Friday, 16 October 2026

A messy release

Today has been full of highs and lows but then high again.

I released the emulator I have been directing for almost 3 months and then I was issued a DMCA because I used the SD card the official ZX Spectrum Next uses. I was a little bit gutted, but it is what it is and i had to look for solutions.

Looking around it seems the best way is not to supply the roms and even the SD card and have the user to select to download the files needed. Once that’s done then Zed-Next sort it out and your ready to go. I hope this is the end of the matter, but if not then other legal solutions will be made.

I'm not mad at the person who issued the DMCA and don't blame anyone. I should have looked at everything I could and not be lazy, so that’s on me.

While figuring out this solution I quickly got Claude to finish the 4 themes that were half way done when it run out of usage last week. I use those times to think what else I want to see in the emulator to make it easier for the user. Most of it is done for now and I want to turn my attention to Mr Do's Castle and finish that off too.

Staying on one project too long burns me out even if most of it is done by Claude AI. I guess having a stroke in 2024 doesn't help either. 

Anyway let's see what happens next...

GUI Themes (ZED-Next 0.74.0)

A lot has gone on but mostly the GUI has had themes added to it. I am sure you'll agree they look amazing.

Also the time has come to release the emulator so I would love to hear that you think of it.

You can download it here https://morcar.itch.io/zed-next





Friday, 2 October 2026

Update after 0.56.1 to 0.63.0

 Loads have gone on with the emulator so its a big list again, but for those who want a quick run down I will do that first.

QUICK VERSION

 Menus (Console Mode)
- Simpler home screen: Machines, Configure, Media, Settings.
- Pick a machine, then Configure shows only that machine's options.
- Arrow keys, mouse and controller move everywhere, including the file
  browser.

Machines
- Overclocking to 7 or 14 MHz on the 48K to +3.
- Interface 1 with eight fast Microdrives on the 48K.
- Interface 2 and Dandanator ROM cartridges (48K, 128K, +2).
- +3 drive B; four TR-DOS drives on the Pentagon and Scorpion.
- ZX81/ZX80 SAVE to .p/.o files; TS1500, TK85 and Lambda 8300 clones;
  Memotech HRG hi-res board.
- Big Next SD cards no longer loaded into memory; FAT12 cards.

Connections

- Serial port (file or network) for the ZXpand and Interface 1 RS232.
- ZXpand MIDI recorded as .mid files (or played on a MIDI device).
- ZX Net between copies of ZED-Next.

Editors and recording

- Tape editor for TAP and TZX.
- Record your own tapes from a real cassette (special loaders kept as
  TZX).
- Microdrive editor.
- Disk editor for +3 and TR-DOS disks (unavailable functions greyed out).

Saving
- Five quick save slots.

Controllers
- Map Controller page with a picture, all 16 inputs incl. L2/R2/L3/R3.
- Controller shortcuts with clash warnings; Select + Start opens the
  menus.

Fixes

- The +3 can now save to disk.

FULL VERSION

Home screen
- Three tiles replace the old seven: Machines, Media and Settings, then
  Start and Quit (Resume, Start New and Quit while a machine is
  paused). [0.57.0]
- New Configure tile: after picking a machine you are taken back to the
  home screen with Configure selected. The tile shows the machine's
  name. [0.62.0]
- The menu system is now called Console Mode: window title, help line,
  the F12 shortcut ("Open Console Mode"), command-line help and the
  manual. [0.61.0]

Machines and Configure

- Enter (or a click) on a machine card picks that machine and returns to
  the home screen, ready to Configure it. [0.62.0]
- Configure lists only what the chosen machine has: [0.62.0]
  - all: Family, Model, CPU speed, Joystick;
  - 48K: Interface 1, Microdrives, ROM cartridge;
  - 128K and +2: ROM cartridge;
  - +3: Disk drives A and B;
  - Pentagon and Scorpion: Disk drives A to D (TR-DOS);
  - Next: SD card;
  - ZX80 and ZX81: RAM, ROM and add-ons;
  - all: More expansion options, Profiles, Back.
- Rows that lead to a page open it, and Esc comes back to Configure.
  [0.62.0]
- Profiles is a button on the Machines screen. [0.59.0]

