TZXDuino for ZX81

Discussions about Sinclair ZX80 and ZX81 Hardware
Lardo Boffin
Posts: 2160
Joined: Sat Nov 26, 2016 2:42 am

Re: TZXDuino for ZX81

Post by Lardo Boffin »

rcmolina wrote: Wed Aug 05, 2020 1:09 pm @Lardo Boffin, if you have any problems with id14 attached files, check polarity.
I had a go but had no idea what I was doing (nothing new there)!

917F3E46-40BF-44D3-B94E-7885A7665479.jpeg

I couldn’t find a conversion tool that ran in 64bit windows 7 so downloaded a DOS based converter (TAP2TZX.exe) and ran it from Dosbox. :shock:

It converted the centiped.tap file I downloaded to .tzx Ok. I had tried this .tap in an emulator and it worked ok.

I put it on the TZXDuino and tried playing it but got ‘searching’ and nothing more. The cassette lead is fine and loaded a tape based game yesterday.

I think your video showed the id as 14 but mine is 10?

Any help appreciated! Specifically which convertor to use (either Windows 7 64bit or OSX for Mac) and any appropriate settings to use.

Many thanks. :D
ZX80
ZX81 iss 1 (bugged ROM, kludge fix, normal, rebuilt)
TS 1000 iss 3, ZXPand AY and +, ZX8-CCB, ZX-KDLX & ChromaSCART
Tatung 81 + Wespi
TS 1500 & 2000
Spectrum 16k (iss 1 s/n 862)
Spectrum 48ks plus a DIVMMC future and SPECTRA
rcmolina
Posts: 19
Joined: Mon Jul 13, 2020 6:52 pm

Re: TZXDuino for ZX81

Post by rcmolina »

@Lardo Boffin, you are wrong.. tap2tzx tool is for zx spectrum, but oric tap does have a different format.

First, try testing files from this link, they should load ok:

https://gofile.io/d/1IpvdU

Second, you should use maketsx from Natalia Pujol or better oric2tsx.php:
1-Maketsx (first convert to wav): http://www.retrowiki.es/viewtopic.php?t ... p200114871

2-oric2tsx: https://github.com/nataliapc/MSX_devs/t ... SXphpclass
Lardo Boffin
Posts: 2160
Joined: Sat Nov 26, 2016 2:42 am

Re: TZXDuino for ZX81

Post by Lardo Boffin »

rcmolina wrote: Wed Aug 05, 2020 11:44 pm @Lardo Boffin, you are wrong.. tap2tzx tool is for zx spectrum, but oric tap does have a different format.

First, try testing files from this link, they should load ok:

https://gofile.io/d/1IpvdU

Second, you should use maketsx from Natalia Pujol or better oric2tsx.php:
1-Maketsx (first convert to wav): http://www.retrowiki.es/viewtopic.php?t ... p200114871

2-oric2tsx: https://github.com/nataliapc/MSX_devs/t ... SXphpclass
Thanks for the links! I tried the files from the .rar but none would load. They all just stay on 'searching ..'

I'm on an Oric 1 with BASIC V1.0 (the most buggy loading ROM I believe) if that makes any difference?

I'm running v1.56 MaxDuino
ZX80
ZX81 iss 1 (bugged ROM, kludge fix, normal, rebuilt)
TS 1000 iss 3, ZXPand AY and +, ZX8-CCB, ZX-KDLX & ChromaSCART
Tatung 81 + Wespi
TS 1500 & 2000
Spectrum 16k (iss 1 s/n 862)
Spectrum 48ks plus a DIVMMC future and SPECTRA
rcmolina
Posts: 19
Joined: Mon Jul 13, 2020 6:52 pm

Re: TZXDuino for ZX81

Post by rcmolina »

@Lardo Boffin, this is offtopic, send me a PM.
Remember to check/change polarity in Menu
Lardo Boffin
Posts: 2160
Joined: Sat Nov 26, 2016 2:42 am

Re: TZXDuino for ZX81

Post by Lardo Boffin »

