https://worldofdragon.org/index.php?title=Update_Issue_6_(Feb)&feed=atom&action=historyUpdate Issue 6 (Feb) - Revision history2024-03-29T00:08:20ZRevision history for this page on the wikiMediaWiki 1.31.15https://worldofdragon.org/index.php?title=Update_Issue_6_(Feb)&diff=5740&oldid=prevJedie: Category:Magazines Category:Update_Issue2014-09-02T07:19:14Z<p><a href="/index.php?title=Category:Magazines" title="Category:Magazines">Category:Magazines</a> <a href="/index.php?title=Category:Update_Issue" title="Category:Update Issue">Category:Update_Issue</a></p>
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</table>Jediehttps://worldofdragon.org/index.php?title=Update_Issue_6_(Feb)&diff=1370&oldid=prevAdmin: Created page with '<CENTER> <H3> <U>DRAGON UPDATE</U> <BR> Newsletter of the National Dragon User Group. </H3> </CENTER> <BR> Issue 6. <PRE> Chairman Paul Grade, Edi...'2009-04-05T11:23:46Z<p>Created page with '<CENTER> <H3> <U>DRAGON UPDATE</U> <BR> Newsletter of the National Dragon User Group. </H3> </CENTER> <BR> Issue 6. <PRE> Chairman Paul Grade, Edi...'</p>
<p><b>New page</b></p><div><CENTER><br />
<H3><br />
<U>DRAGON UPDATE</U><br />
<BR><br />
Newsletter of the National Dragon User Group.<br />
</H3><br />
</CENTER><br />
<BR><br />
Issue 6.<br />
<PRE><br />
Chairman Paul Grade, Editor Jeremy Hoyland,<br />
6 Navarino Road, 120 Old Heath Road,<br />
Worthing, Hythe, Co1chester,<br />
Sussex. Essex.<br />
</PRE><br />
<P><br />
Happy half birthday to us! As a token of our demi-anniversary we now have a<br />
name, our thanks to Ken Grade. So let's take stock of the last six months<br />
and how they have affected us. The club is now estab1ished, and even has a<br />
little money in the coffers, existence is not quite the hand to mouth<br />
affair it was six months ago. There has been some 'slippage' in the issue<br />
dates, hopefully this edition will have clawed part of it back, again I<br />
have to thank Ken who has agreed to take over the distribution. The<br />
newsletter is rather thicker than it was and there have been some excellent<br />
articles, however I would have liked to hear more from those with advanced<br />
systems -a piece on the RS232 port by someone other than Status Quo would<br />
be welcome, and has anyone succeeded in porting the p-system on, Oasis<br />
claim that their Petite Pascal uses a p-code interpreter.<br />
</P><br />
<P><br />
One of the most encouraging things to happen in the last six months has<br />
been the 6809 show, there is to be another one on the weekend of 22nd of<br />
March' as yet we don't know whether the group will be there, but obviously<br />
I hope so.<br />
</P><br />
<P><br />
I hope that the next six months will be as successfull as the last, but<br />
remember, by and large it depends on you - so if you want to keep hearing<br />
from us then we'd better be hearing from you.<br />
</P><br />
<CENTER><br />
<H3><br />
64K UPGRADE by D. De Wilde.<br />
</H3><br />
</CENTER><br />
<P><br />
This is the next installment from the Dragon Upgrade Manual that we had<br />
passed onto us by the Dutch User Group. It is a rather more complicated<br />
modification than that written for us by Bob Hall but has the advantage<br />
that it will work on any 32.<br />
</P><br />
<P><br />
Again I must stress that you should only try this if you are<br />
technically competant, these articles have been translated from Dutch and<br />
the photocopies I got for the translation were pretty ropey, so there could<br />
be errors. I hope that anyone who tries this out and gets it to work will<br />
be good enough to write us an in-depth feature on the method that would be<br />
more appropriate to people who think that a soldering iron is a thing used<br />
for pressing uniforms.<br />
</P><br />
<P><br />
In order to upgrade the computer to 64k you need 8 RAM chips, (4164 /l50<br />
nS) and 8 ic feet (wire wrapping) or ic pins which come loosley wrapped.<br />
</P><br />
<PRE><br />
method.<br />
Open the computer.<br />
Remove all IC's on feet.<br />
Remove power connector.<br />
Remove cartridge protection.<br />
Remove keyboard.<br />
Remove all screws so that mother board can be taken out.<br />
Use a very fine pair of pliers to cut away rams IC1 to IC8.<br />
Clean the holes in the PCB.<br />
Put the IC feet in position' one by one, without inserting them<br />
completely. That way they can be resoldered from the top in case<br />
off faulty contacts.<br />
