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Using XRoar
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| Looking for CoCo help? If you are trying to do something with your old Color Computer, read this quick reference. Want to contribute to this wiki? Be sure to read this first. This CoCo wiki project was started on October 29, 2004. --OS-9 Al |
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This page was last updated on 02/19/2023. Total Pages: 744. Total Files: 994.
Home / Emulators - Using XRoar
Download XRoar
The XRoar CoCo 1/2/Dragon emulator may be downloaded here:
It is available for Windows, Mac OS X, Linux and various other platforms. You will also need to download the ROM files for the computer (CoCo, Dragon, Color or Extended BASIC, Disk BASIC, etc.).
Configuring XRoar
Depending on the .rom files you have installed, XRoar will start up as some default system (which one?). If you only have "bas10.rom" installed (the original 1980 Color BASIC), it will default to a Color Basic 1.0 machine with 32K memory (maybe 64K?). If you have other .roms installed, it will default to larger systems.
The "Machines" pull-down menu has several configurations you can select for various CoCos and Dragon machines, but if you want to do anything beyond that, you have to use command line options, or modify the xroar.conf to add new entries to the Machines pull-down.
- xroar.conf - add useful config entries to this page.
Creating a Windows shortcut for a 4K CoCo
If you have placed the .rom files in the same directory as xroar.exe, you can make a Windows shortcut that will launch it with specific options (see the list in the xroar.pdf documentation).
1. In Windows Explorer, browse to where you have the xroar.exe.
2. Right-click on xroar.exe and select "Create Shortcut". This will make a new file called "xroar.exe - Shortcut"
3. Right-Click on "xroar.exe - Shortcut" and select "Properties". A new window comes up. In the "Target:" box is the path to the .exe file. Edit that by adding to the END of the .exe line the following command line options:
-ram 4 -bas bas10 -noextbas -nodos
4. Click "OK" to save this shortcut. Now you can rename the shortcut to whatever you like, such as "4K CoCo", and move the shortcut anywhere you like (such as the Desktop) and when you double-click it, it should open XRoar with those options as a 4K CoCo.
You can use the "Machine" pull-down menu to select the CoCo you wish to emulate. If you wish to create a custom machine, such as an original 1980 4K CoCo, you can either use command-line options when you run the .exe file (or Mac/Linux binary), or create a configuration file (suggested).
Create a plain TEXT file called "xroar.conf" in the same location where you put the .rom files (.exe directory on Windows, ~Library/XRoar on Mac OS X). You can view the xroar.pdf documentation file for details, but here is a short example of the file for a 4K CoCo:
default-machine coco4k machine coco4k machine-desc Tandy CoCo 4K machine-arch coco ram 4 bas bas10 noextbas nodos tv-type ntsc
There are other config options you can add to force it to default to an NTSC (America) machine, or a PAL machine. If you create this file, then run the XRoar program, it will boot up to a 4K CoCo (assuming you have bas10.rom). You will see a "Tandy CoCo 4K" entry in the Machine pull-down menu.
More to come...