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Mirage Imager

2013-01-15T23:54:08Z

Stuart Brady: Improve accuracy of information for the Spectrum's 'Mirage Microdriver' interface

An addon that enables you to freeze any program and store it to disc. Made by [[Mirage Microcomputers Ltd]].
The device was also available for the [[ZX Spectrum]], this version was called the "Mirage Microdriver", and could save data either to tape or to Sinclair's "Microdrive"; an external high-speed tape drive. The initial Spectrum version was released in 1985, although there was a later version released in 1986 (see Crash Issue 25, link below). The CPC version was released in 1986.

The tool can backup RAM contents (including CPU registers pushed in RAM), but, unlike [[Multiface II]], it cannot backup read-only I/O ports like CRTC (vram address/size) and Gate Array (screen colors) - the included software allows to manipulate that values manually (this would be only required with programs that use nonstandard CRTC value, or that use direct I/O to modify colors).

== Pictures ==

<gallery caption="Mirage Imager">

Image:MI 1.JPG|
Image:MI 2.JPG|
Image:MI 3.JPG|
Image:MI 4.JPG|
Image:mirage imager 1.jpg|
Image:mirage imager 2.jpg|PCB
Image:mirage imager 3.jpg|
Image:MirageImager Ad ACU Sept1987.jpg|Advertisement of Mirage Imager MKIII
</gallery>

<gallery caption="Mirage Imager 300dpi scans by Robcfg">

Image:MirageImager_Front.jpg|
Image:MirageImager_Back.jpg|
Image:MirageImager_Top.jpg|
Image:MirageImager_PCB_Top.jpg|
Image:MirageImager_PCB_Bottom.jpg|

</gallery>

== Manual ==

* [[Media:Mirage Imager Manual.pdf|Mirage Imager Manual]] (pdf) (v2, from 26 July 1986)

== Downloads ==

* [[Media:MirageImagerV2.zip|Mirage Image V2 (rom).zip]] (ROM for Emulators)
* [[Media:MirageImagerV32.zip|Mirage Image V3.2 (rom).zip]] (ROM for Emulators)

== Weblinks ==

* [http://www.worldofspectrum.org/showmag.cgi?mag=YourComputer/Issue8609/Pages/YourComputer860900015.jpg Review (english)] - Your Computer, 09/1986
* [http://www.stcarchiv.de/hc1986/11_mirageimager.php Review (german)] - Happy Computer, 11/1986
* [http://cpcrulez.free.fr/hardware_mirage_imager.htm CPCrulez review (french)] - Microstrad 8/Oct/1986

== References ==

*[http://www.crashonline.org.uk/25/technews.htm#mirage Crash Issue 25, Tech Niche, News, More Microdrivin']

[[Category:Copy Protection]] [[Category:Peripherals]] [[Category:Manual]][[Category:DATA Storage]]

Talk:SP0256

2007-10-10T15:54:22Z

Stuart Brady: /* Rename */

Can anyone find or get a copy of the internal ROM from the SPO256AL2? I want to emulate it - [[User:Executioner|Executioner]] 12:39, 1 September 2006 (CEST)

: Hmmm... I can probably manage that, i got the chip! But how to read out the ROM data? Can a simple program on the CPC do that or do i have to plug it in a romboard to read the data? (Have to check the pin configs i guess) --[[User:CPCLER|CPCLER]] 12:52, 1 September 2006 (CEST)

:: Is it an additional CPC OS rom? If yes, it's quite easy, I can send you a program for this. BTW, @CPCLER, please use the colon (:) at the beginning of your "talk"-text for correct formatting. -- [[User:Prodatron|Prodatron]] 13:46, 1 September 2006 (CEST)

::: (Sorry about the colons!!! New to this wiki stuff) No... I have uploaded some pictures of the SPO256 board, and there are clearly no additional ROM chips! so how to proceed, any way of reading the rom data via the SPO256 chip?

