| Readme: | Short: Emulator of an Acorn Atom
Author: b-em@bbcmicro.com (Tom Walker), port by uploader
Uploader: polluks+aminet sdf lonestar org (Stefan Haubenthal)
Type: misc/emu
Version: 1.29
Architecture: ppc-morphos; other
URL: http://atomulator.acornatom.co.uk
Atomulator v1.1
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Atomulator is an emulator of an Acorn Atom - the first micro from Acorn in 1980.
It emulates a 12+16k Atom with colour board, disc pack, and optional BBC BASIC mode.
Atomulator is licensed under the GPL, see COPYING for more details.
New in version 1.1
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Support for Ramoth RAM-ROM clockboost board, which extends the ram to 32K and
provides paged roms at #A000
Support for the AtoMMC interface, emulated as a folder on the disk Atomulator is on.
Support for the AtomSID interface.
Fixed minor errors in some graphic mode emulations.
Fixed issue with IRQ usage and reset.
Usage
~~~~~
Just run Atom.exe. The Atom isn't a very friendly machine, so some basic tips :
Loading a program off tape :
Load the tape image via the menu. You will need to know the name of the file needed, use
the tape catalogue viewer to find this out. For example, Pinball by Bug-Byte has the following
files :
INSTRUCTIONS Size 03C2 Load 2900 Run C2B2
PINBALL Size 0AFF Load 2900 Run 2900
To load the game you would need to type 'LOAD "PINBALL"' and hit enter. The emulator will then
proceed to load the game - the tape starts and stops automatically. The Atom gives no messages
while loading so you will need to be patient! When it's finished loading, type 'RUN' and hit enter.
Loading a program off disc :
Load the disc image via the menu. To enable the disc you will need to type '*DOS'. The machine is
then in disc mode. Typing '*.' will give a catalogue. You then need to identify which file you need
and then LOAD and RUN it as above.
Loading a program off mmc :
Start the machine with ramrom enabled : settings->ramrom->ramrom enabled, and RamRom disk rom
enabled : settings->ramrom->ramrom diskrom enabled. When the machine is powered on or break is
pressed you should see "ACORN ATOM + ATOMMC2" as the signon.
Once this is enabled, you should be able to do a *CAT and list the files in the mmc folder, you
can drop files into here as you would do onto the MMC card, and they will be available to
manipulate with the standard Atom SAVE/LOAD etc commands. A program can also be loaded by typing
*PROGRAMNAME
For mor information see documentation at :
Loading a program from emulated disk image on MMC :
The RAMROM image also contains SDDOS by Kees van Oss, this allows disk images to be loaded from
the MMC card as if they where real disks. This can be initialised by typing SDDOS (note no
preceeding *), with ramrom active. The *DHELP command will give a list of the available commands
Disk images can be mounted with the *DIN command :
*DIN <driveno> <imagename>
Commands are used much like their Atom DOS equivelents.
Further documentation can be found here :
Menu
~~~~
File -> Reset - reset the emulated Atom
Exit - exits back to Windows
Tape -> Load tape... - select a new CSW or UEF tape image
Rewind tape - rewinds tape image to the start
Tape catalogue - displays a file catalogue of the tape
Fast tape - accelerates tape access
Disc -> Load disc 0/2 - load a disc image into drives 0 and 2.
Load disc 1/3 - load a disc image into drives 1 and 3.
Eject disc 0/2 - removes disc image from drives 0 and 2.
Eject disc 1/3 - removes disc image from drives 1 and 3.
New disc 0/2 - creates a new DFS/ADFS disc and loads it into drives 0 and 2.
New disc 1/3 - creates a new DFS/ADFS disc and loads it into drives 1 and 3.
Write protect disc 0/2 - toggles write protection on drives 0 and 2.
Write protect disc 1/3 - toggles write protection on drives 1 and 3.
Default write protect - determines whether loaded discs are write protected by default
Settings ->
Video -> Snow - emulate authentic Atom snow
Fullscreen - switches to full screen mode. Use ALT-ENTER to leave
Hardware -> Colour board - emulates an Atom colour board. This allows colour in several
video modes, and slows video refresh from 60hz to 50hz
BBC BASIC - emulates a BBC BASIC language board. This allows a superior
BASIC, but the disc drive is not functional in BBC BASIC mode
(this seems to be the case with the real machine also)
RamRom -> RAM/ROM Enabled - Enables emulation of the Ramoth RAM/ROM clockboost board.
RAM/ROM dosrom Enabled
- Enables the AtoMMC #E000 rom instead of Atom DOS.
Sound -> Atom sound - enables the sound output from the Atom
Tape sound - enables the sound from tape
AtomSID - enables the AtomSID interface.
reSID configuration :
Model - choose between many different models of SID. Many tunes sound quite
different depending on the model chosen.
Sample method - choose between interpolation and resampling. Resampling is in theory
higher quality, but I can't tell the difference.
Disc noise - enables disc drive noise simulation
Disc drive type - choose between sound from 5.25" drive or 3.5" drive.
Disc drive volume - set the relative volume of the disc drive noise.
Keyboard -> Redefine keys - redefine PC -> Atom key mapping
Default mapping - restore the default keyboard mapping
Misc -> Debugger (Windows only) - open the built-in 6502 debugger. Type '?' for a list of commands
Break (Windows only) - break into the debugger
Notes
~~~~~
- The keyboard isn't too responsive for typing. A real Atom is like this as well.
- Atom BASIC is quite non-standard, if you are having problems track down the Atom manual
'Atomic Theory and Practice' - it's been scanned and is available on the internet.
- When you enter a graphics mode in BASIC the text display doesn't work. This is faithful to
the real machine as well.
- Atom sound is that bad, and faithful to the real machine.
- Saving via tape is not supported. Saving via disc is however.
- There may be one or two bugs in the tape emulation with some images. This doesn't affect functionality,
but does give some oddities in messages displayed.
Tom Walker
b-em@bbcmicro.com
Version 1.1 patches by Phill Harvey-Smith.
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Atomulator_1.29.lha