Working With Cassettes

Cassette tape image files in the standard .cas format can be inserted into the virtual cassette drive with the Cassette → Insert... menu or the -c command line option. Upon insertion trs80gp adds entries to the Cassette menu corresponding to each cassette file found in the .cas image. Normally there is only one file. You can "fast forward" or "rewind" the cassette by selecting the menu entry for a file. Each menu entry gives information on each cassette file: counter position, format, name (if any), baud rate and length in seconds.

When the TRS-80 goes to read the cassette (usually as the result of a CLOAD or SYSTEM command) the emulator will send the data to the TRS-80 and go into turbo mode to load the data as quickly as possible. Cassette → Auto Turbo can be used to disable this feature.

When the TRS-80 saves a cassette file (e.g., a CSAVE"A" command is entered) the emulator switches to turbo mode. It will prompt you for a PC file in which to save the .cas image when the save is done. If you'd rather just hear the cassette send to the speaker turn off Cassette → Auto Save.

When loading a cassette file the emulator displays the cassette counter in the title bar as Cr|123|. When writing the title bar will show Cw|001|. If the counter stops when reading then the emulator has reached the end of the inserted cassette tape image. If the TRS-80 hasn't finished loading then the load has likely failed.