[sebhc] H8 game files uploaded

[Scott LaBombard]

A couple more comments regarding running these games within the 
cp/m environment ...

Once the I-hex files are on the disk image, you can use cp/m's debug
command to load and subsequently execute them. A word of caution
(and likely applicable under HDOS as well) ...remember that these games
were distributed on cassette and assumed no operating system. As such,
they access the H8's hardware directly (IO specifically). It's usually not a
good idea to run such programs under cp/m ...utilizing standard bdos calls
is, for the most part, a safer bet. But in the case of these simple programs,
I doubt that it will matter...


Scott

----- Original Message ----- 
From: "Scott LaBombard" <labomb at rochester.rr.com>
To: <sebhc at sebhc.org>
Sent: Wednesday, May 05, 2004 3:06 PM
Subject: Re: [sebhc] H8 game files uploaded


> 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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