Downloadable Exatron Stringy Floppy Images
Exatron Stringy Floppy software was something I thought would remain confined to my deteriorating wafers. However, thanks to Matthew Reed (and soon Tim Mann for Unix/Linux) the Exatron Stringy Floppy (or ESF for short) now lives again in emulation!
From this page you can download a few of these virtual wafers for use. These examples have come from my own collection and they are all programs I used frequently in the day. However the list below is not yet complete. Over the next few weeks, I'll make others available on this site.
These "virtual wafers " can be run in Matthew Reed's TRS32 emulator. You will need a copy of the ESF ROM residing in the ROM directory. Check out the wafers like this...
- Make sure a virtual wafer is mounted
- From Level 2 BASIC Initialise the ESF by typing "SYSTEM" <enter> then "/12345" <enter> at the ">" prompt. The ESF initialization message will appear.
- Load by typing "@LOAD" at the ">" prompt. The virtual wafer will whirr and after a moment loading will be complete. Machine language programs start automatically. Type RUN to start BASIC programs.
This will be enough to get you going. For the full ESF experience, check out the ESF reference card.
Enjoy!
Exatron Stringy Floppy Programs
Program | General Information | Format |
Data I/O | This program is needed to use data input/output commands like @INPUT and @PRINT etc. | Machine language (m/l) 5 ' wafer. |
ESF-80 Monitor | A relocatable utility and monitor program for the ESF. (Manual) | Machine language (m/l) |
Level 3 BASIC | Microsoft's advanced BASIC with many of the advanced commands of disk BASIC. A cassette version but made feasible via the fast loading ESF. (Manual) | Machine language (m/l) 10' wafer |
FMS | File Management System by M.N Kidder (1980). This requires the Data I/O program to be loaded FIRST! | BASIC 20' wafer |
Consider extracting your own ESF files. If you extract any specific ones not already here, send them to me to add to the collection.