[Coco] convert rompaks to disk

[Willard Goosey]

>Date: Fri, 25 Mar 2005 06:04:30 +1100
>From: David <golgotha at toughguy.net>
>Hi all,
>
>Does anyone have any clues as to how to go about converting rompak 
>images on the web (for use with emulators) to disk images which can run 
>on a real coco?

I've played with this idea a little bit...  Note that I've only done
this with 8K and 16K ROMPAKs.  I don't know about the weird CoCo 3 32K
ROMPaks. 

The rompak images are byte-for-byte copies.  First you gotta turn them
into coco .bin files.  This can be done with an 8-bit editor of your
choice:

To the beginning, add $00 <Length in hex (2000 or 4000)> 30 00 This is
the binfile header.

At the end, add FF 00 00 30 00

That would give you the ROM image as a CoCo .bin file that wants to
load at $3000, where relocated ROMs tend to be moved to.

Note that most ROMs were not written with PIC code and will not run
from anywhere but $C000.  Patching them to run off disk can be trivial
or nearly impossible.
>
>I saw some instructions in an old CFDM for thexder and shanghai, but 
>they both require the physical cartridge, rather than using a rom image 
>with an emulator

Those two are good ones, very easy to patch for disk use.  Let me know
if you need the patchs.
>
>regards,
>David
>

Willard
-- 
Willard Goosey  goosey at sdc.org
Socorro, New Mexico, USA
"I've never been to Contempt!  Isn't that somewhere in New Mexico?"
   --- Yacko