Hi. I read this on wiki -> “Utilities exist to transfer data from a PC to a CoCo. If one does not have compatible disk drives for the PC and CoCo, data may still be transferred by using special PC CoCo utilities to create a.wav audio file of the data. Hook the CoCo’s cassette interface cables directly to the line out of a PC’s soundcard, initiate the CLOAD (or CLOADM) command on the CoCo, and then play the sound file from the PC.”
Now I did recently win an auction that contains the cable for the cassette recorder so I just need to be pointed in the right direction for software and how it all hooks up together. Any help please?
Ok, I found a program called “cocotape” but I can’t get it to do anything. As soon as I click on it, it appears for a split second and disappears. Its command line but there’s no instructions on how to use it.
Help please
COCOTAPE – TRS-80 Color Computer Cassette File Audio Generator (1.0)
Converts a PC-stored file into a CoCo-Tape-File audio stream
Copyright (C) 2009 by Roger Taylor
All Rights Reserved – CoCo3.com
useage: cocotape SourceFile -option1 -option2
SourceFile = ASCII BASIC, token BASIC, binary, data, text, etc.
file formats:
-a (ASCII data)
-b (Binary data)
-g (force Gapped blocks, and multi-segment Machine Language)
-c (force Contiguous blocks)
-2 (produce a double-speed audio stream)
-csave (Tokenized BASIC program)
-csavea (ASCII BASIC program)
> -cloadm, -csavem, -ml, -bin, -binary (Machine Language)
{use -g for multi-origin files}
-data (General data)
{automatically invokes -b -g}
-text (General data)
{automatically invokes -a -g}
-o=WaveFile (save the audio stream to a PC .wav file)
-f (do not play the audio stream) {default if WaveFile is specified}
-p (play the audio stream) {default if WaveFile is not specified}
Thats excellent. Thanks. I’ll save that as a text file for future reference. I did it successfully.
Here are the results. Thanks so much
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i1HlUKr-iWs
Strange. I tried Outhouse and Draconian and they both worked. Color Car Action didn’t. It seemed to load find but exec did nothing. The only difference is the first 2 were 32k and CCA is 64k although that shouldn’t matter with a 512k coco 3. I tried the different options like -b -g which didn’t work. In fact when I used -g it gave me a “hey it works” or something like that on the coco but still no go. Any hints on why 1 of the 3 games wouldn’t execute?
Do the converted files all work under emulation? Perhaps try loading into emulated coco3 and coco2 to see if there’s any difference.
Yes the color car action worked under vcc (although I couldn’t get the game to start but that may be that I don’t have vcc configured properly yet). All the games I have I downloaded via http://nitros9.lcurtisboyle.com/coco_game_list.html
Any advice or suggestions or reasons?
Is Color Car action a LOADMable game? It could be that it’s a multi-origin/segment binary and that the -g option is annoyingly causing a built-in debug file to be used instead (the one that shows up on the text screen and says Hey, It Works”). Unfortunately, the actual game didn’t load if you saw that screen.
I’ll try to get a fixed copy of CoCoTape uploaded here today or this weekend.
Ok thanks. I didn’t use LOADM just CLOADM which is the same thing except with the cassette command in front correct? I remember having this on disk years ago and I did use LOADM then.
Yes, CLOADM. CoCoTape needs to be finished. I’ll do what I can this weekend.
atarileaf,
It looks like many of your problems are caused by incorrect assumptions. Color Car is not a tape program but rather disk.
To run this game, you must download it from Curtis’ site, create a disk image, add the game .BIN file to the disk, mount the disk in an emulator, and then enter LOADM”COLORCAR”.
I wondered that, but I thought cocotape loaded any program as if it were on tape. I didn’t think the original medium of the program mattered. I have played colorcar on vcc but wanted to play it on an actual coco. Since I don’t have a disk drive, I was hoping cocotape would be the next best thing.
So are you saying only games that originally came on cassette can be loaded via cocotape? Not just any .bin file regardless of its original medium?
CoCoTape is supposed to transmit any file. Disk BASIC binary programs that you normally LOADM should be converted to a Tape binary program you can CLOADM. The reason not all of the disk programs are transmitting correctly is because the multi-origin/segment/record routine is incomplete. I “silently” released CoCoTape earlier than expected because people were asking to use it.
Most tape programs are single-record or a contiguous stream of code, so you should have a 90% or more success rate if my calculations are correct.
You should be able to send a text file as well and use OPEN “I” on the CoCo to read it.
Have you tried sending an ASCII BASIC (.bas) program yet? You can CLOAD it into the CoCo.
In addition to Roger’s comments, here is information specific to Color Car Action.
The image on Curtis’ site is a raw binary machine language file. The load address is from $FA0-$7C2E. The execution address is $1A2C. There is also an auto-exec loaded from $182-187.
This file can’t be converted to a tape program using a Coco because of the auto-exec. Roger’s CoCoTape probably will be able convert the binary to a .wav file when the multi-origin functionality is complete.
I have been able to prevent the auto-exec routine from running by changing the LOADM address of that portion of the .bin file. I then used MESS to LOADM the COLORCAR.BIN program, and CSAVE it as a .wav file (14.6MB).
That file could then be CLOADMed into MESS and the program run with a manual EXEC&H1A2C. That means the .wav file should be recordable on a Coco cassette unit connected to a PC sound card outlet.
Wow, way too technical for me
Thanks Robert. At least I know its possible. I’ll wait until Roger releases the new version.
Any hints on how to load “.cas” files with cocotape? I have a bunch but they all seem to lock up or freeze the coco. Only happens with .cas files, not .bin.
I’ve tried different options like -cloadm and some others with no success.
Unfortunately, a lot of CAS files from websites simply don’t work. Some CAS files are just bad dumps; in other words, the CAS files fail simply because the programs weren’t saved right to begin with. Not anything you’ve done; it’s just remnants of the days of early CoCo emulation.
There are also some CAS files which are Dragon releases rather than CoCo. These aren’t sorted out neatly in Dragon and CoCo categories, I’m afraid. Even I don’t have all the titles sorted out yet, but you can always ask folks here which are Dragon releases and which aren’t. Just give us the CAS file names, and we’ll try to help you from there. I know one Dragon release is Jet Set Willy.
The one I was really hoping to get going on the coco was pooyan. One of my favorites.
Yeah, I would like to get my paws on Pooyan and Moon Shuttle.
I can’t find my boxes, tapes or disks. =/
BTW, I am the co-author of those two games along with James Garon.
It is an honor to meet you, radmoose, or it should be Gerry Humphrey?
Pooyan was one of my favorite Coco game, thanks to its two channel music being along the best I knew.
Oh and I just remembered by looking here: http://nitros9.lcurtisboyle.com/moonshuttle.html
Moon Shuttle was also one of the best action game.
Hi Radmoose.
If you like I can always send you dsk images of those 2 games so you can play them in the emulators. Here is my Email addy:
tigers2roaratyahoo.com.au
Replace the at with @
laters
Briza
Radmoose – I loved moonshuttle – very cool game in the day…I want to get it going now as well so I can see if it still is!
Cheers,
Daz.