In order to avoid any unpleasant surprises you had better test<br />
every through connection for each socket.<br />
<br />
When all IC feet have been soldered you had better test all pins<br />
from foot to foot.<br />
Replace the motherboard in its position in the box.<br />
Connect the power.<br />
Switch on and test for 5V at PIN 1 of one of the RAMS.<br />
Check whether the blue strap connects only the two bottom<br />
contacts.<br />
Switch off.<br />
Replace all 8 IC's.<br />
Replace the 8 RAMS.<br />
Screw everything tight.<br />
</PRE><br />
<P><br />
That's the lot, it still only puts 32k at our disposal, but we can now -via<br />
software- use the full 64k, as well as OS-9 and FLEX.<br />
</P><br />
<P><br />
Quite what the software referred to is I don't know, but I hope that Bob<br />
Halls routines published with his earlier conversion, and the piece in this<br />
edition will do the job. As I say if anyone tries it let me know how you<br />
get on.<br />
</P><br />
<H3><br />
cassette recorder mod. f.j.fisher.<br />
</H3><br />
<P><br />
The following modification was carried out on a Tandy TR12 recorder, but<br />
ought to be practical on almost any type.<br />
</P><br />
<P><br />
Open the recorder, and disconnect the motor wire from X.<br />
<BR><br />
Solder one end of a piece of wire to X using a standard 2.5mm chassis<br />
socket (switched type).<br />
<BR><br />
Solder the free end of the motor wire to 2.<br />
<BR><br />
Solder free end of wire to 1 and 3 ( THIS IS IMPORTANT).<br />
</P><br />
<P><br />
As a further mod:<br />
<BR><br />
Using a sub min. on/off switch wire it across 1 and 2. Using the switch<br />
will mean that you no longer have to remove the remote plug or type<br />
"motoron/off" when using FF or Rewind.<br />
</P><br />
<P><br />
The socket and switch can be obtained from any Tandy or other electrical<br />
store. and the first mod greatly improves file handling as only the motor<br />
is switched, not the amplification circuit.<br />
</P><br />
<CENTER><br />
<IMG SRC="IMAGES/DGU006F1.GIF" ALT="[Cassette recorder remote control modification]"><br />
<BR><br />
<H3><br />
DRAGON 55 (NEMESIS)<br />
</H3><br />
</CENTER><br />
<P><br />
"DRAGON 55" gets its name from the facility to store up to 55 pages(i.e.not<br />
quite one Dragon text screenful) of text,notes and other miscellaneous<br />
information which can then be dumped to tape. By making the maximum amount<br />
of RAM available(one Pokes 25,6 before loading the program)for data<br />
storage,you can cram 55 pages of 28 lines into one file.<br />
</P><br />
<P><br />
Please note-it does not pretend to be a database. There are no fields to<br />
set up-you merely type merrily away until you run out of pages.<br />
</P><br />
</P><br />
I was quite intrigued by the idea-but not sure how to make use of it-and<br />
quite impressed by the lack of superfluous packaging and documentation<br />
which has plagued similar programs(in fact programs in general!).<br />
</P><br />
<P><br />
For once,the program came on a very high quality cassette(other firms<br />
please copy!),with ALL instructions/information on a "Dragon 55" file<br />
following the program. The program is written in Basic incorporating (a)<br />
machine code routine(s). The facilities are as follows:-<br />
<BR><br />
1)A special "graphics mode" in which the numeric keys will print the block<br />
graphics characters;<br />
<BR><br />
2)The screen colour can be changed for any page by pressing a key then a<br />
number;<br />
<BR><br />
3)Cursor position controlled by the arrow keys;<br />
<BR><br />
4)Auto-repeat-but of course!-on all characters,including the graphics;<br />
<BR><br />
5)A "search and find" routine-to find where you wrote that dirty joke<br />
that's too good to lose!<br />
<BR><br />
6)Store and retrieve files from tape.<br />
</P><br />
<P><br />
I cannot fault the program in operation. It does everything it is supposed<br />
to do very efficiently. The "Search" routine,for example will find the<br />
word/phrase you want,and tell you on which line of which page-and politely<br />
call that page up. If the word cannot be found,then the nearest<br />
approximation will be retrieved. (I wish the much acclaimed word processors<br />
could do half as well!)<br />
</P><br />
<P><br />
As to what use this program could be put,I am not really sure. The main<br />
drawback is that there is no output to printer,so that discounts half of<br />
