For questions about processes and software for emulating retro computer and console hardware (e.g. MAME, QEMU).
5
votes
2answers
316 views
Open source, non-GPL SID emulator
I am looking for a SID emulator that is open source, but not GPL. In particular, I am looking for something with a license that allows me to link it to a closed-source program; and also one that ...
22
votes
2answers
1k views
Are there runnable Multics systems available?
I've always read that Multics was a failed precurser of Unix, and was interested in seeing how it looks (as in, what features did Unix remove that Multics had, and did more modern Unixen bring them ...
5
votes
3answers
442 views
How to do I/O with emulation code?
I have a partly-written emulation program for the 8086 CPU. And I'm not sure how to go about adding I/O capabilities to it. The emulator implements a subset of the 8086 instruction set described here.
...
0
votes
2answers
210 views
Is emulation ultimately the future of retro computing? [closed]
As you probably know, nothing really lasts forever in the human-made world of appliances, especially electronic ones.
Whether it stems from market evolution, technical advancements, newer paradigms, ...
0
votes
1answer
188 views
Is it possible to make VICE load .prg files faster?
When I load a C64 .prg with the Hoxs64 emulator, my .prg loads pretty much instantly.
But when I load the same .prg file with VICE (x64 app.prg) it takes quite a while (depends on memory map, but ...
8
votes
3answers
695 views
Intel 8080 - Behaviour of the carry bit when comparing a value with 0
I'm in the process of writing an emulator for the Intel 8080.
The description of the CMP instruction from Intel's 8080 programming manual (see page 20) says the following:
The specified byte is ...
3
votes
0answers
104 views
Can't type angle bracket characters in AmigaOS 4.1 on WinUAE
Has anyone else experienced that when running AmigaOS 4.1 inside WinUAE that they can't type the < or > characters? I have a mostly bog-standard American QWERTY keyboard, no special emulation ...
4
votes
2answers
245 views
How to transfer files to C64 emulator quickly
I just discovered the fun of writing small programs (Basic/asm) for an emulated C64 for me.
Unfortunately, I cannot get used to the emulated C64 keybord, and would like to write the programs on the ...
8
votes
5answers
1k views
USB floppy drive emulator, is there such a thing? and if so, where can I get one
I'm aware of the floppy emulators that are installed to 3.5" bays where "disks" are stored on a flash drive. But what I need now is the opposite - essentially a USB dongle that emulates the floppy ...
16
votes
1answer
820 views
How to check the C64 graphics mode used by Maniac Mansion
I have been investigating the MS-DOS port of the C64's Maniac Mansion game. The original MS-DOS port used the C64-specific character map to draw the various backgrounds in the game. I noticed that ...
8
votes
1answer
393 views
How was the Traf-O-Data 8008 simulator developed?
Traf-O-Data was the first business partnership between Paul Allen, Bill Gates and Paul Gilbert. In order to develop the software for their custom-built Traf-O-Data machine (Intel 8008 Inside™), ...
4
votes
1answer
408 views
How was the Microsoft PDP-10 8080 emulator developed? [closed]
Altair BASIC, the first version of Microsoft BASIC, was developed using an Intel 8008 emulator, modified to emulate an Intel 8080, running on a PDP-10 computer. This emulator was originally designed ...
8
votes
2answers
300 views
How to obtain CPU and other hardware specs for emulator development
In order to write emulators for older systems, one has to know the "inner workings" of the original hardware and understand what makes it "tick". I've noticed that with some systems, proprietary ...
9
votes
7answers
641 views
Emulators running on 8-bit personal computers
Were there emulators running on 8-bit computers (preferably "mainstream" personal ones), available to general public (as opposed to in-house developers only)? I am mostly after emulators running fully ...
17
votes
4answers
1k views
Emulate smooth scrolling
One thing I really liked about the 8-bit (and even most 16-bit) games was that the frame rate was fixed to the vertical blanking. Games were smooth back then. I've been trying to recreate that feeling ...
4
votes
1answer
252 views
Can someone help me get xROAR to read files? (M6809/TRS-80 ColorComputer)
I implemented a Forth interpreter or the TRS-80 Color Computer (M6809) way back in the 1980s, and I've been trying to figure out how to get it loaded into an emulator to test some parts of the ...
6
votes
1answer
194 views
Do any Atari 8-bit emulators produce the disk / tape I/O sound?
