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From: Emmanuel Roussin <[email protected]>
Newsgroups: comp.sys.amstrad.8bit
Subject: comp.sys.amstrad.8bit FAQ v1.29 1/3
Date: Tue, 08 Jun 2004 22:25:32 +0200
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comp.sys.amstrad.8bit Frequently Asked Questions v1.29 (05/13/2004)

 The FAQ exists in english, french, german, spanish and dutch. The
 spanish and german translations arent up to date. They are are archived
on :

 - first site : http://www.genesis8bit.com
 - second site : ftp://ftp.lip6.fr/pub/amstrad
 - FAQ archive (english text only) :
   http://www.faqs.org/faqs/amstrad8bit-faq
   ftp://rtfm.mit.edu/pub/usenet/comp.sys.amstrad.8bit

 The french translation was done by Pierre Guerrier and then by Pierre
 Thevenet. Thanks to them.

 This FAQ is posted twice a month on the 4th and 19th to
 comp.sys.amstrad.8bit, and only once on the 4th to comp.answers and
 news.answers

 Lines preceded by '+' have been added since the last FAQ
 Lines preceded by '*' have been modified since the last FAQ
+ Lines preceded by '-' will be removed in the next FAQ

 This FAQ is written by :

 - Emmanuel Roussin, roussin noos.fr, section A (CPC), D (PcW16), E
(PDA600)
 - Mark Ray, h089 mth.uea.ac.uk, section B (Notepad)
 - Frank van Empel, fvempel euronet.nl, section C (PCW)

+ All mailto links have been removed, all emails addresses were translated
+ like this : [email protected] is now a b.com

 If you have any ideas for the FAQ, send an email to the correct
 person. About parts written by E.R., as english isn't my mother
 tongue, this FAQ has certainly typing mistakes, grammar errors, etc...
 I welcome the corrections.

 This FAQ is freeware, you can use it freely for your personal use, but we
 retain the copyright. For commercial use, you must ask our permission
 before.

 Parts of this FAQ are taken from the documentation of CPCEMU, some are
 from the main faq keeper (E.R.) and Mark Ray (Notepad part), other
 parts are taken from articles of the newsgroup.


                             ------------


 Table of Contents


 Introduction

 A - Amstrad CPC

 A0) Amstrad CPC(+), KC Compact and GX 4000 presentation

 A1) Emulators and utilities

   A1.1) emulators
   A1.2) utilities

 A2) Sources of emulators, ROMs, programs, buying hardware/software

   A2.0) IRC
   A2.1) FTP
   A2.2) WWW
   A2.3) BBS
   A2.4) Using programs with emulators or real CPC
   A2.5) Buying hardware/software

  A3) Transfer between CPC and PC

   A3.1) 3" drive on PC
   A3.2.1) 3,5" or 5,25" drive on CPC
   A3.2.2) 3,5" or 5,25" drive on CPC+
   A3.3) parallel cable
   A3.4) RS 232 / RS 422 (Macintosh)
   A3.5) Companies
   A3.6) Tapes

 A4) Maps, solutions, pokes, basic loaders

   A4.1) Maps and Solutions
   A4.2) Pokes
   A4.3) Basic loaders

 A5) Hardware problems

   A5.1) Internal drive
   A5.2) External drive
   A5.3) Components

 A6) How can I help the Amstrad world ?

   A6.1) Updating the FAQ
   A6.2) Commercial games becoming freeware
   A6.3) Adding files to ftp.lip6.fr
   A6.4) Updating ALL_CPC, ALL_HW, ALL_ROM, ALL_UTIL

 A7) Programs

   A7.1) Commercial programs which are now PD, freeware or shareware
   A7.2) New non commercial games

 A8) Useful addresses and information

   A8.1) Snail mail addresses
   A8.2) Information
   A8.3) Email addresses

 A9) Fanzines

   A9.1) on paper
   A9.2) on disk

 A10) Additional hardware

   A10.1) Hard disk
   A10.2) Multiface II
   A10.3) Rombox
     A10.3.1) ROMCARD and RAMCARD
     A10.3.2) Inicron ROM-RAM-BOX
   A10.4) Sound Player 1 and 2
   A10.5) Network
   A10.6) Future OS
   A10.7) Memory extensions
     A10.7.1) 2 Mo RAM extension
     A10.7.2) Inicron RAM-BOX
   A10.8) Card Tridge
   A10.9) CPC ISA
   A10.10) Amstrad MP1 & MP2
   A10.11) CD-ROM
   A10.12) Mouse

 A11) Upcoming CPC meetings


 B - Amstrad Notepad (NC100/150/200)

 B0) NC 100/150/200 presentation

 B1) Emulators

 B2) How can I buy one ?

 B3) What peripherals can I use ?

   B3.1) Printer
   B3.2) Extra Memory
   B3.3) Disks

 B4) How do I connect it to a PC ?

   B4.1) Which cable ?
   B4.2) Settings
   B4.3) Converting Word Processor Files
   B4.4) How do I connect it to a BBC micro

 B5) BASIC

   B5.1) Where can I find basic programs ?
   B5.2) Can I use the Word Processor to enter listings ?
   B5.3) Can I make a program auto-run ?

 B6) Other Programs

 B7) I've just crashed it

 B8) I've just broken it

 B9) Where to ask help

 B10) Internet resources

 B11) Credits


 C - PCW

 C0) PCW presentation

 C1) Emulators and utilities

   C1.1.1) Joyce
   C1.1.2) Joyce MAC
   C1.1.3) M.E.S.S.
   C1.2) Utilities


 C2) Where can I find emulators and programs ?

