spec

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hutch
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spec

Post by hutch »

can anyone get 'spec' to run on attached dsk...
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iss
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Re: spec

Post by iss »

After boot to prompt type exactly:

Code: Select all

!LOAD"SPEC.COM"
!LOAD"SPEC.BAS",N
0
RUN
Above '0' is ZERO (i.e. not letter 'O') ;).

PS: Does someone know more what's SHORTSED V1.0 :?:
I can imagine what it can be but asking for kind of proper documentation...
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Dbug
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Re: spec

Post by Dbug »

Never heard of SHORTSED; but that'a a funny name, because SED is French for DOS (Système (d') Exploitation Disque), and SHORT seems English.
Maybe that's a variant of SEDORIC with minimum amount of disk usage, made for applications that don't need the full dos?
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Symoon
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Re: spec

Post by Symoon »

It's apparently the result of a disk made with GAMEINIT tool. It can be found on Sedoric 3 disk for instance.
But don't ask me more about its origin, I have no idea!

EDIT: it seems it was on the original Sedoric release, someone would have to take a look at the manual (my spare time is up for today!)
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Re: spec

Post by iss »

@Dbug, @Symoon: Thanks for replies!
And answering to myself: RTFM - Sedoric manual page #56:
GAMEINIT
To initialise a games disc containing 'SHORTSED' - a DOS of only three instructions,
!LOAD, !DIR and direct file loading (i.e. ! (name of file)), each with its usual syntax. This
disc will have only 17 sectors occupied by the DOS, as against 100 plus for a normal Master
disc.
The syntax is close to that of INIT, except that you put a colon after the command, e.g.
GAMEINIT:A,17,42. If no parameters are entered, the default values of 42 tracks, 17
sectors, drive A are used.
NOTE: GAMEINIT does not permit more than 1919 sectors on a double-sided disc
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Dbug
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Re: spec

Post by Dbug »

Ok, I knew about GAMEINIT, just did not know the resulting disk was called SHORTSED :)
We learn every day!
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coco.oric
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Re: spec

Post by coco.oric »

So it's a dsk version (not finalized) as line 0 has to be removed of Special Operations
https://www.oric.org/index.php?page=sof ... num_log=92
coco.oric as DidierV, CEO Member
Historic owner of Oric, Apple II, Atari ST, Amiga
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Dom
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Re: spec

Post by Dom »

a DOS of only three instructions,
!LOAD, !DIR and direct file loading (i.e. ! (name of file)), each with its usual syntax. This
disc will have only 17 sectors occupied by the DOS, as against 100 plus for a normal Master
disc.
I wonder if the main goal of GAMEINIT was to gain room on the discs or to free the page four of the oric memory.

As the manual do not says this important thing, I'm not a 100% sure of what I write.... But I think that this short DOS allows games to use the page four of the Oric memory, while the complete DOS doesn't. So a lot of games using memory adresses between #400 and #4FF could be loaded from disc and played. :)
Am I wrong ?
Last edited by Dom on Sat Jul 03, 2021 10:23 pm, edited 1 time in total.
hutch
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Re: spec

Post by hutch »

iss wrote: Fri Jul 02, 2021 12:06 am After boot to prompt type exactly:

Code: Select all

!LOAD"SPEC.COM"
!LOAD"SPEC.BAS",N
0
RUN
Above '0' is ZERO (i.e. not letter 'O') ;).

PS: Does someone know more what's SHORTSED V1.0 :?:
I can imagine what it can be but asking for kind of proper documentation...
thanx ....was the '0' to delete a line of basic containing cload command?
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iss
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Re: spec

Post by iss »

hutch wrote: Sat Jul 03, 2021 8:01 pm ....was the '0' to delete a line of basic containing cload command?
Yes.
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Re: spec

Post by Jonh »

Dom wrote
I wonder if the main goal of GAMEINIT was to gain room on the discs or to free the page four of the oric memory.

As the manual do not says this important thing, I'm not a 100% sure of what I write.... But I think that this short DOS allows games to use the page four of the Oric memory, while the complete DOS doesn't. So a lot of games using memory adresses between #400 and #4FF could be loaded from disc and played. :)
Am I wrong ?
It’s only taken 36 years for these questions to be raised :D

When writing the Sedoric v2 manual I simply stated the outcome of using GAMEINIT. Then in V3, I added the detail of the command usage, translating almost literally the text in the French Manual. GAMEINIT was there on the first issue disk of Sedoric, V1.006. It was retained on the famous V2 disk by Dr. Ray, and again on the V3 disk, at least in the UK.

V2 made a much larger disk capacity available on double-sided drives, usually 3.5”. After this GAMEINIT fell into almost complete disuse, since the problem it was written to address, namely the limited storage on a single face of a 3” drive, was solved by V2. That’s probably why it’s taken so long for the questions to be asked!

So the answer to the first question is yes; to the second, I don’t know for sure, but I would expect it does use the start of page 4. GAMEINIT loads at and runs from #6000 in memory, but I don’t know where it then puts the necessary code for !LOAD and !DIR - time for a Nibble or perhaps rather a Monitor?