I asked this question several months ago about why did the Atari produce beeping sounds when loading a disk or tape and it seems that it was by design. However, as I've played with a few emulators ...
12
votes
6answers
1k views
Do any mainframe emulators exist with a functional FORTRAN compiler?
Similar to this question, but generalized to any mainframe computer from before the microprocessor era, does there exist an emulator and OS for a vintage mainframe computer that will run the output ...
6
votes
1answer
148 views
What are all the known file extensions for Atari 8-bit disk/tape/cartridge images?
I have a few collections of Atari 8-bit images that I've downloaded over the years, but only cherry picked into them. I'm at the point that I'd like to clean things up a bit and get rid of files that ...
16
votes
2answers
638 views
How old-computer emulators work?
I'm wondering how old-computer emulators work.
I can think of two possible approaches:
"hardware" approach - like a set of components that exactly act as low-level hardware elements. I mean a bus ...
3
votes
1answer
174 views
Trying to open IBM FILING ASSISTANT in DOSBOX, or other? [duplicate]
How does one get a program like a word doc onto MS DOS to begin with? I have a set of files that are backups, only one with .exe that is from an ancient word processor and would eventually like to ...
7
votes
1answer
213 views
pop af and flags
I'm writing a Z80 emulator in Swift for Mac OS and I have got as far as implementing the 16 bit pop instruction. The documentation I have found (i.e. The Z80 CPU User manual UM008011-0816 and also ...
8
votes
0answers
94 views
Gamepad triggers main menu in Fuse SDL
I'm trying to set up a gamepad to work with Fuse on Ubuntu. No matter which type of joystick I try to emulate (including None), pressing button #2 (or B in the Sega naming) opens the main SDL menu. ...
27
votes
8answers
5k views
NES cartridge rom emulation with arduino or pi?
I'm looking to buy or make an NES cartridge that can be controlled by a microcontroller or small computer like the Raspberry Pi.
I don't want to gut an NES cart and put an NES emulator inside it (as ...
15
votes
2answers
932 views
First computer emulator in Windows
I released my ZX Spectrum emulation Wspecem, and GPL sources first time publicly in the Internet at large, the 15th May 1996, for Windows 95.
I am quite sure it was the first ZX Spectrum emulation ...
8
votes
3answers
483 views
Trying to understand what an “address latch” is while emulating the NES PPU
I'm attempting to emulate the NES PPU and I'm implementing its registers. In particular, reading from the PPU status register has the following effects:
Reading the status register will clear D7 ...
14
votes
3answers
1k views
What are the laws concerning emulation in the US?
Emulators have always been a gray area. Googling the laws on emulation reveals all sorts of different answers, often with people saying that it's ok because "it's old stuff anyways."
Are there laws ...
3
votes
1answer
126 views
Basilisk II error
When I try to open the BasiliskIIGUI.exe I get errors saying things like 'The program can't start because libglib 2.0-0.dll is missing from your computer'
I have the recommended GTK installed and I ...
6
votes
1answer
500 views
Can the Gotek floppy emulator be made to work with classic Macs?
The Gotek floppy emulators are really popular in the retro scene. I have one modified (firmware update) to work with my Amiga 500.
Can one be made to work with any of the classic line of Macintosh ...
6
votes
2answers
527 views
SheepShaver failing to install application; Not Enough Memory
I am trying to install "Kid Pix Deluxe 4" on Mac OS 9 using SheepShaver on Ubuntu 16.04.
A problem I am having is that when I try to install it, I get an error saying that I don't have enough memory. ...
7
votes
1answer
201 views
Configuring the slots in MAME for different hardware
How can you configure the MAME emulator for different hardware (hardware cards) in the available slots of the emulated system? For example, how can you put in different cards in the emulated Apple ...
26
votes
1answer
6k views
Why is a BIOS dump not required to emulate Nintendo 64 games in most modern emulators?
In order to emulate some home consoles (Playstation 1/2, Sega Saturn/CD/32x, etc.) a dump of the system's BIOS is required to emulate the console. Out of the Nintendo 64 emulators I have found online,...
2
votes
1answer
780 views
No sound on SheepShaver for Windows 10
I am running Mac OS 9 through SheepShaver on Windows 10, and I can't get sound to work. I am using an Old World ROM because the New World ROM doesn't work, it causes SheepShaver to crash.
I tried to ...
2
votes
2answers
123 views
Desktop folder locked in SheepShaver
I am using SheepShaver on Windows 10, and I enabled the option that allows SheepShaver to put a My PC icon so I could access files from my actual PC. However, when I try to drag files from My PC to ...
