ZX81 - 3.5.0

This release is dedicated to the ZX81.
The main new feature is support for the ZX81 in the internal zsim simulator.

Main ZX81 features are:

• standard and hires graphic modes (wrx, arx, chr$64/128)
• Chroma 81 support

Please have a look at the

• Migration doc
• zx81 doc
• and the Usage doc

Please report any issues/errors.

Here is the changelog:

• zsim:
  • Simulation of ZX81. (Supports hires graphics modes, WRX, ARX)
  • Removed "vsyncInterrupt". A VSYNC interrupt is now generated if the Spectrum ULA is enabled.
  • "ulaScreen":
    • Type changed from boolean to 'spectrum' | 'zx81'.
  • Z80 CPU simulation fix: HALT instruction: r is now incremented on each instruction.
  • New debug command, "-ml address filepath", to load binary data into the memory.
  • Fixed setting of A' from the UI.
  • The "zxKeyboard"
    • now supports reading several rows at the same time.
    • type changed to string. "zx81" and "spectrum" style keyboard supported.
    • keyboard visualization improved.
  • The "kempstonJoy" now decodes only the lower 8 bits of the address.
  • A new "customJoy" type: You can assign the bits and ports yourself.
  • Added "preset" to easily configure a spectrum or zx81 device.
  • "cpuLoadInterruptRange": renamed to "cpuLoad". The CPU load is not anymore calculated when the VSYNC occurs. Now it is calculated from HALT to next HALT instruction.
  • "cpuLoad": The simulation speed is indicated by a color. If too slow the cpuLoad is shown in yellow.
  • Loading a .p file sets 'topOfStack' automatically. A warning is send if 'topOfStack' is set manually.
  • "ulaOptions" added.
  • "chroma81" support (including colourization file support).
  • Fixed bug that IX could grow bigger than 0xFFFF.
  • Fixed: debugging now stops when windows is closed.
• "topOfStack": default is now taken from the memory model.
• Loading .nex file: Fix for bit in load screens for ignoring the palette

zxnDMA (zsim)

This release includes an implementation of the zxnDMA for the internal simulator (zsim).
Please enable it in the "zsim" section like this:

 "zsim": {
               ...
                "zxnDMA": true,
               ...
            },

Explanation:
"zxnDMA": true/false. Defaults to false. If enabled the zxnDMA is available at port $xx6B. All internal register can be viewed:

What just has been changed is highlighted in red.
At the bottom you can see the last DMA copy operation.

Notes:
- when DMA is active it uses t-states. I.e. while CPU stepping the DMA operation is executed just before the next CPU instructions.
So, if you see a higher t-state number than expected it is probably because of a DMA activity in the background.
- The zxnDMA supports all modes: continuous, burst and also the prescalar.
- The DMA activity (setting of the registers) is additionally logged into the "OUTPUT" tab of vscode.
You can activate it by selecting "DeZog zsim: Hardware".

Full Changelog: v3.3.4...v3.4.0

ZX128 SNA loading

Fix for #126: Data misalignment for ZX128K SNA with Active BANK6 in zsim. Banks in SNA loading fixed.

Serial cable test

Added palette command "dezog.serialport.test" to test the serial connection.

ZEsarUX X

• Fixed version numbering parsing for zesarux
• Removed human.join package

Timeout

• New setting for launch.json/"zxnext": "timeout". If there are connection problems try increasing this value (the default has been increased from 1 to 5 seconds).
• Sonar linting.
• Improved zesarux disconnect for unit tests.
• Improved performance of search in memory dump view.

Upgrade

Note:
This release requires to update ZEsarUX to 10.3 and dezogif to 2.1.0.

Changes:

• ZEsarUX:
  • Support for ZEsarUX version 10.3
  • Closes all ZEsarUX menus (close-all-menus) when a debug session starts
• Improvements in disconnection handling.
• launch.json: 'loadObjs' 'start' also supports labels.
• ZXNext: Requires now dezogif v2.2.0. Older versions not supported anymore.
• Exchanged aduh95 with node-graphviz library.

Preparing DZRP 2.1.0

• Fix for #110: Attempts to start debugging result in error Cannot evaluate 'execAddress'.
  setLaunchExecAddress moved after readListFiles.
• Small fixes for unit tests and custom code.
• Experimental implementation of DZRP 2.1.0 (cmd_interrupt_on_off) for zxnextserialremote.
• debug console: "-e test ...": Tests for the serial interface.

node-graphviz

• Fix for #109: Extension host terminated unexpectedly 3 times within the last 5 minutes. aduh95/graphviz.js has been replaced with node-graphviz.
• Changed disassembly of e.g. 'LD DE,8000.1' to 'LD DE,$8000.1'

The return of the flowchart

• Fix for #108: Reverse engineering: Call Graph and Flow Chart failing to render.
• Changed disassembly "out (c),f" to "out (c),0".
• Fixed display of hex number in flowchart.