thom(1)

NAME

thom - Thomson TO7-70 home computer emulator

SYNOPSIS

thom [-m file.m7] [-nodisk] [-fast] [-nosound] [-geometry wxh+x+y] [-noshm] [-display displayname] [-help]

DESCRIPTION

thom emulates the Thomson TO7-70, a French 8-bit home computer based on the Motorola MC6809E processor. It faithfully reproduces the hardware of the TO7-70, including the MC6809E CPU, memory card, video card, and the following peripherals: optical pen (light pen), joysticks, cassette tape reader, and floppy disk controller.

The emulator requires an X11 display and GTK+ 1.2. Sound output is provided via PulseAudio.

The TO7-70 ROM is not included for copyright reasons and must be obtained separately. ROM files must be placed in /usr/share/thom/.

  Control Panel

Pressing ESC suspends emulation and opens the control panel. From this menu, the following operations are available:

•   Reset the TO7-70 (equivalent to pressing the Reset button on the machine)

•   Cold restart (power cycle)

•   Adjust emulation speed: exact (MC6809E at 1 MHz) or maximum (full speed, disables sound)

•   Manage the cartridge slot (Mémo7 format, .m7)

•   Manage the cassette tape reader (.k7 format)

•   Manage up to four floppy disk drives (.sap format, Thomson 5”25 360 KB)

  Keyboard

The TO7-70 keyboard is fully emulated on an AZERTY layout. Key mappings:

•   STOP → Tab

•   CNT → Left Ctrl

•   RAZ → End

•   ACC → Alt

•   HOME → Home

•   INS → Insert

•   EFF → Delete

•   Arrow keys → Arrow keys

•   # is mapped to ù (Shift+2)

  Joysticks

The numeric keypad emulates joystick 0 (8 directions); Fire is mapped to Right Ctrl. The left keyboard block (A–E, Q–D, W–C) emulates joystick 1 while still sending the corresponding letters to the TO7-70; Fire is mapped to Left Ctrl.

  Optical Pen

The mouse emulates the TO7-70 optical pen. The left button acts as the pen tip. The right button toggles the mouse cursor visibility.

  Sound

Both the internal 1-bit sound generator and the external 6-bit generator (Musique et Jeux interface) are emulated. Sound is output via PulseAudio.

  Graphics Modes

The emulator supports 8, 16, 24, and 32-bit X11 color depths. The default window size is 640x400; the -geometry 320x200 option selects a smaller, faster-rendering window.

OPTIONS

-help
    Display command-line help.

-m file.m7
    Load the Mémo7 ROM cartridge image file.m7 at startup.

-nodisk
    Disable the floppy disk controller.

-fast
    Start the emulator at maximum speed (sound is disabled in this mode).

-nosound
    Disable sound output.

-geometry wxh+x+y
    Set the window geometry. Two sizes are supported: 640x400 (default) and 320x200 (faster rendering).

-noshm
    Disable the MIT-SHM X11 shared memory extension.

-display displayname
    Specify the X server to connect to.

FILES

/usr/share/thom/
    Directory where the TO7-70 ROM files must be placed.

memo7/
    Recommended directory for Mémo7 ROM cartridge images (.m7).

k7/ Recommended directory for cassette tape images (.k7).

disks/
    Recommended directory for Thomson 5”25 floppy disk images (.sap).

EXAMPLES

Start the emulator with default settings:

    thom

Start the emulator with a Mémo7 cartridge preloaded:

    thom -m memo7/basic128.m7

Start at maximum speed (no sound):

    thom -fast -nosound

Start in 320x200 windowed mode:

    thom -geometry 320x200

Connect to a specific X server:

    thom -display :1

SEE ALSO

xrandr(1)

BUGS

No known bugs.

AUTHORS

Written by Sylvain Huet in 1996. Extended and ported to Linux/Windows by Eric Botcazou (1999-2003). Updated for modern Linux systems in 2016. Packaged for Debian by Nicolas HOUDELOT <nicolas@demosdebs.org>.

AUTHORS
Nicolas HOUDELOT <nicolas@demosdebs.org>; Eric Botcazou; Sylvain Huet.