its usefulness. I am surprised one hasn't been included-it needn't have<br />
taken more than five lines(or one,for a complete screen dump of each page)<br />
-and it would have had much more appeal(to me,at any rate).<br />
</P><br />
<P><br />
I am not quite certain to what use one could put the "graphics<br />
mode",either. If you want to experiment with combinations of block<br />
graphics,then it saves you typing "PRINT CHR$(XXX)" every time I<br />
suppose,but there's no great gaim in that.<br />
</P><br />
<P><br />
As a store for programming routines,Peeks,Pokes(there are quite a few<br />
included in the demo file,as well as some useful Dragon addresses),and any<br />
other "notes"(the sort that usually get scribbled on bits of paper),it is<br />
quite handy. At the price of 5 pounds(less onepound for D.U.G. members!),it<br />
is very reasonable-if you have a use for it!<br />
<BR><br />
<BR><br />
Ken Grade<br />
</P><br />
<CENTER><br />
<H3><br />
ASCI CORNER<br />
</H3><br />
</CENTER><br />
<P><br />
In the december issue i mentioned that Microdeal were going to bring out a<br />
program called 'Speed Racer' which was supposed to be a Grand Prix<br />
simulation.Well it has duly arrived and after extensive playing i'm not sure<br />
whether it was worth the wait!<br />
</P><br />
<P><br />
A Grand Prix simulation it certainly isn't,as the object of the game is to<br />
pass a certain number of cars each lap.If you don't then that is the end of<br />
the game!If you do then onto the next lap you go.This time the cars are<br />
going a bit quicker but the number of cars to be passed always remains the<br />
same.If you complete 5 laps then you are the winner.And that is about it!<br />
</P><br />
<P><br />
There are four different tracks to choose from,number 1 being a simple<br />
rectangle and number 4 containing lots of hairpin bends.By common consent<br />
number 3 seems to be the hardest as there is no place where you can really<br />
put your foot down.Number 2 is the one i prefer as it contains both<br />
straights and tight corners.<br />
</P><br />
<P><br />
The graphic display is as expected in that you are looking from above and<br />
behind your car i.e. a 3D view.The actual speed and quality of the graphics<br />
are dissapointing.The road scroll is very jerky and for some unknown reason<br />
Microdeal decided to put a white line down the middle of the road.Along the<br />
bottom of the screen is a Speedometer,milecounter and a bar showing how<br />
many cars you have passed. You control your car with only the right<br />
joystick.Forward to increase speed,back to break.Pushing the joystick left<br />
or right moves the track the appropriate way.<br />
</P><br />
<P><br />
Where the program really lets itself down is in the reality of the game.<br />
Breaking is a gradual affair and that means you can easily run into the<br />
back of another car.Also you cannot run off the track although if you stay<br />
on the shoulder for too long the car stops to get a tyre change.How on<br />
earth anyone manages to go round hairpin bends at 170 mph is amazing but<br />
thats what the program allows!The worst aspect of the program is having to<br />
pass a number of cars each lap.If you pass more cars than needed,the extra<br />
amount does not count for the next lap.Also it seems impossible to complete<br />
5 laps as several times i have runout of cars to pass on the last lap.<br />
</P><br />
<P><br />
Having said all that this game is streets ahead of any other on the<br />
market.If it had been for the,say Spectrum,nobody would buy it but for<br />
Dragon owners this is the best availble. So,if you intend to buy it don't<br />
expect too much.I'm sure somebody else could improve on this game.<br />
</P><br />
<P><br />
I received a couple of queries this month.The first is from Jeffery (or<br />
Geoffrey) Wilkes.He wants to know how to get to the Water room in<br />
Franklin's Tomb.The room is situated in the middle of nine rooms which have<br />
a common theme. Work out the theme and then utter a password in one of the<br />
nine rooms.As for the theme,Think of Russell Grant!!Also Mr. W Norrington<br />
(sorry i haven't got your first name!)wants a reccommended adventure for<br />
first timers.If you want a standard adventure then try Salamanders Franklins<br />
Tomb.For a very easy adventure you could try Microdeal's Mansion<br />
