kxn (02/22/83)
Before getting on with c64 stuff, let me explain a problem I'm having.
I sent a request for info about the C64 load mod format on the net some
time ago and got back 5 responses so far. They were from:
Rich Adelman
Kurt Gunteroth - 2 msgs
Greg Powers
Bob Schreibmaier
Brad Templeton
I sent replies to the first 4 of these so far but heard nothing back.
I called one and he said he never got my msg. I tried mailing to myself
thru a chain of 6 systems (pyuxcc!pyuxjj!mhuxm!mhuxh!mhuxt!eagle) and
back thru them again. That got thru and I got the mail the next day.
Does anyone have an idea about what's wrong?????
In the meantime, since I can't send directly to these people, I'll
summarize here.
The load mod format is not in the back of the disk manual. The only answer
I got was from Brad who said there is no format. (Unless I didn't understand
his answer). Well, there MUST!!!! be some format either explicit or by
default. How does LOAD"filename",8,1 know where to start loading and when to
stop.
I found at least a partial answer by the brute force method. Machine
language programs are stored as:
Byte 0,1 Track , sector of next block
Byte 2,3 address of where to start loading into
in lo-byte first format.
Byte 4-? machine lang pgm.
The data is ended by 3 consecutive bytes of binary zeroes.
Which leads me to other questions. What if you have a mach lang pgm made up
of several non-consecutive sections. Is it possible to load it?
Also, what if your mach lang pgm ha three consecutive bytes of zeroes in it
like constants? Does the loader just crap out?
Next topic - software trading
When I bought my 64 I got quite a few disks of programs for free.
I'm making handwritten directory listings of each disk but it's going to
take a while because I have to shuffle pgms around to pack them in. When
I'm done I'd be glad to send a copy to anyone who wants them. They could
pick what they want, send me a blank, and I'll copy onto it and sennd it
back.
I know that will eat into my already scarce time but if everyone is
willing to do the same, we'll all be better off. I think this is better
than worrying about who gets a better deal on a trade. What do you all
think??? I'll summarize the results.
To Brad ---
You said you have an assembler, would you be interested in any
trade (like the above)???
Later
Ken Korona
pyuxcc!kxn