OFFICIAL ________ ____ __ ___ ___ /\_____ \ /\ _`\ /\ \ /\_ \ /\_ \ \/____//'/'\ \,\L\_\ \ \___ __\//\ \ \//\ \ //'/' \/_\__ \\ \ _ `\ /'__`\\ \ \ \ \ \ //'/'___ /\ \L\ \ \ \ \ \/\ __/ \_\ \_ \_\ \_ /\_______\\ `\____\ \_\ \_\ \____\/\____\/\____\ \/_______/ \/_____/\/_/\/_/\/____/\/____/\/____/ FAQ Maintained by Henrik Edlund Version 7.00 December 21 1995 This FAQ attempts to answer some of the frequently asked questions about ZShell. Suggestions, corrections and comments should be sent to Henrik Edlund . +------------+ | LEGAL NOTE | +------------+ The information presented here is provided "as is" without any warranty, guarantee, or promise, express or implied, concerning the content or accuracy of this FAQ. In no event shall the maintainer of this FAQ or people who have submitted information be liable for any damages whatsoever including but not limited to direct, indirect, incidental, consequential, loss of business profits or special damages, even if someone has been advised of the possibility of such damages. This FAQ is not officially supported by TI in any way. The bottom line is: USE THE INFORMATION PRESENTED HERE AT YOUR OWN RISK! (Not that it's deadly or soo...) +-----------+ | ATTENTION | +-----------+ Now when ZShell 4.0 is out there must be a lot of question in your minds. Why not send them to me for including in the FAQ! Spelling! Please write and correct me if I typed in something wrong or used some bad grammar. That would really help both me and the FAQ. Please send a message to me (piett@kuai.se) if you wish to distribute this FAQ (maybe to another newsgroup, mailing list, FTP site, or anything else) before you do. I'd like to keep a record on where it's going... A WWW version of this FAQ will soon be available at URL: http://www.kuai.se/~piett/zshell/faq.html Meanwhile, check out the OFFICIAL ZSHELL HOME PAGE at URL: http://www.kuai.se/~piett/zshell/index.html +-------------------------------------------------+ | THANKS GOES TO THESE PEOPLE FOR HELPING ME OUT! | +-------------------------------------------------+ Dan Eble for ZShell and help on everything. Magnus Hagander for ZShell and help on everything. Rob Taylor for ZShell and help on Q13. Philipp Knobel <100430.3302@compuserve.com> for help on Q13. Andrew Wedgbury for help on Q13. Dines Justesen for help on Q13. Mattias Lindqvist for help on Q13. Amitai Schlair for help on Q13 and Q15. Jeff Lawson for help on Q16. Emmanuel J Cracker for help on Q14. Adam L. Pollock for help on Q19 and Q20. ? ? for help on some spelling. +--------------------------------------------------+ | WHERE CAN I FIND THE LATEST VERSION OF THIS FAQ? | +--------------------------------------------------+ These are the official distributors, do not get it from anywhere else! My own release site ------------------- http://www.kuai.se/~piett/zshell/faq.html http://www.kuai.se/pub/user/piett/zshell/zshell.faq http://www.kuai.se/pub/user/piett/zshell/zshell.faq.uue ftp://ftp.kuai.se/pub/user/piett/zshell/zshell.faq ftp://ftp.kuai.se/pub/user/piett/zshell/zshell.faq.uue Magnus Hagander's site (two hour mirror of the release site) ------------------------------------------------------------ ftp://ftp.rbk.sollentuna.se/pub/TI-Calc/ti-85/ZShell/zshell.faq Amitai Schlair's site (daily mirror of the release site) -------------------------------------------------------- ftp://members.aol.com/sphinxsoft/ti-calc/faqs/zshell.faq Magnus Hagander's mailing-list for TI releated FAQs --------------------------------------------------- Write to "majordomo@rbk.sollentuna.se with "get tifaq zshell.faq" in the body of the message. +-----------------+ | THE FAQ VERSION | +-----------------+ The major version number (the number before the separator) changes when questions are added. The minor version number (the number after the separator) changes when answers are revised. Note that when questions are added the minor version number is reset to zero, even if answers were revised in that turn. +-----------------+ | VERSION HISTORY | +-----------------+ 1.00 - August 14 1995 - Initial Release. 