ZX Spectrum Next Port to MiSTer

[Aspie]

I give up. I've moved the files to the SD Card in the secondary slot. I've renamed the .vhd file. Then when I boot the core I get the error 'Error mounting SD Card!'

EDIT
I managed to sort it out. It was all to do with the formatting of the SD card. I originally just did a quick format using Windows but I've since found out I had to use a program called SD Card Formatter and do a full format. I then loaded the files from the Spectrum Next website and put all my old Spectrum files in the games folder.

It works perfectly now.

[yog]

Has anyone gotten the ESDOX to work? Thanks!

[NML32]

Has anyone gotten the ESDOX to work? Thanks!

I'm unable to get esxDOS to load.

[Aspie]

Loving this core, just need some game recommendations.

I can recommend Delta's Shadow, it looks and play fantastic.

Beggars in Space is what Jetpac 2 could have become if Ultimate hadn't made Lunar Jetman.

Warhawk Next is also not only a technical showcase but also a good game.

Tyvarian also from Rusty Pixels is nice even if in my opinion it is the weakest of their 3 "big" games.

Bikers is more a technical showcase then everything else, but as a pure Hang On clone it is worth a look (but I think this kind of racing game concept aged badly).

Q*bee is a very polished Q*Bert clone.

There are more Next games, but to me these are the best at the moment.

Rusty Pixels version of Scramble is excellent. It looks and plays just like the original.

On another note does Nextel work on MiSTer? I start it and get the opening screen, then I select 1 to connect but then I just get the message that it's connecting and that's it.

[Powerbear]

I've been trying to get this to work for a few days and feel now I need help!
From the very first install, the MiSter just crashes to a black screen.
I have tried downloading both ZXNext_20210319.rbf and boot.zip multiple times because the first boot.zip was corrupt and could not be open and when the .zip could be opened the .vhd was corrupted. That's sorted now.
I have put the .rbf into ~/_Computers and the .vhd into ~/games/ZXNext
The MiSter completely crashes to a black screen and has to be power cycled to come back from the dead.

Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated.

[antonie]

"Make sure you've deleted/renamed ZXNext.vhd in the root and Games/ZXNext/boot.vhd."

i.e. zxnext.vhd in the root, or boot.vhd in the games folder.

The root option works perfectively for mw.

[Powerbear]

Thank you for the advice,
But, I have the following files on the MiSter...
~/_Computers/ZXNext_20210319.rbf
~/games/ZXNext/boot.vhd

And the system still crashes to a blank screen. I'm new to this system and still trying to get my head around what goes where and why

[Sorgelig]

Has anyone gotten the ESDOX to work? Thanks!

I'm unable to get esxDOS to load.

it seems core requires new zx next firmware or os.
there: http://www.specnext.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=6&t=1963 SD image with name nextzxos-30110.zip was posted supposed to be compatible with current core version, but i was too late to grab it.
So someone needs to get that image to be able to run esxdos.
Official tbblue repo has very old firmware which is incompatible with esxdos on new core version... I have no idea where to get updated tbblue pack.

[Sorgelig]

oh, hint: if you will be quick after clicking the file link, then you will be able to click download icon and file will be downloaded!
And yes, ESXDOS works with files from that zip.. i will need to update the image in repo

[NML32]

oh, hint: if you will be quick after clicking the file link, then you will be able to click download icon and file will be downloaded!
And yes, ESXDOS works with files from that zip.. i will need to update the image in repo

Good catch, it worked.

[Powerbear]

Thank you for the advice,
But, I have the following files on the MiSter...
~/_Computers/ZXNext_20210319.rbf
~/games/ZXNext/boot.vhd

And the system still crashes to a blank screen. I'm new to this system and still trying to get my head around what goes where and why

All sorted now, thanks.
As I suspected, the .rbf file was corrupted. As soon as I found a good copy all is good

[metalfacemark]

Loving this core, just need some game recommendations.

I'd say check outhttps://www.rustypixels.uk/ , a small development team consisting of talented coders from back in the Spectrum era:

- Tyvarian
- Baggers in Space
- Warhawk

The above are paid, digital downloads are available which cost less.

There's also a good Tetris version called "Crowley's World Tour" available.

There's also some quality arcade conversions like Scramble, plus Pacman, which are pretty pointless playing on the MiSTer, but interesting seeing the Next running them perfectly.

Scramble is arcade perfect from when i tried it yesterday, really impressive.

[zeen]

Hi,

I have an error "No such command, 0:5" when I try to load a game pressing enter from the NextZXOS 3.5 Browser using a VHD file. I was able to run basic programs.

I tried creating SD card but I have read errors reading a machine file.

Thank you,

[antonie]

Hi,

The ZXNext manual can be found here

https://www.specnext.com/zx-spectrum-ne ... t-edition/

It's in PDF format so you should be able to search for the error (assuming it's documented)

[Sorgelig]

Just to predict some one's complain
There is Poggie game demo. There are 2 versions:
- Version without title screen - works fine with real SD card. With VHD image it freezes at the end of music. virtual SD card is a little slower.
- Version with title screen it hangs at start. But there are 2 issues actually: 1) Virtual SD card is too slow for this version. Use real SD card. 2) With real SD card it also hangs at start, but it seems there is some bug in game. You need to start version without title screen first then start this version again - it will work. Even with real SD card music sometimes hiccups but works.

The way they write this game is "what to do to load the Next as much as possible" without a real reason. Music is actually rubbish. Almost identical music can be made by 2 PSGs available in Next. And the music is the actual reason why this demo requires so much performance because it streamed from SD card.
First demo uses 14MHz only and it looks enough for game while second demo uses 28MHz and still struggles. Although there is no visible differences between them.

