Thanks to the incredible work of Fabrice Frances in producing the ultra-fast tape for SkoolDaze, here comes a brand new version of tap2cd which seems to correct the errors of the previous version.
Sources here, including the readme file with instructions.
Binary is included in the next OSDK release:
here
The old version sometimes did not work or inhibited auto-run whether there were loading errors or not. Depending on the version of the 1.1 rom, it might display an "Errors found" message (even with no loading errors) or not (even if there were loading errors). Worse than that, with some ROMs loading errors simply went undetected.
This new version should work with most machines with the 1.1 ROM as well as different players. I tested with two old laptops and the windows sound recorder and it worked well, once the correct volume is found. It seems not to work with my iPad, though.
The best approach I found for adjusting things is the following:
1. Generate the wav with tap2cd -c (so it includes the CRC checking)
2. Set the volume to the highest level possible
3. Try to load
4. If you get an "Errors found" and the load aborts, turn down the volume a bit and get back to step 3
5. If everything went OK the program will auto-start (if saved with that option). Else there was a loading error (beware that, if in HIRES mode, you won't see the message, as it will scroll to the Ready prompt too quickly).
Alternatively, you can start from the lowest volume possible that is recognized by the Oric (it prints the Loading... message) and turn it up a little at each step.
When the volume is not set correctly the "Errors found" message appears quite quickly, so it is fast to approach the adequate level. With some programs it may need a finer adjustment or even a couple of attempts for a succesfull loading.
Please report here your experiences, whether successful or not. All the information (player, configuration, ROM version, game, etc.) is valuable.
Oh, and remember you can use the ultra-fast wav file to load your game in Oricutron. It behaves as the real hardware!
Important information in the readme file:
Code: Select all
This is version 2 of this program. It has been revised so it now works with Atmos machines
which had problems with the previous version, as well as with a wider variety of real
players (some seemed to invert the signal). Auto-run is now well preserved.
It now has an option to perform an 8-bit CRC on every page loaded (activate it with -c
in the command line options), so loading errors are detected and reported inmediately.
It also has a new option to load the hires screen first (activate it with -h). Use this
with caution, as it needs that the original tape includes the hires screen in the same file.