Media

- Media page: Cassette, Disk, Snapshots, Next SD Card, Microdrives and
  ROM cartridge. [0.57.0, 0.58.0, 0.61.0, 0.62.0]
- "SD card (Spectrum Next)" renamed Next SD Card. [0.58.0]

Settings
- Settings page: Display, Sound, and Controls and Joystick. [0.57.0]
- Gigascreen blend moved to Settings > Display (still kept in profiles).
  [0.59.0]

Getting around

- Esc, a right click or the controller's East button goes back one
  level, and the highlight returns to the row you came from. [0.57.0]
- Up, Down, Left and Right move in all four directions everywhere:
  [0.60.0]
  - between the home screen tiles and the machine cards and buttons;
  - Right opens a row that leads to another page; Left goes back from a
    row with nothing to change;
  - in the Profiles and SD card managers, Down from the last row (or
    Tab) moves onto the buttons;
  - in the file browser, Up from the top row reaches the places (Home,
    Documents...) and Down from the bottom reaches Open and Cancel.
- The controller works in the file browser: D-pad, A chooses, B cancels,
  X marks files, Y picks the folder, shoulder buttons step through the
  places. [0.60.0]


MACHINES
Overclocking (48K, 128K, +2, +2A, +3)  [0.60.0]
- Overclocking: 3.5 MHz, 7 MHz or 14 MHz, in place of Turbo CPU.
- Only the CPU speeds up: picture, border, sound, tape and +3 disk keep
  their real timing. No contention while overclocked.
- Drops back to 3.5 MHz while a tape plays, so loaders still work.
- Status line shows the speed; profiles keep it; --overclock 3.5|7|14.
- Pentagon and Scorpion keep their own Turbo CPU (3.5 / 7 MHz).

ZX Interface 1 and Microdrives (48K)  [0.61.0]
- Interface 1 with ROM edition 2 or 1 (roms/if1-2.rom, if1-1.rom), or
  your own ROM with --if1-rom.
- The shadow ROM pages in and out exactly as on the real interface, so
  the extended BASIC and hook codes are the Interface 1's own.
- Up to eight Microdrives, using MDR cartridge files.
- CAT, LOAD *, SAVE *, FORMAT and RUN-from-cartridge all work; tested
  with the real ROMs and the supplied Horace cartridge.
- New blank cartridge option; write protection per cartridge or for
  all; changes saved back to the MDR file.
- With a cartridge in drive 1 and no tape, RUN is typed at start-up so
  the cartridge's "run" program starts by itself.
- zednext game.mdr, --mdv1 to --mdv8; profiles keep the cartridges.
- Microdrives run at 16x speed while a motor is turning, so a cartridge
  loads in under a tenth of a second; normal speed as soon as the motor
  stops. [0.61.1]
- The gap and preamble before each block are as short as the ROM allows.
  [0.61.1]

Interface 2 and Dandanator ROM cartridges (48K, 128K, +2)  [0.62.0]
- Media > ROM cartridge, or the ROM cartridge row in Configure.
- 16K images: Sinclair Interface 2 cartridges, replacing the ROM.
- Larger images up to 512K: ZX Dandanator Mini (32 slots of 16K, with its
  slot, lock, disable, NMI and reset commands). The supplied Castlevania
  image is a Dandanator cartridge and runs on the 128K.
- Choosing a cartridge picks a suitable machine and restarts it; reset
  restarts the cartridge too.
- zednext game.rom, --cartridge FILE; profiles keep it.

+3 disk drives
- Drive B for the +3's second drive (DSK), seen by +3DOS as B:, with its
  own head position; --disk-b. [0.58.0]
- The +3 can now save to disk: a Z80 bug (OUTI/OTIR used B before it was
  counted down) stopped +3DOS writes from reaching the disk controller.
  [0.62.0]

ZX81 and ZX80  [0.63.0]

- SAVE writes the program to a file: NAME.p on the ZX81, a dated .o on
  the ZX80, beside the tape in use or in Documents/ZedNext Tapes.
  Instant with fast loading on; real speed (and sound) with it off.
- Clones on the ROM row: Timex TS1500, Microdigital TK85 (10K ROM) and
  Lambda 8300 (own character set and speaker).
- Memotech HRG hi-res board: its ROM at 2000h, its RAM over the start
  of the ROM, hi-res and inverse hi-res modes.
- Tested with Space Invaders (WRX + Chroma 81 + ZON X-81) on 32K and the
  ZXpand, and the 1K hi-res games on an unexpanded ZX81.