   C2.1) FTP sites
   C2.2) WWW
   C2.3) Various sources

 C3) Transferring between PCW and PC

 C3.1) 3.5" drive to a PCW
 C3.2) LocoLink for Windows
 C3.3) RS 232
 C3.4) 3" drive on PC
 C3.5) Acoustic communication

 C4) Shops supporting PCW

 C5) Hardware

   C5.1) Printer
   C5.2) Keyboard
   C5.3) Disc drive

 C6) Additional hardware

   C6.1) Memory up to 51k2kb
   C6.2) Memory beyond 512kb
   C6.3) Interfaces (various purposes)
   C6.4) ProScan
   C6.5) MasterScan
   C6.6) Electric Studio Light Pen
   C6.7) Electric Studio Digitiser
   C6.8) Robotics Hegatron Grafpad II
   C6.9) Intergem interface
   C6.10) Disc drives
   C6.11) Hard disks
   C6.12) Margin Maker
   C6.13) Mice & other input devices
   C6.14) Teqniche keyboard
   C6.15) LocoLink & LocoLink for Windows
   C6.16) d'kTronics sound synthesiser
   C6.17) ISA card
   C6.18) Various DIY layouts

 C7) Fanzines


 D) PcW 16

 D0) PcW 16 presentation

 D1) Emulators

     D1.1) CP/M v2.2 and 3.1 for the PCW16
     D1.2) M.E.S.S.

 D2) Support


 E - PDA600

   E0) PDA600 presentation



 F - CP/M


                     ---------------------------

 Introduction

 The vote for the creation of this newsgroup passed on 28th July 1994
 with 148:36, it was effectively created on 4th august 1994. It was the
 idea of Marco Vieth and David Long.

 This unmoderated newsgroup comp.sys.amstrad.8bit is open to
 discussions about the Z80 Amstrad computers : CPC (464, 664, 6128,
 464+, 6128+), GX4000, PCW (8256, 8512, 9256, 9512, 9512+, 10),
 NC100/150/200 and PDA600.

 Appropriate topics include, but are not limited to :

      - CPC, GX4000, PCW, NC, PDA hardware and software,
      - emulators,
      - specific Amstrad CP/M files, overlays...
      - ads for selling/buying the relative hardware and software.

       etc...

 The only topic that is excluded :

     discussion of Amstrad PC-compatible (1512, 1640, 2x86, 3x86 and
     others Amstrad compatible I don't know) because these computers
     are really compatible, so comp.sys.ibm.pc.* newsgroups must be
     used, especially comp.sys.ibm.pc.classic

 For questions about these PC see http://web.ukonline.co.uk/cliff.lawson
+ and http://www.seasip.info/AmstradXT

 For easier reading and filtering, please use the following tags at
 the start of your subject line :

 - announce posts : [announce]
 - unrelated topic : [i]
 - for buying items : [want to buy]
 - for selling items : [want so sell]
 - for post in another language : [french], [german], etc..., but put
   a short summary in english to not ignore people who dont understand
   your language, also you will get much more help if more people can
   read your post.



 A - Amstrad CPC

* A0) Amstrad CPC(+), KC compact and GX 4000 presentation 06/30/2003

+ They use the Zilog Z80A processor which speed is 4.00MHz.
+ From SOFT968 "The system centres round the Z80A with a 4.00MHz clock"
+ Later it states that "Accesses to memory are synchronised with the
+ video logic, constrained to occur on microsecond boundaries. This
+ has the effect of stretching each Z80 machine cycle to be a multiple
+ of 4 time states (clock cycles) In practice,this alters the
+ instruction timing so that the effective clock rate is approximately
+ 3.3MHz"

 Amstrad made the following CPC systems :

 - 1) CPC 464 (Arnold 1),
 - 2) CPC 664 (Arnold 2),
 - 3) CPC 6128 (Arnold 3), there was also a CPC6128 cost down (Arnold 4
   which was identical in operation to the original 6128 but had a new
   PCB and ASIC that reduced the board size and chip count to a mere
   fraction of the original size. If you open up a 6128 and the board
   fills the entire space you've got one of the originals. If you open
   one up and the board only occupies about 1/4 to 1/3 of the available
   space with a LOT of surrounding fresh air then you've got an Arnold 4.
 - 4) CPC 464+ (Arnold 5),
 - 5) CPC 6128+ (Arnold 6),
 - 6) GX 4000, the Amstrad 8 bit console.

 The CPC+ and GX 4000 have enhanced graphics and sound (DMA), colour
 palette of 4096, hardware sprites, hardware scrolling, and used
 128 Ko to 512 Ko carts.

 Amstrad used CRTC (Cathodic Ray Tube Controller) from different
 manufacturers, which worked the same in the main, but do have many
 different characteristics. This is the reason why a demo designed
 for CRTC type 1, may not display correctly (or even at all), on a
 CRTC type 0 :

 - CRTC 0 : chipset HD6845S,
 - CRTC 1 : chipset UM6845R,
 - CRTC 2 : chipset MC6845,
 - CRTC 3 : CPC+ Asic,
 - CRTC 4 : ?

 The KC compact (KC mean KleinComputer = little computer) is a clone
 of the Amstrad CPC. It was made by VEB Mikroelectronik in East Germany
 (the old DDR) in 1989. It was made the year before the Berlin wall
 came down, and ceased production soon after.