Adventure.Also of note are two graphic programs from Touchmaster.They are<br />
Sea Quest and Shenanigans but they might be hard to obtain.If you want a<br />
dungeons and Dragons style game then go for Ring of Darkness by Wintersoft.<br />
</P><br />
<H3><br />
Doctor ASCI at your service.<br />
</H3><br />
<P><br />
Geoff has encountered a few other problems in his meanderings around<br />
adventures: firstly he's trying to find the Wine Cellar in Franklins Tomb,<br />
as I remember the key to this is going bats in the lift. In Mansion of Doom<br />
he wants to cross the pool of acid near the vampire -search me, if he will<br />
visit such places... Mountain climbing and water crossing are his problems<br />
in Ring of Darkness, again I'm afraid I don't know the answers to these<br />
problems. Geoff has suggested an adventure help column -this seems a good<br />
idea so you take these two problems to start with I'll gladly print any<br />
answers and new problems that you have, so let's be hearing from you.<br />
</P><br />
<P><br />
Following last months hardware screen inverter, here's a software<br />
implementation from Ashley Adamson of the Romsey Area Dragon User Group.<br />
Ashley and the group can be contacted at: St. Elmo, Slab Lane, West Wellow,<br />
Romsey, Hants, S05 0BY.<br />
</P><br />
<PRE><br />
10 'SCREEN INVERTER (BASIC LOADER)<br />
20 CLEAR 200,32580<br />
30 FOR I=1 TO 184:READ A$:Z=VAL("&H"+A$):CS=CS+Z:POKE I+32580,Z:NEXT<br />
40 DATA 8E,7F,63,BF,1,68,8E,7F,DE,BF,1,6B,8E,7F,F6,BF,1,A1,86,7E,B7,1,67,B7,1,6A,B7,1, A0,39,7D,0,6F,27,1,39,32,62,34,16,8E,FF,C0,A7,84,A7,2,A7,4,A7,6,A7,A,A7,C,A7,E,A7,88,10,A7,9,86,5,B7,FF,22,35,2,34,2,BE,0,88,81,8,26,8,86<br />
50 DATA 20,A7,84,A7,82,20,1C,81,D,26,4,8D,32,20,14,81,80,24,E,81,20,25,C,81,60,24,4,84,BF,20,2,80,20,A7,80,BF,0,88,8C,5,FF,23,12,8E,4,0,EC,88,20,ED,81,8C,5,E0,25,F6,BF,0,88,8D<br />
60 DATA 2,35,96,86,20,A7,80,1F,10,C4,1F,26,F6,39,81,C,27,1,39,34,12,86,20,8E,4,0,BF,0,88,A7,80,8C,6,0,25,F9,35,92,27,1,39,32,62,20,E6<br />
70 IF CS<>17097 THEN PRINT"DATA ERROR":SOUND 1,2:STOP<br />
80 EXEC 32581:CLS<br />
90 PRINT"SCREEN INVERTER"<br />
100 PRINT@32,STRING$(15,188)<br />
110 PRINT:PRINT"ORANGE TEXT IS ALSO AVAILABLE"<br />
120 PRINT"DO YOU REQUIRE THIS? Y/N"<br />
130 X$=INKEY$:IF X$="" THEN 130<br />
140 IF X$="Y" THEN POKE 32644,13<br />
150 PRINT:PRINT"THE BASIC LOADER PROGRAM IS NO LONGER NEEDED. 187 BYTES ARE RESERVED AT RAMTOP."<br />
160 PRINT:PRINT"DELETE THE LOADER PROGRAM? Y/N"<br />
170 Z$=INKEY$:IF Z$="" THEN 170<br />
180 IF Z$="Y" THEN CLS:NEW<br />
190 PRINT:PRINT"AWAITING INSTRUCTION"<br />
200 END<br />
<br />
Whenever using a GET command with the inverter type:<br />
POKE 416,57 first.<br />
</PRE><br />
<CENTER><br />
<H3><br />
LETTER FROM THE CHAIRMAN<br />
</H3><br />
</CENTER><br />
<P><br />
Well, we've survived for half a year, more by luck than judgement, so it<br />
looks as though we're doing better than the majority of the user<br />
groups.....especially former Dragon ones!!.<br />
</P><br />
<P><br />
What we need now, apart from more members, more money, and an offer of free<br />
printing (!) is some definite news from Eurohard.They told us, and I<br />
believe them, that the Dragon would be back in UK, but since then there<br />
have been various delays and and rumours (both good and bad), and no one<br />
seems to know exactly how long we will have to wait for the Return of the<br />
Dragon.<br />
</P><br />
<P><br />
Come on Eurohard, wake up!!...there will never be a better time for a<br />
return than NOW. With Acorn having "suspended trading", the Spectrum out of<br />
production, Commodore trying to sell the unsellable C16, etc, the market<br />
just HAS to be wide open for a REAL computer.<br />
</P><br />
<P><br />
At the moment I don't know whether or not we'll be seeing you at the 6809<br />
Show....the organizers seem reluctant to let us have a free stand this time<br />
around, and there's no way I can justify forking out over a hundred pounds<br />
of your subscription money just so that we can put in an appearance there.<br />
You never know your luck, we might yet get a "freebie", but if not one or<br />
more of us will be covering the Show, and we'll let you know what's new.<br />
</P><br />
<P><br />
As I said in the last Newsletter, we still need more material for<br />
publication.....from YOU!. Looking back through the Application Forms it<br />
seems that you have a lot of very different interests, so why not write to<br />