Serial port, MIDI and ZX Net  [0.63.0]
- Settings > Serial port: Off, to a file, or a network connection
  (also --serial). Used by the ZXpand and the Interface 1's RS232.
- Settings > MIDI out: ZXpand MIDI recorded as .mid files, and
  optionally played on a MIDI device.
- Settings > ZX Net: the Interface 1 network between copies of
  ZED-Next on this computer or the local network.
- ZXpand: ZXPAND "OPE SER", "PUT SER", "GET SER", "CLO SER", and MIDI.

Spectrum Next SD cards  [0.63.0]

- Card images are mapped instead of read into memory, so big cards
  don't need that much RAM.
- FAT12 cards work in the SD Card Manager.

Pentagon 128 and Scorpion ZS-256  [0.59.0]
- The Beta Disk interface has four drives, A to D, each with a TRD or
  SCL disk and its own write protection; --disk-b, --disk-c, --disk-d;
  profiles keep all four.
- Every changed disk is written back when the machine pauses or stops,
  whichever drive it is in.


MEDIA EDITORS 
Tape editor (TAP and TZX)  [0.62.0]
- Media > Cassette > Tape editor.
- File: Open, New, Save, Save as TAP, Save as TZX.
- Import blocks from other tapes; Add any file as CODE.
- Insert pause, text, group start/end, Stop-if-48K (TZX only).
- Export a block's bytes; Rename headers; Delete, Move up, Move down.
- Enter shows a block's flag, length and checksum.
- Warns how many TZX-only blocks a TAP will leave out.

Record your own tapes  [0.62.0]

- Media > Cassette > Record a tape from audio (line in or microphone).
- Asks TZX or TAP, then "Does the game have a special loader?".
- Special loader with TAP: warns that only TZX can be selected, and lets
  you switch to TZX, keep TAP with standard blocks only, or cancel.
- Live level meter (TOO LOUD / quiet), time, pilot tone, blocks found and
  bad checksums.
- Standard loaders decoded into normal blocks; special loaders kept
  exactly as they sound (TZX direct recording).

Microdrive editor  [0.62.0]
- Media > Microdrives > Microdrive editor < drive 1-8 >.
- File: Open, New (formatted), Save, Save as.
- Import files from tapes; Add any file as CODE.
- Export to a TAP/TZX tape (or add to an existing tape) or raw bytes.
- Rename, Delete, cartridge Name, Format, Protect/Unprotect.
- Shows the cartridge's name, files and free space as CAT does.
- Files are written exactly as the Interface 1 writes them (CAT and
  LOAD * tested with the real ROM). A saved cartridge goes back into its
  drive.

Disk editor (+3DOS and TR-DOS)  [0.62.0]

- Media > Disk > Disk editor < drive A-D >.
- +3 (DSK) and Pentagon/Scorpion (TRD, SCL) disks; makes a new formatted
  disk for the chosen machine if the drive is empty.
- File: Open, New disk, Save, Save as (DSK; or TRD / SCL).
- Import files from tapes; Add any file as CODE; Export to tape or raw.
- Rename and Delete on both systems.
- TR-DOS only: Undelete, MOVE (pack the disk), the disk's name.
- +3DOS only: read-only, system and archive attributes.
- Functions a system lacks are greyed out and say which machines have
  them.
- Tested with the real systems: the +3 Loader and TR-DOS run programs
  written by the editor; a file SAVEd by the +3 is read by the editor.


SNAPSHOTS
- Five quick save slots: choose in Media > Snapshots (a row of boxes
  shows the slots in use), or Shift+F8 / Shift+F9 while playing; F9
  saves and F8 loads the chosen slot. Each slot can hold a different
  machine. [0.59.0]


CONTROLLERS
Map Controller
- One page for every direction and button, beside a picture of a
  controller drawn by ZED-Next: the chosen input is ringed in yellow,
  buttons you hold in green, and the controller's name is shown.
  [0.58.0]
- L2 and R2 triggers, L3 and R3 stick presses; shoulder buttons named L1
  and R1. [0.58.1]
- Start and Select named and labelled on the picture. [0.59.0]
- Profiles store the new inputs by name; older profiles still load.
  [0.58.1]

Controller shortcuts  [0.62.0]

- Settings > Controls and Joystick > Controller shortcuts.
- Any emulator function on one controller button or a pair held
  together.
- Refused with a warning when already in use, saying where: another
  shortcut, Map controller (and its Spectrum key) or the joystick port.
- Buttons used for a shortcut don't reach the game.
- Select + Start opens Console Mode by default.
- Delete clears a function; Restore defaults; saved with your settings.


