Date   : Mon, 30 Jan 1995 14:09:00 GMT
From   : pmorrisb@... (Phil Morris)
Subject: Re: ROM images

In-Reply-To: <9501301134.AA02265@...>

> I used the Watford DFS (V1.43) with it and didn't have any errors from 
> disc
> access. However whenever I press a key I get "-ve key trans 
> row=1col=0sym=0"
> type of messages. This was on a DEC Alpha system running OSF/1 V3.0.

Do you think this is as a result of using the Watford DFS, or a problem 
with the Beeb emulator?

> 
> Anyway, regarding the roms, I can hardly make the watford DFS available as
> this most definitely isn't a 'standard' rom that comes default with beebs
> kitted out with a disk drive (although it is infact a very good DFS). The 
> same

Good point. :)

> really applies for the BBC I guess. Just having a BBC doesn't imply 
> you've got
> the acorn 8271 DFS chip. There was a free DFS that someone wrote (it's at
> Ian's site I think) which may well work well enough to be suitable. I 
> haven't
> tried it though.

Has anyone tried this?
> 
> I think the solution mentioned of encrypting with a password would work.
> Although there still is the problem of whether you're then making a 
> "derived
> work" available to people which is also illegal I think.

Oh dear .................... :(
> 
> I tried to contact acorn about this (well, the Basic rom and the OS 
> infact)
> matter well over a year ago and was fobbed off from person to person. 

Isn't this the usual way? :(

> When I
> finally found the (supposedly) correct person to talk to (David Bell as I
> recall) I received a reply saying that I should state my intentions 
> clearly
> and they'd think about things. I never received a reply to my 'statement' 
> or
> to any of my subsequent queries. Pretty hopeless really.

You'd almost think they couldn't be bothered .......................
> 
> As for the fact that distributing this code isn't going to effect acorn - 
> in
> their eyes it will. They have a market for BBC emulators that they are
> currently exploiting (ie the !65Host or whatever it's called on the Arc).

But !65Host only works on the Arc, so surely they won't object to a few 
other hardware bases running a Beeb emulator?


Phil