 The KC compact is 95% compatible to the CPC. The functions of the
 Gate-Array are simulated by TTL-Logic and a Zilog Z8536 CIO. The ROMs
 are a patched English CPC6128 Operating system ROM (includes setup code
 for the Z8536) and a unpatched Locomotive BASIC v1.1 rom.

 The only incompatibility lies with the interrupt generation mechanism.
 Any program that relies on exact interrupt generation behaviour may
 fail to work.

 In some respects, the KC compact is actually more powerful than the CPC,
 because the interrupt frequency can be programmed, in theory the
resolution
 could be reprogrammed, and the colour palette changed (replacing the
colour
 rom). More details are available at
 http://andercheran.aiind.upv.es/~amstrad

 If you can read french and want to learn more about Amstrad CPC
 history, you should order the excellent book "Ces ordinateurs sont
 dangereux" by Fran�ois Quentin (fquentin club-internet.fr)
 for 25 Euros (postage included, send an international postal order
 by going to your post office) to :

 Fran�ois Quentin
 9 Nonneville
 28140 Loigny la Bataille
 FRANCE





 A1) Emulators and utilities

 A1.1) emulators

 There is a commercial spectrum emulator for the CPC, reviewed in
 Amstrad Action.

 The best emulator for DOS is Caprice32. For win9x, the emulators are
 quite good : Arnold, Winape32 and MTMW. All win9x emulators emulates
 CPC+, NO$CPC is the only DOS emulator which emulates CPC+.
 On Amiga, Emu-CPC should be the best emulator.

 A1.1.1) CPCEMU (PC) 06/25/98

 CPCEMU by Marco Vieth, last version is 1.5b1, get
 ftp://ftp.lip6.fr/pub/amstrad/emulator/cpcemu15.zip


* A1.1.2) Caprice32 (PC) and CPE (for PC and Amiga) and  04/28/2003

 CPE, first written by Bernd Schmidt and then by Ulrich Doewich
 (report bugs, suggestions to caprice32 cybercube.com) since v5.1

 Get ftp://ftp.lip6.fr/pub/amstrad/emulator/cpe52.zip, or if you have a
 386, get ftp://ftp.lip6.fr/pub/amstrad/emulator/cpe51.zip
 For sources : ftp://ftp.lip6.fr/pub/amstrad/emulator/cpesrc52.zip

 CPE is now replaced by Caprice32, a 32bit emulator for dos (v1.11 or
* 2b2) or win9x (v3.x), get it at :
 http://www.caprice32.cybercube.com

 Amiga CPE (68000, 1 Mo), last version is February 95, get
 ftp://ftp.lip6.fr/pub/amstrad/emulator/acpe_new.lzh


 A1.1.3) A-CPC (PC) (06/01/97)

 The Amstrad CPC emulator (v0.55beta) by Herman Dullink on PC, get
 ftp://ftp.lip6.fr/pub/amstrad/emulator/cpc055.zip

 Current beta version is v0.56


 A1.1.4) PC-CPC (PC)

 A PC v0.40 of AMI-CPC by Ludovic Deplanque (see A1.1.7), go
 http://home.nordnet.fr/~ldeplanque or get
 ftp://ftp.lip6.fr/pub/amstrad/emulator/pccpc040.lzh and
 ftp://ftp.lip6.fr/pub/amstrad/emulator/amicpcut.lzh
  for conversion between .CPC and .DSK images disks.


 A1.1.5) NO$CPC (PC) 02/04/2001

 Another german emulator by Martin Korth, get the dos version :
 ftp://ftp.lip6.fr/pub/amstrad/emulator/nocpc18d.zip
 for win9x : ftp://ftp.lip6.fr/pub/amstrad/emulator/nocpc18w.zip
 Go to http://www.work.de/nocash


 A1.1.6) Richard Wilson's emulators 12/23/99

 Richard Wilson (author of ParaDOS) wrote no less than 3 emulators, get
 them at http://winape.emuunlim.com :

 - RWCPC for msdos : ftp://ftp.lip6.fr/pub/amstrad/emulator/rwcpc.zip
 - CPC emulator for windows 3.1, with debugger and assembler :
   ftp://ftp.lip6.fr/pub/amstrad/emulator/cpcwin10.zip
 - Win Ape 32, the CPC(+) emulator for win9x, it comes with
   a built-in compatible Maxam assembler, get v1.8b at
   ftp://ftp.lip6.fr/pub/amstrad/emulator/winape18.zip


 A1.1.7) AMI-CPC (Amiga) 02/15/98

 A french CPC emulator for Amiga, by Ludovic Deplanque. Last version is
 v0.46, get ftp://ftp.lip6.fr/pub/amstrad/emulator/amicpc46.lzh,
 includes sources. See http://www.chez.com/deplanque


 A1.1.8) A-CPC (Amiga)

 A CPC emulator for Amiga by Kevin Thacker. Get
 ftp://ftp.lip6.fr/pub/amstrad/emulator/acpcde20.lha
 It's an evaluation version of the real shareware. Don't forget the web
 page of Kevin (see A2.2).