FIXES
- +3 SAVE to disk now works (Z80 OUTI/OTIR port address). [0.62.0]
- Profiles saved from the Profiles page keep the disks in drives B, C
  and D. [0.61.0]
- A +3 drive B disk is saved even when drive A is empty. [0.59.0]

Wednesday, 30 September 2026

ZED-Next 0.56.1

 Here is another big update for the emulator and Downloads are almost ready to go in a few weeks.

We are now on 0.56.1 and here are the added features.

   

ALL MACHINES
Debugger
- Stops any machine at any moment (Shift+Alt+D) and opens in the main
  window, fullscreen included.
- Disassembly (all documented and undocumented Z80 instructions, and the
  Next's Z80N instructions), registers, flags, stack, memory view, a small
  screen view and the machine's paging.
- Step, step over, run to cursor, run to the next frame.
- Breakpoints, conditional breakpoints (such as B == 1 or (HL) == 4C),
  and watches on memory writes, port OUTs and port INs.
- Edit registers and poke bytes or text into memory.
- Labels from assembler symbol files (sjasmplus, Pasmo, z88dk, CSpect and
  plain lists), loaded automatically from a .sym, .map or .lbl file beside
  the program.
- Instruction trace of the last million instructions, viewable in the
  debugger or saved to a text file.
- Expressions everywhere: hex, registers, labels, memory in brackets and
  operators.

Rewind
- Go back up to 30 seconds (Shift+Alt+Left), step backwards and forwards
  in tenths of a second or whole seconds, then carry on from any moment or
  return to the present.

Cheats
- Cheat screen (Shift+Alt+C): turn .pok trainers on and off, or type your
  own POKEs in decimal or hex.
- A .pok file with the same name as the program loads by itself.
- The cheat list opens by itself once a program has finished loading
  (can be switched off).
- Cheats are kept for each program and are there the next time.
- "Keep on" re-applies cheats every frame; turning a cheat off restores
  the original memory.

Display
- New Display page: whole-pixel, fill-window or stretch scaling; full,
  normal, small or no border; square or PAL TV pixel shape; sharp or soft
  pixels.
- Scanlines (light, medium, strong) and a CRT TV effect with shadow mask,
  glow, darker corners and a curved screen.
- TV frames round the picture: Black plastic, Walnut and Cream B&W (which
  also makes the picture black and white), plus Auto, which picks a frame
  to suit the machine.
- Fixed the CRT effect darkening half the screen on some graphics cards.

Sound
- New Sound page: master volume and separate volumes for AY music,
  beeper, loading noise and DACs.
- AY stereo: Mono, ABC or ACB.
- Stereo sound throughout.

Controls and shortcut keys
- Every emulator shortcut key can be changed, and the choices are saved.
- Reset (Shift+Alt+R) and hard reset (Shift+Ctrl+Alt+R), keeping tapes,
  disks and SD cards inserted.
- Cursor joystick mode (keys 5, 6, 7, 8 and 0).

File browser
- ZedNext's own file browser replaces the system file window everywhere.
  It works in fullscreen with keyboard, mouse or controller, has quick
  places (Home, Desktop, Documents, Downloads, drives) and remembers the
  last folder for each kind of file.

Machine profiles
- Profiles are kept in their own folder and managed on a new Machine
  Profiles page: load, save, update, rename, delete and stock settings.
- A default profile can be chosen for ZedNext to start with.


ZX SPECTRUM 48K, 128K, +2 AND +2A
---------------------------------
- Extra DAC option for sampled sound: Specdrum (port DF) or Covox
  (port FB).
- All of the shared features above: debugger, rewind, cheats, display,
  sound, shortcut keys and profiles.


