ZX Spectrum prototype ROM is now available for download courtesy of boffins at the UK's Centre for Computing History
- Reference: 1585831511
- News link: https://www.theregister.co.uk/2020/04/02/zx_spectrum_prototype_rom/
- Source link:
It has been just over a year since Kate and John Grant let the team at CCH [1]get hold of the prototype , replete with handwritten labels and lacking the familiar rubber keyboard and sleek plastic case.
At the time, we noted the substantial differences in the appearance of the hardware, from the delightfully hand-made touches, such as the wire-wrap, as well as differences in connectors and layout. But, at its heart, it was still the ZX Spectrum known and loved (and argued over) in 1980s playgrounds across the land.
At the time, curator Jason Fitzpatrick told us the plan was to get the content of the ROMs dumped for preservation and then have a crack at getting the thing powered on.
Fans of Sinclairs will be pleased to learn that the former has been accomplished, but sadly the latter has not gone so well.
Finding themselves (like so many at the moment) with time on their hands, the team has extracted the ROM image and also obtained permission to [2]distribute it via the museum's website (for research and educational purposes only).
Fitzpatrick has also posted a video showing the ROM in action (yes, that is Windows XP on a Toughbook) – and while there are differences, it appears complete enough to run the classic Hungry Horace game of nearly four decades ago.
[3]Youtube Video
The Register asked Fitzpatrick what had caused the hold-up. "The most part of it is down to time," he said, explaining that as well obtaining permission for distribution, the small matter of actually running the museum meant that projects such as this got pushed aside. However, the doors have had to be closed due to the COVID-19 outbreak, and so (confined to their homes) the team could make some progress.
Noting that the ROM runs slightly differently in different emulators (and admitting that "I'm no Speccy expert!"), Fitzpatrick pointed to the efforts of the community in working out what was hidden within the artefact. Discoveries so far have included hints of an early incarnation of the [4]Microdrive software , which was later removed in production.
Alas, the board itself appears to be unhappy. The team removed all the chips and tested the circuits before putting the silicon back in and firing up the prototype... "Sadly it didn't work," Fitzpatrick said. "It produced a black screen with [a] white border."
A bit like the Spectrum lurking in this hack's collection, which has probably played its last game of Football Manager .
There are no immediate plans to repair the thing, as Fitzpatrick observed "we haven't had time to dedicate [to] fault finding it," noting that with the ROMs downloaded, there was little need to make it functional and "we certainly wouldn't want to replace components to make it function as then it is no longer completely original."
While we can sympathise with this approach, there is a certain joy to be had in resurrecting dead bits of electronics. "It's interesting," said Fitzpatrick, "museums take a different view to preservation than a collector might."
As for the prototype itself, the museum is open to suggestions of loaning the device to other establishments for display (once the country is able to slip the national gearbox out of neutral) and continues to be on the lookout for unusual hardware or, better, the behind-the-scenes documentation of the companies and people behind the computing artefacts.
Naturally, we downloaded the ROM and took it for a spin in a handy emulator. The really interesting stuff comes when one starts poking about to see how things differ and speculate on what was going through the minds of the designers.
If retro ROMs are your thing, we'd recommend a download and, hey, maybe have a click on that donate link too if you're inclined. ®
[1] https://www.theregister.co.uk/2019/03/05/the_first_zx_spectrum_prototype_laid_bare/
[2] http://www.computinghistory.org.uk/det/51620/Sinclair-ZX-Spectrum-Prototype/
[3] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gFg09u6MbMg
[4] https://www.theregister.co.uk/2013/03/13/feature_the_sinclair_zx_microdrive_story/
known and loved (and argued over) in 1980s playgrounds across the land.
Yes indeed, and for those of us who were there at the time, this comments section is of course the digital equivalent of that playground nearly 40 years later. At break times only of course.
Re: known and loved (and argued over) in 1980s playgrounds across the land.
For many, break time seems to have been extended.
His comment about preservation is quite true. If I go to a museum to see the one and only prototype of the Spectrum, I'm not too bothered whether it works - its value as a artefact is the key thing. I'd want to see the original prototype, as it looked, with all its original components. Whereas if I want one for myself, I probably wouldn't care too much about the actual model so long as I can switch it on, use it and tinker with it (although I doubt I'd want a 16K one).
It's a bit like going to a museum to see an amphora they've dug up from ancient Rome. I'm quite happy to see a replica next to it, but leave the original as the bits and pieces you dug out of the supermarket car park, please?
"Device unformatted"
Look, it's there! It's a different thing just above the thing you're changing! Look at it! Say something about it! Talk about the built-in disk filing system the Spectrum never had! Please? Go on? Would you...? Oh well, never mind.
Wow great job by the restoration team!
I must get a copy of this even if I never tinker with it, just to know I've got it. My 12 year old self would be overjoyed.
16KB
The rom's size is 16KB. That is what you call tight.
I wonder what's the size of the next XBox rom (yeah, ok, its not a rom, I know, but you get the point) ?
Re: 16KB
I seem to remember the ZX81 was only 8K.
Re: 16KB
The ZX80's is 4kb, but its version of BASIC is integer-only.
Re: 16KB
Jupiter Ace had 1 K RAM and could run Pacman written in Forth on that. I had one and even got a 2nd for work to control some test gear.
Allegedly it was a sort of cost reduced Spectrum, according to Wikipedia, because I've forgotten most of what I knew. It had 8 K ROM. I did remember that the designers had worked on the ZX81 and Spectrum. Nowadays in the USA, they'd likely have to work at something else for years due to Serf contracts.
I gave it away maybe less than a year after buying it in 1983. I was using an ACT Sirius 1 (Victor 9000) in work (replaced later by an Apricot) which made the IBM look stupid when I first used it in 1982. I'd had a Spectrum as a test card generator in 1982 to align and check Thorn TX10 CTVs customised as AV/Computer monitor/TVs for Apple & BBC Micro and VHS.
Re: 16KB
"Jupiter Ace had 1 K RAM and could run Pacman written in Forth on that. I had one and even got a 2nd for work to control some test gear."
You are confusing your ROM and RAM.
Re: 16KB
Surprising what you can cram into limited space. I remember writing ping-pong and various other games for the ZX81. Compared to my programmable Casio calculator it had a vast amount of memory and unlimited programming potential. Disliked the keyboard though, some of the keys wore out quickly and became somewhat hit and miss.
"It produced a black screen with [a] white border."
That is at least encouraging. A whole lot better than 'magic smoke' and a cry of "fuck!" from the R&D lab.
Next thing to do would be to hook up a logic analyser, plug in a 'ROMulator', start writing and downloading code to exercise signal lines and see what peripherals work and don't. Just like we had to do back in the era.
Published
I used to have a book called "The Complete Spectrum ROM Disassembly" and I only threw it out a few years ago. (Now it's online).
I found it very informative and it really helped me learn the assembler language.
Hardware failed to boot
This is a real shame they couldn't fire it up, emulation is nice but sometimes it just nicer to look at something on what it was designed for.
Have a beer for at least extracting and sorting out the legal side of the backed up Rom.