*********************************************************************** *** *** *** R o m W B W *** *** *** *** Z80/Z180 System Software *** *** *** *********************************************************************** This directory ("Binary") is part of the RomWBW System Software distribution archive. It contains the completed binary outputs of the build process. As described below, these files are used to assemble a working RetroBrew Computers system. The files in this directory are created by the build process that is documented in the ReadMe.txt file in the Source directory. When released the directory is populated with the default output files. However, the output of custom builds will be placed in this directory as well. If you only see a few files in this directory, then you downloaded just the source from GitHub. To retrieve the full release download package, go to https://github.com/wwarthen/RomWBW. On this page, look for the text "XX releases" where XX is a number. Click on this text to go to the releases page. On this page, you will see the latest releases listed. For each release, you will see a package file called something like "RomWBW-2.9.0-Package.zip". Click on the package file for the release you want to download. ROM Firmware Images (_.rom) ------------------------------------- The files with a ".rom" extension are binary images ready to program into an appropriate PROM. These files are named with the format _.rom. refers to the primary platform such as Zeta, N8, Mark IV, etc. refers to the specific configuration. In general, there will be a standard configuration ("std") for each platform. So, for example, the file called MK4_std.rom is a ROM image for the Mark IV with the standard configuration. If a custom configuration called "custom" is created and built, a new file called MK4_custom.rom will be added to this directory. Documentation of the pre-built ROM Images is contained in "RomWBW User Guide.pdf" in the Doc directory. ROM Firmware Update Images (_.upd) ------------------------------------- The files with a ".upd" extension are binary images identical to the .rom files, but they only have the first 128K bytes. The first 128K is the system image without the ROM disk contents. These files can be used to update the system image without modifying the ROM disk contents. Refer to the RomWBW User Guide for more information. ROM Executable Images (_.com) --------------------------------------- When a ROM image (".rom") is created, an executable version of the ROM is also created. These files have the same naming convention as the ROM Image files, but have the extension ".com". These files can be copied to a working system and run like a normal CP/M application. When run on the target system, they install in RAM just like they had been loaded from ROM. This allows a new ROM build to be tested without reprogramming the actual ROM. WARNING: In a few cases the .com file is too big to load. If you get a message like "Full" or "BAD LOAD" when trying to load one of the .com files, it is too big. In these cases, you will not be able to test the ROM prior to programming it. VDU ROM Image (vdu.rom) ----------------------- The VDU video board requires a dedicated onboard ROM containing the font data. The "vdu.rom" file contains the binary data to program onto that chip. Disk Images (fd_*.img, hd_*.img) -------------------------------- RomWBW includes a mechanism for generating floppy disk and hard disk binary images that are ready to copy directly to a floppy, hard disk, CF Card, or SD Card which will then be ready for use in any RomWBW-based system. Essentially, these files contain prepared floppy and hard disk images with a large set of programs and related files. By copying the contents of these files to appropriate media as described below, you can quickly create ready-to-use media. Win32DiskImager or RawWriteWin can be used to copy images directly to media. These programs are included in the RomWBW Tools directory. The fd_*.img files are floppy disk images. They are sized for 1.44MB floppy media and can be copied to actual floppy disks using RawWriteWin (as long as you have access to a floppy drive on your Windows computer). The resulting floppy disks will be usable on any RomWBW-based system with floppy drive(s). Likewise, the hd512_*.img and hd1k_*.img files are hard disk images. Each file is intended to be copied to the start of any type of hard disk media (typically a CF Card or SD Card). The resulting media will be usable on any RomWBW-based system that accepts the corresponding media type. NOTE: The hd512_*.img files are equivalent to the hd_*.img files in previous distributions. The hd1k_*.img files contained a revised file system format that increases the maximum number of CP/M directory entries from 512 to 1024. Refer to the ReadMe.txt in the Source/Images directory for details. Documentation of the pre-built disk images is contained in the "RomWBW User Guide" found in the Doc directory. The contents of the disk images is contained in the "RomWBW Disk Catalog", but it is significantly out-of-date. The contents of the floppy/hard disk images are created by the BuildImages.cmd script in the Source directory. Additional information on how to generate custom disk images is found in the Source\Images ReadMe.txt file. Disk Images (hd512_combo.img, hd1k_combo.img, *_std_hd1k_combo.img) ------------------------------------------------------------------- The hd512_combo.img and hd1k_combo.img file are the primary combo disk image files suitable for most platforms. The *_std_hd1k_combo.img files are platform specific combo files typically used in romless platforms, they also contain RomWBW binary code that is loaded at boot time into RAM Disk Images (hd1k_prefix.dat, *_std_hd1k_prefix.dat) ---------------------------------------------------- The hd1k_prefix.dat file is part of the combo disk images and is applied to hd1k image files as a prefix, it contains the standard partion table. The *_std_hd1k_prefix.dat files are platform specific prefixes typically used in romless platforms, they also contain RomWBW binary code that is loaded at boot time into RAM Disk Images (psys.img) ---------------------- The psys.img file contains a full implementation of the UCSD p-System for the Z80 running under RomWBW. This image file must be placed on disk media by itself (not appended or concatenated with hd*.img files. Refer to the Source/pSys/ReadMe.txt file for more information on the p-System implementation. Propeller ROM Images (*.eeprom) ------------------------------- The files with and extension of ".eeprom" contain the binary images to be programmed into the Propeller-based boards. The list below indicates which file targets each of the Propeller board variants: ParPortProp ParPortProp.eeprom PropIO V1 PropIO.eeprom PropIO V2 PropIO2.eeprom Refer to the board documentation of the boards for more information on how to program the EEPROMs on these boards. SUB DIRECTORIES =============== Apps Directory -------------- The Apps subdirectory contains the executable application files that are specific to RomWBW. The source for these applications is found in the Source\Apps directory of the distribution. CPNET Directory --------------- This directory contains the CP/NET client packages. Please refer to the RomWBW User Guide for instructions on installing these packages, or see the Readme.txt file in this sub-directory CPM22 CPM3 ZSDOS ZPM3 QPM Directories ------------------------------------- These directories contains the system files for the RomWBW adaptations for each operating system. All of these files are already included on the boot disk images. However if you are creating a o/s boot disk manually, you will need copy all of these files to the boot disk. These files should also be copied to any boot disks on your system when you upgrade your ROM firmware. Some of these files *must* match the version of the RomWBW firmware you are using for proper operation of your system.