rich-c: salut, Daniel Daniel B: salut Daniel B: j'étais malade depuis 2 semaines rich-c: we have some thawing here - how are you doing? rich-c: wow -what laid you low for two whole weeks? Daniel B: yes, i was sick for 2 weeks Daniel B: it's why you didn't see me here rich-c: what was the problem? Daniel B: i don't know exactly... Daniel B: I suppose it was the cold days rich-c: did it require hospital attention? Daniel B: I don't want to go to the hospital rich-c: I can understand that but sometimes you have no choice Daniel B: here, it's cold but I suppose it will rain tommorow Daniel B: I refuse to go to the hospital by myself.... I have to be unconsciencious rich-c: we are supposed to stay above freezing the next 72 hours Daniel B: outside, it smells "spring" Daniel B: but it still cold rich-c: I have the car and truck parked out on the street so the driveway can melt Daniel B: good idea rich-c: finally ot the truck back last Tuesday rich-c: I have NOT enjoyed using the car the last few months Daniel B: i have no car Daniel B: i use BUS rich-c: in the weatherv we have had, that is much easier on the nerves rich-c: unfortunately I cannot use public transit for now rich-c: test rich-c: had an inquiry for Colecovision gsmes in dsk format for emulator use rich-c: sent him to look at your newcoleco website Daniel B: but i don't have any dsk files rich-c: refresh rich-c: wasnt sure what you have on the site rich-c: if he saw interesting info he can contact you rich-c: sort of hoping he might want to buy your gamepack Daniel B: gamepack? ...err... I have one copy here but I make the deal with GoodDealGame to let them release this game. rich-c: well, we can send him there then Daniel B: the GDG web site is not up-to-date too rich-c: was the deal so exclusive you cant sell opies yourself? Daniel B: no i didn't stop selling copies but I don't have enough material to release many many carts rich-c: I think he wants it on disc to run on the emulator Daniel B: I don't get it rich-c: he is running the emulator and wants a disc image it can pick up Daniel B: i think i already send to you a ROM file. it's all i can do because I don't know how to do a dsk file. rich-c: that makes two of us rich-c: I dont know how to get progrms into the emulator rich-c: in the emulator all the discs are virtual rich-c: it apparently cant read any physical discs Daniel B: what is the solution? Daniel B: nobady have already do a dsk file with rom files? rich-c: I honestly havent a clue rich-c: I always thought that if I could get an image file on a disc the emulator could read it in rich-c: so how do they get the software into the emulator? I cant find out Daniel B: the only thing I know about dsk file is the first bloc must be a software ($C800 starting address) to have a BOOT disk. Daniel B: and this software must read a file on disk and set the bios colecovision to run the ROM rich-c: yes, but how do you get the software into the emulaotr so the emulator can run it? rich-c: once a dsk image is in the emulator that is on the hard disc within the emulator program, everything is fine Daniel B: i don't know... I'm not an ADAM user at all... I know only the ColecoVision game system. rich-c: well, same thing, really, in this context rich-c: you can put the emulator into a DOS machine from a floppy disc rich-c: but then how do you put the cartridge image into the emulator to run it? Daniel B: well, if you are talking about how to use a colecovision emulator.. i think you already know the answer. "cvem -if 60 game.rom" rich-c: sorry, that tells me nothing as I don't program Daniel B: adamem is a coleco adam emulator, right? rich-c: yes Daniel B: cvem is the colecovision emulator included with the adamem packadge rich-c: the core or kernel of the adamem is the cvem Daniel B: i think cvem need adamem to run Daniel B: cvem is like an interface to give the right options rich-c: other way around is my guess Daniel B: the right configuration Daniel B: under DOS Daniel B: if you write Daniel B: cvem -if 60 game.rom Daniel B: cvem will start with the game.rom file rich-c: I know Marcel wrote the cv-em before he expanded it to be an adam-em Daniel B: if game.rom is a valid colecovision rom file, the emulator starts Daniel B: it's all i know Daniel B: the "-if 60" option is to set to NTSC rich-c: that implies it has something to do with the video, then rich-c: Marcel being Dutch I guess he did the emulator firwst for PAL rich-c: he would have to have put a switch in so North Americans could run it in NTSC Daniel B: this is the information you wanted? rich-c: sorry, I'm afraid not, likely because I am not asking the right question rich-c: also I am using the laptop so my typing is very slow Daniel B: if your question is about dsk file or using an adam floppy disk, my answer is : i don't know rich-c: the interesting part is that none of the other users can tell me either Daniel B: my knowledge stops for DOS, WINDOWS, BASIC, C, COLECOVISION, PC, COMMODORE 64. Daniel B: the coleco adam is not a computer i know and i don't use very much adamem... except to test my colecovision project with cvem. rich-c: I'm afraid I don't get much further than where to find the on/off switch rich-c: but let us suppose that I have the colecovision up and running rich-c: I also have a physical cartridge I would like to run on the emulator rich-c: how do I make the cartridge contents accessible to the emulator to run? Daniel B: you have to dump the rom first Daniel B: i suppose adam users can dump rom by using copycart software rich-c: dump the rom to what? Daniel B: dump to a floppy disk by using you adam Daniel B: your coleco adam rich-c: OK I think I can do that, maybe even in TDOS Daniel B: you need to extract the rom from the cartrdige because you can't put anywhere the cartridge into your PC rich-c: right so I must work with the ROM image rich-c: but the emluator will not address the disc I have it on Daniel B: you will probably have to find