TMX Disk Operating System Boot Disk Program

Disk Boot Program

Public Domain

Informed by: A. Hradesky

Original Author: Unkown

There are many different types of disk operating systems (DOS) for the TIMEXsinclair 2068 computer. Ramex, Oliger, Aerco, and Larken all come to mind, however, there is one that stands out on its own as the official TIMEX DOS (titled TOS for the TIMEX Operating System) which is perhaps the finest design of an operating system offered for any 8-bit computer. Except for the use of an NMI (non-maskable interupt) save routine, TOS allows full use of direct sector read/write and other advanced features. TOS also allows the use of an automatic load routine on power up or reset. To achieve this, the program’s name must be titled Boot. Below is just such a program. It will catalog the current drive in use. Use the 6 and 7 arrow (do not use the shift keys) keys to move a small marker (<) up and down to select your program. Once selected, hit the Enter Key to execute your preference. This Boot program also allows the downward movement through multiple sub-directories.

10 REM SAVE *"START" LINE 10
15 BORDER 1: PAPER 7: INK 2
20 OVER 0: CLS
30 LET CURSOR=7
40 PRINT AT 1,0;
50 CAT *
60 PRINT AT CURSOR,8;"<"
70 IF INKEY$=CHR$ 54 AND SCREEN$ (CURSOR+1,0)<>" " THEN PRINT AT CURSOR,8;" ": LET CURSOR=CURSOR+1-(CURSOR=20)
80 IF INEKY$=CHR$ 55 AND SCREEN$ (CURSOR-1,8)=" " THEN PRINT AT CURSOR,8;" ": LET CURSOR=CURSOR-1+(CURSOR=1)
90 IF INKEY$=CHR$ 13 THEN  GO TO 110
100 GO TO 60
110 LET A$="": FOR I=0 TO 7
120 IF SCREEN$ (CURSOR,I)<>" " THEN  LET A$=A$+SCREEN$ (CURSOR,I)
130 NEXT I
140 LET B$="": FOR I=9 TO 11
150 LET B$=B$+SCREEN$ (CURSOR,I)
160 NEXT I
170 IF B$="DIR" THEN  GO TO *A$: GO TO 10
180 IF B$="MC " THEN  LET A$=A$+".MC": LOAD *A$CODE : STOP
190 IF B$="   " THEN  LOAD *A$
200 IF B$="SCR" THEN  LET A$=A$+".SCR": LOAD *A$SCREEN$ : STOP
210 LET A$=A$+"."+B$: LOAD *A$

Remember, this program is for the TMX operating system (this includes the FDD-3000 and the Zebra drives). Enjoy…