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quick_start.md

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Getting programs onto the F256

SD Card

Both the F256K and F256JR have an SD card slot. The device sofware to read the SD card is a bit touchy (it's inherited from the Commander X16 project) and doesn't work with all SD cards

  • Card should be "XC" type vs. "HC". Typically older cards in the 512MB-8GB range work pretty well, which is more than enough space anyways. Very new cards that are very large tend not to work?
  • Card MUST be formatted FAT32 -- NOT: FAT, FAT12, FAT16, or exFAT. Note that while MacOS will read a FAT32 formatted card, the included disk utility won't format FAT32. Windows 10/11 works fine, but make sure to force FAT32 (or use the command line: format /FS:FAT32 H:)
  • Some folks have had luck formatting cards with the official SD Association formatter for Windows.

Demos Archive

Debug USB port

  • This is what most developers use as it's the most convienent. Connect the debug USB port to your PC or Mac

  • You can use:

    • FoenixMgr - works on Windows, Mac, Linux

      • A Python script to manage the Foenix series of retro style computers through their USB debug ports. This tool allows uploading files of various formats to system RAM, and displaying memory through various means.

    • FoenixIDE (Windows only)

      • Development and Debugging Suite for the C256 Foenix Family of Computers.

SuperBASIC

The machine boots to SuperBASIC. SuperBASIC is inspired by BBC BASIC but offers quite a bit more.

To get started, you can type in a sample program at the command prompt:

10 for i=1 to 5
20 print "Hello world"
30 next
run

SuperBASIC is similar to CBM (Microsoft) BASIC but has some differences. For eg, note in sample above it's just next vs next i. The first 15 or so pages of the reference manual are quite instructive. SuperBASIC is actually much more powerful and supports structured programming (procedures, blocks etc.)

dir - Run this to display directory of SD card

Loading & running programs off of the SD card is similarly easy:

load "JrWordl.bas"
run

Similar to the C64, you can save time in loading programs from the dir listing by using your cursor keys to go up to the entry, typing load " (insert mode is active by default) etc. You can use CTRL+E to jump to the end of the line and use CTRL+K to delete any text from the cursor to the end of the line. Correctly place the closing " and hit ENTER.

CTRL+C acts as a "break" command and stops any running SuperBASIC program or LIST command.

Read built-in help/reference:

/help : But NB, this erases BASIC memory! Use Backspace key to go back in menus and to exit.

Explore the included demo SuperBASIC programs:

Program Notes Source
JrWordl.bas Wordle game, guess 5 letter word
mandel.bas Draws Mandlebrot set in graphics mode, takes a few mins
rpg-demo.bas UI sample that shows Zelda like RPG game. Control the character with an Atari-joystick connected to JoyPort1 @econtrerasd
Problematic_Code.bas Displays scrolling starfield
noelrl.bas Simple integer BASIC bench mark from Noel's retro lab. Completes < 3.5 seconds, compares very favorably to other retro systems! Youtube
dance.bas Animates sprite of dancer
luna.bas Displays simple scene
blink.bas Blinks drive access light

Native Code

  • Binary programs for the F256 line are typically distributed as pgx or pgz files (see ref here, they are like the prg format in the C64 ecosystem).

  • SuperBASIC: Slash (/) command will execute the named flash resident program, such as /dos or /help (SuperBASIC reference).

  • PGZ/X files can be run from SuperBASIC with /- program.pgz, and from DOS with - program.pgz

  • The - is also referred to as pexec, and is a chainloader that understands pgx and pgx, so /- program.pgz first hands over control to pexec which then loads the program and hands over control.

  • You will typically need to reset the machine to get back to SuperBASIC.

  • Switch to DOS with /dos and back into BASIC once there with basic. help display a list of available DOS commands.

Try the included native demo programs:

Program Notes Source
wrtn0825-vcf.pgz Which Rules the Night (game) @beethead
matchit0825-vcf.pgz Match It (game) @beethead
balls.pgz Demonstrates 280 multiplexed sprites GitHub

More Resources

Discord

The Foenix Retro Systems Discord is the primary place to get questions answered

C256Wiki

Explore all the content: https://wiki.c256foenix.com/index.php?title=Special:AllPages

Foenix Retro Systems Newletter

Read back issues here (also a great source for sample programs). Issues starting at #4 cover the F256 line. Issues 1-3 cover the previous version of the hardware (C256), although there are still many salient points.