum threshold as defined by UK law. I'm almost certain that threshold includes making (but, of course, not distributing) backup copies. I'm absolutely certain it includes reverse-engineering and modifying the software, which is another thing these end-user license agreements tend to disallow. They might therefore try to argue that by doing any of this you are in breach of your agreement, but since you haven't signed anything there's no danger there either. A major distinction between the UK and the US, is that when a UK consumer buys a piece of software, he owns that copy of the program - wheras a US consumer merely owns a license to use that software (under just about whatever terms the software producer sees fit). /fx Having a backup of a disk thats not used for illegal purposes , is like have a gun and NEVER thinks of firing it (Pointless) Invalid analogy. You've never ever had a corrupted disk then? If it doesn't actually involve much effort, I will usually make a backup of anything I buy. That way, if my Sam decides to chew up my disk, I don't have to spend more money on buying the same program twice. Sometimes I will remove protection, like the one on SamPaint which just became tedious after a while (and actually only took me about 90 seconds to remove). But I don't distribute the copies. Andrew -- | Andrew Collier | email [EMAIL PROTECTED] | Talk sense to a | Part 2 NatSci | http://carou.sel.cam.ac.uk/ | fool and he ++-+ calls you foolish | Selwyn College Student Computer Support Team | -- Euripides
Re: SimCoupe protected disks
On Thu, Apr 08, 1999 at 05:13:25PM +0100, Chris White wrote: your are not aloud to create a copy of anything , without the copyright owners permission. I refer the honorable gentleman to Section 50A of The UK Copyright (Computer Programs) Regulations 1992, which gives you the legal right to make a copy of software for backup purposes. Having a backup of a disk thats not used for illegal purposes , is like have a gun and NEVER thinks of firing it (Pointless) Not at all. Having a backup means you are protected from data loss in case the original fails in some way. imc
Re: SAM Scart
On Thu, Apr 08, 1999 at 10:27:52PM +0100, Andrew Collier wrote: At 12:21 pm +0100 7/4/99, Ian Collier wrote: Or get a lead which converts SCART into three phono plugs (stereo audio and composite video) since that's pretty much guaranteed to work as long as you have phono sockets on your tv/video nit-pick It's not guaranteed - there exist wires which connect the phono plugs to the scart INPUT pins, which is of course the wrong conversion. But I call that a lead which converts three phono plugs into a SCART plug, so if you get that then you aren't obeying what I said. imc
Re: SimCoupe protected disks
anyway... backups are only illegal when its specifically said that its illegal... otherwise its fine innit?... i mean, some software does say that your not allowed, but most doesnt - and none that i can remember on the Sam ever did having said that, disks protected with the special disk protection are kind of saying this implicitly - but it wouldnt be legally binding unless they said it explicitly... No , this is like saying you can do anything untill some says you can not. Copyright Law states that the Copyright owner MUST give consent to anyone wishing to Copy their work , the only way around this is to create your own work based on Copyrighted material , this was called plagurisam . But then again little Billy in his bedroom making a copy for his personnal us , is never going to draw attention to the law , untill he start sell/giving copies to other peeps. Chris
Re: SimCoupe protected disks
your are not aloud to create a copy of anything , without the copyright owners permission. That's wrong, or at least, wrong in England (I think). Most of the things you'll find in the average software license agreement are unenforcable in the UK. It's protection by intimidation, the software company says you may not do this, that or the other and hopes that most people believe them, and don't it. But they also say this does not affect your statutory rights, because they are not allowed to reduce the consumer's rights below a certain minimum threshold as defined by UK law. If you agree to a aggreement of any kind , (even if printed on back of software) you are bound by that aggreement. Take MR MICKEYSOFT , you have to open the box of Windows Nt 4.0 to read the EULA , at which point it tells you that once you have opened this package you have aggreed to said EULA. But then you will find the software inside another sealled package! I'm almost certain that threshold includes making (but, of course, not distributing) backup copies. I'm absolutely certain it includes reverse-engineering and modifying the software, which is another thing these end-user license agreements tend to disallow. They might therefore try to argue that by doing any of this you are in breach of your agreement, but since you haven't signed anything there's no danger there either. You are only alloud to use the item in the manner that it was desgined for , there is a consumer law from 1971 that states QUOTE - You are entitled to a full refund , if said item does not perform the task that it was original purchase to do , So you should never have to reverse-engineer/modify or copy as if it fails in work or opertate as expected you just get your cash back? A major distinction between the UK and the