 A1.1.9) Emu-CPC (Amiga) 04/15/99

 Another french CPC emulator on AMIGA by Stephane Tavenard, get EmuCPC
 v0.7 at ftp://ftp.lip6.fr/pub/amstrad/emulator/emucpc07.lzx
 http://www.info.univ-angers.fr/pub/puerto/raphael/fr/doc/emucpc.html


 A1.1.10) !CPC (Acorn) 07/18/99

 !CPC is a CPC emulator for Acorn RISC OS machines (Archimedes/RISC PC)
 by Mark RISON. Get ftp://ftp.lip6.fr/pub/amstrad/emulator/cpc0728.zip

 Get the sources at http://www.acorn.com/~mrison/en/cpc or get
 ftp://ftp.lip6.fr/pub/amstrad/emulator/cpcs0728.zip

 A1.1.11) !CPCemu (Acorn)

 This emulator for Acorn RISC OS machines is written by Andreas
 Stroiczek, aka Face Hugger. Get v1.10 at
 ftp://ftp.lip6.fr/pub/amstrad/emulator/cpcem110.zip
 or on ftp://ftp.uni-kl.de/pub/acorn/long/emulator
 ftp://ftp.uni-stuttgart.de/pub/systems/acorn/riscos/emulator


 A1.1.12) CPC++ (Unix and MAC) 03/02/2002

 This emulator for SunOS, Linux and MAC is written by Brice Rive.
 Go at  http://bricerive.free.fr/cpc



 A1.1.13) SIMCPC (PC)

 Presumably the first CPC emulator written, for PC XT/AT by GHE,
 Aachen. It is only black and white, with additional ROMs.
 Get ftp://ftp.lip6.fr/pub/amstrad/emulator/simcpc.zip


 A1.1.14) Multi-Machine, or MTM (win9x) 01/11/2000

 Get MTM v1.30b by Paul Hodgson at
ftp://ftp.lip6.fr/pub/amstrad/emulator/mtmw130b.zip

 MTM is a win9x multi-machine emulator. It emulates Amstrad CPC(+),
 Sinclair ZX80/81 and Spectrum,  Jupiter Ace and Elan Enterprise.
 It can read .WAV or .CDT (digitalized Amstrad tapes).

 http://www.geocities.com/TimesSquare/Stadium/4428


 A1.1.15) Arnold (win9x, MACos, Unix/Linux), Arnold Jr (Java) 10/24/2001

 A CPC(+) emulator by Kevin Thacker for win9x, get binaries and
 sources at http://arnold.emuunlim.com

 Get the MACos conversion by Richard Bannister at
http://www.bannister.org/software

 Andreas Micklei is working on the Linux version, get patches at
 http://www.cpcszene.de/users/nurgle

 Arnold Junior is a different emulator, the emulation is very simple.
 It uses the z80 emulation from Jasper (Spectrum emulator at
 http://www.spectrum.lovely.net
 The source to Arnold Jnr is available from
 http://www.arnoldemu.freeserve.co.uk


* A1.1.16) Zsim (PC) 05/06/2003

* Zsim v2.42 by Jurgen G. Weber, it simulates a CP/M Z80 machine. It
 DOES NOT simulate CP/M. It includes a PD CP/M  compatible operating
 system and a program to format CP/M disks, so you can run CP/M
 programs. It can read DATA and SYSTEM disks directly.
* http://www.jwi.de/zsim


 A1.1.17) Yage (PC) 07/15/99

 Yage v0.91 by Antoine Pitrou, a CPC emulator which handles demos like
 'The demo' and 'divine megademo'. Get
 ftp://ftp.lip6.fr/pub/amstrad/emulator/yage091.zip


* A1.1.18) CPCE (msdos/win9x) 05/06/2003

* A spanish Amstrad CPC emulator for msdos/win9x by CNGSOFT, go
 http://cpce.emuunlim.com


 A1.1.19) CPC-emulator (Linux/Unix) 02/05/2001

 CPC-emulator for Linux/Unix with X11 version 023 by Ulrich Cordes,
 features .DSK (with large formats : 720 Ko), sound, debugger.
 go http://www.amstrad-cpc.de


 A1.1.20) M.E.S.S. (PC, MAC, Amiga) 10/23/2001

 Multi-Emulator Super System (Amstrad CPC, PCW, and NC) is available
 on : http://www.mess.org

 For using PcW16 emulation, get
ftp://ftp.lip6.fr/pub/amstrad/misc/pcwos.zip


* A1.1.21) Arnimedes (PC) 05/06/2003

* Arnimedes for msdos and win9x, by Oliver Lenz, get it at
http://www.arnimedes.de



 A1.1.22) XCPC (Unix/X11R6) 10/24/2001

 An Amstrad CPC emulator by Olivier Poncet for unix and X11R6 at :
 http://xcpc.emuunlim.com


+ A1.1.23 CoPaCabana (win9x) 05/06/2003

+ A french windows Amstrad CPC emulator at :
+ http://copacabana.emuunlim.com







 A1.2) Utilities

 A1.2.1) SNA2GIF (PC)

 SNA2GIF v1.1 by Marco Vieth is included in CPCEMU, it extracts
 screens from snapshots to GIF format.


 A1.2.2) SNAP GRAB (PC)

 SNAP GRAB v1.1 is a freeware by Georg Schwarz to extract screens from
 snapshots to Multiface II format, which can be seen on real CPC even
 with a multiface. If you want to see the picture on your PC, you will
 need CPC2x (see A1.2.3), get SNAPGR11.ZIP.


 A1.2.3) CPC2x (was CPC to TIFF) (PC)

 CPC2x v2.0 by Michael Stroucken converts Amstrad CPC screens to the
 graphic TIF and GIF format. Get CPC2X.ZIP with sources and
 binaries for MSDOS and CP/M.


