THIS REPOSITORY HAS BECOME READ-ONLY. PLEASE READ BELOW.

WHY ?

The development of the CONVERT toolset will continue, but it has been combined with the TOOLCHAIN repository.

This brings together the full build toolchain for SPHERE-1 executables and ROM images, and the conversion tools formerly hosted here into one repository.

Therefore, this repository has become read-only/archived as at 12-JAN-2025.

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CONVERT

A set of tools to convert from various SPHERE-1 formats to other SPHERE-1 formats.

These comprise: convertEXE: converts assembled 6800 code to several Sphere-1 compatible formats convertROM: converts a raw binary SPHERE-1 ROM image to an ORB-compatible format

Installation

Prerequisites (for the full tool set)

• Install Python 3.x - versions above 3.9 are currently supported
• Install "click" by typing pip3 install click
• Install bin2sphere
  • Clone Ben Zotto's bin2sphere repository
  • Folow the build instructions in the README
  • Ensure the built executable is located in the same folder/directory as the convertEXE from this repo

NOTE:
There is a version of bin2sphere included in this repo dated October 9th 2023. It is recommended that to ensure the latest software is being used that you follow the installation instructions for bin2sphere above.

convertEXE package

• Clone the repository and ensure that the path is on your search path.
• Test the installation by typing convertEXE --version
• If you see the following:

convertEXE (Version 1.0.3): Convert MC6800 assembled code into Sphere-1 loadable package and other formats.

(c) Andrew Shapton 2023, Portions (c) Ben Zotto 2023 all is well.

OR

convertROM --version

If you see the following:

convertROM (Version 1.2): Converts a Sphere ROM binary file into a form suitable for the SPHERE-Firmware emulator

Note that the versions could be slightly different from these shown, if small bugfixes have been introduced.

If not, check that the repository is cloned correctly and that the location is definitely on your search path.

convertEXE

Formats supported

• Virtual Cassette for Ben Zotto's Virtual Sphere-1 emulator
• Javascript for manually embedding into the Virtual Sphere-1 emulator
• Virtual Cassette "V2" format for automatically embedding into the Virtual Sphere-1 emulator (experimental)
• .WAV file for storing as a "true' cassette audio file

How to use

Usage: convertEXE [OPTIONS]

Options:
  -b, --base TEXT      Base address.  [required]
  -c, --cassette TEXT  Cassette output file.
  -I, --in TEXT        Specify an input folder.  [required]
  -i, --input TEXT     Input MC6800 executable file.  [required]
  -j, --js TEXT        Virtual Cassette Javascript (will have a '.js'
                       extension).
  -m, --movebin        Move original binary to output location
  -n, --noheader       Don't produce headers for JS file.
  -O, --out TEXT       Specify an output folder.  [required]
  -p, --prefix TEXT    Cassette prefix.
  -s, --silent         Silent (no output).
  -t, --title TEXT     Cassette title (for Virtual Sphere).
  -v, --vcass TEXT     Produce a virtual cassette in V1 format.
  -v2, --vcass2 TEXT   Produce a virtual cassette in V2 format.
  --version            Show the version and exit.
  --help               Show this message and exit.

  Check out the Github page for more documentation at
  https://github.com/Sphere-Corporation/CONVERT

convertROM

Explanation

Converts a raw, SPHERE-1 ROM Image into a format that can be used with either:

• a Project ORB ROM Emulator
• Ben Zotto's Virtual SPHERE-1

How to use

Usage: convertROM [OPTIONS]

Options:
  -i, --input TEXT    Specify a SPHERE-1 ROM file.  [required]
  -o, --output TEXT   Specify an output file.
  -f, --format TEXT   Specify the output format. (required)
  -e, --ext TEXT      Extension for output file.
  -b, --base TEXT     Base address of ROM.
  -c, --comment TEXT  < 80 characters of comment for the ROM image (in
                      quotes).
  -s, --silent        Silent (no output).
  -l, --license       Show the license (MIT).
  -v, --version       Show the version.
  --help              Show this message and exit.

Defaults:

Argument	Value	Notes
ext	.h	Extension given to the output file if no other extension is given
base	0xFE00	Location of the base address of the ROM Image