Instructions
02/10/2024
Menus:
F1 Help F2 NMI F3 Hardware options F4 Control options F5 Load snapshot F6 Save options F7 Load tape F8 Tape options F9 Save screenshot F10 Quit F11 Sound options F12 Disk select
Alt-F1 POKEs/Trainers Alt-F2 Alternate NMI Alt-F7 Tape browser Alt-F8 Pause/Unpause tape
File Formats INI/command line DOS Windows
FILE FORMATS
Snapshots:
Z80 & SNA - These snapshots can hold the machine state of a 48K, 128K, +2, or +3. It cannot contain the state of the interfaces, except for the Interface 1. They're something of a legacy format that has never gone away. Note that x128 has no overarching snapshot format that can save its entire state.
SLT - This was a combination of a snapshot and DAT files, which were used for manually-modified multiload games, accessed by using some unused opcodes on the Z80. They're also capable of holding some other information, like loading screens and instructions. These were mostly used before TZX and DSK files became common.
"DAT" - A snapshot plus a number of DAT files, held separately. DAT2SLT and SLT2DAT existed to convert between the two formats. By selecting the snapshot, the emulator will automatically look for the DAT files (in the same directory), when required.
Cassette formats:
| Suffix | System/Interface | Legacy | x128-only | Notes |
| TAP/BLK | ZX Spectrum/SAM Coupe/TS2068 | No | Holds standard ROM blocks only | |
| TZX | ZX Spectrum/SAM Coupe/TS2068 | No | A small, flexible format, can hold turbo and protected tapes | |
| VOC/WAV | Many | No | 8 or 16-bit raw audio files, can be very large but will support anything | |
| O (oh) | ZX80 | No | (Not working very well) | |
| P | ZX81 | No | (Not working very well) | |
| T81 | ZX81 | No | (Not working very well) | |
| PRG | C64 | No | A single file (type RUN or SYS ... afterwards) | |
| T64 | C64 | No | Loads the first file only (type RUN or SYS ... afterwards) |
NOTE: ZX80, ZX81, Timex TS2068, and C64 emulation are currently very limited. They should be considered as curiosities.
TAP/BLK - This venerable format, is capable of holding standard ROM blocks. It can be Flash loaded ("Trap"), "Edge" loaded, or loaded in "Off" mode (which is just the file converted into audio, without any acceleration). BLK is just a different suffix used by some old emulators. Currently, the SAM Coupe can load these in "Edge" or "Off" mode, and the TS2068 can load these in "Off" mode.
Note that this emulator cannot load Warajevo-style TAP files, nor C64-style TAP files.
TZX - A very common format, capable of holding a lot of original game cassettes. Can be loaded in the 3 modes, similar to TAP files.
VOC/WAV - Raw audio formats, capable of holding any cassette. Loads slowly... You need to pause and unpause these.
Files loaded in "Edge" or "Off" mode (or any of the raw audio formats) will need to be paused and unpaused. Either use the option in the F8 menu, or press Alt-F8 (if your system permits that keypress).
See the F8 menu for a better description of these modes.
Disk formats:
Which file formats are supported? Well, it can be difficult to tell in "long filename" mode, when the Spectrum screen is only 32 characters wide.
Here's what the average disk select menu looks like in 8.3 mode:
It should be noted that the F12 "Disk Select" menu is not available until some hardware that uses it is activated, whether that is the Interface 1, Wafadrive, one of the disk interfaces, or the Spectrum +3, SAM Coupe, Pentagon, Scorpion, ATM Turbo, Profi, etc. which (usually) have a built-in system.
Each interface tends to have its own file formats. Some are legacy formats, literally just the bytes from the sectors in order. They cannot be resized, hold a different format, etc.
Some formats are not actual disk images, they are (basically) lists of files which have to be built into a disk image (e.g. SCL).
Some formats are more flexible, like FDI, FDD, SAD, or DSK (aka EDSK). Nowadays, with various ways of putting image files on floppy disk emulators (e.g. Gotek), the file format that is most suitable is DSK. So all newly emulated (and future emulated) interfaces should be using DSK, either using that suffix or a different one, but still using DSK as the image format (for example, KDI is just a renamed DSK file). X128 runs a check on the header, and any file with a valid DSK header will be identified as one, regardless of the suffix.
The other advantage of this is that you can see how a disk from one system behaves in another. For example, if you put a 720K MS-DOS disk into a +D and CATalogue it, it will give you an error on sector 10 because sector 10 does not exist. Systems that have software designed to read files from other disk formats should also work.
Most of the time, you will be allowed to load from a variety of formats, unless the system does not permit it.
However, the legacy formats do have a lot of software available, some can be manipulated quite easily by simple tools (even a hex editor), and they do allow files to be accessed in some very old emulators indeed.
