BEEBEM for Playstation 2
-
Beta 3 includes: a minor fix for the PS2 controller, an extended max file path of 31 chars, updated SJPCM.IRX module, updated documentation covering file system considerations and a section on greets/thanks/etc. -
BEEBEM is a BBC Micro Model 'B' emulator, it works by emulating
the hardware found in a BBC Micro. It was first developed for
UNIX systems in 1994 by David Gilbert. Since then I have ported
the emulator to the PS2 and added some new features essential
to the console version.
The emulator is very accurate and as such, it has a high degree
of compatibility with most software titles.
With the exception of sampled sound (very rare on the Beeb) the
emulator is able to render both video and audio very accurately.
BEEBEM is freeware. You may copy and distribute it as much
as you like. Please do not contact me asking for disk image
files, there are plenty of resources detailing how to transfer
your Beeb software. -
- emulates a BBC Model B 32K with sideways ram
- full frame rate (between 4 and 5 times faster than the beeb)
- 48Khz mono audio output (matching the beeb)
- full USB keyboard support (USB 1.1 compliant)
- basic controller support (sufficient to play Exile)
- pretty user interface (so that you can select disk images)
- loads disks and states from the cdrom via an XML index. -
Below is for historical purposes, you can easy create XML using this site.
XML file creator: https://web.archive.org/web/20050205121340/http://www.jboom.com/beebem_ps2/resources.html
(Save XML is not working, but you can copy text manually to XML file.)
You will need to author a CD containing the emulator and an
indexed list of files.
BEEBEM will load two types of files, disk image files (.SSD)
these are analogous to 5"1/4 floppy disks; beeb state files
(.BST) are also supported.
You may incorporate as many of these files as you like
provided that your adhere to the following conventions:
SSD files must be placed in the SSD directory, BST files must
be placed in the BST directory.
Both directories contain an INDEX.XML file; this contains an
XML description of each file in that directory.
The schema (pattern) used by BEEBEM is easy to follow. Each
index file starts with a root node: <DISKS> in the case of
the SSD index file, and <STATES> in the case of the BST
index file.
Within this node exists multiple child nodes which describe
each file in the corresponding directory. E.g.
<DISK><TITLE>Elite</TITLE>
<FILE>ELITE.SSD</FILE>
</DISK>
-- OR ---
<STATE><TITLE>Exile</TITLE>
<FILE>EXILE.BST</FILE>
</STATE>
Filenames must be no greater than 9 characters including
the extension. Titles, no greater than 127 characters.
The index file ends with a closing node, </DISKS> in the
case of the SSD index file, and </STATES> in the case of
the BST index file.
Because XML is such a popular format, there should be no
shortage of freeware utilities to help you create well-
formed XML according to the schema above.
Once you have prepared the disk image files in the correct
directory and added to appropriate entries to the INDEX.XML
file you will need to copy the IRX, ELF and CNF files to
the root directory of your CD. Similarly, copy the
directories: ALP, ROM, SSD and BST to your CD.
The CD should be Mode 2 ISO format :
- Use ISO9660 level 1 filesystem
- Use ISO9660 character set
- Disable Joliet
- Disable any ISO9660 relaxations.
Further to this, you may need to patch your CD, depending on
your boot method (old versions of AR/GS require SYSTEM.CNF
to be at a certain location on the CD). -
1.0B3 - Fixed:
PS2 controller no longer required to be inserted in the
first port - it is auto-detected.
Now ships with the latest version of SJPCM.IRX which
prevents locking up on pre-V5 PS2s.
1.0B2 - Fixed:
Keyboard driver cyclic buffer no longer causes problems
when cooking key up and down events.
New:
User Interface and XML parser.
1.0B1 - First release (private beta).