 A1.2.4) CPC file system (PC) 10/24/2001

 CPCfs v0.85.3 by Derik van Zutphen, it transfers CPC files between .DSK
 files and DOS files, in the two ways. There is a useful batch mode.
 http://home.t-online.de/home/derik/cpcfs.htm

 Better get CPCXFS, the updated version by Kevin Thacker which
 supports now extended .DSK, bugs removed, other updates, at :
 http://andercheran.aiind.upv.es/~amstrad



 A1.2.5) Multiface II to Snapshot (PC)

 M2TOSNA v1.1 by James McKay converts CPC Multiface II files to 64
 Ko and 128 Ko snapshots files. Look for M2TOSNA1.ZIP.


 A1.2.6) CPDread and CPDwrite (PC) 06/03/99

 Copy Protected Disk reader v3.24 by Ulrich Doewich, for transferring
 CPC disks into the common DSK file format of CPC emulators. It uses
 the extended DSK format which manages copy protected disks better.
 Get CPDR324.ZIP

 CPDwrite v1.03, for writing back .DSK to a disk, even with protected
 games, get CPDW103.ZIP


 A1.2.7) MACTerm (MAC)

 Transfer files between CPC and MAC with a parallel cable, get CPCTERM.ZIP


 A1.2.8) 22disk (PC) 08/06/2000

 22disk is a shareware utility by Sydex (http://www.sydex.com) which
 can read/write/format CP/M disks on PC. It can read CPC disks formats
 with a file called CPMDISKS.DEF which comes with CPCEMU, or EURO.DEF
 (ftp://ftp.lip6.fr/pub/amstrad/emu-uti/eurodef.zip) or my
 own file (ftp://ftp.lip6.fr/pub/amstrad/emu-uti/gen8-def.zip).
 You shouldn't use it under OS/2 or win95, unless you have the last
 version (ftp://ftp.lip6.fr/pub/amstrad/emu-uti/22dsk144.zip).

 Sydex has removed 22disk since 2000 from public distribution, but is
 still for sale on their web site.



 A1.2.9) DIC (PC) 06/14/97

 Disc Image Copier by Tim Rieman, transfer DATA and SYSTEM disc from
 CPC to PC with a parallel cable, get :
 ftp://ftp.lip6.fr/pub/amstrad/emu-uti/dic130.zip

 For conversion from PC to CPC, see A1.2.11


 A1.2.10) AIFF decoder (Unix, PC, Amiga) 02/28/2000

 AIFF decoder by Pierre Guerrier, a tool for retrieving data from
 sampled Amstrad CPC tapes, C sources included. Get programs from
 author homepage or :

 - MSDOS port v1.2 by Ulrich Doewich :
   ftp://ftp.lip6.fr/pub/amstrad/emu-uti/pcdcdr12.zip
 - Amiga port by Kevin Thacker :
   ftp://ftp.lip6.fr/pub/amstrad/emu-uti/amiaiff.lzh

 A1.2.11) PC2CPC (PC)

 PC2CPC v2.0 by James Churchill converts CPC emulator EDSK images to 3"
 disks via the CPCEMU parallel link, look for
 ftp://ftp.lip6.fr/pub/amstrad/emu-uti/pc2cpc.zip

 For conversion from CPC 3" disk to PC .DSK see A1.2.9


 A1.2.12) DSK-CPC (CPC) 09/01/99

 DSK-CPC by Divine Coding (divine_coding yahoo.com) reads a .DSK or
 .EDSK image from a 3.5" 720Kb DOS disc and writes the image to a CPC
 disc, thus recreating the original software disc. It can can cope
 with copy-protected software. Get it at :
 http://www.divine.freeserve.co.uk/cpc.html


 A1.2.13) CPCKEY (PC) 06/08/2001

 CpcKey v0.3 for msdos use the CPCEMU parallel link for :

 - command/replace CPC keyboard with the PC keyboard,
 - send files between CPC and PC
 - modify the CPC memory, poke during games
 - automatic procedures, etc...
 - compatible Intel HEX format


 A1.2.14) SEND2 (CPC) 06/15/97

 SEND2 v1.2 by J.GUEZENNEC (jguezenn icor.fr) is a complete parallel
 transfer package which is an amelioration of CPCPARA.BAS :

 - 3" disk transfer (DATA, SYSTEM, IBM),
 - ROM transfers,
 - tape transfers.


 A1.2.15) TransCPC

 CPC transfile project, a project aimed at simulating a small file
 system on the Amstrad CPC with the files being stored on a PC hard
 disk. The project is complete, there is no plan to improve it. Get
 ftp://ftp.lip6.fr/pub/amstrad/emulator/transcpc.zip
 The CPC asm code needs Devpac or similar to be compiled, and any PC
 assembler for the PC asm code.


 A1.2.16) ReadScr (PC)

 A PC utility for ms-dos by Ark for viewing Amstrad CPC screens, with
 palettes or not, get ftp://ftp.lip6.fr/pub/amstrad/graphic/readscr.zip


 A1.2.17 CPC2TAPE (PC) 08/16/99

 A dos utility (comes with C sources) to transfer Amstrad files from
 a PC to the CPC directly via the sound card, or to tapes, get
 ftp://ftp.lip6.fr/pub/amstrad/emu-uti/cpc2tape.zip


 A1.2.18) SLIP/IP stack 04/24/99

 A SLIP/IP stack developped by mrison hotmail.com for Amstrad
 CPC6128s with Amstrad serial interfaces.  Using this, you can
 establish a SLIP connection from your Amstrad and then ping it. To
 find out more, go to http://www.altsoft.demon.co.uk/cpcip

 It's probably easiest if you connect your CPC to a Linux box,
 using a null modem, and the instructions assume this, but there's
 no reason in principle why you couldn't connect via a modem.



 A2) Sources of emulators, ROMs and programs

 ROMs are now included with CPCEMU and CPE, with the permission of
 Amstrad and Locomotive Software.