JonH
Last edited by Jonh on Tue Jul 06, 2021 6:06 pm, edited 1 time in total.
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Steve M
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Re: spec

Post by Steve M »

Maybe the V1.6 and V2.1 manuals would be worth scanning?
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Re: spec

Post by Jonh »

Any English manual for V1.006 has long disappeared in the mists of time. The V2.0 manual was a rather skimpy affair compared to the V3 manual, I don’t think I have a printed copy - but its guts are online here: http://oric.free.fr/DISKS/sedoric.html

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Dom
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Re: spec

Post by Dom »

Hi,
Exploring old issues of CEO mag, I found the following explanation about GAME-INIT...
It seems that, at the origin, GAME INIT used the page four and that its only purpose was to save room on discs.

The following text is a translated abstract from an André Ch's text, dated 1997 .
André answered a question I asked in a previous CEO mag, about possibility to modify SEDORIC to free this page four . :)

***************************************************************************
... If we place ourselves in the perspective of Dominique , we can also consider modifying not Sédoric, but a simpler DOS ... and why not this "Shortsed"?
Fortunately for you, I found in my archives a GAMEINIT diskette whose page 4 had been "relocated" to # B200. I don't remember the origin of this diskette ...
So I studied this 3-inch floppy disk, with great difficulty, ...
... I have deduced a simple and universal method for relocate page 4 of GAMEINIT to the location of your choice, but during formatting only.

Hereunder is a little BASIC that will allow you to produce as many GAMEINIT programs that you will need, adapted to the most more twisted games you'll want to run.

Code: Select all

100 '*** GAMEFIX.COM ***
110 'Copyright 1997 AndrÈ ChÈramy
120 HIMEM#5FFF
130 PRINT"Pour Reloger GAMEINIT, Donnez une"
140 INPUT"Valeur Hexa de la Forme #B2";H$
150 HH=VAL(H$)
160 LOAD"GAMEINIT",N
170 POKE#6736,HH:POKE#6764,HH:POKE#67C1,HH:POKE#67C4,HH:POKE#67CC,HH
180 POKE#68A2,HH:POKE#68A7,HH:POKE#68AE,HH:POKE#68B1,HH
190 POKE#68B4,HH:POKE#68B7,HH:POKE#68BD,HH:POKE#68C2,HH
200 POKE#68CB,HH:POKE#68D1,HH:POKE#68D4,HH:POKE#68EB,HH
210 POKE#68EE,HH:POKE#68F4,HH:POKE#68F7,HH:POKE#68FA,HH
220 POKE#69A2,HH:POKE#69A7,HH:POKE#69AE,HH:POKE#69B1,HH
230 POKE#69B4,HH:POKE#69B7,HH:POKE#69BD,HH:POKE#69C2,HH
240 POKE#69CB,HH:POKE#69D1,HH:POKE#69D4,HH:POKE#69EB,HH
250 POKE#69EE,HH:POKE#69F4,HH:POKE#69F7,HH:POKE#69FA,HH
260 POKE#6AB4,HH:POKE#6B12,HH:POKE#6B54,HH:POKE#6B5A,HH:POKE#6BCB,HH
270 POKE#6BDD,HH:POKE#6EF9,HH:POKE#6F08,HH:POKE#6F0E,HH
280 POKE#6F6B,HH:POKE#6F71,HH:POKE#6F7C,HH:POKE#6FD0,HH
290 POKE#6FDC,HH:POKE#6FDF,HH:POKE#71D8,HH:POKE#746A,HH
300 F$="GAME"+RIGHT$(H$,2)+"00"
310 SAVE F$,A#6000,E#74FF,T#6004
320 'SAVEU"GAMEFIX",AUTO
Before using this program, it is necessary to determine the memory location of the game you want to play, then choose elsewhere the location of the new GAMEINIT "page 4" .
Addresses must be between # 0500 and # B4FF, I haven't tested above, but it must be possible to find some place in the semi-graphics, if you don't use HIRES.
On your floppy disk you must have both GAMEFIX.COM and GAMEINIT.
Run GAMEFIX and indicate, on request, the most significant byte of the new location address: for example # B2 to relocate GAMEINIT to # B200.
You will then have a new version of GAMEINIT (GAMEB200.COM in our example) that you can use to format a "Shortsed" floppy disk on which you only have copy your game.
*********************************************************************************************************************
Time passes (24 years) the memory flies, but the writings remain ... thank you the CEO mag :-)
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Re: spec

Post by Steve M »

Jonh wrote: Tue Jul 06, 2021 6:13 pm Any English manual for V1.006 has long disappeared in the mists of time. The V2.0 manual was a rather skimpy affair compared to the V3 manual, I don’t think I have a printed copy - but its guts are online here: http://oric.free.fr/DISKS/sedoric.html
I have printed copies of the Sedoric - A Summary of Commands (1989), Sedoric DOS V1.07 A User Guide (Issue 1 1990), and Sedoric DOS V2 (Issue 3 1992)
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