Date   : Wed, 26 Jun 2013 21:29:37 +0100
From   : dl.harper@... (David Harper)
Subject: Importing files to B-Em 80x86

On 24/6/13 19:21, J.G.Harston wrote:
> I've got 80x86 BBC BASIC targetted for the Master 512
> (http://mdfs.net/Software/BBCBasic/M512). This is standard 80x86 DOS BBC
> BASIC, but it knows that BBC I/O is available, so VDU, SOUND, ADVAL,
> etc. go to the host processor.
>
> However, does anybody have any advice on how to get the files "inside"
> B-Em so I can try using them with B-Em's 80x86 CoProcessor support?

This is something that ought to be straightforward, but in fact turns 
out to be remarkably awkward. It should be possible to write any files 
onto a DOS floppy image, then boot up the 512 and load the image.

However there do not appear to be any compatible disk formats. A Master 
512 running in BeebEm will not recognise a 360kb or 720kb *.img file. (I 
have no idea why. An actual 512 will work perfectly well with 360kb or 
720kb floppy disks.)

Your question has prompted me to try to do something about it, so I have 
just written a small program which will convert a 360kb or 720kb DOS 
disk image into an 800kb Acorn-format disk image which the emulated 
Master 512 will work with. If you want to try it, I have put it on the 
web at:

http://www.cowsarenotpurple.co.uk/bbccomputer/master512/DOS_to_Acorn_800.zip

(It runs in Windows, and uses .NET 4.5, so you will probably need 
Windows 7 or 8, but I suspect you will have access to this somewhere.)

Using this you can get files into the M512 running in BeebEm by:

        i) Use something to write them onto a 720kb DOS disk image.
    There are several ways of doing this. I usually do it by means of a
    virtual machine - I have got several different set-ups running under
    VirtualBox, but it should be just as easy if you use VMWare, QEMU or
    whatever. This may seem like overkill, but it is easy when you have
    the systems set up already.

      ii) Install the program, and use it to create an 800kb
    Acorn-format disk image.

    iii) Load this image as a disk in BeebEm. The M512 will now
    recognise the disk and can get at the files.

I know this is not perfect. It would have been better to have something 
that can drag files directly to an Acorn-format image, but that would 
have taken a lot more work, and probably  occupied several weeks rather 
than a couple of spare hours this afternoon.

Minimal testing has been done on this, of course. Let me know if there 
are any problems.

David Harper