Cassette issue

Supporter (3)

21-05-2022, 14:21

Hi,

I recently purchased a Sanyo Phc28s. I works fine using cartridges but using cassette I'm running into some problems.

1st game: Arkanoid. Using the instructions in the case (RUN:CAS it first gives me the message Found: ark, but after the tape stops it gives me the error Syntax error in 10.

2nd game: Hunphrey: There are no instructions, so I just use Load:CAS:,r. It finds the file :?: and then a couple seconds later it switches from a blue to black screen with the error Undefined line number in 100

I tried 2 different 2 tape recorders but with both I get the same errors.

Based on the information above, is there something I'm doing wrong or are the tapes probably bad?

Thanks.

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By Manuel

Ascended (19219)

21-05-2022, 20:01

This machine only has 16kB of RAM. Many tape games will not work with such a low amount of RAM. Remember that the game itself must also be in the RAM...

By dth

Supporter (3)

21-05-2022, 21:15

So a memory cartridge would do the trick then?

Also, why you think that I got different error messages with each tape?

By CASDuino

Champion (323)

21-05-2022, 21:30

For Humphrey the load command is BLOAD"CAS:",R so you are using the wrong load command.

However, it's all about the lack of memory.

By sdsnatcher73

Prophet (3808)

21-05-2022, 22:27

dth wrote:

So a memory cartridge would do the trick then?

Also, why you think that I got different error messages with each tape?

Every game is built differently. Some use a loader in BASIC, that may fail with 16kB but also may still work. Then the binary loading may fail. That is why you get different error for different games.

A 64kB memory cartridge can help for some games but not for all. The issue is that the first 16kB will be in slot 0 (together with your BIOS) and the rest will be in another slot. Not all software will like that.

What would be best is a memory mapper that works on MSX1 (I think because the mapper will initialise the RAM pages all active RAM will be in the same slot, but I am not entirely sure of that).

By dth

Supporter (3)

21-05-2022, 22:45

I was indeed thinking about a memory mapper too but it seems they are all out of stock / not available. I will keep checking. Thanks for your help

By Manuel

Ascended (19219)

21-05-2022, 23:11

The memory mapper will have the same issue as a 64kB memory cartridge.
Some options for playing more tape/disk games:
1. use 64kB memory cartridge or MSX1-compatible memory mapper and then remove the original RAM from the MSX
2. get a different MSX (I recommend an MSX2 anyway, for more fun)

By sdsnatcher73

Prophet (3808)

22-05-2022, 06:24

Yeah removing the RAM would work (or put a switch on it). I was also looking at possibilities to downgrade the RAM to 8kB by using 4408 chips instead of 4416 now in the machine (but not sure if that is possible yet). Why downgrade?

The BIOS will prefer any RAM of 16kB (e.g. memory mapper) over the 8kB in slot 0.
The machine would still boot normally

But probably a switch to disable the internal RAM makes more sense. Getting a 64kB machine or an MSX2 will also make sense.

By Emphy

Resident (59)

23-05-2022, 13:16

In case you are also planning on obtaining a flash cart: there's several options of those which have extra ram included, in which case you wouldn't need to get a separate ram cart.

For example, I have the MegaFlashRom + 512kb working on my toshiba msx1 with 16kb. Still have the problem with some tape software not liking the memory map, though.

By Danjovic

Champion (321)

23-05-2022, 14:08

Is there any tool to run before the game loader to modify the slot configuration? Maybe simply a poke if you already know in which slot is your extra ram.

By sdsnatcher73

Prophet (3808)

23-05-2022, 17:02

You can use BMMS for that, although I have not tried it myself.