[FAQ]
[Frequently Asked Questions]
[Resources]
[Emulators]
[Where Is...?]
[File Formats]
[Technical Information]
[Pinouts]
[Acknowledgements]
| FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS |
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This page last updated on 21 March 1998
| The Questions! |
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| The Answers! |
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This group's charter (from its original formation in December 1993) is to
provide a forum for the discussion of the various brainchildren of Sir Clive
(born Clive Sinclair) and related computers such as the Jupiter Ace, TK and TS
series', SAM Coupe and Thor, software, peripherals, emulators for them,
programming them; playing those wonderful games (6031769, anyone?); and
anything else which interests the Sinclair community. The group is not
moderated.
Auctions of Sinclair equipment and software/books for Sinclair machines are allowed in this group. An auction must follow the following format: a single message listing the items for sale, with references to email or a web page for updates. While the auction is in progress, a weekly message may be posted stating that an auction is going on and referencing email or a web page. Following the end of the auction, the person running it may post a single message announcing that the auction is over, but not giving details of who got what. These details should be emailed to all concerned.
In practice, most discussion is Spectrum-related, but there's a fair bit of SAM Coupe, QL, ZX-81, etc. chat as well. This FAQ only covers the Spectrum, other documents being available separately: e.g. The QL FAQ, QL Faq and Resources Pointer and The SAM Coupe FAQ (though I don't think this is maintained anymore).
This FAQ covers technical information, emulator information and resources and does not attempt to cover Spectrum games and history. There is a game FAQ available - see question 26.
NO! The word binaries does not appear in the newsgroup title, and
this is a subtle indication that posting binaries is going to make you very
unpopular very quickly. Most people have to pay for their net access, and some
do not have the capability to download only the messages they want to read, so
you're costing them money if you post binaries, which are substantially larger
than most posts. You may also cause news providers to stop carrying the group
if binaries are seen to be posted in it. If you want to distribute something
Sinclair-related, upload it to an FTP site or put it
on a web page and post the address of the site. Or use John Dow's
Sinclair file exchange area - FTP to gnu.cybersurf.co.uk, login
sinclair, password sinclair.
See the emulators section of this FAQ. It is split up by
machine type, and you should be able to find one you can use. Of course, if you
can't get one for your machine (pretty unlikely now!), you could always write
one... ;-) As for which is best, just read through the emulators listing and
decide which one(s) have the features you think you need, then try them for
yourself. Only your opinion matters in the end anyway!
The game you're after is probably available somewhere on the net. The best way
to search is to use Martijn van der Heide's search engines, which
allow you to search World of Spectrum
and NVG by program name. If
that doesn't turn up any results, Hynek Med's snapsearch engine might, but don't hold out any hopes. There are a few
games that are not to be found on the net yet - check out Blood's Missing
In Action list.
Several CDs full of games can be had from companies, but you're better off going to one of the newsgroup's regulars for a better value CD put together by people genuinely interested, rather than by commercial companies only interested in making money from other people's work. Accordingly, try one of the following: Erik Kunze has compiled a CD based on the NVG FTP site's contents; see his web page. Craig Rothwell has also put together a very good value CD based on Martijn van der Heide's World of ZX Spectrum archive; see his web page for details. Finally an 'official' c.s.s. CD is in the making with Gerard Sweeney at the helm, which should be out soon.
Until recently, a CD called 'Die Speccy' was available quite widely (e.g. from HMV shops in the UK), but HMV at least have removed it from the shelves after finding pornographic demos on the CD! Never mind the copyright violations, eh? If you have bought this and have any problems running Z80, you should buy the registered version. It is shareware, and you cannot expect any support unless you pay for it. Brian Gaff, the UK registration contact for Z80, has had quite enough of people ringing up and complaining to him about the contents of a CD he has had nothing to do with!
If none of those turn up the game you're after, try asking on the newsgroup, or (shock) going to a second-hand shop and digging around in their boxes of old tapes.
Yes, it is. Amstrad, who own the copyright for the ROMs, allow free
distribution of ROMs for emulation purposes, although they often apply
stipulations such as not charging money for software that includes these
ROMs. They also allow free distribution of electronic versions of Spectrum
hardware manuals.
