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LOAD"0:*",8,1 or LOAD"*",8,1? Talk about C64 games. Not for emulation related problems.

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14 posts • Page 1 of 1 GREEN_BERT Mikie Posts: 567 Joined: Thu Dec 11, 2008 10:37 pm Location: West Yorks. UK Age: 53

LOAD"0:*",8,1 or LOAD"*",8,1?

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Post by GREEN_BERT » Sat Mar 07, 2020 6:36 pm

So, just wondered why some of my game disks ony run when I invoke then through LOAD"0:*",8,1, and others need the standard LOAD"*",8,1 command. Is it related to protected disks (G64)? Thanks. Top allesandr64k William Wobbler Posts: 64 Joined: Thu Mar 29, 2018 4:27 pm Location: ca Age: 56

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Post by allesandr64k » Sat Mar 07, 2020 7:35 pm

i've never ever had to load using LOAD"0:*",8,1, Never. LOAD "*",8,1 > RUN LOAD "*",8 > RUN LOAD "*",8,1 > [a sys command like in whatever Ultima game] or directly LOAD "filename",8,1 or LOAD "filen*",8,1 to wild card first match in directory weird. And on pi1541/1581 or emulator, nope, it's all the same. Top GREEN_BERT Mikie Posts: 567 Joined: Thu Dec 11, 2008 10:37 pm Location: West Yorks. UK Age: 53

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Post by GREEN_BERT » Sat Mar 07, 2020 7:56 pm

Taken from the Green Beret.G64 disk Top GREEN_BERT Mikie Posts: 567 Joined: Thu Dec 11, 2008 10:37 pm Location: West Yorks. UK Age: 53

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Post by GREEN_BERT » Sat Mar 07, 2020 8:04 pm

I found an answer here maybe; "The asterisk character is a wildcard. An asterisk alone means the last file you used on the device. But when you first power the device on, it defaults to the first file on the disk.....When you absolutely, positively wanted the first file on the disk, you had to issue the command LOAD “0:*”,8,1." https://dfarq.homeip.net/what-load-81-means/ So maybe something to do with the file structure of the files on the disk? Top allesandr64k William Wobbler Posts: 64 Joined: Thu Mar 29, 2018 4:27 pm Location: ca Age: 56

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Post by allesandr64k » Sat Mar 07, 2020 11:23 pm

Yes the asterisk is wild card, for example if you have a program filename "snoopy129v4" on the disk, you can just LOAD "snoop*" and it will find the first filename matching that sequence of chars before the * and attempt to load it. Thus when you start your computer up or reset, as is pretty typical 99.9% of the time for simple gamers, if you load * then if just loads the first file (game). Almost always the case where publishers put the proper loader file at beginning. So it does have to do with disk structure. A big note here - sometimes, not really super often a game might have it's loader/boot file down in the directory. not common but it happens. in that case you want to make sure you load the [edit] right file. Otherwise, the quote you found clarifies i suppose, never really had to know or think about it, but makes sense that if a program or last loaded is still in ram memory that the * must reference that. But really as a gamer since what 1983 with c64 as a kid forward to now. I never once actually ever use 0:*. in fact the only time i ever used any reference to 0 was as in open 1,8,15,"N0:mynewdiskname,2a":close 1 which N "news" or formats the disk. And there are also other commands like S for scratch erase files, etc. I am not an expert but I always thought 0 in this regard was referring to like the first default device channel or something (sorry really lazy here) And while drive #8 is of course ,8 PS. If you used an SDIEC or pi1541 or other real disk drives you can set these to other drive #s. So if you set your SDIEC for example to drive #9 or drive #10 LOAD "myfile",9,1 or LOAD "myfile",10,1 0 must reference and reset pointer to beginning. ---- But the main thing is to just load the correct boot file for game. If you have a disk with tons of games on it. LOAD * will then likely load the first game. Otherwise, LOAD "$",8 --- lists the disk directory in memory on ready, LIST -- will print the directory. You can simply cursor up to any filename and type LOAD before quote and ,8,1 after quote. And then RUN of course to run it. Most games will load this way. If not try ,8. Also again if RUN doesn't work, a few games out there, originals, like some Origin games like Ultima I believe require a sys + number to start. I always thought they did this as sort of copy protection, where the instruction and sys # was in manual! (Hilariously I recently loaded up such a program recently and recalled its sys# instantly for the first time playing in probably near 35 years). You just gotta make sure you load the correct file. 99.9% you're going to start and load a game from fresh memory, meaning * loads first on disk. There is also a command you can enter in BASIC (like LOAD or RUN, etc) called "NEW" Just type NEW and it should clear RAM memory and I suspect * will then load first from disk. If you are playing a game then unless it's like a BASIC game I suppose where you can break or exit to basic with memory in tact, then you basically always have to reset the machine. And in that case * should just load the first file, But perhaps you have some funky [modern] hardware disk drive emulator device procedure where you are not hard resetting your machine? Top Nonax William Wobbler Posts: 110 Joined: Wed Aug 24, 2011 3:29 pm Age: 55 Contact: Contact Nonax Website

