HexLoadr and Intel HEX files

[Chris Scullion]

I want to start playing around with HexLoadr. One thing holding me back is finding a simple binary to Intel HEX utility. The assembler I'm using doesn't output Intel HEX, only raw binary. That's fine for the BASIC source-based loader, but not HexLoadr. Any suggestions on where to find a Linux Intel HEX converter utility?

[Robert Liesenfeld]

"appmake" in the z88dk suite is what I use to produce Intel hex files from .bin files.  I forget the command offhand but I think I got it from the man page.

-Rob

On Tue, Mar 14, 2017 at 7:17 PM, Chris Scullion <ckscu...@gmail.com> wrote:

I want to start playing around with HexLoadr.  One thing holding me back is finding a simple binary to Intel HEX utility.  The assembler I'm using doesn't output Intel HEX, only raw binary.  That's fine for the BASIC source-based loader, but not HexLoadr.  Any suggestions on where to find a Linux Intel HEX converter utility?

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[phillip.stevens]

I want to start playing around with HexLoadr.  One thing holding me back is finding a simple binary to Intel HEX utility.  The assembler I'm using doesn't output Intel HEX, only raw binary.  That's fine for the BASIC source-based loader, but not HexLoadr.  Any suggestions on where to find a Linux Intel HEX converter utility?

The z88dk appmake can be used, with commands like this, to produce Intel Hex for the RC2014.

Or, for a simple Z80 assembler, I've found the TASM assembler (which produces Intel Hex, and binary) to be pretty good. Runs in 32bit windows (v3.2) and 16bit dosbox on Linux (v3.1).

The core of the solution was published back in 1983 (or also earlier) in Leventhal / Saville "Z80 Assembly Language Subroutines", as Binary to Hexadecimal ASCII Conversion (BN2HEX). So you could write your own, if you wanted...

Lots of options.

[Chris Scullion]

Excellent. I like z80asm because I was able to build and run it on my Android tablet. Now I also have appmake running on my Android. So my entire development environment for the RC2014 is now on my tablet. Not that it matters that much, but I have the same set of tools on my full desktop and my tablet, so I can use either one. Time to start coding some assembly language goodies!

Thanks for the help.

[Chris Scullion]

Well hmmm... seems I can run tasm on my Android tablet too. OK... guess I'll try both tasm and z80asm. Since tasm is one step, maybe that will be easier.

[phillip.stevens]

Well hmmm... seems I can run tasm on my Android tablet too.  OK... guess I'll try both tasm and z80asm.  Since tasm is one step, maybe that will be easier.

I'm interested to hear how TASM runs on Android.

That's a bit like strapping a fusion reactor to a DeLorean.

I'm sure that's interesting for all to know.

Is it in dosbox/linux? Or via wine?

Back story, please.

Also just to note that there are at least two separate z80asm implementations, as I understand it. I believe that the z88dk z80asm is not the same as the stand-alone z80asm version. And there is a new z80asm under development by the z88dk team too.

For reference by all, which z80asm do you have running on Android?

[Chris Scullion]

Yes, I'm just running tasm using FreeBox on Android. Works fine.

As for z80asm, I'm running z80asm-1.8 that I got from here: http://savannah.nongnu.org/projects/z80asm. I downloaded the source and built it on my tablet using Termux. I also built z88dk under Termux... while it did not build completely successfully, it did build appmake, which is all I needed to get the Intel Hex output format I needed.

I use my Google Pixel C as my main computer. Termux allows me to get to a command prompt so I can do most Linux stuff. One hitch with FreeBox is that the Pixel C keyboard doesn't have a "normal" backslash key, and the f-key sequence for backslash isn't recognized by FreeBox. It's the only program I've found so far the doesn't recognize that key. I'm also having an issue with the serial terminal for Android. I'm using "Serial USB Terminal" to connect to the RC2014 using an FTDI dongle, which works fine except... it doesn't properly paste CR/LF from the clipboard, so sending hex files or basic files won't work. I'm still working on that one. I can't find a way to access the serial port from Termux (since I don't have root access), so I can't use "screen". This could be a show stopper for un-rooted Android in this context. In the end, I'll probably give up and stick to my regular Linux desktop for RC2014 tinkering. It's not like I'll be carrying the RC2014 around anywhere.