Overall game doesn't look like ZX Spectrum game at all. It can be written on NES/SNES/MD without struggling in performance.

[zeen]

Hi,

Using the sd formater tool fix my issue too. Thank you.

I give up. I've moved the files to the SD Card in the secondary slot. I've renamed the .vhd file. Then when I boot the core I get the error 'Error mounting SD Card!'

EDIT
I managed to sort it out. It was all to do with the formatting of the SD card. I originally just did a quick format using Windows but I've since found out I had to use a program called SD Card Formatter and do a full format. I then loaded the files from the Spectrum Next website and put all my old Spectrum files in the games folder.

It works perfectly now.

[guddler]

Has there really been no update to the base image for the Next in over a year? Or is there some secret place to get it from?

I asked someone that I know with a real Next from the initial KS last night and he just pointed me to the same place I was going, which ultimately links through to a place to download an image for use with CSpect and the Next.

[edit] think I found an explanation for this on the next wiki. Something about the date of the Wordpress post not updating when the page is edited

[NML32]

Has anyone gotten the ESDOX to work? Thanks!

It works now with the latest boot.vhd. This might be old news, but I just discovered that you could also display long filenames with the addon ESXDOS File Browser v0.16 by Bob Fossil. Links to the files I used are in the YouTube video.

https://youtu.be/rPa-HYr8j_s

[Chris23235]

Has there really been no update to the base image for the Next in over a year? Or is there some secret place to get it from?

I asked someone that I know with a real Next from the initial KS last night and he just pointed me to the same place I was going, which ultimately links through to a place to download an image for use with CSpect and the Next.

[edit] think I found an explanation for this on the next wiki. Something about the date of the Wordpress post not updating when the page is edited

You can find the latest Firmware always at the Gitlab page:

https://gitlab.com/thesmog358/tbblue

Currently it is calm at the update front, because the team is busy testing the latest board revision in order to get the KS2 computers out of the door. On the official forum they stated that when this is ready the firmware will get an update again.

[pgimeno]

With the latest boot.vhd, CP/M does NOT work out of the box (it did with the previous one). You need to invoke the NextZXOS command line and type:

Code: Select all

.defrag "nextzxos/cpm-a.p3d"

It takes a while. After that, you can proceed with the installation as usual.

[OriginalXOR]

A tiny question if I may, the Next in real hardware terms has an option to add another SD card and thus appears as Drive D. So my question being is there a way to have 2 SD cards (or images) running as separate drives? (Within the MiSTer core that is) NB: I do have a Real Hardware Rev.1 Next (Inside a 48K modified case), and use this 2 card method meaning I can update the Main C drive with any updates while keeping my software collections on the D. Anyway just asking as I couldn't see a mention in the docs.

Absolutely loving this core, amazing work.
For those scratching their heads with all things ZXNext, the original site may prove helpful, as well as the forums.
https://www.specnext.com/
https://www.specnext.com/forum/

On a different note, for those looking for games here is something NEXT specific:
https://gitlab.com/strandgames/brahman/ ... ompilation
Remember the Magnetic Scrolls games, well here are the updated versions complete with graphics: Yes Spectrum owners missed out on pictures with these games. There is even a compilation version you can make into an image and use that inside the emulator without upsetting the boot.vhd image.

I also strongly advise checking out Lords of Midnight within the Games>Next folder already part of the NextOS.
A fine upgrade on the original and worth a little of your time.

[Sorgelig]

Yes, it's possible to add a second VHD.
I just need more info about it. There is a signal to select a secondary SD card but i don't know for example how to select SD card. In main Specrtum menu i see on bottom "CM" but how to switch from C to M?

[Sorgelig]

Btw today's release has much higher performance on 28MHz. Pogie demo (second version) doesn't hicup for me now even with VHD.

[OriginalXOR]

Yes, it's possible to add a second VHD.
I just need more info about it. There is a signal to select a secondary SD card but i don't know for example how to select SD card. In main Specrtum menu i see on bottom "CM" but how to switch from C to M?

Yes it is within this menu, when looking at the Browser listing you simply press 'D' (Drive) and it switches. However, if you have physically added a second SD card into the hardware of the ZXNext, you'll see this list shows as "CDM" and as such switch between both SDcards and Memory using the D key...

[Fallon]

Sprites seem to be missing from the Warhawk Demo on latest release. Anyone else see this?

[Sorgelig]

Sprites seem to be missing from the Warhawk Demo on latest release. Anyone else see this?

it's fine for me. May be your VHD is broken by 0404 release write.

[lordoftime79]

How do I make the screen scale propperly - on my actual next it fills my DELL nicely but I cant seem to make the Mister next core do the same and its the only thing stopping me from enjoying it right now.

[Fallon]

Sprites seem to be missing from the Warhawk Demo on latest release. Anyone else see this?

it's fine for me. May be your VHD is broken by 0404 release write.

Still not working for me with latest core - I downloaded the boot.vhd again from MiSTer ZXNext Github and replaced my old boot.vhd

I reverted the core to ZXNext_20210404.rbf, enemy sprites return.

[StalkS]

Going round in circles with this core atm. I mount the VHD, It boots I get a resolution selection screen (Mode 0/50Hz/scan*1) press Enter then Y - Then Nadda, Nothing - Black screen

/media/fat/_Computer/ZXNext_20210407.rbf - (Internal SD)
/media/usb0/Games/ZXNext/boot.vhd - (External USB HDD)

I have tried having all the files on just the SD but don't get anywhere with either.

Downloaded both the rbf and the boot.zip multiple times from the Github page but I cannot get this thing going - can anyone point me in the right direction?

[pgimeno]

How difficult would it be to integrate a Pi Zero in this core?

If that's out of the equation, how difficult would it be to emulate enough of the communication, as to get TZX support working?