Frequently Asked Questions
Frequently Asked Questions | |
The installation executable is probably corrupted.
Check that the file size is exactly the same as the one specified besides the download link. You may also use your favorite ZIP software to test the file. For example:
pkunzip -t ZX32103.EXE
You have to download and install DirectX® software and drivers, as these are required for proper operation.
Although zx32 does not register an icon for them and they are not listed as available file types in the Open dialog, you can select and load them using this dialog, just as you would with the 'officially' supported ones.
You should bear in mind though, that support for these file types is limited and|or incomplete in the emulator.
Sigh! It's probably using an old compression method, or contains some other file (README.TXT or something) before the memory, disk or tape image (assuming it contains one at all).
This may happen for a lot of reasons. Specific solutions to the most common problems are mentioned in Tips of the Day and various parts of the help file and this FAQ specifically. Have you tried any of them?
Oh, well! You've probably just gone ahead and reported a bug (without even mentioning a filename, since I obviously have a copy of every Speccy program ever released lying on my hard diskJ), but if you didn't, try selecting a different default model in Options; using 48K|USR0 mode in an 128K model; using the specific loading instructions that the program may require; converting the TAP file to TZX format; LOADing a .BAS or any other file that seems appropriate if the disk image cannot autoload; or posting to comp.sys.sinclair (and waiting until Damien Burke answers your message or downloading the emulators everyone else will suggestJ).
You can only export to a tape or disk image data of the same format, that was previously loaded (and possibly modified) in memory. You can not create a tape image from data loaded from a memory image, for example.
Format translations (e.g., SNA to TAP, or TAP to DSK) like these, although possible, are out of the scope of this emulator. The Warajevo Spectrum emulator for DOS has a wide range of this kind of options, although it currently (release 2.0) does not support DSKs.
Most of the ZIPs available in the /pub/sinclair/disks/plus3/ directory contain files that need be copied in a disk image before they can be used in zx32. I have done this for all of them and you can get the resulting files from ftp.void.jump.org.
Alternatively you can do it yourself, using various methods. I have used the NIRVANA Disc Management Suite on Marco Vieth's Amstrad CPC Emulator CPCEMU. You may try Derik van Zutphen's CPCFS also, as John Elliott pointed out in a posting to comp.sys.sinclair. Please note, in any case, that
The Tape Speed setting in Options has no effect when a TZX file is being loaded. It is possible for it to work, but it would require a lot of effort and guesswork from my part since the file format specification doesn't help at all.
You can try and change the emulated Spectrum's speed, if your computer is fast enough, instead. Check Tips of the Day for some useful shortcuts.
The Spectrums had a really peculiar keyboard arrangement and strange keyboard combinations may be needed to get some symbols on the screen. Check The Hardware topic in the Getting Started section of the help file, for details.
You can display a keyboard layout help screen at any time using [Alt]+[F1], and Backspace is [Left Shift]+[0], by the way.
Windows® seems to have trouble notifying zx32, and subsequently the emulated Spectrum of multiple keys pressed at once. There are ways to circumvent this problem, but I see no serious reason to.
If the keys in question are [Q], [A], [Z], [P], [L] and [M], then you're in luck. Just press the [Gray Plus(+)] key.
Assuming that your computer is fast enough to achieve that setting and without getting too technical here: Some 'speed' settings are not obtainable on Windows NT 4.00 if system responsiveness is favored when setting zx32's multitasking behavior (this is the default on this operating system).
If this is the case, the setting will have an effect if you change it by five steps at a time.
I took all precautions to make sure that zx32 is a well-behaved DirectX application from the very start. Many other programmers didn't though and early DirectX versions were a bit shaky too. The situation has changed since, so you can expect this to be optional in the next release.
If you can't wait, then grab the latest pre-release edition which has this 'feature' already implemented. Check the Updates page for details.
You can't. This is quite a requested feature and I have tried to implement it, but it just doesn't work as elegantly as I would like. I did not plan for it from the beginning, so starting zx32 in full screen mode now, would mean that switching to windowed mode wouldn't be an option for that instance of the program, and this is simply not acceptable for me.
Now, I know that I'm probably the only one that doesn't use the emulator in full screen mode, but I'm the one that countsJ.
Help is not available when the emulator runs in full screen mode. This is due to DirectDraw®-imposed limitations and there's nothing, sort of writing my own help system, that I can do about it.
There will be an option to do just that in the next full release of the emulator. If you can't wait, then follow these steps (or ask someone fairly technically minded to do it for you):
You should bear in mind that this is just a quick fix. Although it will work on all occasions, you really need 2Mb of video memory and support from the display adapter (transparent BLTs) to avoid a significant performance penalty.