::: The software for the SSA1 has to be loaded from disc or tape (I will test this when i get a CPC up and running). I think the dk'tronics (also based on the SPO256) had at least the software on rom, dont know if it actually used the feature with a rom connected directly to the SPO256.

== SPO256 internal phoneme ROM ==

: No, this isn't a ROM for the CPC, it's the built-in phoneme ROM in the SPO256AL2, and it can only be read by using the serial output on the chip itself, which will require some hardware knowledge and the SPO datasheet. Yes, I do also have an SPO256 in my SSA-1, but no way to read it... Guess I'll have to desolder and pull the chip and connect it to my 8255 I/O board (no idea if that still works) :)

:: I'm looking for this ROM, but can't find it anywhere. Did you dump it? (BTW, I think the correct title is "SP'''0'''256".) —[[User:Stuart Brady|Stuart Brady]] 22:02, 1 October 2007 (CEST)

::: Nah, haven't dumped it yet. That'd mean finding it, and finding the IO board, desoldering it, attaching it to the IO board somehow and then figuring out how to read the serial data... I think there may be an image of the ROM as a resource in the Spectactulator ZX Spectrum emulator in a DLL, that may be an easier way to get it, but I have to check it's actually the original AL2 ROM :) btw, it is SPO256 according to the datasheet. [[User:Executioner|Executioner]] 01:27, 3 October 2007 (CEST)

:::: I think Spectaculator uses prerecorded samples. —[[User:Stuart Brady|Stuart Brady]] 17:06, 3 October 2007 (CEST)

::::: It does, but it also has the ROM as a resource in the DLL. It's 2K, same as the real one. [[User:Executioner|Executioner]] 22:14, 3 October 2007 (CEST)

:::::: Good news, everyone! Joe Zbiciak has uploaded a dump of the AL2[http://spatula-city.org/~im14u2c/sp0256-al2/] — and he even has Microchip Technology's permission! (I'm not sure if they would allow redistribution, though.) —[[User:Stuart Brady|Stuart Brady]] 23:26, 3 October 2007 (CEST)

::::::: BTW, are you ''sure'' that's the same ROM? The µSpeech has its own 2K ROM (containing Z80 code). —[[User:Stuart Brady|Stuart Brady]] 03:18, 6 October 2007 (CEST)

:::::::: Yes, this is the correct ROM. I assume the Currah has a ROM to add functionality under BASIC etc. There may also be some other software for the SSA-1 for the CPC, maybe even a Z80 one to provide RSX's like |say,"hello", can't remember. [[User:Executioner|Executioner]] 06:21, 8 October 2007 (CEST)

::::::::: You ''assume'' so? — I thought I just said that it ''does'' have such a ROM! :) I'm still not sure whether to believe you. What's the MD5SUM of the ROM in Spectaculator? Is it <tt>54db0ac274146f8c95f8fbd7bab62cdf</tt>, <tt>052f6af718337e35e76693723e1d73e3</tt>, or is it something else? —[[User:Stuart Brady|Stuart Brady]] 20:37, 8 October 2007 (CEST)

:::::::::: Yes, I ''assume'' that's what the Z80 code is for, you didn't say what the Z80 was used for :) The md5 is not the same as either of those above, and the ROM does not appear to be Z80 code. It may well be encrypted, but I don't really care since I've got the official download now and Joe was also good enough to provide a disassembly to go along with it :) [[User:Executioner|Executioner]] 03:13, 10 October 2007 (CEST)

== Rename ==

I feel as if I should probably fix this each time I leave a comment on this page, so here goes. Unless there are any objections, I'll rename the page to SP0256 and mention that it's often referred to as the "SPO256". (The datasheets certainly use an '0'.) —[[User:Stuart Brady|Stuart Brady]] 21:08, 8 October 2007 (CEST)

