SOFTWARE - RS232 LOAD/SAVE UTILITY

This page presents a utility for loading and saving programs via Chroma 80's RS232 socket. Configuration switch 3 must be set to on to enable the RS232 socket.

Once loaded, the program displays usage information:


RS232 Load-Save 4K ROM
RS232 Load-Save 8K ROM
4K ROM 8K ROM

For the 4K ROM version, type RUN to install the program. For the 8K ROM version, the utility automatically runs but waits for a key press before being installed. Once installed, the utility resides at the top of the 16K RAM. Since it occupies a small amount of memory, it might not be able to load extremely large programs, but it should work fine for the majority of programs.


ZX TAPE PLAYER

The ZX Tape Player utility runs on a Windows PC. The PC must have an RS232 socket, either built-in, provided by an internal plug-in card or via a USB-to-RS232 adapter. A non-cross over 9-way RS232 cable is then required to connect the PC's RS232 socket to Chroma 80's RS232 socket. It is advisable to connect the cable before powering on the ZX80 or PC.


ZX Tape Player

Select "ZX80 Files" if using a ZX80 fitted with the 4K ROM or "ZX81 Files" is using a ZX80 fitted with the 8K ROM. For the 4K ROM, only files of type .o are supported; for the 8K ROM, files of type .p and .p81 are supported. Click the Browse button and select the folder containing the ZX80 program files. The Files pane on the left hand side will be updated with all applicable files. Clicking on a file in this list will cause a contents breakdown of the file to be listed in the File Contents pane.

Select the serial port from the drop down list and ensure the baud rate is set to 57600 and the Single Byte Writes option under the Mode drop-down is unchecked. On the ZX80, enter the appropriate load command and a 'waiting to load' pattern will be displayed, then click the PLAY button on the ZX Tape Player to begin the program transfer. The display should change to a loading pattern and the program should load within a few seconds.

To save a program from the ZX80 to the PC, click on the RECORD button and specify a location and name of the file to create. On the ZX80, enter the appropriate save command. The program held in memory will be transferred to the PC.


DOWNLOADS

Click here to download the RS232 Load/Save utility (4K ROM).
Click here to download the RS232 Load/Save utility (8K ROM).
Click here to download the ZX Tape Player [V2.4.0].