This problem is entirely unrelated with zx32 and there's not much I can do to help you, I'm sorry to say. It's a DirectX-related problem so try re-installing DirectX first, and if this doesn't work (although it seems to do so in many cases), then contact your video board manufacturer or Microsoft.
A good place to start in the latter case would be Microsoft's DirectX page.
There are known problems with interactions between all kinds of desktop toolbars and DirectX-based applications that run in full screen mode. The only way to avoid them, is to turn the toolbars off, or upgrade to a newer version of the software that knows about DirectX.
Many chip or video board manufacturers have released DirectDraw 'compatible' drivers that provide no hardware support at all (known culprits are Diamond Multimedia, Number Nine and S3, but this doesn't mean there are no others). If this is the case, zx32 will update your display very slowly, especially in full screen mode.
You should upgrade to the latest drivers the manufacturer provides, or use the Microsoft supplied ones.
Unfortunately Microsoft has not released DirectSound® compatible drivers for many of the lesser known audio boards. Since DirectSound can use the existing audio driver and sound output is not a major bottleneck in most cases, the audio board manufacturers didn't bother, also. Only Aztech, Creative Labs, ESS, MediaVision and Microsoft chipsets|products are catered for by Microsoft in DirectX 3.
There is no way to resolve latency problems, other than updating your audio drivers. You can try to eliminate random noise by fiddling with the Frequency slider in the Sound tab of zx32's Options.
On a multitasking operating system any process running could be the cause of this type of problems.
If you want to run other applications besides the emulator or have to keep background tasks active, your best bet is to favor system responsiveness when setting zx32's multitasking behavior, especially on Windows NT (that multitasks much smoother than Windows 95). This way the emulator relinquishes the CPU when it no longer needs it and hopefully other processes may have done so by the time it wants the processor back.
When zx32 is in the foreground press [Alt]+[Print Screen]. Then, fire up your favorite bitmap editor, and choose Edit|Paste (or whatever).
Here is a way (but not the only one) to do it:
You don't have to. In fact, you should be able to get and use the distribution packages at absolutely no charge. Take a look at zx32's Distribution Policy for details.
See Comments and Suggestions if you want to contact me or (hint) send me a postcard.
Ah, well zx32 is here to stay probablyJ, although frantically frequent updates are definitely a thing of the past.
This is a large topic and, frankly, I'm tired of the 'so slow' type of comments. In short, I think that zx32 can easily emulate a lot more than 100% of Spectrum speed on a P75 with decent hardware peripherals. You can get more than 500% speed on this setup if you use the lowest setting for the display update rate and turn sound and CPU consuming options off -- although I can see no reason to.
Moreover, it could do much more than that if I was able to use a 320x200 16 color video mode, the Speaker|Adlib combination for sound output and hardware assist for memory paging. Refer to the Technical Notes topic in the online help for more information.
zx32 uses DirectDraw and DirectSound components all the time, whether running in a window or in full screen. It won't run on any system, unless DirectX and appropriate drivers are installed.
If a program uses DirectX, it doesn't mean it has to run 'full screen'. And moreover this 'mode' is a bit of a trick. In most occasions, DirectDraw
This is not exactly true. The emulator supports 8-, 15- and 16-bit color depths when running in a window.
To the best of my knowledge, DirectDraw components in all DirectX versions so far, do not support 16 color (4-bit) displays. You might have noticed that if you try to run zx32 in this color resolution the message you receive has 'Microsoft DirectDraw' and not 'zx32' on the title bar. I would have used 16 colors for the full screen mode if I could, but the fact is, technology advances and complaining about lack of provision for old standards gets you nothing.
True color (24-bit or 32-bit) displays are at the other end of the spectrum [multiple pan intendedJ]. If you are a programmer, using the Windows API guarantees that you can draw on the display without caring whatever the color depth may be, but at a significant speed penalty. DirectDraw on the other hand, gives you direct (shock) access to the video frame buffer (on Windows 95 and on most cases), but leaves color depth support to you. Providing for 15-bit and 16-bit displays (confusingly Microsoft refers to both as 16-bit) resulted in a different set of instructions for me to optimize, a lot of bugs to fix and people with ISA display adapters (who shouldn't use these color depths in the first place) complaining about lack of speed. I won't go through any of this, again.
Having said that, you can grab the latest pre-release edition which supports true color depths indirectly (i.e. you're missing the 'direct' bit of DirectX when you use them J) from the Updates page.
Last Revised: March 22, 2000. |
Home |