 If you have ROMs on a romboard, you can get them for use with an
 emulator, get CPCEMU, it comes with a basic program to transfer a ROM
 to a file.


+ A2.0) IRC 10/20/2002

 You can exchange files with Internet Relay Chat, but its primary goal
 is to chat with other internet users. There are 3 IRC channels :

 - #CPC, every days on IRCNet
 - #CSA8, every SUNDAY at 3:00 pm, on Undernet (best server is
   the London Netcom server, see http://www.csa8.com ;
 - #CPC, on irc.emm.fr
 - #CPC on irc.neoxys.org port 6667



 A2.1) FTP sites 01/18/2002

 If you have problems accessing FTP sites, use the following method :

 ftp://anonymous@ftp.lip6.fr/pub/amstrad/emulator/cpcemu15.zip

 - ftp://ftp.lip6.fr/pub/amstrad, thanks to Remy Card,
   http://www.genesis8bit.com/files.html (HTML front-end with
   the list of all files, size and description included).

   all questions about this site should be directed to roussin noos.fr
   files comes from 'Genesis, the 8bit generation BBS' (see A2.3).

 - ftp://andercheran.aiind.upv.es/pub/cpc/ADATE, thanks to Sergio Bayarri
 or creating the site, and to Kevin Thacker for maintaining it. Send
 what you have in /pub/cpc/ADATE/incoming. This site contains tape
 images (.cdt) and disk images (.dsk). The aim of this site is to
 preserve games, so only original games are allowed. No hacked or
 modified games will be allowed. Please see the documentation at this
 site about creating tape-images using existing tools. (voc2tzx)

 - ftp://ftp.nvg.ntnu.no/pub/cpc, thanks to Arnt Gulbrandsen for
   creating the site, and to Nicholas Campbell for maintaining it.
   Send what you have in /pub/cpc/incoming or email to nich otto.org,
   look  for the HTML front-end : http://tacgr.emuunlim.com

 - ftp://ftp.math.uni-hamburg.de/pub/misc/cpc_emu
   mirror of ftp.nvg.unit.no

 - ftp://ftp.demon.co.uk/pub/cpm, thanks to Paul Martin, specific
   Amstrad CP/M related files. Paul Martin (pm nowster.demon.co.uk)
   will send anyone, who can give him proof (photocopy of the CP/M disk
   with the serial number for example) that they have original Amstrad
   CP/M Plus, the binary ROM images of his "CP/M Plus ROMs" for free.

 - http://www.cantrell.org.uk/mirrors, mirror of lip6 and nvg

 - Two Mag FTP site


 A2.2) WWW 04/24/99

 You will find them at :

 - http://www.genesis8bit.com
   the FAQ maintainer homepage with Amstrad news, the AFC association
   (sells belts, 3,5" drives, the zine Amstrad Live, a CD with all
   lip6 files and other 8bit computer files), FAQ (english, french,
   german in HTML and text), all emulators, gallery of CPC users,
   the most comprehensive Amstrad links, list of books and hardware,
etc...

 Two other important web sites :

 - http://www.amstrad.com
   the official Amstrad web site

 - http://andercheran.aiind.upv.es/~amstrad
   the biggest Amstrad web page by Kevin Thacker


 A2.3) BBS 01/20/2001

 - Genesis the 8bit generation (2:320/220) : +33 1 53 95 32 43
   (modem/ISDN) & 44 (modem), Paris (FRANCE), sysop : Emmanuel
   Roussin. There are about 139 Mo of Amstrad files (CPC, PCW, NC and
   PDA600).

 - ZNODE 51 : +49 89 961 45 75, in Germany, from 15:00 to 3:00 CET
   (MEZ), up to V32b, CPC files.

 - The Dream Machine (2:442/600) : +44-1222-689812, Cardiff, Wales,
   U.K., V21 through v34/VFC, sysops : David J. Thomas and Rachael
   Munns, this bbs carries CPC and CP/M files, and the c.s.a.8 newsgroup.

 - Chill out zone : +49 821 2290356, Augsburg, Germany, v21 to v32b,
   sysop : Dark Sector, CPC files (coming from Razormaid).

 - SchnickSchnackBBS (FidoNet: 2:2448/615): +49-234-9620318, Bochum,
   Germany, V34, X75, sysop: Armin Schaefer, this bbs carries cpc files
   and it is the home of CPCNet, a german speaking network for Amstrad
   8bit-users based on Fido and  ZConnect-technology. For infos on
   CPCNet write to CPCNet p2.zebulon.ftg.donut.de

 - Chaos Cottage : +44 1736 756633, Hayle, Cornwall, U.K., V34,sysop :
   Nigel Woolcock (jacob spuddy.mew.co.uk), CP/M file area (mainly PCW)
   with 5 Mo, AMSTRAD, CPM, CPMTECH fido echos and the csa8 newsgroup
   available.



 A2.4) Using programs with emulators or real CPC

 A2.4.1) DSK files

 These files are images of a disk, you "insert" a disk with F3 in
 CPCEMU, and F6 with CPE, then you can type CAT to see the files,
 RUN"file_name" to run a program (.BAS or .BIN).


