[DECtalk] how to install more programs decTalk emulator

[Jayson Smith]

Hi,

The DECtalk list probably isn't the right place for this discussion, 
though there's not a list dedicated to this emulator as far as I know. I 
do not want to start another mailing list on my own server for various 
reasons. I could start one on Groups.io but then if it reached 100 
members it'd need to be upgraded to Premium which is $20 a month or $220 
a year.

Anyway, to answer your questions: To exit Mame, hit the scroll lock, 
then hit escape. If you don't have a scroll lock key, there's a way to 
change the key that gets you into MAME's user interface, though since 
you're emulating a PC, just about any key combination you could come up 
with would be something you might conceivably want to use in the 
emulated PC.

As for installing programs, someone else pointed out how to mount the 
hard drive images on Windows, so if the programs are just zipped up, you 
can just copy them to the drive. If the programs are on floppy disks, 
you can modify the batch file in the following way. At the end of the 
line that starts the emulator, put a space, then %1 %2 %3 %4 %5 %6 %7 %8 %9

This will let you add additional command line parameters each time you 
run the emulator. For our purposes, the parameters you want are -flop1 
and -flop2. The -flop1 parameter puts a floppy image into drive a: and 
-flop2 puts an image in drive b:. For example, pc -flop1 something.img 
-flop2 someone.img



Unfortunately, as far as I know, if you need to change disks mid 
session, you're out of luck. There's a way to sort of cheat and do it 
using MAME's save states, though I have no idea how well it works with 
PC emulation, and haven't used it in years. The real problem is that, as 
far as I know, MAME's user interface, which lets you switch disks among 
other things, is completely inaccessible with any screen reader on any 
platform.

Hope this helps,

Jayson

On 8/4/2024 2:24 PM, Josh Kennedy wrote:
> hi,
> I found this decTalk mame emulator. But how do I install more stuff 
> into it? you just run pc.bat and it runs decTalk pc, emulated with 
> software, and then lets you run ASAP or Jaws for dos. not sure how to 
> close mame though when done. but I also want to inistall wordperfect 
> 5.1 and lotus 1-2-3 into there. the link for this is:
>
> https://nashcentral.duckdns.org/projects/pc.7z
>
>
>
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> Dectalk at bluegrasspals.com
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