2.00 - August 16 1995 - Q6 and Q11 revised and Q12 added! 2.01 - August 17 1995 - Q3 and Q5 revised. 2.02 - August 20 1995 - Q5 revised. 2.03 - September 19 1995 - Q6 revised. 2.04 - October 12 1995 - Q11 and Q9 revised. 3.00 - November 01 1995 - Q13 and Q14 added. 4.00 - November 23 1995 - Q2, Q3, Q6, Q8, Q10, Q11, Q13 and Q14 revised. Q15, Q16 and Q17 added. Some bad spelling corrected. 4.01 - November 26 1995 - Q6, Q9, Q15 and Q17 revised. Spelling corrected. 4.02 - November 29 1995 - Q14, Q15 and Q16 revised. Spelling corrected. 4.03 - November 29 1995 - Q3 had an serious error which was corrected. Q14 was revised. 5.00 - December 08 1995 - Some addresses changed. Q19, Q20 and Q21 added. Q13 revised. 6.00 - December 15 1995 - Q15 and Q21 revised. Q22 added. Spelling corrected. 7.00 - December 21 1995 - Changed Rob Taylor's e-mail address. Q23, Q24 and Q25 added. +----------------+ | Question Index | +----------------+ * means that this question needs more answers... or more explanations! + means that this question was added in this major release! ! means that the answer was revised in this major release! 1. What is ZShell? 2. What are the files in the ZSHELL.ZIP archive? 3. What are the requirements? 4. What version of ROM do I have? 5. How do I put ZShell in my calculator? 6. How do I run ZShell? 7. How do I run programs for ZShell? 8. Who wrote ZShell? 9. Is there a ZShell Home Page? 10. What is the current version of ZShell? 11. Does ZShell work with ROM versions above 8.0? 12. Is there a mailing list for discussing ZShell? * 13. Is there any reference literature about Z80 programming? * 14. Where can I find an example of some ZShell (Z80) source code? 15. Where can I get the latest version of ZShell? 16. What does "ZShell too old" mean? 17. What's so special about 21 November 1995? * 18. Are there any programming pages about ZShell on the web? 19. Does Zilog (the makers of the Z80) have a Web site? 20. Is there a IRC channel for discussing ZShell stuff? 21. Where can I get applications for ZShell? 22. What is the correct filesize for ZSHELL40.ZIP? + 23. I have made a program for ZShell. Where can I distribute it? + 24. Where can I always get the latest version of the applications in the ZSHELL40.ZIP package? + 25. Does the file TI-85.H ever change? And where do I get the new version? +-----------------------+ | Questions and Answers | +-----------------------+ 1. Question : What is ZShell? Answer : ZShell is a program for the TI-85 graphing calculator that enables execution of Z80-compatible programs stored in string variables. ZShell is a shell and an operating system combined. The shell part provides an organized way to list and execute the string programs stored on the calculator. The operating system part provides functions necessary for the string programs to work properly with different ROM versions and in the quicksand environment of the TI-85's memory. 2. Question : What are the files in the ZSHELL40.ZIP (ZSHELL.ZIP) archive? Answer : ZSHELL .85B - ZShell 4.0, TexaNoid, Organiser and Function Tester. ZSHELL .DOC - The Documentaion TI-85 .H - header file for TASM facilitating TI-85 programming. TASM is the Table Assembler, not Borland's product. STRING85.COM - compiles binary Z80 code into an .85S file UPGRADE .TXT - Information about how to upgrade old programs. (Version 3.x to ZShell 4.0) TEXAN .DOC - Documentation for TexaNoid. ORGANISE.DOC - Documentation for Organiser. TEST .DOC - Documentation for Function Tester. 3. Question : What are the requirements? Answer : You must have TI-85 and a Link Cable and Link Software or know someone who does or know someone who knows someone who does... For version 4.0 of ZShell, you must have ROM version 3.0A, 4.0, 5.0, 6.0, 8.0, 9.0 or 10.0. 