5
votes
2answers
248 views
Classilla on SheepShaver for Windows
I am trying to install Classilla, an open-source browser for Mac OS9, on SheepShaver for Windows. In SheepShaverGui.exe, I have the Enable "My Computer" icon checked.
I open up SheepShaver and go to ...
0
votes
1answer
273 views
SheepShaver won't open after reboot
I am using SheepShaver on Windows 10. I had everything working, so I went to download Stuffit Expander 2011 to extract some software to use with SheepShaver. When the installation process was done I ...
22
votes
4answers
4k views
What exactly is a cycle-accurate emulator?
Emulators such as Higan are cycle-accurate and thus have full compatibility with all existing software. In a 2011 Ars Technica article, much was said about cycle accuracy and how it preserves games by ...
2
votes
1answer
737 views
SheepShaver - cdenable.sys on 64-bit
I am using SheepShaver to emulate OS9 and I have got everything else working, except that when I run it it gives me the cdenable.sys is missing error. I have cdenable.sys in Windows/System32/drivers, ...
3
votes
1answer
205 views
SheepShaverGUI.exe on Windows Error
I am trying to install SheepShaver on Windows and when I try to open SheepShaverGUI.exe it gives me this error
The procedure entry point pango_font_map_create_context could not be located in the ...
14
votes
2answers
4k views
Install Commodore 64 on VirtualBox
I have installed MS-DOS, FreeDOS and Windows 98 in Oracle VirtualBox. I want to try Commodore 64. How do I install a Commodore 64 emulator in VirtualBox?
7
votes
1answer
217 views
TI-83 Series Graphing Calculator Emulator
Back in middle school I set up a Windows/DOS TI-83 calculator emulator for some of my teachers. I can't for the life of me remember the name, but I'm looking for a Mac TI-83 emulator (or any TI-8x ...
13
votes
1answer
313 views
Calculating the time for a CPU cycle
As a learning exercise, I'm writing an emulator for the 6809 CPU. I'd like to simulate the speed of the CPU. I know the Motorola 6809E runs at 0.895 MHz and 1.79 MHz on the Color Computer 3. How do I ...
5
votes
2answers
3k views
How can I install Windows 3.1 on VirtualBox? [duplicate]
As part of my MSDN with Visual Studio Enterprise subscription I just got, I can download Windows 3.1.
I want to install it to a VirtualBox VM so to remember good old days. I don't want to use DOSBox ...
15
votes
3answers
4k views
How can MS-DOS be installed on VirtualBox?
As part of the MSDN subscription I just got, I can download MS-DOS 6.22 (wow indeed).
I want to install it to a VirtualBox VM so I can try old games and viruses (due to viruses, I can't install it to ...
21
votes
6answers
8k views
Can x86 processors run 8-bit applications?
I was wondering if it is possible to run 8-bit applications within QEMU. I know that the x86 architecture can run 16-bit applications, but can it also run 8-bit applications?
5
votes
1answer
309 views
How can I play Nintendo 64DD Games with sixtyforce (on Mac)?
64DD.org has some game dumps and information on how to play 64DD games in MAME or Project64. Is there any way to play 64DD dumps on a Mac using sixtyforce (my version is registered)? I was thinking ...
1
vote
2answers
292 views
Is QEMU Used Commercially? [closed]
I have played around with the QEMU emulator, as it can emulate OS's that VirtualBox cannot, especially older systems that cannot run on x86 or x64. With QEMU being quite slow because it has to ...
21
votes
4answers
3k views
Why are Windows 95 installation disks not uniquely bound to a single product key?
I was installing the OEM version of Windows 95 on VirtualBox the other day for reminiscence sake, and for some reason I had two different product keys. I tested both of them to see which one mapped to ...
2
votes
3answers
260 views
Finding/creating gaming ROMs [closed]
I'm thinking about turning my RaspberryPi into a retro gaming station. I found some interesting projects like retropie out there to accomplish this.
But I keep wondering: What is the legal way to ...
5
votes
1answer
960 views
Converting ZX Spectrum .ipf files to .z80 or .tzx for use in Fuse on RetroPie?
I have a 'perfect' set of ZX Spectrum games (in .ipf format) that I would like to use in EmulationStation (RetroPie) but the Fuse emulator doesn't recognize .ipf files.
Are there any tools that will ...
