Table of Contents

Spectrum Emulator

Current version: x013

The Spectrum Emulator is alternative FPGA config which emulates both the ZX Spectrum 48K and Spectrum 128 (in a non-precise manner).

Limitations:

Installation instructions

There are two parts to the installation:

  1. If it is not already on your SD card copy the latest “Spectrum” folder from the V6_SD_Card boot disk (or alternative configs/spectrum_emulator) folder to the root of your FAT 16 SD card (the same card can be used for FLOS etc). This contains the Spectrum ROMs, some snapshots and a file called bootcode.exe which acts as front end /. sna file selector. It also contains the FPGA config files for all versions of the V6Z80P.
  2. Install the FPGA config file to the onboard EEPROM using the FLOS command EEPROM.EXE - make sure you use the config file appropriate for your model of V6Z80P. (See the subfolder “FPGA_CFG”)
  3. Start the emulator with option 2 in EEPROM.EXE, or use the FLOS command Boot n (where n is the slot containing the emu config), or during boot tap the function key corresponding the emulator slot (can only be F1-F7)

Usage

When the file menu loads, select a .sna file with the cursor keys and press Enter to load it. (For best compatibility, Spectrum 48 sna files use the original Spectrum 48 ROM file, and Spectrum 128 use the newer ROM.) Note: Only the first 44 files and folders in each directory are listed. You can also press B to go to the Spectrum 128 front end (BASIC), Shift and 1, 2 or 3 to restart the FPGA from another config slot or Shift+V to switch VGA to 50Hz (no effect on PAL/NTSC mode)

During emulation, press Escape to go back to the .sna loader (F1-F12 adjusts the speed for versions of the V6Z80P that cannot directly control the CPU clock)

A Kempston type joystick is supported in Joy port 1.

The 40 key Spectrum keyboard is emulated. Also the PC backspace and cursor keys are mapped onto the Spectrum's matrix (these keys casue SHIFT to be held at the same time).

Tech notes

On boot, the ROM in the FPGA loads the file “bootcode.exe” from the SPECTRUM dir at $800. If this file is missing, an error is shown (at this point you can download a bootcode.exe file serially if desired).

The bootcode looks for an ID string in memory, if it is not found it loads the Spectrum 128 and Spectrum 48 ROMs, initializes the keyboard etc. The file menu is then shown. The bootcode can be changed to create a more advanced front end. The memory area $800-$3fff is free for this use.