US, is that when a UK consumer buys a piece of software, he owns that copy of the program - wheras a US consumer merely owns a license to use that software (under just about whatever terms the software producer sees fit). MR MICKEYSOFT , here would agree as his EULA , states this . But as a consumer you must use the product only as it has been sold to you and in the form it was sold to you. Big for instance , if you modfied a piece of software and then sold you machine (With all software as required by law) , then said modified software cause damage to machine who is liable? Having a backup of a disk thats not used for illegal purposes , is like have a gun and NEVER thinks of firing it (Pointless) Invalid analogy. You've never ever had a corrupted disk then? Yes i have and i have got a Full Replacement from the Publisher , Take my current cause , Roller Coaster Tycoon has a BIG problem with Daylight saving time , and I am supposed to DLOAD/Buy a Mag with fix on it , But I will not and have sent back to Publisher for a Correct Version , as its fawed. If it doesn't actually involve much effort, I will usually make a backup of anything I buy. That way, if my Sam decides to chew up my disk, I don't have to spend more money on buying the same program twice. Sometimes I will remove protection, like the one on SamPaint which just became tedious after a while (and actually only took me about 90 seconds to remove). Then if SAY, some else took a copy of you unprotect version without out your consent you have help reduce money going to the author But I don't distribute the copies. Glad to here it Andrew Like i said before , this is my current grip with current employer about copyright of MY Code , when I have finished and HE wants it ALL (NO WAY MAN) Chris -- | Andrew Collier | email [EMAIL PROTECTED] | Talk sense to a | Part 2 NatSci | http://carou.sel.cam.ac.uk/ | fool and he ++-+ calls you foolish | Selwyn College Student Computer Support Team | -- Euripides
Re: SimCoupe protected disks
- Original Message - From: Ian Collier [EMAIL PROTECTED] To: sam-users@nvg.ntnu.no Sent: 09 April 1999 15:59 Subject: Re: SimCoupe protected disks On Thu, Apr 08, 1999 at 05:13:25PM +0100, Chris White wrote: your are not aloud to create a copy of anything , without the copyright owners permission. I refer the honorable gentleman to Section 50A of The UK Copyright (Computer Programs) Regulations 1992, which gives you the legal right to make a copy of software for backup purposes. Hmmm, gonna have to do some hunting here , but if correct (apart from my arguement out the window) , why do people have a copyright in the first place that states my point Having a backup of a disk thats not used for illegal purposes , is like have a gun and NEVER thinks of firing it (Pointless) Not at all. Having a backup means you are protected from data loss in case the original fails in some way. But this is negligent on the end user part , and if its damaged on or around purchase then you should get a replacement. But i believe there is a Life span on Floppy media of 10 years ish?? (Some will correct me on that) Chris
Re: SimCoupe protected disks
And just remind me how long it took to crack lemmings :) BTW - Don't forget that Defender is only £7.50 - together with two incredible other games! David L -Original Message- From: Simon Cooke [EMAIL PROTECTED] To: sam-users@nvg.ntnu.no sam-users@nvg.ntnu.no Date: 08 April 1999 19:02 Subject: Re: SimCoupe protected disks Thanks for using NetForward! http://www.netforward.com v^v^v^v^v^v^v^v^v^v^v^v^v^v^v^v^v^v^v^v^v^v^v^v^v^v^v^v^v From: Chris Pile [EMAIL PROTECTED] Before Malcolm's untimely death he informed me that E-Copy (version 3 I think) failed to copy the protection I created for Defender... I tried *all* the PC copiers I could find and they failed too. You have to remember that E-Copy was a perpetual work in progress :) Perhaps reading 'real' SAM disks in emulation might be more trouble than it's worth??? I would certainly put quality sound emulation at the top of my wish list. Nah... we want to run the cool shit that we can't any more. [for we please feel free to substitute I] You know what's really annoying? You've just thrown down the copy-protection gauntlet, so to speak. And there's no way on this planet that I'll have a chance to participate. Best thing I ever heard was Mat of ESI telling me that it took him over 24 hours, non-stop coding, to crack the protection I wrote for Parallax. :) Simon (NSFMSFT)
Re: Sam Coupe Scrapbook - whats missing?
Wee, don't you think it's time you subbed to Blitz?!!! David! -Original Message- From: Tim Paveley [EMAIL PROTECTED] To: sam-users@nvg.ntnu.no sam-users@nvg.ntnu.no Date: 08 April 1999 19:31 Subject: Sam Coupe Scrapbook - whats missing? Thanks for using NetForward! http://www.netforward.com v^v^v^v^v^v^v^v^v^v^v^v^v^v^v^v^v^v^v^v^v^v^v^v^v^v^v^v^v All, (before anyone else says it... Quite a lot) I've just got a PC at home, and plan to try and update my Sam web pages to the state they used to be (ie upto date). If anyone has any obvious information that's missing that I can add, would like to do a review, or anything else it'd be muchly appreciated. I'll even accept hard copy blurb if anyone has any up to date product lists I could use as reference (Since I only ever subscribed to FRED, and there haven't been many stalls at the last few Glos shows, most of my junk is out of date.) Cheers muchly, Tim @/