us about them? You don't have to be a professional writer.....(tho' that<br />
doesn't mean we don't want professional work too, Mike!!)....but we really<br />
DO want you to contribute something...that's what the Group is all about.<br />
OK?.<br />
</P><br />
<P><br />
One final thing....do any of you ex-Dungeon members know where I can<br />
contact Pete Woods (the former "Dungeon Master")?..if so, please ask him to<br />
give me a call.<br />
</P><br />
<P><br />
That's all for this month. Good luck, and keep writing. Paul.G.<br />
</P><br />
<PRE><br />
J.D.Bateman.<br />
Orchard House,<br />
Cleator Moor,<br />
Cumbria,<br />
CA25-5LN.<br />
6.2.85/<br />
</PRE><br />
Dear Paul,<br />
<P><br />
Last year I wrote to you about certain programs running on my 32 but<br />
not on my 64. I think I may have found the answer.<br />
</P><br />
<P><br />
About 9 weeks ago, I typed in a perpetual-motion type program from<br />
"Input Magazine". It would not run, giving an FC ERROR. On checking the line<br />
I found that it contained a PCOPY command. After checking the listing<br />
several times, I gave up in disgust, muttering dark abuse about certain<br />
typesetters.<br />
</P><br />
<P><br />
However, last week, I purchased a Graphics System Program from<br />
Salamander. This also gave rise to an FC ERROR. On listing the faulty line<br />
I discovered it too contained PCOPY commands. I began to put two and two<br />
together. I blew the dust off my 32 and tried the program. It worked<br />
perfectly. So it would appear that some 64's (mine at least) will not<br />
accept PCOPY commands in the same format that the 32 does.<br />
</P><br />
<P><br />
I have not yet managed to get the magazine listing to run on the 64,but<br />
I changed the offending line in the Salamander program, as shown below, and<br />
it now works perfectly.<br />
</P><br />
<P><br />
I changed PCOPY N+4 TO N+16 [into] PCOPY N+1 to N+4.<br />
</P><br />
<P><br />
I hope that this may be of some assistance to others, although it still<br />
won't be any use for M/C programs like "Junior" etc.<br />
</P><br />
<CENTER><br />
<H3><br />
USING A TELEX MACHINE AS A PRINTER<br />
</H3><br />
</CENTER><br />
<P><br />
As promised in issue three of the newsletter this is the sequel to the<br />
earlier articles describing the interfacing of a Dragon to en ex GPO<br />
teleprinter. For new reeders, the previous articles described a method that<br />
involved rather complicated and expensive hardware in addition to the<br />
software.<br />
</P><br />
<P><br />
The latest software (which is fully re-locatable) does all the conversion<br />
work except the final transition from 5 to 80 volts. When PRINT#-2, or<br />
LLIST is used the Dragon sends its output to the printer port but the<br />
format is now serial, the Ascii has become Baudot end the speed is 20m.secs<br />
per bit (50 baud).<br />
</P><br />
<P><br />
Another feature of the software is a text screen dump which is activated by<br />
the down-arrow key in immediate mode or PRINT CHR$(10) in a Basic<br />
programme. This is very useful when running programmes such as<br />
disassemblers which do not have a built-in hard copy option.<br />
</P><br />
<P><br />
The only hardware needed now is an opto-darlington to protect the Dragon<br />
and trigger a high speed relay. The relay contacts switch +80 or -80 volts<br />
as required to the Receive terminal of the teleprinter. Only 3 connections<br />
are used at the printer port..... a 5v supply for the relay,the 0v line and<br />
the strobe pin which is used for the data.<br />
</P><br />
<P><br />
The system needs no major modifications to the standard telex terminal. It<br />
is only necessary to remove one diode and in practice this has usually been<br />
removed already by Telecoms so that the machine will no longer function as<br />
a telex unit.<br />
</P><br />
<P><br />
The latest version of the software and hardware is being marketed by<br />
COMPUTIL of 22 Grove Park, Burbage, Hinckley, Leics. LE10 2BJ.<br />
</P><br />
<CENTER><br />
<H3><br />
SPECIAL OFFERS<br />
</H3><br />
</CENTER><br />
<P><br />
This contains most of the special offers that are available to members, I<br />
hope that you will avail yourselves of them as they are great value.<br />
</P><br />
<CENTER><br />
FLOPPY DISCS<br />
</CENTER><br />
<P><br />
These are top quality 5.25" discs supplied by SBS Data Services. Individual<br />