Formally, using snapshotted game without actually owning a copy of it on a
tape is a copyright violation. Nevertheless, ZX-Spectrum games are not
being sold any more and using snapshots doesn't harm copyright holders
much, if you don't make profit from it and don't distribute snapshots on a
large scale. Some companies definitely do not like to have their games
distributed (e.g. Ultimate/Rare), whereas others have given explicit
permission (e.g. Vortex). Damien Burke maintains a list of such
companies/individuals on his
Web page.
Most snapshots can be converted into one another using SPConv program
by Henk de Groot and
Damien Burke. An MSDOS version of
this program is supplied with the JPP emulator (source included), but is a
rather old version. A more up to date version (v1.10) is available from
here.
SPCONV converts files between many snapshot formats, and is udpated from
time to time to deal with new ones.
Also, the registered version of Z80 contains a converter program, and there
is a program called Butcher, written by Marat Fayzullin (available at the
NVG ftp site) that can split .ZX (or .SPC) files (used by the "Polish"
emulator) into a series of .header/.bytes files for use with the Spectrum
v1.7 emulator on the Amiga.
You are probably using SPCONV v1.05 which came with JPP distribution.
It has problems converting .Z80 files created by Z80 v2.01+. Get SPConv
v1.10 from here. It works.
SPConv cannot currently handle 128Kb snapshots, but a future
version will.
The snapshot was saved by someone with a registered copy including +D
emulation, in +D mode. The game doesn't actually need the +D ROM, so you
can use DEMGT
to modify the snapshot so it isn't in +D mode. Or get hold of Z80 v3.04+, which does not have
this problem.
SLTs are an improved type of snapshot that holds all the levels for multiload games.
You need Z80 v3.04+, WSpecEm, XZX v2.1.0+ or x128 v0.4+ to use them. See the
File Formats section for more details. They are not compatible with .TAP files. You
can read all about them on this page too.
However, SLTs have less reason for being used now that TZX has arrived. This is a virtual tape format,
and stores tapes in as close a manner to the real thing as possible, while not wasting space storing
the entire sampled sound of the tape. See the emulators section to see which emulators support SLT
or TZX.
Also, Guillaume Genty has the French versions of the +2 ROMs
available on his web page.
The most common fault with the +3's drive is that the drive belt
has failed: replacements are available from Trading Post (see above),
or at £2 from
Kevin Gurd
Microdrive cartridges (as well as complete Microdrive kits) can be
obtained in the UK from:
W.N. Richardson & Co.
6 Ravensmead
Chiltern Hill
Chalfont St Peter,
Bucks, SL9 0NB
United Kingdom
PHONE/FAX 01494-871319
If the connectors on the keyboard PCB have scratched off the silver from the
ribbon, buy some so-called "conductive paint" which is a suspension
of fine silver particles. If you let it dry, it conducts. Use a fine
brush to replace what is scratched off from the ribbons. This paint
is available from most electronics hobbyist stores (for example, from
RadioShack in US).
A company apparently with a large stock of Speccy spares is:
Trading Post
Victoria Road
Shifnal
Shropshire
TF11 8AF
tel/fax 01952 462135
email: Tradingpost@btinternet.com,
or visit their Web site.
New membranes can also be bought from Jean Austermuhle in Germany;
his postal address is:
Sternwartstr.69
D-40223 Dusseldorf.
Tel: +49 (0)211 395460
Prices:
48k rubber board - £10, 48K+/128K - £19, 48K/128K (better quality like +2/+2A) - £23.
Plus postage & packing. Do contact him first.
There's more on fixing your keyboard in the pinouts
section of this FAQ.
Also, Didier Duchet apparently has
some Spectrum and QL spares for sale; ULAs, power supplies and QL keyboard membranes.
21 Ladycross Road
Langdown
Hythe
Southampton
SO45 3JR
(All cheques and money orders should be payable to "K. Gurd")
SPC
Wolfgang + Monika Haller
Penningsfelder Weg 98a
51069 Koeln
Germany
Note the change in this address; and the club is indeed still going as of February 1997, and
as of late March 1997 they have a Home page.
This would be a big list, so I'll keep it to what I consider are major
ones; for more, see the Spectrum Hardware site.
A recent interview in Wired revealed that not only does he not use the internet, he
doesn't even have a computer. He keeps a collection of his old babies in his office
(at Sinclair Research, which he is still chairman of), but even so he's not particularly
interested in them; he could not remember what the machine that followed the
Spectrum was called (it was the QL Clive...). It's rather a shame for us lot I suppose,
but Sir Clive was always more interested in inventing new bits and pieces than
computers in particular.