a way to extract again the ROM from your ADAM to your computer. Daniel B: like using a PC with a 5"1/4 disk drive and the dcopy programs Daniel B: it's all i can see to extract a rom from a cartridge rich-c: OK now we are getting somewhere Daniel B: but if you only want to use a colecovision emulator to run a ROM, I think I have most of the colecovision ROMs who exist rich-c: I think I can use 22-disc to create an Adam disc readable for a PC Daniel B: but if you find a way to extract a rom from a cartrdige, i want the rom file from a CBS VICTORY cartridge rich-c: so do I I just can't admit to it - though actually almost all of mine are legitimate, copies of my own cart collection Daniel B: I have the CBS Victory cartridge but I don't have the rom file of it rich-c: I think I have Victory but not the CBS edition - that was only sold in Europe rich-c: in fact, is there a difference between the North American and Euro edition? Daniel B: the american/canadian version of Victory is not the same as the CBS version... if I read well the Coleco FAQ Daniel B: the CBS version seems to be more complet rich-c: perhaps it's a matter of PAL vs NTSC video output rather than any game play Daniel B: probably rich-c: but even if I have a ROM image on a DOS-readable disc in a floppy drive on my DOS machine, how do I tell the emulator to play it? Daniel B: if your DOS floppy disk has enough space to have the emulator and the roms, all you need is to boot under DOS and use the command line to run the emulator. the best idea is to do a booting disk to run a DOS v5+ and a batch file (.bat) to help you running the emulator Daniel B: I found a web site where you can found how to easyly create a boot disk... with the DOS version you want. rich-c: that would imply making a new disc every time I wanted to run a game Daniel B: doing a new disc? not necessary rich-c: well if the emulator and the rom you want to run must be on the same physical disc, how else? Daniel B: put more than one rom on the disk and add a menu software or a ".bat" file to let you select the game you want. Daniel B: or learn the command-line commands DOS rich-c: a batch file would load the whole lot, wouldnt it? Daniel B: and do DIR *.ROM then CVEM -IF 60 GAME1.ROM Daniel B: you can do a batch file to be simply an interface Daniel B: not a real batch file rich-c: that's a bit complex for me rich-c: I can use DOS commands in tht I can look them up and understand them Daniel B: Tell me wath you want and i will try to do for you a 3"1/2 bootable floppy disk with the cvem emulator and the roms you want with a nice menu rich-c: I just don't have the familiarity of everyday use rich-c: I very much appreciate the offer but actually that is not what I am after rich-c: what I really want to do is take some files created in Smartwriter and make the transmissible on the internet Daniel B: if your computer can start with a boot disk, what's the problem? you can also don't boot with the boot disk and explore the files in the disk to learn how you can do one. rich-c: also I need some way for the person who receives the files to reead them Daniel B: ok... i think i understand now rich-c: oh, I have emergency boot discs coming out the wazoo - partition type, antivirus recovery, the whole nine yards Daniel B: smartwriter.... i suppose it use is own text file format... so the other person must have smartwriter too to read the file or you want to convert the smartwriter files into an other text file format to be easyly read by the other person on his PC? rich-c: either one, though the preference would be to have it readable in the emulator Smartwriter Daniel B: smartwriter... it's a software not included in the adam hardware Daniel B: if so, you need the image dsk (or tape) of this software rich-c: it's firmware, included as a ROM in the Adam Daniel B: it's into the ROM? rich-c: and a ROM image of Smartwriter is included in the Adam emulator Daniel B: so you must read the adamem text file to know how you can use smartwriter with adamem. it's the problem? rich-c: I gather you don't have a copy of the Adam emulator, just the Colecovision Daniel B: i don't use adamem... all I can do is the printer interface by typing text on screen Daniel B: and my coleco projects are based on the colecovision hardware so i don't need to use the adam part of the emulator rich-c: no, what they tell me is that the emulator does not see anything "outside itself" on the host computer rich-c: like, even if you have 256 meg of memory, the emulator will see only 64K plus an emulated 64K expander rich-c: similarly it sets up a virtual disc but does not see the physical discs of its host, soft or hard Daniel B: yes, it's true.. the only thing he can see is what you add in options rich-c: I can put a readable file on a physical disc, I can't get it onto the emulator's virtual disc Daniel B: if there is no option to see the physical discs, you have no choice to create a dsk file rich-c: it's a you cant get there from here type problem rich-c: yet there are usable programs come within the emulator; how did they get there? Daniel B: like i said, if it's not doccumented in the adam text file included with adamem emulator, i have no idea what is the solution rich-c: guess I will just have to bug the other guys to see who does know rich-c: I think Bob or his son Doug likely know rich-c: Bob is not good at explaining things, though rich-c: but if we can find the answer it could be useful for your games, too Daniel B: i suppose... Daniel B: i have to go now... it was a pleasure to talk to you after all this "silence" rich-c: maybe the answer is as simple as opening the emulator file in Explorer and copying new stuff into the ROM or dsk files Daniel B: see you later Daniel B: bye rich-c: we have missed you considerably, Daniel rich-c: bye, come back soon Daniel B: i will try this wednesday rich-c: terrific - the gang wiill be pleased
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