orders are accepted at the price below for a box of ten, but if we get<br />
enough orders together at any one time to order 5 boxes we get a further<br />
reduction of &#163;1.00 per box.<br />
<PRE><br />
SS/DD soft sector normal price &#163;22.00 reduced price &#163;14.50.<br />
SS/DD hard sector &#163;22.00 &#163;14.50.<br />
DS/DD soft sector &#163;27.00 &#163;15.50.<br />
DS/DD hard sector &#163;27.00 &#163;15.50.<br />
</PRE><br />
All prices are PLUS 15% VAT. With a little cutting on the cover a Dragon<br />
can take DS/DD's -a great saving. All orders to Paul, cheques payable to<br />
the group.<br />
<CENTER><br />
CASSETTE TAPES<br />
</CENTER><br />
<P><br />
C5 - 2.5 mins per side leaderless computer tapes are available for &#163;1.25<br />
for 5 from Taurus Electrical Services, 26/28 Nottingham Road, Loughborough,<br />
Leics. LE1l 1EU.<br />
</P><br />
<CENTER><br />
CABLE SOFTWARE<br />
</CENTER><br />
<P><br />
Cable are offering their range at twenty per cent discount -see their ad in<br />
Dragon User for what's on offer. Place your orders through the editor.<br />
</P><br />
<CENTER><br />
<H3><br />
Double Value Dragon -how to get maximum use of your D64s memory, by Bob<br />
Hall.<br />
</H3><br />
</CENTER><br />
<P><br />
As everyone knows, the Dragon 64 has 64k of RAM,16k of BASIC in ROM,<br />
and room for another l6k (nearly) of goodies such as DragonDos in the<br />
cartridge port - that's 96k altogether!. Unfortunately, all the standard<br />
ways of using the system (except perhaps the Andtek 'P1us' add-on) require<br />
you to throw part of it away - in '32k' mode, you leave the other 32k of<br />
RAM idling in the background - in '64k' mode, using Flex or OS9, you lose<br />
the ROM routines, though you may gain a rather better version of BASIC<br />
(BASIC09).<br />
</P><br />
<P><br />
What can be done to make better use of the Dragon's resources? For the<br />
'64 in 32k mode, there appear to be two possibilities: - Firstly, we could<br />
hide machine-code routines in the upper 32k (accessing them in Map Mode 1<br />
with the interrupts off). We could also put a high-resolution graphics<br />
screen in 'high' memory, which is easy to implement, because the SAM chip<br />
ALWAYS gets information for the Video Display Generator from RAM, never<br />
ROM, and so will correct1y display our graphics in high memory, whilst we<br />
continue in BASIC in 32k mode.(A useful combination of these two ideas is a<br />
high-res text-generator & its screen- I've used the one in Flex to run with<br />
Editext; however, more of this, hopefully, another day.)<br />
</P><br />
<P><br />
The secondway to use all the memory efficiently in 32k mode, is to use<br />
the SAM's Page-switching capabil1ity and have two independent programs in<br />
memory at the same time: one of these programs lives as usual between 0 &<br />
32k (Page 0): the second is stored between 32 & 64k (Page 1)- but when we<br />
'flip the page' the SAM will automatically add 32k to all the memory<br />
addresses from the cpu, before it sends them to the RAM, so that we can<br />
then address 'Page 1' as if it were at 0 to 32k. (However, it doesn't<br />
automaticaly do the same for the VDG addresses - see below).<br />
</P><br />
<P><br />
The BASIC program which follows loads the necessary machine-code to do<br />
page-switching: it's configured to work with DragonDos, and by default goes<br />
into the cassette buffer at &H200. To use it without a disk, change the<br />
instructions at line 140 (JMP $D917) to read "140 DATA 39,12,12" (ie<br />
RTS,NOP,NOP), and allocate a specific address for BA when prompted in line<br />
430. The machine-code comprises 3 sections: SWOPIT, which dumps the stack-<br />
pointer in "HOLE", switches pages, and reloads the SP from the<br />
corresponding location in the other page; VDG, which keeps the Video<br />
Display looking at the right text-screen; and MOVIT, which sets up Page 1<br />
initially, by copying page 0 into it and then altering a few 1ocations.<br />
After the BASIC has run, it can be deleted (but the machine-code must be<br />
kept intact) - if Reset is pressed, SWOPIT will not in general work<br />
correctly (a bit more code, pointed to by the Reset vector, is needed).<br />
After the Basic has run, typing 'EXEC' (or executing it in a BASIC<br />
statement) will take you from one field to the other, and pick up any<br />
