On this page you will find some cassette-based software for the Super 80.
Most of these programs came from super80_software.zip on Justin Kirk’s website. That ZIP file only has software in MESS’s “quickload” .BIN format. Some manipulation was required in the MESS Super 80 emulators to produce these WAV files.
Here are a few notes that may help you to get these files running on a real Super 80:
- These programs will all run on an “original Super 80”, unless otherwise mentioned below. That means they will run on a Super 80 that has a V1.2 Monitor ROM, V1.2B BASIC ROMs, and a 2513 character generator. If different ROMs, character generators and/or video add-on boards are required, that is mentioned below.
- These programs have been tested on a 48K Super 80. They may or may not work with less RAM.
- The original Super 80 ROM (V1.2) defaults to 300 baud. If you want to load a 600 baud cassette tape, use the Monitor’s “E” command to change memory at address BDF8 and BDF9 from F8 04 (for 300 baud) to 7C 02 (for 600 baud). To exit the E command, press “.” and RETURN.
- WAV files are uncompressed and therefore very large. I have found that I can successfully stream them from my phone (Galaxy S8+) to the Super 80 from compressed (lossy) WMA files. I set the phone’s media-player volume to approximately 80%. You must put the phone in “Airplane” mode, because any notification audio (eg incoming email or SMS) during playback will cause the LOAD operation to fail.
- During the LOAD operation, you can monitor the signal quality by looking at U1 Pin 7 with a DSO. You want to see a balanced signal (ie high 50% of the time) with no high-frequency spikes. Adjust the volume until you see this pattern.
- Not all computers can play WAV files reliably. For example, when I play WAV files using Windows Media Player on my 3-year-old Lenovo X1 Carbon running Windows 8, it generates lots of high-frequency spikes, and this always causes the LOAD to fail. My older HP 8440 laptop works fine with Windows Media Player.
Horse Race
This loads and runs fine on an original unmodified Super 80.
It was generated from 012L1.BIN. That file was loaded into BASIC in the “super80m” emulator. 012L1.BIN reports a start address of 04D2, end address of 1411 and execution address of D006.
Once the BIN file was loaded into the emulator, BASIC’s SAVE command was used to output cassette WAV files at 300 baud and 600 baud.
The BIN and WAV files for Horse Race can be downloaded from here.
Dungeon Dilemna
This loads and runs fine on an original unmodified Super 80.
It was generated from 028L1.BIN, loaded into BASIC on the “super80” emulator. 028L1.BIN reports a start address of 04D2, end address of 24BB and execution address of D006.
Once the BIN file was loaded into the emulator, BASIC’s SAVE command was used to output cassette WAV files at 300 baud and 600 baud.
Note: There is also a “L4” version of this game, which provides some instructions when the game is started.
The BIN and WAV files for Dungeon Dilemna can be downloaded from here.
Chomp
This BASIC program only works on “super80m” (8R0 Monitor ROM, with V3.8 BASIC). It does not work on an original unmodified Super 80. It also does not work on the following emulators: super80, super80d, super80e.
It was generated from 037L4.BIN, loaded into BASIC on the “super80m” emulator. 037L4.BIN reports a start address of 04D2, end address of 0B11 and execution address of D006.
Once the BIN file was loaded into the emulator, BASIC’s SAVE command was used to output cassette WAV files at 300 baud and 600 baud.
The BIN and WAV files for Chomp can be downloaded from here.
Super 80 Editor/Assembler
This loads and runs fine on an original unmodified Super 80.
It was generated from 437L1.BIN, loaded into the “super80” emulator. It is a machine language program.
437L1.BIN reports a start address of 8000, end address of 99FF and execution address of 800.
Important note: Before running Editor/Assembler, you must use the Monitor’s “E” command to put a non-zero value at address 00F0. Otherwise the program will hang.
This program is run by issuing the Monitor ROM command “G 8000”.
Once the BIN file was loaded into the emulator, the Monitor ROM command “S 8000 99FF” was used to output cassette WAV files at 300 baud and 600 baud.
The original ZIP file also has 3 “DF” files. I haven’t yet tried to work out what these are for.
The manual is available in the MSPP Super 80 Repository.
The BIN and WAV files for Editor/Assembler can be downloaded from here.