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DivMMC SD card (esxDOS filesystem)

With DivMMC compatibility enabled, Spectranext can mount esxdos:// to access your DivMMC's SD card. This makes the card available through the same Spectranet filesystem commands used for local storage and network filesystems.

Files stay on the SD card: mounting it does not copy them into Spectranext's local storage. You can list directories, read and write files, and load TAP files directly from the card without a network connection.

Before you start​

Follow the DivMMC compatibility guide to enable compatibility mode and install SPX on your card. Both parts of the setup are required.

Spectranext must also be started for the current session. If your startup program has not already run .spx, enter it yourself:

.spx

After a startup or reset, run .spx again before using Spectranext, or let your autoboot program do this for you.

Mount the SD card​

Enter:

%mount "esxdos://"
%cat

The first command mounts the card into a free mount slot and selects it automatically. %cat then lists the current directory.

Use exactly esxdos:// as the mount address. Do not add a drive number, hostname, or directory to the URL. The mount uses the drive currently selected in esxDOS; select another drive through esxDOS itself if needed.

To choose a mount slot explicitly, for example slot 3:

%mount 3, "esxdos://"
%fs 3
%cat

If that slot already has a filesystem mounted, unmount it first with %umount 3. Keeping the default xfs://ram/ mount in slot 0 leaves Spectranext's bundled tools available.

See Filesystem Overview for more about mount slots and switching between them.

Load a TAP file​

Once the SD card is mounted and selected, use Spectranet's tape input command followed by the usual Spectrum LOAD command:

%tapein "dizzy.tap"
LOAD ""

Replace dizzy.tap with the filename on your card. You can also give a path, such as /GAMES/DIZZY.TAP.

Access files from programs​

The mounted card supports the usual Spectranet file and directory operations, including reading, writing, seeking, creating directories, renaming, and deleting files. For example, open and close a file for reading with:

%fopen #4, "/SYS/AUTOBOOT.BAS", "r"
%close #4

Programs using the Spectranet filesystem API can access the card through the selected mount slot too. Write operations affect the files on your SD card directly.

Switch back to local storage​

To select Spectranext's default local filesystem again:

%fs 0

The SD card remains mounted, so you can switch back to its slot later. When you are finished, close any open files and unmount that slot:

%umount 3

This example assumes you mounted the card in slot 3. Unmounting removes Spectranext's mount; it does not disable DivMMC or remove the files from your card.

Notes​

  • The mount follows esxDOS's active drive and working directory. Changing the drive in esxDOS affects subsequent file opens and other operations that use a path.
  • Available space can be reported, but reporting the card's total capacity is not supported.
  • This mounts the real DivMMC filesystem. It is separate from Spectranext's esxDOS compatibility API, which lets esxDOS-style programs access Spectranext filesystems.