October 8, 2023 – TRS80-TOOL Updated to v2.5.0

Lawrence Kesteloot has updated his TRS80-Tool to v2.5.0. This is the premiere tool for working with WAV file cassette images, although it does do a lot more.

Changelog:

  • Display WAV metadata for info –version.
  • Handle Level 1 cassette files.
  • Can mount cassettes and floppies in run command.
  • Handle arrow keys and paste in run command.
  • Support EDTASM files (can convert to .ASC file).
  • Stricter parsing of .CAS files to avoid misdetection of cassette headers.

You can get more information, as well as download the Binaries, from https://www.my-trs-80.com/tool/.

To download the source, go to Lawrence’s repo’s home page at https://github.com/lkesteloot/trs80 and hit the green button marked CODE.

September 10, 2023 – Tandy Assembly is coming up!

Tandy Assembly 2023 will take place September 29 through October 1, 2023 in Springfield, Ohio.

Attendees Can Now Pre-Register!

  • Registration is $10 per attendee for Saturday and Sunday.
  • If you want to attend the Tandy Tech Track on Friday the fee is $30 for all 3 days.
  • Children 12 and under free.
  • All proceeds pay for the costs of running the event.

More information can be found at http://www.tandyassembly.com/.

September 9, 2023 – Color Genie Catalogs and Flyers

Tarkie has scanned some Color Genie Catalogs and Flyers

Title: EG3401 Genie Expansion Box Flyer
Publisher: Lowe Electronics
Year: 19xx
Size: 674,853
Pages: 2
Title: Genie I Product Flyer
Publisher: Lowe Electronics
Year: 19xx
Size: 564,052
Pages: 2
Title: Lowe Electronics Catalog 1982-04-21
Publisher: Lowe Electronics
Year: 1983
Size: 26,797,212
Pages: 30
Title: Lowe Electronics Catalog 1983-03-07
Publisher: Lowe Electronics
Year: 1983
Size: 7,273,140
Pages: 10

September 6, 2023 – CoCo Manuals

Curtis Boyle has scanned some CoCo manuals …

Title: ChessD
Publisher: Software Dynamics
Year: 1984
Size: 7,643,559
Pages: 20
Notes: [Coco]
Title: FHL O-Pak
Publisher: Frank Hogg Laboratory
Year: 1983
Size: 43,694,966
Pages: 55
Notes: [CoCo]
Title: SDOS Supplement
Publisher: Computer Systems Distributors
Year: 1984
Size: 12,836,779
Pages: 26
Notes: [Coco]
Title: Starblazer v1.0
Publisher: Ark Royal Games
Year: 1983
Size: 9,854,483
Pages: 9
Notes: [CoCo]
Title: Word Power v3.2
Publisher: Microcom Software
Year: 1988
Size: 26,939,521
Pages: 44
Notes: [CoCo]

September 4, 2023 – September 2023 Issue of TRS8Bit

Dusty has released the September 2023 issue of the TRS8Bit newsletter. Here’s what he had to say:

The September 2023 edition of TRS8BIT is now available from the Downloads page.
In this issue (one of the largest September issues ever!). Ian Mavric reports what to look for at the T.A.2023, gives us the low-down on M3 & M4 power supplies and continues his article on restoring and upgrading the Co-Co3. Leon Heller found some very interesting, Tandy related websites. New contributor, Tu-Bardh, has converted a ‘PET’ number-sorting game program for us all to enjoy.
E.T. Fonehume has another BASIC one-liner, zapping stars! Vince Otten has part 2 of his ‘Software tools in BASIC’. ‘At the READY> prompt’ shows a quirk in a FOR-NEXT loop. Andy tells us how the ‘Tandy-thing’ happened for him. ‘The Way We Were’ looks at BASIC compilers, TRS-80 software and a Model 2000 review. Pascal Holdry offers an early look at his current hardware project. Handy Hints is just for any model railway buffs out there. Peter Phillips sorts out a 40+ year old bug in David Ahl’s maze generating program. Another new contributor, Wellswang, runs across hardware problems and a manual miss-print which caused rather a bit of confusion.
Tom Nardi restores the cheapest Tandy at a swap-meet. Want to see a M3 using A.I. on the internet; yeh, I couldn’t believe it too. And finally, there’s the details of this years competition. Don’t forget, time’s running out to get your entries in. George Phillips has updated his competition page with information on the structure of Z-80 opcodes and an example disassembler.
Thanks to everyone who has contributed to this issue.

It can be downloaded from Dusty’s web site at http://trs-80.org.uk/downloads.html.

September 3, 2023 – TRS80GP v2.5.1 Released

TRS80GP has been updated to v2.5.1. Release Notes:

Changes – Model I/III/4:

  • Linux joystick support.
  • Type current date/time with -iy ‘%m/%d/%y’ or -iy ‘%h:%i:%s’; %Y is full year. Model 2 users: trs80gp -m2 -iw YYYY -iy “%m/%d/%Y\r%h.%i.%s\r”
  • Model 1 CLOAD fixed when using earlier ROM revisions under TRSDOS.
  • Warning if cassette used on Model 1 disk system without CMD”T” with option to turn off interrupts so cassette operation will function properly.
  • halt, irq, nmi states in Z-80 in disassembly for less confusing stepping.

Changes – Other Computers:

  • Support Color Computer SG-8 semigraphics mode
  • Sound now audible on Color Computer Demon Attack.
  • Implemented import/export of Model II TRS-DOS variable length record files.
  • Approximate video beam dropouts in Model 2/12/16/6000.

Bug Fixes:

  • Color Computer reset works when in OS-9 or 64K mode in general.
  • Color Flex 5.0.4 keyboard input fixed (it was seeing entire columns at once).
  • Linux “Change Model” would fail if trs80gp was not on the $PATH.
  • Correctly exports first file on Aculab wafer rather than ejecting the wafer.
  • Some illegal EXG instructions could crash Videotex or CoCo.
  • FreHD emulation bug on Windows prevented access to files with paths.
  • Model 1 LEVEL II BASIC data .cas files no longer mis-identified as 250 baud.
  • Stopped Z-80 suprious breakpoints in halt state or when interrupt pending.
  • Color Computer Program Paks were limited to 8K due to a typo.
  • 68000 execution speed more realistic and decoupled from Z-80.
  • 68000 speed selectable with -mhz16 N, default 8; closest to divisor of 312.
  • Scroll Lock and ctrl+shift+@ now work as Model 2/12/16/6000 HOLD key on linux. And \0 will also simulate HOLD when used in -i or an Alt+N macro.

Visit the TRS80GP Web Page at http://48k.ca/trs80gp.html for the download and information. You can also download it here as well.