ZX SPECTRUM +3
--------------
- Copy-protected +3 disks now load.
- The floppy controller follows the real +3 wiring: drive units 0 and 2
  are the same drive, and transfers end the way the real controller
  ends them.
- Extra DAC option (Specdrum or Covox).


PENTAGON 128 AND SCORPION ZS-256
--------------------------------
- SCL disk files with an out-of-date checksum or extra bytes on the end
  now load.
- AY stereo applies to both TurboSound chips.
- Extra DAC option (Specdrum or Covox).


ZX SPECTRUM NEXT
----------------
Processor
- Added the missing Z80N instructions OUTINB, JP (C), LDWS and LDPIRX,
  and fixed LDDX / LDDRX.

Interrupts, timers and DMA
- Line interrupts, the eight CTC timers and hardware IM 2 interrupts.
- The complete zxnDMA: prescaled transfers for sampled sound, burst and
  continuous modes, WR3 and the read sequence.
- NextZXOS drivers no longer miss their interrupt calls while NextBASIC
  is running, so sound-effect drivers play correctly.

Sound
- The DACs (Specdrum, Covox, Soundrive) make sound, in stereo as on the
  real board.
- AY stereo applies to all three AY chips.

Memory and system
- Reads from memory that doesn't exist now behave as on the real
  hardware.
- NR 03h configuration mode, DivMMC NMIs from NR 02h and the copper's
  real speed.
- The Next's built-in Multiface and stackless NMI, so .snx snapshots
  start.
- DivMMC no longer maps in over a program's own RAM just because ROM 3 is
  selected.
- Soft reset (like the Next's reset button) and hard reset through the
  firmware boot.
- Core reports version 3.02.00.

SD card
- The SD card works as an SDHC card, as real Next cards do.
- The Next saves to its SD card image, with a backup copy made before the
  first write.
- SD Card Manager: New card makes a fresh, bootable card from 128 MB to
  4 GB, and Rename renames files and folders.
- The manager opens even with no card chosen.
- zednext-sd gains "rename" and "create".

Debugger extras
- MMU slots, DivMMC, Multiface, CPU speed, raster line, interrupt and CTC
  state, DMA and copper, and a view of all 256 Next registers.

Rewind
- Uses little memory: each 8K page is stored once and shared by every
  point where it hasn't changed. Rewinding past a reset works.


SINCLAIR ZX80 (NEW)
-------------------
- New machine, emulated cycle by cycle: the picture is made the way the
  real ZX80 made it, and only appears while the ROM waits for a key.
- 4K ROM, or the 8K ROM upgrade (ZX81 BASIC).
- RAM packs: 1K, 2K, 16K, 32K, 48K and 56K.
- Loads .o and .80 tapes, as a real signal or at speed, and types LOAD
  for you.
- Chroma 81 colour, ZON X-81 AY sound, Quicksilva CHR$ board and
  dk'tronics graphics ROM.
- Cream B&W TV frame by default (Auto).
- ROM included.


SINCLAIR ZX81 AND TIMEX SINCLAIR 1000 (NEW)
-------------------------------------------
Machine
- New machine, emulated cycle by cycle: SLOW and FAST mode, and hi-res
  graphics (WRX and pseudo hi-res) work as on the real machine.
- ROM edition 1 (original), 2 or 3 (improved), all included.
- PAL 50 Hz, or NTSC 60 Hz for the Timex Sinclair 1000.
- RAM packs: 1K, 2K, 16K, 32K, 48K and 56K (RAM at 8K-16K for hi-res).
- With no RAM at 32K-48K, that area reads as the ROM, as on the real
  machine.

Loading
- Loads .p, .81 and .p81 tapes, instantly or as a real signal with the
  loading noise, and types LOAD "" for you.

Expansions
- ZX Printer: COPY, LPRINT and LLIST save the printout as a PNG picture.
- Chroma 81 colour: character-code and attribute-file modes and a
  coloured border. Colour memory starts as white on black, and a program
  that shows two screens but colours only one no longer flickers.
- ZON X-81 AY sound board.
- Quicksilva CHR$ board: 1K of RAM for your own character set.
- dk'tronics graphics ROM: extra character sets.
- ZXpand+:
    * 32K of RAM (8K-40K, or 16K-48K);
    * an SD card, which is a folder on your computer, with LOAD "NAME",
      SAVE "NAME", CAT, CONFIG and ZXPAND commands from the ZXpand's own
      ROM (included);
    * LOAD "" still loads tapes, instantly if wanted;
    * a joystick port that programs detect by themselves;
    * AY sound;
    * file names match regardless of case, and nothing can reach outside
      the SD folder.
- Joystick: Kempston, Sinclair or Cursor (keys 5-8 and 0).