If you have a pressing need to contact the man himself, the current address of
Sinclair Research is:
Sinclair Research Ltd.,
The Penthouse,
York Central,
70 York Way,
London
N1 9AG
UK
The best home computer of all time. Came out in 1982 from Sinclair
Research Ltd., and proceeded to capture the hearts and minds of millions
of people. Based around a Z80 processor and utilising lots of neat tricks
to keep the cost down, Clive (now Sir Clive) Sinclair effectively created
the UK computer industry with his ZX80, ZX81 and ZX Spectrum. If you've
never used one, get hold of an emulator and try out some of the classic
games around (e.g. Jetpac) and see what real gameplay is about without
needing 50 Mb of hard disk space and the type of processing power that
interferes with military radar.
Alternatively, if you have a +3 with a 3.5" or 5.25" drive
attached, Dominic Morris has created Slowdos which can read the .TAP files directly.
Buying a Spectrum these days is quite easy, though you'll be buying
second-hand. Frank Davis
in the US apparently sells the US machines (TSxxxx) and also sells US
versions of the QL. The SAM Coupe, the Spectrum's spiritual big
brother, is still being made in Eastern Europe and can be found at
computer fairs sometimes. It can run a fair bit of Spectrum software
(comes with a Spectrum emulator). Real Sinclair Spectrums are often to
be found at car boot sales, in the classified ads sections of local
papers/dedicated FreeAds type papers and in second-hand shops. People
sometimes offer Sinclair hardware for sale on the
newsgroup. Unfortunately this is often done by an auction, so prices
can climb to stupid levels. You're better off looking in those
second-hand shops. Computer Cavern
in Marlow, Buckingham is one such place and apparently well worth a visit.
Other sources include Trading Post (+2As only) and
Arnold Yates
12 Frederick Street
Chorley
Lancs
PR6 0QB
England
Send an SAE, or visit here
for a stock list.
Choose the answer you prefer:
A1) Yes.
A2) Yes, unless the other machine is a QL.
A3) Yes, unless the other machine is a SAM Coupe.
A4) Yes, unless the other machine is an Atari ST. That should see if anyone's awake...
Well, there are a number of ways. The Z80, WSpecEm and Warajevo emulators (among others) all
have means to load from real tapes. Check the Emulators section
of this FAQ to find out what capabilities are available in the emulators you are able to
run. And then read the documentation with those emulators!
Again, several ways. The registered version of Z80 can output VOC
files which can be recorded onto tape, and there is also HypraLoader,
written by Tomaz Kac and Taper, written by
Martijn van der Heide, which can also do this.
You can't convert them directly. A TAP file is a tape, and totally different to a snapshot,
which is a frozen copy of the Spectrum's memory contents, registers and so on. To make a snapshot
from a TAP file you simply load the TAP file into your emulator (see the documentation with the
particular emulator) then LOAD the program as you would on a real Spectrum. When the program has
loaded you can make a snapshot at that point (again see the documentation of the particular
emulator). Bear in mind, though, that many TAP files include further files for later levels etc.
so the snapshot may still need the TAP file; some snapshots you may download are like this, because
of people doing this without thinking.
The filetype isn't correctly set. You could use ResEdit to change the filetype but it's
easier to get the MacSpeccy emulator - in the file open dialog there's a box titled
'Fix file types'. Click on that and it will correctly set the snapshot file's filetypes,
and you can then use any of the Mac emulators to open the snapshot files.
Possibly your emulator doesn't support more modern (v3) Z80 snapshots and
wants v2 snapshots instead, or some emulators (eg Sinclair v3.00)
place a copy of the Spectrum ROM in the .Z80 file, and some other emulators
don't like this. Either problem can be solved by using SnapConv,
written by me.
Well, there are other sources of information; in particular, if the
question is about a particular game, your first stops should be Stephen
Smith's
Games FAQ and
Sinclair Software Database.
If your question is anything to do with the PC-based emulator Z80
(or indeed any emulator), then try reading the documentation that comes with it. It is very full
and 99% of questions people ask on the group about it could be answered if they'd bothered to
read the supplied documentation.
If that's no help, welcome to the group, ask away!