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Post by Nonax » Sun Mar 08, 2020 7:02 am

The extra 0: was used for older disk units that had more then one drive like the CBM 8050 for the PET. Since these units are one device on the serial bus there needed to be a way to specify which drive you wanted to access. That is why you can add 0: or 1: to specify a specific drive. The 0: will probably be ignored by the 1541 since it only has one drive. However, the 1541 manual also mentions that using "*" will load the last accessed file. If no file was accessed then the first will be loaded. So this is maybe why some disks don't load in some cases, your drive might still have a filename in the cache. And maybe adding the 0: will circumvent loading the last accessed file and instead loads the first? nonax.nl Top GREEN_BERT Mikie Posts: 567 Joined: Thu Dec 11, 2008 10:37 pm Location: West Yorks. UK Age: 53

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Post by GREEN_BERT » Sun Mar 08, 2020 8:33 am

I have an EPYX FASTLOAD cartridge, and the shortcut for loading a disk is <CBM KEY> and <RUN STOP>, which is also mapped to LOAD"0:*",8,1. So maybe this was 'best practice', a legacy from the older Dual Drives such as the 8250. Top r.cade Jumpman Posts: 4319 Joined: Sat Aug 28, 2004 5:36 pm Location: Augusta, Georgia, USA Age: 54 Contact: Contact r.cade Website

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Post by r.cade » Sun Mar 08, 2020 3:21 pm

There is a subtle difference in how they function. One loads the last used file (or first on the disk at reset) and the other loads the first "PRG" file on the disk. This is key when you have other files on the disk that are not PRG (like fake menu entries, etc.) before the first PRG entry. - Pete Rittwage C64 Preservation Project https://c64preservation.org Top nobbyclark William Wobbler Posts: 115 Joined: Thu Sep 24, 2015 4:13 pm Location: Cumbria, UK

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Post by nobbyclark » Mon Mar 09, 2020 11:54 am

I don't remember ever having to prefix the filename with '0:'. Here are the instructions for GB. Maybe the loading screen does actually display the zero though. Haven't played it for ages as I was a bit crap at it. Top Grimmsqueaker Mikie Posts: 563 Joined: Sat Mar 23, 2013 6:57 am Location: Durham UK Age: 52

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Post by Grimmsqueaker » Mon Mar 09, 2020 5:19 pm

Always used LOAD"*",8,1 Believe the * is just saying load the first thing you find on the disc Stoke me a clipper, I'll be back for breakfast Top IDLookout Jack The Nipper Posts: 766 Joined: Wed Apr 25, 2018 5:19 pm Location: Northern Idaho, USA Age: 54

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Post by IDLookout » Mon Mar 09, 2020 8:49 pm

The only time i've used the LOAD"dr:fn",8 (dr=Drive Number 0 or 1, fn=File Name) command is with my 4040 drive and my PET, as well as the PETs we had at school in high school. I've never had to use it on a C64/1541. Such language in a high-class establishment like this! Top nobbyclark William Wobbler Posts: 115 Joined: Thu Sep 24, 2015 4:13 pm Location: Cumbria, UK

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Post by nobbyclark » Tue Mar 10, 2020 9:04 am

I thought the '8' referred to the drive. If you loaded from tape, you could specify '1', although I think that was the default. I was lucky enough to have 2 disc drives and referred to the 2nd one as '9'. I think there was dipswitch in the drive to make it identify as 8, 9, 10 or 11. But I may be misremembering. Top IDLookout Jack The Nipper Posts: 766 Joined: Wed Apr 25, 2018 5:19 pm Location: Northern Idaho, USA Age: 54

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Post by IDLookout » Tue Mar 10, 2020 2:19 pm

The "8" position Refers to the "device", but yes it is used for drive, but can be used for the following: 0: Keyboard 1: Datassette 2: RS232 3: Text Screen 4, 5: Printer 6, 7: Plotter 8 to 30 Disk Drives Such language in a high-class establishment like this! Top fuzzybad Posts: 8 Joined: Sun Oct 20, 2013 8:22 pm Location: United States

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Post by fuzzybad » Tue Mar 10, 2020 5:22 pm

This has probably already been answered adequately, but here's my 2 cents: LOAD"*",8,1 - Loads first file on disk, IF DRIVE WAS JUST RESET. Otherwise, it reloads the previous PRG file that was loaded. LOAD"0:*",8,1 (or LOAD":*",8,1) - Loads first PRG file on disk, ALWAYS. I just did some testing in VICE and confirmed this behavior. Let's say you have two programs on disk, named ONE and TWO. If you load TWO, then load "*", it will reload TWO. If you load TWO, then load ":*", then ONE is loaded. Top Post Reply

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