It has been released in this patrtial state to show you what it will be able to do in the future. It is by no means complete yet, and it will have bugs.
It has also only been tested on a RISC PC with StrongARM processor. I cannot guarantee it's performance on any other Acorn machine.
INTRODUCTION
------------
BeebIt attempts to emulate the behaviour of a British Broadcasting Corporation Model B Micro Computer.
The BBC Micro was manufactured by Acorn Computers Ltd of Cambridge, England in the early 1980's.
GETING STARTED
---------------
BeebIt will not work as it stands. You will need a copy of the ROM images that came with the original Model B. These are:
OPERATING SYSTEM: This must be put into the !BeebIt directory with the name 'OS'.
Currently only tested with Acorn OS 1.20.
LANGUAGE: This must be put into the !BeebIt directory with the name 'BASIC'.
Currently only tested with Acorn BBC BASIC 2.00.
You will also need an 8271 compatable disc filing system ROM image if you intend to use disc images.
DISC INTERFACE: This must be put into the !BeebIt directory with the name 'DFS'.
Currently only tested with Acorn DFS 1.20.
USING DISC IMAGES
-----------------
Currently, floppy disc drives 0 and 1 are emulated. These use 'disc image files' which are stored inside the !BeebIt directory. Each image is assumed to be a copy of an 80 track single sided disc.
The file for drive 0 and drive 1 must be called IMAGE0 and IMAGE1 respectively.
This release only supports reading of disc image. Saving of files will be implemented in a later release. A good source of disc images for you to try can be found at 'The BBC Lives' web site listed below.
Your directory structure should look like this:
!BeebIt
!Help
!Run
!RunImage
!Sprites
BASIC (BASIC ROM image)
DFS (Disc Filing System image)
IMAGE0 (Drive 0 image)
IMAGE1 (Drive 1 image)
OS (Operating System image)
KEYS
----
F12 - Exit emulator
REGISTRATION
------------
This version of BeebIt is Emailware. If you are using this program, all I ask is that you send me a message by email, with comments or suggestion if you like. This will help me to gauge how many people are interested in the program. The more people I know are using it, the more motivation I will have to keep improving it!
Please let me know also what type of Acorn computer you are using and how it performs on it.
LATER VERSIONS
--------------
The latest version can be obtained from my home page at http://www.voyager.co.nz/~mikef.
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
----------------
Many thanks to:
* David Davenport for releasing the sources to BeebInC, his BBC Emulator, which was a great starting point for this Emulator. BeebIt still uses a number of peices of code from BeebInC. Also thanks for his help with a number of questions I put to him.
* David Alan Gilbert for relasing the sources to his emulator, BeebEm. These were another great help in getting everything working correctly.
* Robert Schmidt for maintaining the excellent 'BBC Lives' web site at <http://www.nvg.unit.no/bbc/>
* The BBC Games Archive at <http://easyweb.easynet.co.uk/~viewtronix/beeb/>