[sebhc] H8 game files uploaded

[Scott LaBombard]

Actually, the format needed (under HDOS) is the 'Absolute Binary Format'.
Apparently, this is the a Heathkit specification that includes information
relating to where a given binary should be loaded (perhaps among other
things  ...such as a checksum mechanism). You'll note the .abs file
extension under HDOS.

I've checked the HDOS docs that I have and I see no reference to the
format details. If anyone has such a reference, I'd be interested in seeing
them. I'm quite confident that I can write a quick utility to generate the
appropriate format using either raw binary or Intel hex as the input source.

In terms of cp/m ... a simple Intel-Hex file loader would do the trick. As
per my previous post, you would need a serial port and a terminal emulator
to facilitate the upload (or on the emulator, and IP accessible 'console'). I
use this method extensively on most all of my vintage platforms.


Scott

----- Original Message ----- 
From: "Eric J. Rothfus" <eric at rothfus.com>
To: <sebhc at sebhc.org>
Sent: Wednesday, May 05, 2004 2:28 PM
Subject: Re: [sebhc] H8 game files uploaded


> Thanks Scott.  The issue I was most interested in was
> getting the files into a form that can execute right off
> of a floppy in HDOS or CP/M.  In other words, the monitor
> program (in either CP/M or HDOS) would know how to load
> the file into the appropriate location (apparently 2040h)
> and kick it off.
> 
> I've seen the formats for executables, but don't remember
> them or even where I've seen them.  Maybe, however, I'm
> over-engineering-thinking the problem, and simple binary
> files will load and execute just fine without a specialized
> format in HDOS.  Though I'm fairly sure that something more
> interesting is necessary in CP/M.
> 
> Regarding how I use the files - I've built a little box
> that emulates a physical floppy drive for the H8/89 (as
> well as a few others).  You download a floppy image from
> the PC and then boot/read it on the H8/89.  One of the
> nice things about the PC software is that you can download
> a single program and it will be wrapped in a floppy image
> so you can run it.  That's what I want to do with the
> posted game images.  (for more info see www.theSVD.com)
> 
> Eric
> 
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