4. Question : What version of ROM do I have? Answer : To find out what version of ROM you have, press the following keys: [2nd] [MODE] [ALPHA] [S]. The sentence "Enter self test?" accompanied by a version number will appear. Hit any key EXCEPT [ENTER]. PRESSING [ENTER] WILL CAUSE YOUR MEMORY TO BE ERASED. 5. Question : How do I put ZShell in my calculator? Answer : ZShell itself is stored in a string variable. (Plus a pointer from the menu to that string). All you have to do to put it in your calculator is use your the link and transfer a memory backup to your calculator. To do this without losing whatever is presently in your memory, follow these steps: (1) Transfer all of the data on your calculator to a group file on the computer. (2) Transfer the ZShell backup file to your calculator. (3) Transfer the group file back to your calculator. Don't overwrite any variables from the ZShell backup. 6. Question : How do I run ZShell? Answer : To run ZSHELL, hit [CUSTOM] [F1]. Note that if you have a ROM version other than the ones listed in Q3, ZShell will not run. If the text on F1 does not say ZShell DO NOT PRESS F1! That will destroy all your data! Programs made for ZShell 1.0, 2.0, 3.0 and 3.1 are incompatible with ZShell 4.0 and above. 7. Question : How do I run programs for ZShell? Answer : When you start ZShell, it displays a list of the string programs on your calculator, or "NO PROGRAMS" if it can't find any. Use the up and down arrow keys to select a program, [MORE] to see the next page of programs (if you have more than eight), [ENTER] to run a program, and [EXIT] to return to the home screen. 8. Question : Who wrote ZShell? Answer : Version 1 to 3.1 was made by Dan Eble . Version 4.0 and future versions are made by Magnus Hagander and Rob Taylor <100635.152@compuserve.com>. 9. Question : Is there a ZShell Home Page? Answer : YES! URL: http://www.kuai.se/~piett/zshell/index.html It's run by me (Henrik Edlund). And there is also a ZShell Fan-Page run by Magnus Hagander at http://www.rbk.sollentuna.se/~mha/zshellfan/. 10. Question : What is the current version of ZShell? 10. Answer : 4.0 11. Question : Does ZShell work with ROM versions above 8.0? 11. Answer : YES, now in version 4.0 it does! 12. Question : Is there a mailing list for discussing ZShell? 12. Answer : Yes! Write a message to majordomo@kuai.se with "subscribe list-zshell" in the body of the message. 13. Question : Is there any reference literature about Z80 programming? 13. Answer : (1) 'Programming the Z80' by Rodney Zaks, SYBEX. Read choice for beginners. Read this to understand the basics of Z80 assembler. (2) 'Z80 Assembly Language Subroutines' by Lance A. Leventhal/Winthrop Saville. Some nice routines (3) 'Spectrum Machine Language for the Absolute Beginner' by William Tang. It's a great book and has a lot of non specific Z80 stuff. Just ignore the Spectrum only bits as sound and the game. (4) 'Z80 Programmers Reference' from Zilog, Inc. (5) 'A Z80 Workshop Manual' by E.A. Parr. Published bu Bernard Babani (publishing) Ltd. ISBN: 0-85934-087-2. (6) 'Z80 Assembly Language Programming' by Lance A. Leventhal, published by OSBORNE/McGraw-Hill. ISBN: 0931988-21-7. (7) 'TLCS-Z80,85 Data Book' by Toshiba Corporation. (8) 'Z80 Assembly-Language Programming' by Christopher Lampton. Published by Franklin Watts. It refers to the old TRS-80 and other CP/M computers, but it can be generalized and applied to the TI fairly easily. The book offers a clear explanation of exactly what factors you control in ASM programming. (9) 'The Programming Guide to the Z80 Chip' by Phillip R. Robinson. Published by Tab Books. (10) 'Learning Assembly Language: A Guide for BASIC Programmers' by Hugo T. Jackson and A.M. Fischer. Published by Harper and Row. The title itself should draw TI-BASIC programmers. Not about the Z80, but about a fictional chip called "GRAPE-80" which handles generalized instructions. 