Display
- Cream B&W TV frame by default (Auto), or the black colour set when
  Chroma 81 is fitted.

Tuesday, 29 September 2026

ZED-Next 0.41.2

 

This is where the emulator stands at this moment.
 
Machines
ZX Spectrum 48K, 128K, +2, +2A and +3
Pentagon 128 and Scorpion ZS‑256
ZX Spectrum Next (2 MB RAM, Z80N CPU, up to 28 MHz)
Software-controlled 7 MHz turbo on the classic models
 
Tapes
Loads TAP, TZX and CSW (Z‑RLE) files.
Auto-load, fast load, loading sound on/off, and a choice of which TZX part to start from.
Tape controls: play, rewind, skip one block forward, stop, pause, and automatic pauses between tape parts.
Tested on the complete tapes of Bubble Bobble, Dan Dare II, Freddy Hardest, Match Day II and Pyjamarama.
 
Disks
+3 DSK and Extended DSK, with realistic drive timing: spin-up, rotation, weak sectors and CRC errors, so many protected disks load.
Disk writing and formatting, a write-protect option and auto-boot.
Beta Disk 128 / TR‑DOS with TRD and SCL images.
Snapshots and saves
Loads and saves SNA and Z80 snapshots.
Quick save and load (slot 1, keys F8 and F9).
Scorpion Magic/NMI button (F10).
 
Sound
Beeper and AY chip.
An optional Turbo Sound expansion (two AY chips) on the classic models; the Next has three.
 
Spectrum Next
Boots the real firmware and Next ZXOS from an SD card image (.img or .mmc, FAT16 or FAT32). A ready-to-use card is included.
Runs NEX files, both launched from NextZXOS and loaded directly.
 
Graphics
Layer 2 in its 256×192 and 320×256 modes, plus 640×256 shown at half width. Includes scrolling and clipping.
ULA and LoRes modes with scrolling.
Tile map in 40- and 80-column modes, including text mode.
128 hardware sprites: 4- and 8-bit, mirroring, rotation, scaling, relative sprites and collision detection.
All six layer orders, blend modes and transparency.
Programmable palettes that games can read back.
The Copper, applied on a line-by-line basis.
DivMMC with auto map, an SD card that is emulated at the hardware level (SPI), and the DMA chip (partly done).
Extended Z80N instructions.
SD Card Manager (new in 0.41)
Browse the card, add files or whole folders from your computer, create and delete folders, and copy files back out.
Makes an automatic backup of the card before the first change.
There is also a command-line tool for the same jobs, zednext-sd.
Controls and display
Keyboard, and gamepads acting as a Kempston, Sinclair 1 or Sinclair 2 joystick.
A gamepad can also act as the keyboard, with buttons you map yourself.
Mouse-driven launcher menu, full screen (F11), frame blending to reduce flicker, and a help page.
Settings profiles you can save and load, and the chosen SD card is remembered.
The full hotkey list is on F1–F12, with F12 pausing and opening the menu.
 
Not done yet
Parts of the DMA chip.
Copper changes that take effect partway across a line.
ULA Next and ULA+ colour modes.
The per-line sprite limit.
Full-resolution 640-wide modes.
Saving the Next's own writes to its SD card.
Some protected +3 disks (Batman, California Games, OutRun).

Welcome

I just want to say welcome to this site. As you can see its all about ZED-Next and what’s going on with it. While development has been going on for around a month, I can quickly get you caught up on what the emulator can do and what is next on my to do list.

Of course the elephant in the room is that I use Claude AI. I understand why people are against it, but its here to stay if you like it or not. Its better to use it for good than to let to go to waste.

Now as for downloads. Currently there are none, but I plan on doing the Linux side first and soon after the Windows port will follow shortly.

Keep checking in because this emulator gets updated almost on a daily basis.

 

A messy release

Today has been full of highs and lows but then high again. I released the emulator I have been directing for almost 3 months and then I was ...