: The ARCHER datasheet definitely uses an 'O'. The GI datasheet is not a particularly good scan, and the font doesn't distinguish between the '0' and the 'O'. Look at the word 'ROM' and compare that to 'SPO256A' at the top of the page, they look the same. The last two pages of the GI datasheet show the chip in the circuit diagrams with as 'SPO256', the 'O' is identical to the word 'OUT', and slightly different to the '0' where it says '10,11,13'. The chip I have does not have any other '0' or 'O' printed on it to compare. This would suggest that it is supposed to be the letter O. [[User:Executioner|Executioner]] 03:03, 10 October 2007 (CEST)

:: Were you looking at [[:Image:Sp0256al2 datasheet.pdf|this copy]] of the Archer datasheet? If so, please do take a look at [http://support.radioshack.com/support_supplies/doc17/17517.htm these scans]. However, the GI datasheet would seem to be a more authoratative source. Any chance of a link to that? :) —[[User:Stuart Brady|Stuart Brady]] 17:54, 10 October 2007 (CEST)

User talk:Stuart Brady

2007-10-09T19:16:20Z

Stuart Brady: Hi Prodatron

Hey Stuart, welcome to the CPC Wiki and nice to see you here :-) -- [[User:Prodatron|Prodatron]] 03:03, 9 October 2007 (CEST)

:Thanks. :-) BTW, nice to see you're still working on SymbOS! I noticed you said that porting it to the SAM would be tough due to its bank switching system, which is a shame, though...

:(For anyone who's curious, any pair of adjacent 16 KiB memory banks can be accessed through either of the two 32 KiB "blocks" that the Z80's address space is partitioned into. You can switch any 16 KiB bank into Section A (0x0000-0x3fff), and any 16 KiB bank into Section C (0x8000-0xbfff) — but if the bank in Section A is bank ''n'' then the one in Section B must be bank ''n''+1, and this same principle also applies for Sections C and D. However, it seems SymbOS requires full 16 KiB bank switching.)

:I might ask Velesoft about better bank switching for any revised ASIC. :) —[[User:Stuart Brady|Stuart Brady]] 21:16, 9 October 2007 (CEST)

Talk:SP0256

2007-10-08T19:08:45Z

Stuart Brady: Rename

Can anyone find or get a copy of the internal ROM from the SPO256AL2? I want to emulate it - [[User:Executioner|Executioner]] 12:39, 1 September 2006 (CEST)

: Hmmm... I can probably manage that, i got the chip! But how to read out the ROM data? Can a simple program on the CPC do that or do i have to plug it in a romboard to read the data? (Have to check the pin configs i guess) --[[User:CPCLER|CPCLER]] 12:52, 1 September 2006 (CEST)

:: Is it an additional CPC OS rom? If yes, it's quite easy, I can send you a program for this. BTW, @CPCLER, please use the colon (:) at the beginning of your "talk"-text for correct formatting. -- [[User:Prodatron|Prodatron]] 13:46, 1 September 2006 (CEST)

::: (Sorry about the colons!!! New to this wiki stuff) No... I have uploaded some pictures of the SPO256 board, and there are clearly no additional ROM chips! so how to proceed, any way of reading the rom data via the SPO256 chip?

::: The software for the SSA1 has to be loaded from disc or tape (I will test this when i get a CPC up and running). I think the dk'tronics (also based on the SPO256) had at least the software on rom, dont know if it actually used the feature with a rom connected directly to the SPO256.