program from where it was interrupted; (however, SWOPIT could be linked<br />
into the 'End-of-Line' hook at &H19A-&H19C - or even into FIRQ). The<br />
routine is believed to work correctly for all BASIC programs (and many m/c<br />
ones), which use the text-screen only. It will also generate graphics<br />
correctly, but in Page 1 will not display them unless the statement 'SCREEN<br />
a,b' is expanded to 'SCREEN a,b: POKE &HFFD3,0'.<br />
</P><br />
<P><br />
Thats it - it's all quite easy really - give it a try!.<br />
</P><br />
<PRE><br />
Bob Hall.<br />
<br />
ÚÄÄÄÄÄASSEMBLY LANGUAGEÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄ¿<br />
³ ³<br />
TTL PAGE SWOP ROUTINE PIC<br />
ÚÄÄÄÄÄBASIC PROGRAMÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄ¿ STTL DUMP REGS,STACK, SWITCH PAGES & RELOAD<br />
³ ³<br />
10 'HOLE-STACK STORED HERE<br />
20 DATA 0,0 HOLE FDB 0 STACK STORED HERE<br />
30 'STOPIT-SWITCHES PAGES<br />
40 DATA 34,7F SWOPIT PSHS A,B,X,Y,U,DP,CC<br />
50 DATA 1A,50 ORCC œ$50 I0F<br />
60 DATA 10,EF,8C,F6 STS HOLE,PCR<br />
70 DATA 32,8C,75 LEAS SWOPIT+$80,PCR IN CASE OF NMI?<br />
80 DATA B7,FF,D4 LS1 STA $FFD4 FLIP PAGE<br />
90 DATA 10,EE,8C,EC LDS HOLE,PCR<br />
100 DATA 35,FF PULS PC,A,B,X,Y,U,DP,CC<br />
110 'VDG-CHANGE VDG PAGE STTL VDG RESET ON RAM O/P HOOK<br />
120 DATA 7D,00,6F VDG TST $6F FIND IF O/P TO SCREEN<br />
130 DATA 27,03 BEQ LV2<br />
l40 DATA 7E,D9,17 JMP $D917 DRAGONDOS HOOK<br />
150 DATA BD,8O,0C LV2 JSR $800C PUT CHAR ON SCREEN<br />
160 DATA 32,62 LEAS 2,S DROP OLD RETURN ADDRESS OFF STACK<br />
l70 DATA 34,16 PSHS X,B,A<br />
180 DATA 8E,FF,C8 LDX œ$FFC8 SAM VDG BITS START<br />
190 DATA A7,0A LV1 STA $A,X<br />
200 DATA 7E,A9,41 JMP $A941 NOW REJOIN ROM RESET ROUTINE<br />
210 'MOVIT-SETUP INITIAL CONFIG<br />
220 DATA 34,7F STTL COPY PAGE 0 TO PAGE 1 AND SETUP<br />
230 DATA 1A,50 MOVIT PSHS A,B,X,Y,U,DP,CC<br />
240 DATA 8E,00,00 ORCC œ$5O<br />
250 DATA 10,8E,80,00 LDX œ$0000<br />
260 DATA B7,FF,DF LDY œ$8000<br />
270 DATA A6,80 STA $FFDF MAPMODE 1<br />
280 DATA A7,A0 LM1 LDA ,X+<br />
290 DATA 8C,7E,FF STA ,Y+<br />
300 DATA 2F,F7 CMPX œ$7EFF<br />
310 DATA 86,D5 BLE LM1<br />
320 DATA A7,8C,C6 LDA œ$D5<br />
330 DATA 4A STA LS1+2,PCR<br />
340 DATA A7,8D,7F,C1 DEC A<br />
350 DATA 86,0A STA LS1+$8002,PCR<br />
360 DATA A7,8C,D6 LDA œ$0A<br />
370 DATA 4C STA LV1+1,PCR<br />
380 DATA A7,8D,7F,D1 INC A<br />
390 DATA B7,FF,DE STA LV1+$8001,PCR<br />
400 DATA 35,FF STA $FFDE MAPMODE 0<br />
410 ' PULS PC,X,Y,A,B,U,DP,CC<br />
420 CLEAR 500<br />
430 PRINT"swopit here":PRINT"GIVE ME A HOLE TO LIVE IN";:INPUT BA<br />
440 IF BA&lt;300 THEN BA=512<br />
450 SWOPIT=BA+2:VDG=BA+22:MOVIT=BA+45<br />
460 FOR I=BA TO BA+92<br />
470 READ V$:V=VAL("&H"+V$)<br />
480 POKE I,V<br />
490 NEXT I<br />
500 EXEC SWOPIT<br />
510 X=VDG:Y=INT(X/256):Z=X-256*Y<br />
520 POKE &H169,Z<br />
530 POKE &H168,Y<br />
540 POKE &H167,&H7E<br />
550 EXEC MOVIT<br />
560 EXEC SWOPIT<br />
570 EXEC SWOPIT<br />
<H3><br />
RAMSOFT<br />
</H3><br />
P.O. BOX 6, RICHMOND, NORTH YORKSHIRE, DL10 4HL<br />
<br />
Vat Reg No: 360 7254 62<br />
<H3><br />
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<br />
Number Title Price<br />
<br />
____ The Dragon Book of Games &#163;5.95<br />
____ The Dragon Programmer &#163;5.95<br />
____ Anatomy of the Dragon &#163;6.95<br />
____ Language of the Dragon &#163;6.95<br />
____ Artificial Intelligence in BASIC &#163;6.95<br />
____ The Complete Programmer &#163;5.95<br />
____ The 6809 Companion &#163;1.95 *(only 30p p&p)<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
POSTAGE AND PACKING (UK orders only)<br />
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Add 80p for the first title ordered and 40p per book thereafter *<br />
<br />
<br />
*** GAMES TAPE - SPECIAL OFFER ***<br />
</PRE><br />
<P><br />
The tape containing the 21 games from "THE DRAGON BOOK OF GAMES normally<br />
costs &#163;5.95. Order both the book and the tape from us and pay just &#163;3.95<br />
</P><br />
<P><br />
Order any other book as well and the tape can be yours for just œ2.95!<br />
</P><br />
<P><br />
Send your cheque or postal order payable to Ramsoft (UK orders only).<br />
<BR><br />
Outside UK please write for details.<br />
</P><br />
<P><br />
We will try to despatch your order as soon as possible, but please allow 21<br />
days for delivery.<br />
</P><br />
<H3><br />
The Dragon Library..........RAMSOFT.<br />
</H3><br />
<P><br />
