Smart Basic BSave command

[Milli V]

Hi All - I am having difficulty using the smart basic bsave command. When I try this: bsave cc,A27407,L1046 instead of getting a file that is 2 blocks long I get one that fills the DDP (233 blocks). If I change it to bsave cc,A27407,L1 I get a small 1 block file as expected. Anyone have any clue why this is happening?

 

Milli

[Milli V]

Ok - stranger things - works fine on a different DDP - maybe DDP is bad?

[NIAD]

IiRC there is a bug in the SB interpreter with the BSAVE command and you should use a program called Intel-Load v1.0 by Digital Express when BSAVEing files to insure there are no issues with your saved file. If you were to BRUN (not BLOAD your binary file) it would display an error even though the code was loaded properly and then you would have to type RUN.

 

You can download a very large Adam software archive from Joe B's website that we organized a number of years ago that contains this program. The link is in my message footer.

 

To use Intel-Load v1.0 you would:

- load your program into memory

- place the Intel-Load v1.0 disk or ddp in the drive and type BRUN Intel-Load... this places this program into memory along with your program.

- type CALL 56320 (the location in memory where Intel-Load is placed)

- the BSAVE command line will be generated with the proper address and length for your program and displayed on the screen.

- edit this line to enter the filename you want to use and select the drive to save too and then press Return.

 

Also note that there are other binary save utilities for available and some are for SB v1.0 while others are for SB 2.0... they are not compatible with one another.

[Milli V]

I have DDP's only - am trying to get software into the Adam via adamlink and hitting walls like crazy. If I could find an adamlink compatible CPM program i can download to the PC I can get it into the Adam and into CPM and go from there but can't find that either

[NIAD]

You could use a standard ADAM O.S. program such as ADAMLink V, SmartTERM or SwiftLink for such a binary transfer using the ADAMLink modem, but you will need someone to supply you with the program on DDP. All are good options, but ADAMLink V would be the best choice.

 

On the CP/M side, I think MADAM7 would be your best option, but there may be better ones... didn't use CP/M much myself. On Joe B.'s website there is the complete collection of NIAD Newsletters in PDF format and in the 90's, our CP/M Librarian Doug R. reorganzed and listed in full all the volumes in the P.D. library, so that would be a good start for descriptions of hundreds of CP/M programs and numerous telecomm programs that are available in the software collection also available on Joe's website.

[Milli V]

Yes I found all their software - they are in .dsk format - I can open them in an emulator (Adamem) but cant get them out of the dsl so I can access them with the PC terminal program to send to the Adam. Is there a PC program to extract files from the .dsk format?

[adamcon]

Yes I found all their software - they are in .dsk format - I can open them in an emulator (Adamem) but cant get them out of the dsl so I can access them with the PC terminal program to send to the Adam. Is there a PC program to extract files from the .dsk format?

Yes.....problem being; the program will put .dsk files back into ADAM format, but onto an ADAM formatted disk which then could be transferred to data pack using the ADAM. But without an ibm 5.25" disk drive and an ADAM 5.25" disk drive, this is not possible.

[NIAD]

There is nothing special about the PC disk or data pack image files, you just need to know how to arrange them properly after they are transferred back to the ADAM... if you get the direct modem hookup working and/or you don't have 5 1/4" drives available on your PC and ADAM so that you can use the DOS based program called DCOPY to perform the transfer as ADAMcon mentioned above.

 

See as you only have available Digital Data Drives, you will need to contact ADAMCON and purchase the ADAMLink V software from him on DDP to more easily facilitate the direct connection between the ADAM and PC using modems. Once you have the necessary software and you get communication working between the two modems, you would just:

 

- choose the PC disk image file (ie: basic.dsk) you wish to transfer to the ADAM and initiate transfer

- it will take a while, but the file will transfer fine and then you will end up with a DDP with one large 160K file on it called basic.dsk or whatever you choose to name it and the file will start on block 2 and run thru to block 162 of the DDP. This file is useless until you properly copy it to the correct blocks on another DDP

- so with a utility program like File Manager (highly recommended), you will use the BLOCK COPY option, then choose STARTING BLOCK - 2, NUMBER OF BLOCKS - 160 from the SOURCE DDP with the basic.dsk file on it to a DESTINATION DDP with a STARTING BLOCK - 0.

- if you only have one Data Drive, you will have to swap the source and destination DDPs quite a number of times, but if you have a Memory Expander installed in your ADAM, your copy buffer will be larger and cut down on all the swapping.

- once completed, your destination DDP will contain the PC basic.dsk file all properly configured on the ADAM DDP so that you can use it, buy because your original source file was a disk image, the BLOCKS FREE on the DDP will be short by 95 blocks. You can use File Manager's File Functions to correct this.

 

BTW, you CAN NOT use this method to transfer a PC DDP image file to the ADAM because the file is 256K and will end up over-running the ADAM DDP by 2 blocks when you transfer the file by modem. Just think of it like this:

 

- an ADAM disk is 160 blocks long (0-159) and when we used DCOPY to make a PC Disk Image file it reads blocks 0-159 and places them in a file. Now when we transfer this file back to an ADAM, the first useable block is 2 (block 0 is used for the BOOT and block 1 is used for the DIRECTORY) that the file will be written too.

- an ADAM DDP is 256 blocks long (0-255).................. same as above

 

A big learning curve when it comes to modem transfer of files and this is why obtained 5 1/4" disk drives for the ADAM and PC is such a huge deal... transferring files back and forth takes a couple minutes with no extra steps needed.

 

I figure you want to see this endeavor thru now seeing it as a challenge to overcome, but if all else fails, I would use an emulator to run thru the software collection of ADAM titles and see what you really want, then contact someone like ADAMCON to see what it would cost to have all the DDPs made for you.

 

Oh yeah, if you plan on transferring the Super Games, they need to be placed on a RIGHT DIRECTORY DDP (ie: buy some Buck Rogers DDPs for cheap and copy over them) and not on the standard CENTER DIRECTORY DDP.