MSX load game from tape

Supporter (9)

15-03-2023, 13:38

Hi from Singapore

I am new to the MSX scene and recently acquired a Sony HB-F1XD.
If I may start with a question about loading Arkanoid from a tape.
As per casssette instructions I used the command BLOAD"ARK",R but got in return "Disk offline" I assume due to the presence of a disk drive on a MSX2.
After checking the wiki for BLOAD, I specified the device and used the following command, BLOAD"CAS:ARK.BIN",R. After loading awhile it returns with "SKIP AA"
Would someone know the correct input command for this game?
I understand that it makes little or no sense to load a game from a tape nowadays

Thanks,

By ourra

Supporter (8)

15-03-2023, 18:09

Hi! Vendest

try with: BLOAD"CAS:",R

...and it will load the first file in the tape, regardless its name.
The "SKIP AA" message appears because it tries to load a file named "ARK.BIN" and instead it founds one named "AA", and therefore it skips it.

Regards!

By CASDuino

Champion (358)

15-03-2023, 18:56

For Arkanoid you need to type in RUN"CAS:" but as you have an MSX2 you may need to put POKE-1,170 first.

By tingis53

Paragon (1121)

15-03-2023, 20:40

poke -1,170 will not work , it is for Philips machines , for sony try -1,255

By Manuel

Ascended (19678)

16-03-2023, 07:57

For tape games, it's best to disable disk basic altogether by holding the shift key when resetting until you get into basic.

By gdx

Enlighted (6436)

16-03-2023, 09:17

tingis53 wrote:

poke -1,170 will not work , it is for Philips machines , for sony try -1,255

Best to put this one in the loader in Basic: POKE-1,(15-PEEK(-1)\16)*17

By thegeps

Paragon (1252)

16-03-2023, 09:58

Hi, gdx. Can you explain the meaning of this formula? I know that -1 (ffffh) is the slot register, but it isn't clear (to me) how exactly it works this basic formula (well, peek(-1)/16 is clear, at least)

By smx

Expert (74)

16-03-2023, 11:20

I ask something that is a little off topic: Do you know of any tools to load from cassette with colored stripes like in the ZX Spectrum loads?

By Vendest

Supporter (9)

16-03-2023, 11:57

Thanks for the help! unfortunately the tape now seems to be faulty, it spins very slowly all of a sudden. (Tape player confirmed to be working well with the CPC) I could not try any of the commands.
I've build a TZXDuino (1.5 reloaded) a week ago. I'll see if I can use it to load CAS on the MSX2.

By Vendest

Supporter (9)

16-03-2023, 16:23

So I was able to load games from TXZDuino (MAXDuino firmware).
POKE -1,255
OK
RUN"CAS:",R
Found "ARK"
The MSX reset but nothing happened so and I power cycled the MSX and held Shift down which worked!

Only issue now the MSX does not boot to BASIC anymore, the game is kept in memory.

By tfh

Prophet (3428)

16-03-2023, 16:39

Vendest wrote:

Only issue now the MSX does not boot to BASIC anymore, the game is kept in memory.

Keep your MSX power down for a few minutes. Some MSX's keep their memory alive for quite some time.