lf you are a beginner or advanced programmer and you want to have fun or<br />
tackle a serious application we have the book that will help you use your<br />
Dragon.<br />
</P><br />
<P><br />
THE DRAGON BOOK OF GAMES...by Mike James, SM.Gee and Kay Ewbank. (Granada.5.95).<br />
</P><br />
<P><br />
A collection of 21 games written in Dragon BASIC that illustrate how the<br />
Dragon can be used to create a wide range of effects. If you are learning<br />
BASIC then typing in these programs is an excellent way to become familiar<br />
with programming. If you already know BASIC then you will still pick up a<br />
great many programming techniques.<br />
</P><br />
<P><br />
If you'd rather save yourself the effort of typing these games in from the<br />
Iistings, you'll be glad to know that you can purchase a cassette tape<br />
containing all 21 games. This tape normally costs 5.95 but you can order it<br />
from us at a special discount....for dteails see our order form.<br />
</P><br />
<P><br />
THE DRAGON PROGRAMMER...by S.M.Gee..(Granada.5.95).<br />
</P><br />
<P><br />
This book is not only an introduction to Dragon BASIC, it also explains<br />
some of the pitfalls in using Dragon graphics and sound. Starting off from<br />
fundamentals, It explains how to write BASIC programs using the natural<br />
structure of BASIC. This encourages a good BASIC style without laying down<br />
strict do's and don'ts that often take the fun out of programming. Later<br />
chapters concentrate on using the Dragon's extensive sound and graphics<br />
facilities from BASIC. The emphasis here falls on understanding how things<br />
work and on avoiding any problems before they arise. For example; if you<br />
have ever used a DRAW command to produce a small shape only to discover<br />
that the actuaI shape it draws depends on its position on the screen then<br />
you need to read Chapter 10 in this book!.<br />
</P><br />
<P><br />
ANATOMY OF THE DRAGON...by Mike James..(Sigma).6.95.<br />
</P><br />
<P><br />
Dragon Data Approved.<br />
</P><br />
<P><br />
This book is for anyone wanting to know how their Dragon works and how to<br />
control it from BASIC. It describes the Dragon's hardware and software from<br />
the point of view of a BASIC programmer. It introduces a number of new<br />
graphics modes, and explains how GET and PUT can be used to create user-<br />
defined graphics, shows how to disable the BREAK key and a great deal more.<br />
</P><br />
<P><br />
LANGUAGE OF THE DRAGON...by Mike James....(Sigma).6.95.<br />
</P><br />
<P><br />
This is an introduction to 6809 assembly language that also includes a<br />
complete assembler in BASIC. Assembler is much easier to learn if each of<br />
the registers, instructions, etc, are introduced as a way of doing<br />
something. In this book each of the 6809's features is introduced in a<br />
practical and logical way, building up a complete picture of assembly<br />
language programming on the Dragon. A key feature is the way the idea of a<br />
bit pattern is used to unify all of the confusing types of data encountered<br />
by an assembler language programmer.<br />
</P><br />
<P><br />
ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE IN BASIC...by Mike James....(Newnes).6.95.<br />
</P><br />
<P><br />
Although not Dragon-specific this book contains many programs that will run<br />
on the Dragon without modification. Artificial intelligence is certainly<br />
where the future of computing lies and this book contains explanations and<br />
practical examples of most of the current A.I. techniques. Rather than<br />
abstract theory each chapter explains the ideas involved by way of writing<br />
working programs, making the book suitable for all BASIC programmers.<br />
</P><br />
<P><br />
THE COMPLETE PROGRAMMER...by Mike James...(Granada).5.95.<br />
</P><br />
<P><br />
This is another book which is not specific to any machine but, being<br />
written with the Dragon in mind, is therefore directly useful to it. IC and<br />
who want to increase their knowledge of programming and to improve their<br />
programming style.<br />
</P><br />
<P><br />
THE 6809 COMPANION...by Mike James....(Babani).1.95.<br />
</P><br />
<P><br />
This slim volume is an ideal reference book for every 6809 assembly<br />
language programmer. It includes the complete 6809 instruction set together<br />
with information about interupt handling and programming style.<br />
</P></div>Admin