== SPO256 internal phoneme ROM ==

: No, this isn't a ROM for the CPC, it's the built-in phoneme ROM in the SPO256AL2, and it can only be read by using the serial output on the chip itself, which will require some hardware knowledge and the SPO datasheet. Yes, I do also have an SPO256 in my SSA-1, but no way to read it... Guess I'll have to desolder and pull the chip and connect it to my 8255 I/O board (no idea if that still works) :)

:: I'm looking for this ROM, but can't find it anywhere. Did you dump it? (BTW, I think the correct title is "SP'''0'''256".) —[[User:Stuart Brady|Stuart Brady]] 22:02, 1 October 2007 (CEST)

::: Nah, haven't dumped it yet. That'd mean finding it, and finding the IO board, desoldering it, attaching it to the IO board somehow and then figuring out how to read the serial data... I think there may be an image of the ROM as a resource in the Spectactulator ZX Spectrum emulator in a DLL, that may be an easier way to get it, but I have to check it's actually the original AL2 ROM :) btw, it is SPO256 according to the datasheet. [[User:Executioner|Executioner]] 01:27, 3 October 2007 (CEST)

:::: I think Spectaculator uses prerecorded samples. —[[User:Stuart Brady|Stuart Brady]] 17:06, 3 October 2007 (CEST)

::::: It does, but it also has the ROM as a resource in the DLL. It's 2K, same as the real one. [[User:Executioner|Executioner]] 22:14, 3 October 2007 (CEST)

:::::: Good news, everyone! Joe Zbiciak has uploaded a dump of the AL2[http://spatula-city.org/~im14u2c/sp0256-al2/] — and he even has Microchip Technology's permission! (I'm not sure if they would allow redistribution, though.) —[[User:Stuart Brady|Stuart Brady]] 23:26, 3 October 2007 (CEST)

::::::: BTW, are you ''sure'' that's the same ROM? The µSpeech has its own 2K ROM (containing Z80 code). —[[User:Stuart Brady|Stuart Brady]] 03:18, 6 October 2007 (CEST)

:::::::: Yes, this is the correct ROM. I assume the Currah has a ROM to add functionality under BASIC etc. There may also be some other software for the SSA-1 for the CPC, maybe even a Z80 one to provide RSX's like |say,"hello", can't remember. [[User:Executioner|Executioner]] 06:21, 8 October 2007 (CEST)

::::::::: You ''assume'' so? — I thought I just said that it ''does'' have such a ROM! :) I'm still not sure whether to believe you. What's the MD5SUM of the ROM in Spectaculator? Is it <tt>54db0ac274146f8c95f8fbd7bab62cdf</tt>, <tt>052f6af718337e35e76693723e1d73e3</tt>, or is it something else? —[[User:Stuart Brady|Stuart Brady]] 20:37, 8 October 2007 (CEST)

== Rename ==

I feel as if I should probably fix this each time I leave a comment on this page, so here goes. Unless there are any objections, I'll rename the page to SP0256 and mention that it's often referred to as the "SPO256". (The datasheets certainly use an '0'.) —[[User:Stuart Brady|Stuart Brady]] 21:08, 8 October 2007 (CEST)

User:Stuart Brady

2007-10-08T18:53:30Z

Stuart Brady: link to Fuse web site

I am a developer of [http://fuse-emulator.sourceforge.net/ Fuse], the Free Unix Spectrum Emulator.

Links:

*[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/User:StuartBrady Wikipedia user page]
*[http://homepage.ntlworld.com/wholehog/stuart/index.html Web site]

User:Stuart Brady

2007-10-08T18:51:37Z

Stuart Brady: some blurb

I am a developer of Fuse, the Free Unix Spectrum Emulator.

Links:

*[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/User:StuartBrady Wikipedia user page]
*[http://homepage.ntlworld.com/wholehog/stuart/index.html Web site]

Talk:SP0256

2007-10-08T18:37:09Z

Stuart Brady: /* SPO256 internal phoneme ROM */

Talk:SP0256

2007-10-06T01:18:52Z

Stuart Brady: /* SPO256 internal phoneme ROM */

Talk:SP0256

2007-10-03T21:26:30Z

Stuart Brady: /* SPO256 internal phoneme ROM */ This is no ordinary honey!

Talk:SP0256

2007-10-03T15:06:26Z

Stuart Brady: /* SPO256 internal phoneme ROM */ reply

Talk:SP0256

2007-10-01T20:02:01Z

Stuart Brady: