8-bit Software Disc Magazine (c) Duncan Webster 1991 Issue 13 June 1991 SWR / Watford Solderless / Mixmania Discs Most members will recall Andy Snodgrass' plea for help as none of the Yorkshire Boys' excellent mixmania discs appears to work with his Watford Electronics Solderless SWR board. As usual, the gauntlet was immeadiatley taken up by an 8BS member, and here is Matthew Cocker's informative and detailed reply to the problem. I will let him carry on ... ---------------------------------------------------------------------- From: 8CT, Matthew J Cocker To: YJ2, Andrew Snodgrass and Everybody Else Who Has MIXMANIA Discs. Regarding:- Watford Solderless SWR problem and MIXMANIA II vol I and II shortened versions for NON-SWR BBC's. This article is NOT only for for people with SWR who are having problems but is also for people with no SWR as they can use both MIXMANIA II discs as they contain shortened versions of ALL Mixes but the programs may nead modifying, there is a section below that explains how to do this. I can supply modified versions of the MIXMANIAs to suit your SWR and can also supply the two MIXMANIA II discs modified to play the shortened mixes on NON-SWR BBC's, details of this are listed below and the address is at the end of this article. This article explains why MIXMANIA discs don't always work correct with certain SWR boards and explains how it may be made to work. It also explains how people without SWR who have MIXMANIA II vol. I or II can use the shortened versions of the Mixes. The problem is in the way it scans the ROM and SWR banks as it won't usualy work properly and tries to load the SWR version into an empty socket or into a socket that doesn't exist if you don't have a 16 ROM Expansion Board. The symptons that Andrew mentioned are similar to the problems I encountered when I tried out MIXMANIA discs as my SWR is in a Watford Solderless 16 ROM/RAM expansion board. One thing that Andrew said was that he had two 32K CMOS RAM chips in 14L and 14H, I think they are infact only 8K each as the SWR only usualy totals 16K per bank. The other thing I noticed was Andrew said the Starwars animation worked with his SWR but I had my SWR READ and WRITE protected when I first run that set of programs and it worked fine so I don't think SWR is required to run the animations. Right, back to the subject of MIXMANIA and SWR, I have checked out the loader programs on the MIXMANIA discs and found out where it searches for a SWR bank to load into, what it appears to be doing is just looking for an empty socket as when I first ran 19MIX it tried to use bank 4 but my SWR is in bank 14 like Andrews is. I put a ROM into socket 4 and reran the program, it then tried to use bank 7 which is also an empty socket in my computer. Before I explain a method to try and fix it I have listed the Mixes and if they nead SWR and if so how many 16K banks. Note:- All mixes except MEGAMIX 3 work fine on a MASTER. (I think.) '0 or 1' means it has a shortened version for NON-SWR BBC's. I think the ones that nead 4 SWR banks are MASTER ONLY. Mix Name/ Noumber of File Drive Mix Disc SWR banks Name MIXMANIA:- Megamix 0 MIXI 0 Megamix 2 4 MIXII 0 Top Gun 4 TOPLOAD 2 Robocop 0 ROBMIX 2 James Whale 0 WHALMIX 2 Loadsamoney 0 LMIX1 0 Nineteen 1 19LOAD 2 MIXMANIA II vol I:- Thunder Birds 0 or 1 FAB1 2 Housey Mix 0 or 1 HOUSE1 2 Pump Up The Bitter 0 or 1 PUMP1 2 Jack Mix 0 JACK1 2 What Time Is Love 0 or 1 LOVE1 0 Megamix 3 0 or 1 MEGLOAD 0 MC Hammer 0 UCANT 0 The Wizard 0 or 1 WIZARD1 0 MIXMANIA II vol II:- Loadsamoney 2 0 LMIX1V2 0 Blue Pearl 0 or 1 PEARL1 0 Tonight 0 KIDDY1 0 Set Me Free 0 or 1 SET1 0 Silly Games 0 or 1 SILLY1 2 Betty Boo 0 or 1 BETTY1 2 Human League 0 or 1 HUMAN1 2 Toms Diner 0 DNAMIX1 2 COMPUTERS WITH SWR :- --------------------- As mentioned above the reason it fails to use SWR correctly is because it seems to just looks for an empty socket. I doubt it would find the SWR bank if there is anything in it already but I am not sure about that. One way to make it work would be to buy enough ROM's to fill all your computer's ROM sockets but this would be very expensive and I am only joking. I will use the nineteen remix as an example, I found out what location in memory it was storing the SWR bank number at, I then directly poked 14 (The Correct SWR Bank Number) into that location. The procedure was to load the file 19LOAD from drive 2 of Mixmania, then find line 180, then change it to: 180 .found ...leave as before upto... :CALL&910:?&92=14 The COPY key can be used to copy the part of the line that wants leaving alone and then type in the ?&92=14 at the position shown above, then save the file back to disc as 19LOAD. This method works but is a bit messy so at present I am looing at a way to modify it properly. I may have to get the program to ask the user if they have SWR and if so what bank or banks it is in. All the mixes that can use one SWR bank can be modified in this way, it is not always the same line that neads changing but it is a similar looking line that says something like IF?&92..., that part wants changing to ?&92=14 or whatever your SWR bank number is. If you are not confident or not sure about modifying the programs yourself then I will modify the discs for you for a small fee of 20p per disc, or I'll modify all three for 50p. If you would like me to modify them for you then send the discs (with Mixmania already on them if possible but this is not too important but if you are sending blank discs they must be 80track double sided and FORMAT them please! If they are not formatted they will be put at one side and will have to wait until I have time!) Also let me know what socket your SWR is in, ie. Watford Solderless RAM with SWR in 14L and 14H = 16K of SWR in bank 14, also send return postage and packaging, if not enough return postage is sent then you won't see your discs until you send me some stamps! Also send the modifying charge of 20p per disc or 50p for all three discs. The address to send the discs to is at the end of this document. Don't forget if you want all three MIXMANIAs, three discs are required and they must be 80track double sided and the charge is only 50p for all 3 or 20p each if you don't want all 3. When I alter the loader programs so that they will work on any SWR AND NON-SWR machine you will not have to pay the modification fee for the new version as I will make a note of the people who pay for this times modifiaction and they will be entitled to a free update. COMPUTERS WITH NO SWR :- ------------------------ You do not nead SWR for 4 of the mixes on MIXMANIA I and they do not nead any modification, and the mixes on the MIXMANIA II discs that do not nead any SWR at all are okay, the problem is with the mixes that have a SWR and NON-SWR version. If you do not have SWR then you can still hear the excellent sampled remixes that the Yorkshire Boys have written, they have included shortened versions of all samples for NON-SWR computers on MIXMANIA II vol I and II but they won't always work correctly as the routine that searches for SWR looks for empty sockets, or if you do not have an expansion board in the computer that allows 16 ROMS to be fitted then the routine tries to use one of the sockets that doen't even exist. I have come up with a system that works but is a bit messy so at present I am looing at a way to modify it properly. I may have to get the program to ask the user if they have SWR and if they havn't it will select the shortened versions. Please note that the mixes that don't nead any SWR at all will not require modification. I found the problem could be solved by altering the part of the program that checked if a SWR bank had been found, there is a statement in all the Mixmania II programs that says IF ?&92<16 GOTO.... , eg. the What Time Is Love mix can be modified by loading LOVE1, list line 250, change it to : 250 A%=0:CALL&910 , then save the program as LOVE1 and when loaded from the menu it will tell you to press space or switch write protect off, just press space and the shortened version will be loaded into normal RAM. If you are not confident or not sure about modifying the programs yourself then I will modify the two discs for you for a small fee of 20p per disc. If you would like me to modify them for you then send the discs (with Mixmania already on them if possible but this is not too important but if you are sending blank discs they must be 80track double sided and FORMAT them please! If they are not formatted they will be put at one side and will have to wait until I have time!) Also let me know it is the NON-SWR modification that you require, also send return postage and packaging, if not enough return postage is sent then you won't see your discs until you send me some stamps! Also send the modifying charge of 20p per disc. The address to send the discs to is at the end of this document. Don't forget if you want both MIXMANIA IIs, two discs are required and they must be 80track double sided and the charge is only 40p for both. When I alter the loader programs so that they will work on any SWR AND NON-SWR machine you will not have to pay the modification fee for the new version as I will make a note of the people who pay for this times modifiaction and they will be entitled to a free update. Address:- Matthew J Cocker, For More Details please do phone me on:- I am in most weekdays after 7pm or any time weekends. ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Another member (4RR) has also written in with his thoughts. As these are not as comprehensive as Matthew's, I have included them in the Replies to Help Wanted section of the magazine. ---------------------------------------------------------------------- The never ending popularity of the Watford Solderless SWR board continues, with a message from S Bodman asking if Andy Nibbs can supply an article on how to fit a battery backup to the said board. Well Andy - do you know how? - Does anybody? - If so I would very much like to hear from you A.S.A.P.