14. Question : Where can I find an example of some ZShell (Z80) source code? 14. Answer : (1) http://www.kuai.se/~piett/zshell/programming.html (2) http://dnclab.Berkeley.EDU/~smack/ti/zshell.html 15. Question : Where can I get the latest version of ZShell? 15. Answer : The latest version of ZShell can be found at these URLs: (1) Magnus Hagander's release site: (1) ftp://ftp.rbk.sollentuna.se/pub/TI-Calc/ti-85/ ZShell/zshell40.zip (2) ftp://ftp.rbk.sollentuna.se/pub/TI-Calc/ti-85/ ZShell/zshell40.zip.uue (2) The ZShell Home Page mirrors the release site: (1) ftp://ftp.kuai.se/pub/user/piett/zshell/zshell40.zip (2) ftp://ftp.kuai.se/pub/user/piett/zshell/ zshell40.zip.uue (3) http://www.kuai.se/pub/user/piett/zshell/zshell40.zip (3) http://www.kuai.se/pub/user/piett/zshell/ zshell40.zip.uue (3) Amitai Schlair also mirrors the release site: (1) ftp://members.aol.com/sphinxsoft/ti-calc/zshell/ ZSHELL40.zip.uue (2) ftp://members.aol.com/sphinxsoft/ti-calc/zshell/ ZSHELL40.sit.hqx (4) If you only can use e-mail: (1) Write to "majordomo@rbk.sollentuna.se" with "get tifaq zshell40.zip.uue" in the body of your message. Write "index tifaq" in the body for an index of the available files there. (5) At ftp://ftp.rbk.sollentuna.se/pub/TI-Calc/ti-85/ZShell/ there is a file called mirrors.txt that contains the sites that are authorized for distributing ZShell. Do NOT download ZShell from any other site! 16. Question : What does "ZShell too old" mean? Answer : The message is displayed when you try to run a program that is made for a newer version of ZShell. For example if you run a ZShell 4.1 program on ZShell 4.0. It is then time to upgrade you ZShell! See Q15. 17. Question : What's so special about 21 November 1995? Answer : It's the date when ZShell 4.0 (the big revolution) was released. It's from now on a sanctuary day. You can find a log from the release party on IRC-channel #ti-calc at http://www2.e.kth.se/~e95_mha/Public/release.html. 18. Question : Are there any programming pages for ZShell on the Web? Answer : (1) http://www2.e.kth.se/~e95_mha/Public/zshell_ref.html. 19. Question : Does Zilog (the makers of the Z80) have a Web site? Answer : Yes, http://www.zilog.com/. 20. Question : Is there a IRC channel for discussing ZShell stuff? Answer : Yes, #calc-ti was created on IRCNet for general discussion of the TI calculators, and then also for ZShell. Join any of the main servers, i.e. irc.colorado.edu, irc.cris.com, irc.eskimo.com, and you'll be there. 21. Question : Where can I get applications for ZShell? Answer : (1) http://www.kuai.se/~piett/zshell/applications.html (2) http://dnclab.Berkeley.EDU/~smack/ti/zshell.html 22. Question : What is the correct filesize for ZSHELL40.ZIP? Answer : 27282 bytes. 23. Question : I have made a program for ZShell. Where can I distribute it? Answer : Via the ZShell Home Page! Just send the program to me (Henrik Edlund) at piett@kuai.se. 24. Question : Where can I always get the latest version of the applications in the ZSHELL40.ZIP package? Answer : At the ZShell Home Page! (http://www.kuai.se/~piett/zshell/index.html) 25. Question : Does the file TI-85.H ever change? And where do I get the new version? Answer : The TI-85.H TASM header file is updated quite often by Magnus Hagander (see above for address). The latest version is available from the ZShell Home Page and from Magnus Hagander ftp-site. (1) http://www.kuai.se/~piett/zshell/programming.html (2) http://www.kuai.se/pub/user/piett/zshell/ti-85.h (3) http://www.kuai.se/pub/user/piett/zshell/ti-85.h.uue (4) ftp://ftp.kuai.se/pub/user/piett/zshell/ti-85.h (5) ftp://ftp.kuai.se/pub/user/piett/zshell/ti-85.h.uue (6) ftp://ftp.rbk.sollentuna.se/pub/TI-Calc/ti-85/ ZShell/ti-85.h +-------------+ | End of File | +-------------+