CD ROMS As T/S 2068 Program Mass Storage Device
7 messages · 2002-07-26 → 2002-08-04 · Yahoo Group era · View archive on archive.org
Participants: William McBrine, Louis Florit, hatulzabad, Luke Perry
Preserved from the Timex/Sinclair 2068 Yahoo Group (2001–2019), which is no longer online. Text reproduced from the archive.org archive; email addresses masked.
Messages
1. CD ROMS As T/S 2068 Program Mass Storage Device
hatulzabad · Fri, 26 Jul 2002 15:13
Hello Everyone....
I am wondering if anyone here has had any success in using CDs as a
mass storage device for Timex Sinclair 2068 programs using any of the
following methods:
1. Tape direct copy to CD
2. T/S 2068 tape output to CD
3. Warajevo or Z80 (i.e. Lunter emulator) tape output to CD
4. Warajevo or Z80 (i.e. Lunter emulator) audio file to CD
5. Emulator *.TAP, *.MDR or similar non-audio file formats.
6. Other methods
I would think that methods 1 and 2 -- if they work -- would be the
best way to make files that everyone could share. Anyone have any
other ideas?
Thank you.
David Solly
2. Re: [ts2068] CD ROMS As T/S 2068 Program Mass Storage Device
William McBrine · Fri, 26 Jul 2002 17:38
On Fri, 26 Jul 2002, hatulzabad wrote:
> 1. Tape direct copy to CD
> 2. T/S 2068 tape output to CD
> 3. Warajevo or Z80 (i.e. Lunter emulator) tape output to CD
> 4. Warajevo or Z80 (i.e. Lunter emulator) audio file to CD
> 5. Emulator *.TAP, *.MDR or similar non-audio file formats.
> 6. Other methods
>
> I would think that methods 1 and 2 -- if they work -- would be the
> best way to make files that everyone could share.
If you're intent on distributing CDs, maybe. But TAP makes a lot more
sense for most purposes. As for creating that CD -- it should be done by
taking a TAP file and converting it to a WAV, then burning that to a CD,
with no analog hardware intervening. That will give the most accurate
reproduction.
Using a CD full of TAP files, instead, of course implies a second, more
modern computer running something to serve them up as audio; but I doubt
that would be a problem for most people. You could even include the
necessary software on the CD.
Now, if you've only got a standalone audio CD recorder, then yeah, you
could probably hook that up to the 2068 and get a better recording than
with tape.
Personally, I wouldn't touch the old tape interface unless forced. I go
Larken Disk drive <-> old XT with 5.25" <-> LAN <-> modern PC. :-)
--
William McBrine <[email]>
3. Re: [ts2068] CD ROMS As T/S 2068 Program Mass Storage Device
Louis Florit · Fri, 26 Jul 2002 19:08
> Using a CD full of TAP files, instead, of course implies a second, more
> modern computer running something to serve them up as audio; but I doubt
> that would be a problem for most people. You could even include the
> necessary software on the CD.
What, no one's created a IDE interface for the TS2068 and written drivers
for it to access a cdrom drive? Bah-pssch. :)
> Now, if you've only got a standalone audio CD recorder, then yeah, you
> could probably hook that up to the 2068 and get a better recording than
> with tape.
>
> Personally, I wouldn't touch the old tape interface unless forced. I go
> Larken Disk drive <-> old XT with 5.25" <-> LAN <-> modern PC. :-)
I always wanted to put together an archive of TS2068 files/programs, but
my attempts have all to often been thwarted by real life. If someone is
willing to convert the programs over to TAP files I can provide a server
where all of these can be downloaded from.
The idea would be to keep a 'just TS2068' archive and not bunch it up with
Speccy stuff. I imagine there aren't that many different things to fill
the archive with. Probably a CD full at most.
Regards,
Louis
4. Re: [ts2068] CD ROMS As T/S 2068 Program Mass Storage Device
Luke Perry · Fri, 26 Jul 2002 19:50
--- Louis Florit <[email]> wrote:
> I always wanted to put together an archive of TS2068
> files/programs, but
> my attempts have all to often been thwarted by real
> life. If someone is
> willing to convert the programs over to TAP files I
> can provide a server
> where all of these can be downloaded from.
>
> The idea would be to keep a 'just TS2068' archive
> and not bunch it up with
> Speccy stuff. I imagine there aren't that many
> different things to fill
> the archive with. Probably a CD full at most.
Yes Louis, that is a good idea. I do not think that
there is any TS2068 specific files on the net, at
least I have not run into any. I have a boatload of
old TS2068 programs, some good some bad, that I would
make available for such a project. about half are on
tape and the other half on Oliger disk(s). I have not
experimented on how to convert tape files to either
the TAP format or TZX format, but I am sure there is
not much to it. I have been using the "Taper" utility
lately, but run into some problems between it and my
soundcard. It could be just a compatability issue as
it is a cheap onboard soundcard.
If anyone is serious about this project I say lets go
for it. It would be a great way to distribute the old
programs and for them to see the light of day again.
Luke P
=====
Luke Perry
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5. Re: [ts2068] CD ROMS As T/S 2068 Program Mass Storage Device
Louis Florit · Sat, 27 Jul 2002 10:50
> If anyone is serious about this project I say lets go
> for it. It would be a great way to distribute the old
> programs and for them to see the light of day again.
I definitely would like to start the program archive project. I'll set up
a file share on one of my systems and publish the access information on
here. The rest will depend on those of you with the files. My collection
is rather meager at best. I'd go with the TAP files idea for this.
Going back to David's idea, how much recording time would the average
program take? When converting to a audio wav file, it could take a
significant stretch of time and really not let you load up too many
programs onto a single CD; I remember my 60 minute tapes containing three
or four programs at most. Is my memory just shot?
L
6. Re: [ts2068] CD ROMS As T/S 2068 Program Mass Storage Device
William McBrine · Sat, 27 Jul 2002 17:50
On Sat, 27 Jul 2002, Louis Florit wrote:
> I remember my 60 minute tapes containing three or four programs at
> most. Is my memory just shot?
You're not far off. IIRC, the data rate for a 2068 tape is something like
2400 bps. That's 1080 K, if every bit (and both sides -- it's probably
better to use just one) were used; let's call it a meg. A 2068 file will
be no more than 48 K; I don't know what the average might be, but let's
say 16 K. That's about 60 files per tape, or 20 of the maximum size. You
might've put less than that on each one -- or even used shorter tapes (for
computer tapes, 20 minutes was common) -- to make them easier to organize
and quicker to search through. That wouldn't be nearly as much of a
problem with CDs, assuming one file per track.
But still, you could get _six hundred_ times as much on a CD by storing it
as data (.TAP files) instead of audio; plus it would be more reliable, and
easier (for anything except a plain 2068 hooked up to an audio CD player)
to access.
Also, or alternatively, you might be thinking of the ZX81 -- I believe it
recorded at around 200 bps. (!)
--
William McBrine <[email]>
7. Re: [ts2068] CD ROMS As T/S 2068 Program Mass Storage Device
William McBrine · Sun, 4 Aug 2002 21:59:
P.S.:
On Sat, 27 Jul 2002, I wrote:
> But still, you could get _six hundred_ times as much on a CD by
> storing it as data (.TAP files) instead of audio; plus it would be
> more reliable, and easier (for anything except a plain 2068 hooked up
> to an audio CD player) to access.
Then again, if you don't _need_ 600 times the space, :-) you might create
a dual-mode disc, with the programs stored as both audio and data (.TAP).
--
William McBrine <[email]>