 A2.4.2) CPC files 10/27/2001

 Three solutions to use plain CPC files :

 a) put them in the TAPE directory, type |TAPE then the usual RUN"

 b) WinAPE comes with a ROM image called CPCDOS. Simply select the ROM
 (probably best below AMSDOS in ROM 6), then you can use |DOS,
 |DOS.IN, |DOS.OUT, |CD

 c) inject them in a .DSK file with CPCFS (see A1.2.4) :

 - create an empty .DSK : CPCFS -nd empty.dsk (you can omit the .dsk)
 - inject files : CPCFS empty -mp *.* (the files must be in the
   current directory, the DSK can be somewhere else)

 To extract files from a .DSK : CPCFS image.dsk -mg *.*

 XTI by Pierre Guerrier can also put amsdos files into a DSK.
 Note that there are MAC and Amiga ports of XTI.



 A2.4.3) How to run programs with a CPC or emulator ?

 Type CAT to get the directory of the disk, mostly programs are run
 with a BASIC loader, so looks for *.BAS, then type RUN"name.BAS" (.BAS
 can be omitted). If there isn't a basic loader, run the .BINary
 program directly :  type RUN"name.BIN" (.BIN can be omitted).

 Some disks doesn't have a real directory, and must be launched with
 the CP/M command : |CPM.

 For running tapes on a real CPC, type RUN", the CPC will launch the
 first program on the tape.


 A2.4.4) How to format a disk 01/03/2003

 On a CPC, use the formatting utility on your CP/M disk (diskit) or
 the following basic program :

 5 ' QuickFormat by Adrian Forbes
 10 MODE 1:PRINT"Please Wait..."
 20 GOSUB 150
 30 MODE 1
 40 INPUT "(D)ata or (V)endor";f$
 50 PRINT "Sure (Y/N)"
 60 a$=INKEY$:IF a$="" THEN 60
 70 IF LOWER$(a$) 'put 'not equal to' here, cant do it in HTML' "y" THEN
GOTO 60
 80 MODE 1
 90 PRINT"Insert disc to format in drive A":PRINT"Then press a key..."
 100 CALL &BB18
 110 MODE 1
 120 PRINT"Formatting..."
 130 |QF,f$
 140 GOTO 30
 150 ch=0
 160 add=&4000
 170 ln=310
 180 FOR x=1 TO 8
 190 READ a$:a=VAL("&"+a$)
 200 POKE add,a
 210 add=add+1
 220 ch=ch+a
 230 NEXT
 240 READ ch$
 250 IF ch 'put 'not equal to' here, cant do it in HTML' VAL("&"+ch$) THEN
PRINT"Error in line";ln:END
 260 ln=ln+10
 270 ch=0
 280 IF ln 'put "not equal to' here, cant do it in HTML' 510 THEN GOTO 180
 290 CALL &4000
 300 RETURN
 310 DATA 21,8D,40,01,91,40,C3,D1,354
 320 DATA BC,FE,01,C0,21,9A,40,06,37C
 330 DATA 09,36,00,23,36,00,23,36,F1
 340 DATA 00,23,36,02,23,10,F2,21,1A1
 350 DATA 88,40,CD,D4,BC,22,89,40,410
 360 DATA DD,6E,00,DD,66,01,23,5E,310
 370 DATA 23,56,1A,FE,44,CA,80,40,35F
 380 DATA FE,64,CA,80,40,3E,41,32,39D
 390 DATA 8C,40,11,00,00,06,28,C5,1D0
 400 DATA 21,9A,40,7A,06,09,77,23,21E
 410 DATA 23,23,23,10,F9,3A,8C,40,278
 420 DATA 06,05,21,9C,40,CD,73,40,288
 430 DATA 06,04,21,A0,40,CD,73,40,28B
 440 DATA 21,9A,40,DF,89,40,14,C1,378
 450 DATA 10,D5,C9,77,23,23,23,23,2B1
 460 DATA 23,23,23,23,3C,10,F4,C9,295
 470 DATA 3E,C1,32,8C,40,C3,3F,40,33F
 480 DATA 86,00,00,07,00,00,00,00,8D
 490 DATA 00,97,40,C3,09,40,C9,51,2FD
 500 DATA C6,00,20,00,00,00,00,00,E6
 510 DATA end

 On a PC, use 22disk, look for A128


 A2.5) Buying hardware/software

A2.5.1) Auctions sites

 Auctions sites like http://www.ebay.com are good places to find
 hardware and software


A2.5.2) Emma�s (only in France)

 It's possible to find interesting things in Emma�s shops (at Brest
 for example), like at Trappes (http://www.emmaus-trappes.com/informatique


 A2.5.3) Tradinpost

 - You can buy a selection of games cartridges for the CPC+ and the
   GX4000, cartridges are unboxed and without instructions. Price �7.99
   each including postage and packing in United Kingdom, also programs
   for CPC/PCW, go at http://www.tradeinpost.com

   John Thackeray (email : Tradingpost btinternet.com)
   Trade in Post
   Victoria Road
   Shifnal
   Shropshire TF11 8AF
   Tel/Fax : 00 44 (0)1952 462135


 A3) Transfer between CPC and PC

 Later mentions of DDI-1 can also be replaced by FD-1 (which comes
 without the interface for the 464)

 A3.1.1) 3" drive on PC (part one) 10/22/2002

 A working solution on this site



 A3.1.2) 3" drive on PC (part two) 01/11/2000

 Porting files across from CPC to PC is easy, at least, if you have
 a DDI-1 disk drive !  You need to follow exactly these instructions.
 As is usual with things like this, you do everything entirely at your
 own risk. I have done this on my own PC without damaging it, but
 cannot guarantee that it will work with yours. If you do damage your
 computer, it is YOUR FAULT.

 Note of the FAQ keeper, I have a report of someone trying out the
 following instructions, who had his controller burnt, and another
 whose 3" drive died, so beware.

 These instructions only apply to the DDI-1 package. They MAY work with
 the FD1 3" second drive, and will definitely NOT work with the
 internal drives on 6128s, 664s, and 6128+s.

 Install 22DISK! You will need to tell it you have no A: drive, and
 that B: is a 360K drive, physical unit 0, on the Primary adapter, with
 step-rate of 12 milli-seconds. You will also need the CPMDISKS.DEF
 file from CPCEMU.

 0 Install 22DISK with CPMDISKS.DEF coming with CPCEMU or the one from
 EURODEF.ZIP

 1 open your PC, following all usual precautions such as turning off
 the power and discharging any static electricity on your body!

 2 Unplug any floppy drives. This step is important. (See note 1)

 3 Find the connector that is meant for the B: drive. (It is probably
 on the same cable as the connector for the A: drive. The A: connector
 has a twist in it. The B: connector is the other one!)

 4 Plug it into your DDI-1 drive unit. You may have to file the keyway
 on the connector off. (Different  PCs have different keyways on their
 connectors, so you may not have to attack it with a file. So much for
 standardisation!)

 5 Turn the DDI-1 drive on first, then the PC. When it does the
 Power-on test, press DEL to enter the setup menu (you have got an AMI
 BIOS haven't you?). Tell it you have no A: drive and a 360K 5.25" B:
 drive. (See note 2)

 6 Use 22DISK to read (not under OS/2 or windows 95), write and format
 your 3" disks to your heart's content ! You could also use ANADISK I
 suppose.

 7 When you've finished, restore the machine its original state. As
 well as using CPC disks, you'll probably be able to use Spectrum  3
 disks if you have an appropriate  CPMDISKS.DEF.  If of course you want
 to use Speccy disks...

 Note 1 : Amstrad's disk drive is reasonably standard, but not quite!
 When you install it, it claims to be both your physical drive 0 and
 physical drive 1. As such, if you expect it to be just drive 1 (B:),
 and leave unit 0 (A:) still plugged in, it will promptly ram the heads
 of unit 0 hard against the end stop, promptly trashing your unit 0. I
 found this the hard way, and had to buy a new 3.5" floppy drive.

 Note 2 : If you don't have an AMI BIOS, then this will be different.
 You may have to run a program from a system disk which came with your
 computer.

 The pin-outs of the 3" drive are _identical_ to the ones of a 5.25"
 drive - it will just plug in. It's a long time since I was inside my
 Einstein, but I'm pretty sure that drive is a 40track SS unit - what a
 PC would call a 180K drive. Things like the Disk Change line may be
 different, but if you set up your PC to ignore that (and possibly tell
 it it's a 360K drive), you should be OK.

 I've used a 3" drive (actually a Double-sided model) with an original
 IBM XT in this way.

 A reply to the last two paragraphs :

 It actually depends on the type of 3" drive. Some of them had a 34 way
 connector like the IBM PC 5.25 " drive (i.e. PCB gold plated edge
 connector) and are compatible. Genuine Amstrad drives on the other hand
 have a 26-way PCB header which contains all the useful signals, although
 some have been removed.

 I remember, that the 34 way connectors are only nearly compatible. In
 those days around 1985, I connected a CPC 464 External drive to
 another CPM computer with standard 5.25" drives like the PC-drives.
 It was necessary to swap the lines since the pin numbering was mirrored
 compared to the standard.

 I also think that the exact layout depends on the version of the
 computer (CPC 464/664/6128). So be careful and do not ruin your
 hardware by building sh circuits! (It shouldn't be very difficult to
 verify which are the GND-lines )

 A complement to this reply

 The Amstrad and PC disk connections are as follows:

 26 pin Amstrad disk drive:

 Index   2       *       *       1       GND
 DS0     4       *       *       3       GND
 DS1     6       *       *       5       GND
 Motor   8       *       *       7       GND
 Dirn    10      *       *       9       GND
 Step    12      *       *       11      GND
 Wdata   14      *       *       13      GND
 Wenable 16      *       *       15      GND
 Track0  18      *       *       16      GND
 WProt   20      *       *       19      GND
 Rdata   22      *       *       21      GND
 Side    24      *       *       23      GND
 N.C ?   26      *       *       25      GND

 34 pin Standard disk drive:

 Head Load       2       *       *       1       GND
 In Use ?        4       *       *       3       GND
 DS3             6       *       *       5       GND
 Index           8       *       *       7       GND
 DS0             10      *       *       9       GND
 DS1             12      *       *       11      GND
 DS2             14      *       *       13      GND
 Motor           16      *       *       15      GND
 Dirn            18      *       *       17      GND
 Step            20      *       *       19      GND
 Wdata           22      *       *       21      GND
 Wenable         24      *       *       23      GND
 Track0          26      *       *       25      GND
 WProt           28      *       *       27      GND
 Rdata           30      *       *       29      GND
 Side            32      *       *       31      GND
 N.C. ?          34      *       *       33      GND

 Note that on the Amstrad drive, DS3 and DS2 are missing.

 The pins marked with a ? may have been redefined on some
 drives (e.g. on high density PC drives, one of them is used
 to change the drive current - I can't remember which now),
 also on very old single sided drives, the Side signal used to
 be used to reset the drive. If you are using a 34 way
 connector drive in an Amstrad, you may want to hard wire
 Head Load to be permanently enabled (if it is used - not
 all drives do).

---
http://www.genesis8bit.com for comp.sys.amstrad.8bit FAQ and more !
If you want to email me, dont forget to change the address

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