Repeat steps 3 and 4 as necessary with new floppy disks to write more images. Wait for the write to complete and you're done. …where naturally you will replace file.img with whatever your disk image is. It's probably a good idea to format the disk at this point. Now we have to tell Linux to adopt those parameters when it's dealing with your disk drive:ģ. NOTE: If you have another (different) line for 1232/1232 in /etc/fdprm you may need to rename / comment it outĢ. Edit (or create) the file /etc/fdprm and add this line to it (you only have to do this part once):ġ232/1232 2464 16 2 77 0 0x35 0x08 0xDF 0x74 If it isn't, substitute fd1 for fd0 anywhere it appears below.įirst, we need to tell Linux the parameters of an X68K floppy.ġ. Also, the directions below are assuming your 5.25” floppy drive is the first drive in the chain (“Drive A”, or whatever). Obviously, don't use double density disks they won't work. As this isn’t a game introduction, I’m not going to explain much here, just a bit of showing off graphics.We can write X68000 images directly to a high density disk without the need for special software. Here are some popular games in action: Gradius and Daimakai Mura (Ghouls n’ Ghosts, one of Capcom’s releases). Other companies also made stellar games because this system packs a serious graphics punch. Famously, Capcom did their contemporary arcade game development on these machines, so the X68000 home versions might be identical to the coin-op version. The OS and productivity applications are interesting to me, but this system is about games, games, and more games! The X68000 is legendary for games. It might be a bit under-featured for its time, but I guess the only thing I can compare it to is Word Perfect for DOS, which I suppose was ahead of its time, so perhaps this was the average? It’s a GUI-based WYSIWYG word processor, except I don’t think the WYSIWYG is 100%.
#SHARP X68000 EMULATOR FOR WINDOWS SOFTWARE#
The software bundled with the system also includes a word processor, which, as far as I can tell, is called 日本語ワードプロセッサ, which translates to “Japanese Word Processor.” Clever name, fellas. This is a basic version that is designed primarily to launch Gradius, but you can do things like copy files, make folders, set up the system timer, make notes, etc. In a way, it reminds me more of GEOS for the Commodore 64. It is not really multi-taking, just provides a simple GUI for common tasks. The underlying OS is called Human68k and certainly resembles DOS, although it appears to be different under the hood.Īnd much like MS-DOS has Windows, Human68k has SX-Window. The mouse body can also be rotated 90 degrees, which I assume is for trackball mode should you want your buttons on the side instead of in front of the ball. There are also two left buttons and two right buttons, one set on the top and one set on the sides. To put it back in mouse mode, just reverse the process. Then remove the cap from the top of the mouse. To switch into trackball mode, turn it over so the ball rolls to the top of the mouse’s body, and lock it in place by sliding the selector on the bottom from M to T. It has a mouse mode and a trackball mode. There are also a lot of keys that have status LEDs directly on the keys, which can make for a cool effect. I’ll need to spend some more time exploring this system, for sure. There are option keys and XF keys and other keys, many of which I still haven’t figured out the use for. There are many keys on this system that you won’t find on most other machines, and I’m not just talking about the Japanese entry keys.
The official peripherals are also quite unique. There’s just nothing like this, past or present, and probably not in the future, either. All cosmetic flaws are easily overlooked by focusing on the unique and elegant design. The machine is in very good, but not perfect, cosmetic condition. But these are such problem-prone machines I wanted to have the best chance possible of continued operation.
As I mentioned in my previous post, which details the various stops along the way of getting an X68000, this was a serviced and guaranteed working system, meaning it was not cheap. Now I will take the opportunity to post about my X68000 Expert itself.