Commodore CASSIOPEI, User Manual

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7 Using TAP files
.TAP files are images of real cassette tapes. That's the main reason why .TAP files are so big. Each
and every signal of the tape is very accurately described in the .TAP file. .TAP files are not to be
compared with .PRG files as .PRG files are programs directly interpretable while .TAP files are
small programs and lot's of data. The only way to interpret the data is by loading and executing the
loader at the beginning of the .TAP file. This is one of the reasons why .TAP files cannot be loaded
faster then the speed they were designed for (which is according to today's standard pretty slow...)
.TAP files are to be loaded by selecting the .TAP file mode in combination with the selection of
a .TAP file using the Cassiopei's menu program (or through the menu on the OLED screen)the
Cassiopei manager.
Copy the TAP file you want to the TAP-folder of the computer model of your choice. So if you
have a TAP file named PACMAN.TAP for a C64, then copy this TAP file to the SD-card in the
corresponding folder. This would result in the path: C64/TAP/PACMAN.TAP
It is allowed to save the TAP file in a sub folder of your own choice, for instance the folder named
GAMES. This means that you can organize you games making them easier to find if you have more
then one TAP file on your SD-card. The path then would be: C64/TAP/GAMES/PACMAN.TAP
Configure the Cassiopei for the use of TAP files. You can do this using the menu program on your
CBM computer.
- type LOAD on the CBM
- when the computer says “press play on tape”, press the menu-button on the Cassiopei
- wait a few seconds before the menu program is loaded and starts
But you could also use the webinterface or the menu on the Cassiopei display itself (just press the
“Sett.”-button to enter the menu. All of the 3 menu options gives you a menu with the same
functionality. When the TAP mode and TAP file have been selected, you may load it by typing
LOAD on your CBM computer and press the “Play”-button on the Cassiopei. The TAP file will be
played and the game/program will be loaded. The display shows you a nice animation of the tape,
this way you can see it's status.
“Play”-button STOP/PLAY the TAP file
“Menu”-button rewind the TAP file
“Sett.”-button wind the TAP file
When the game allows it you can/must rewind or wind
the tape in order to continue. Now you can (by
pressing the corresponding buttons) stop/play, wind or
rewind the “tape”. The tape counter is much more
advanced then that of a real datasette, this counter
shows the actual byte-position in the file and is
therefore not time related. This allows for a more
precise positioning.
You can also listen to the sounds coming from the
TAP file by moving the switch for the speaker of the Cassiopei in the 'R' or 'W' position.
2019-10-27 Page 31 of 76 CASSIOPEI v2.0