ZX Spectrum/SAM Coupe disk/tape loop image formats:
| Suffix | System/Interface | Legacy | Temp. Disk Image | Notes |
| DSK | Commonly for the Spectrum +3, but it could be used for anything. All newly emulated interfaces will use this format, possibly with a different suffix. | Used for almost everything now | ||
| KDI | Kempston Disk interface, or Watford SPDOS | A renamed DSK image | ||
| TRD | Beta 128/48, Pentagon, Scorpion, ATM, Profi, "TR-DOS" | Y | VERY common file format | |
| FDI | Beta 128/48, Pentagon, Scorpion, ATM, Profi, "TR-DOS" | |||
| FDD | Beta 128/48, Pentagon, Scorpion, ATM, Profi, "TR-DOS" | |||
| SCL | Beta 128/48, Pentagon, Scorpion, ATM, Profi, "TR-DOS" | Y | Yes | The files contained are mounted into a temporary TRD disk image |
| $? | Beta 128/48, Pentagon, Scorpion, ATM, Profi, "TR-DOS" | Y | Yes | The directory is mounted into a temporary TRD disk image |
| OPD | Opus Discovery, Opus Spectra | Y | ||
| SDD | SpeccyDOS | Y | ||
| CPM | Vision CP/M (Beta 48) and others | Y | Holds generic CP/M disks | |
| MGT | DISCiPLE, +D, SAM Coupe | Y | Very common file format, sometimes with the suffix DSK | |
| IMG | DISCiPLE, +D, SAM Coupe | Y | ||
| SAD | DISCiPLE, +D, SAM Coupe | Y | Only V1 files are supported | |
| D40/D80 | Didaktik D40/D80 | Y | ||
| 000 | Didaktik D40/D80 | Y | Yes | The directory is mounted into a temporary D80 disk image |
| MBD | MB-02 | Y | DD or HD | |
| QDD | Clive Drive | Unique to x128, may be deprecated later | ||
| RDD | Macronics FIZ (and subsequent names) | Unique to x128, may be deprecated later | ||
| MDR | Interface 1 (Microdrives) | |||
| WDR | Wafadrive | Currently read-only |
Flexible (and inflexible) disk formats:
DSK - The most common format, a flexible structure used to hold just about any disk image. The most common use of it is for Spectrum +3 disks, but it can be used with any of the interfaces that use a standard FDC outputting FM or MFM.
Newly-emulated interfaces, like the Beta SD, FDC-1, Swift Disc, Rocky Gush, Turbodrive, Timex FDD, Convoy CDOS, Videobit Sistema S80, and Pera Putnik Floppy interface will also be using this format.
It can also hold "weak" sector information, which x128 will attempt to use (in Spectrum +3 emulation), if it is available. Additionally, the emulator will try to identify +3 disks that use Speedlock protection and will apply a patch to make them work, even if the weak sector information is not there.
KDI - Used for the Kempston Disk interface (and Watford SP-DOS, and likely the Morex interface - if it is ever found). This is simply a renamed DSK file.
Some other interfaces may be given their own file suffix, in time, and they will be using a renamed DSK too.
TRD - Commonly used for Beta 128, Beta 48, Pentagon, Scorpion, ATM Turbo, Profi, etc. Named after "TR-DOS". It is a simple dump of the bytes without any header information (it is possible to figure out some of the geometry by reading the first sector though). There are some non-standard TRD files that the emulator will try to handle (40 or 80 tracks, single-sided or double-sided, Robocop 1024 uses 81 tracks).
FDI, FDD - The same, but with geometry information. FDI is a popular format. The emulator will check the header of these formats and identify them, regardless of their suffix.
SCL - This is a list of files, usually used for the aforementioned systems. The emulator will load this and try to generate a temporary TRD file in the TEMP directory, and use that instead. Consequently, any changes you make to that disk image will be lost afterwards.
$? - Like SCL, but the files are separate and will have suffixes like $B for BASIC and $C for CODE. If you select one of these, x128 will try to mount the whole directory into a temporary TRD disk image in the TEMP directory, and any changes made will be lost afterwards.
OPD - Commonly used for the Opus Discovery (and perfectly usable for the Opus Spectra too), just a simple dump of the bytes with no header.
SDD - A simple dump of the bytes, used for the SpeccyDOS interface.
CPM - Holds the standard 5 sector, 1024 bytes-per-sector CP/M disks. Used by Vision CP/M and (presumably) will work with other CP/M-supporting systems.
MGT - The most common disk image for the DISCiPLE, +D, and SAM Coupe. It is sometimes called DSK, but it should be identified correctly. It is a simple dump of the bytes.
IMG - Very similar to MGT, but the track order is different. This format is less common now.
SAD - A file format for the SAM Coupe. It has a header and some geometry. The emulator will check the header and identify it, but only V1 files will work, as V2 files are compressed (which is currently not supported). This format is less common now.
D40/D80 - Commonly used for the Didaktik D40/D80. These are simple dumps of the bytes, with no header information.
000 - These are separate files, used by the D40 and D80. If you select one, x128 will try to mount the whole directory into a temporary D80 disk image in the TEMP directory, and any changes made will be lost afterwards.
MBD - Commonly used by the MB-02 interface, they are a simple dump of the bytes. They can hold double-density or high-density disks.
QDD - This is a raw dump of sectors and gaps of a Quick Disk, used exclusively by the Clive Drive. (Used by x128 only).
RDD - This is a raw dump of sectors and gaps, used exclusively by the Macronics FIZ (and subsequent names of it). (Used by x128 only).
Disk software may also be found in a large number of other formats (TD0, UDI, HFE, etc). These would have to be converted to something that x128 could recognise, before it could be used.
Tip: For file formats that require a temporary image to be created, it is possible to grab that image before it is overwritten. Do not mount any other disk images and the file will still be in the TEMP directory with a name in the format: TEMPTRD?.TRD or TEMPD80?.D80, with the ? replaced by the drive number (0-3) that the file was originally loaded into.
Tape loops:
MDR - This is a commonly used file for storing Microdrive cartridge information. It is used by many emulators.
WDR - This is a commonly used file for storing Wafadrive cartridge information. It is also used by many emulators.
(C) Jane McKay, 2024.