All good, thanks for the help! Impressive device. 8-)
ZX80
ZX81 iss 1 (bugged ROM, kludge fix, normal, rebuilt)
TS 1000 iss 3, ZXPand AY and +, ZX8-CCB, ZX-KDLX & ChromaSCART
Tatung 81 + Wespi
TS 1500 & 2000
Spectrum 16k (iss 1 s/n 862)
Spectrum 48ks plus a DIVMMC future and SPECTRA
patters
Posts: 122
Joined: Thu Mar 11, 2021 12:34 pm

Re: TZXDuino for ZX81

Post by patters »

A few times while refurbishing the two ZX81s I've been working on I have unsuccessfully tried to load a few games from my Maxduino device which I originally bought for my Spectrum. In fact, owning this is what persuaded me to get a ZX81 - since in principle I would already have a reliable means of loading programs.

Well in the end I have fitted a WESPI which is great, but I'll make a separate thread about that. I thought maybe the firmware of my Maxduino was no good for ZX81. I think it was on v1.50, and I noticed in some more recent release notes there was a specific mention about improved ZX81 compatibility. I've just gone to some effort to update it to v1.64 but I was still getting the same issue. I saw encouraging patterns on screen when starting playback but only for a couple of seconds then it would always go to a solid white screen.

I did some searching about the menu options and couldn't seem to find proper documentation. All the markdown at GitHub seems focused on release notes. I discovered via a Spanish howto guide that the Menu option called TSXCzxpUEFSW ? controls the polarity of Sinclair and Amstrad CPC audio signals, and this same option controls turbo loading for MSX, and UEF parity for the BBC Micro. And it appears to default to the wrong polarity, unless perhaps I had changed that long ago when I first got the Maxduino. That option needs to be set to off. Once that was done it worked perfectly. The Baud Rate ? setting has no effect for Sinclair machines. I just thought I'd write it up here in case some other poor soul searches the web for "TSXCzxpUEFSW" in future, as I did without success earlier :)
rcmolina
Posts: 19
Joined: Mon Jul 13, 2020 6:52 pm

Re: TZXDuino for ZX81

Post by rcmolina »

Hey guys, ..

In the meanwhile I've been working with id15 as general purpose conversion format for many others microcomputers so they can be supported non native (need conversion first to tzx id15).

New version 1.69, hope you enjoy a lot. Need some blocks adjustment butt very useful to help me testing if you like.

You can search on TAPs y TZX online with Fast Forwarding. Handling is similar to the old one, pausing first, but now you can navigate with file blocks back and forward to setup on the desired block.

Also code optimization and bugs solved on previous version 1.68

https://github.com/rcmolina/MaxDuino

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MfODcJkd0gc
dadecoza
Posts: 5
Joined: Mon Sep 06, 2021 10:08 am

Re: TZXDuino for ZX81

Post by dadecoza »

https://github.com/dadecoza/PM_TZXDuino_V1.16

a simple TZXDuino with minimal soldering.

It makes use of an Arduino UNO, Data logger shield, and LCD Keypad shield.

The audio amplifier is a single transistor and 100ohm resistor.

I have tested it on two ZX81s and a ZX Spectrum and it works 100% loads every time.
rcmolina
Posts: 19
Joined: Mon Jul 13, 2020 6:52 pm

Re: TZXDuino for ZX81

Post by rcmolina »

New maxduino version v1.71. Recommended optiboot loader for extra capacity.

https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=WSelgxr85gY
https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=Bo8B5Gl8UWg
patters
Posts: 122
Joined: Thu Mar 11, 2021 12:34 pm

Re: TZXDuino for ZX81

Post by patters »

Thanks for the update Rafael. I have an older device with a two line screen, and I previously used this tool to update it:
https://github.com/rickyelqasem/TZX_Tools

A lot of the options I wasn't sure about and left on the defaults and it updated my device ok to a prior Maxduino (version 1.64).

Presumably this update tool will need to be updated to deploy this newer bootloader code? Will the new block searching functionality be workable with a two line display, or does it require the 4 line screen?
Last edited by patters on Sat Oct 02, 2021 9:42 pm, edited 1 time in total.
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