How to fix game menus to boot correctly on CIAB

[emujoust]

Hi all

Just trying to fix a couple of disks to boot on my 128K series 3 (non-Premium, disk-based) Microbee.

Chickenman kindly fixed the Arcade_1/2/3 collections to work on a CIAB in 2019. Without the fix there are PCG graphic issues that affect the menu and games.

I am also wanting to fix the Penguin Book of Games disk and some of the generic Games disk collections for use on my machine. So far, I understand that I need to copy the System (I used ciab_double_sided_master_ds80.dsk "diskette manager" to achieve this) over to the disk that needs fixing as well as Basic 6.23e. This alone has provided partial success, but I also need to set the disk to autoboot BASIC M. I did this before years ago, but the memory escapes me.

Thanks in advance for any advice.

[ChickenMan]

We originally only had an Arcade 1 which I basically put together almost 40 years ago for my kids to use on our Premium 128 we had at the time. It came obvious for the needs of std 128k and CIAB and 56k Microbee users to be able to quickly boot and play the same games, hence the generations of the Arcade 1, 2 & 3 in different varieties for different 'bees.

I just tried the Penguin Book of Games didk and again its really setup for a premium bee, so if the basic is changed to the 128k version of basic 6.23e, I just tested it and it now boots fine on a CIAB, 128k and Prem 128k 'bee. So have updated the file in the repository with this version, so download again and let me know if you have any further issues.

I dont use the ciab_double_sided_master_ds80.dsk disk and would only suggest its use for CIAB 'bees that have had their drives updated to double sided. Since std 128k 'bees didnt come with 3.5" drives but I assume thats what you are running, I would suggest you use the Peter Broughton system and particularly ver 1.2 as you will find it on many of our disks. Its works on 5.25 & 3.5 disks as well as 64k 128k and Prem 128k bees. Then use SETSYS to change Startup Options to change to how you want it to boot.

[emujoust]

Penguin Book of Games is working fine on my Standard 'bee now. Cool.

Thanks for advice re Peter Broughton system disk v1.2. I thought I would give it a go in fixing the 1bit music disks for Standard use as well. They already play ok without correction, but the menu looks a bit messy.

I was able to put the system on the disk with setsys (option 5 -> option 0) and set the disk to run BASIC M on boot (option 3 -> set parameters, escape, option 5 -> option 1). However, disk doesn't work. It gets caught in an infinite boot loop and never displays menu. I suspect I may be inadvertently running the original version of Basic which is causing problems - not sure. I tried copying Basic 6.23e over to the disk before adding the system and I've also tried copying Basic over afterwards. However, copying Basic over afterwards gives me errors in the Transfer program and fails. I tried by copying over to ramdisk M: and then back to A:  Not sure if that's the right method.

Fixing the 1bit music disks' menu with my CIAB double sided disk gives me a successful outcome / working disk, so not sure what I'm doing wrong with the Peter Broughton disk. It's good I have a solution for now though.

I'm also keen to know an easy way to copy from disk to disk with a single drive. I use an HxC which is a bit like a Gotek and when I need to use it to copy from disk to disk I seem to run into problems. I also use uBee with multiple drives where possible, but sometimes I want to do some copying of files on the HxC itself. Being able to hot swap disks is a useful feature it has too.

[ChickenMan]

Glad to hear the Penguin Book disk is working for you.

With the PJB system, you need to also check you have the right Disk type specified to be the same as the actual disk your writing the system file to. Its doesnt auto detect the disk format be it single sided or double sided or 3.5" or 5.25".

The bit music disks suffer from exactly the same problem as the Penguin Book disk, its not the system, its the Basic version. Replace the Basic with the one thats on the Penguin Book disk and all will be well..

A Gotek with Flashfloppy firmware works 100% on a Microbee, I use several of them in my Microbees as either A: or B: drives. The HxC unit I have never used or seen one, but only from what I read I see no reason why they shouldnt work 100% also.

To make a clone of a floppy, best to use is BACKUP thats on a premium 128k system disk. It clones single sided and double sided 3.5" disks on a single drive system.