The Caslink3 Project
Copyright (c) Alexey Podrezov, 1999-2022

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The Caslink project has just got better! I am proud to present the new improved version: Caslink3
The general project's description, audio cable's schematics, instructions on how to convert software and load it into MSX can be found here

You can download the Caslink3 project's files (sources and compiled Windows executable) from here
The Lame MP3 encoder that is required by the Caslink3 to convert WAV to MP3 files can be found here
The Microsoft's Visual C 2012 redistributable packages that are also required by the project can be downloaded from here  (32 bit version) and here  (64-bit version)

The encoded samples in WAV format can be downloaded here
The encoded samples in MP3 format can be downloaded here

IMPORTANT: Please check the readme.txt file for the detailed information about the project - this may save you some time when getting started...


New features in Version 3

- The /r option has been introduced - it allows to select the option to reset a computer after loading a ROM image. If some game does not work with /e option, it may work with /r option
- The ROM loading routines have been improved to handle files starting from various tricky addresses
- It is now possible to load 49kb ROM images into MSX. Such ROMs are divided into 3 parts and are loaded from address 0000h. Some of these ROMs only work with /r option, some - only with /e option
- File format recognition routines have been improved, a simple check for mapper presence in ROM files larger that 32kb has been added
- Now it's possible to encode up to 20 files into a single WAV/MP3 file - this was done for games with large amount of files
- The single BIN file and multi-file loaders have been significantly improved. Now action is taken to avoid corruption during moving of the loaded binary code to its destination
- The 24kb BIN files are now loaded correctly. The BIN loaders' code has been moved from 9000h to 8200h to save space and allow a 24kb file to be fully loaded into available RAM
- The small ROMs starting from 0000h and above 8000h can now survive the reset - the "AB" signature and the ROM's start address are placed at 4000h

NOTE: The unfinished option to read audio files and decode the audio stream into binaries has been removed from the code. Caslink will no longer be presented as bi-directional application. From now on the sole purpose of Caslink3 is to transfer files to MSX computers.

Caslink3 Project's Files

The Caslink3 project includes the following files:

- Caslink3.exe (the main executable file)
- Caslink3.cpp (source code, main C code)
- Caslink3.h (source code, header file)
- l32k1.bin (compiled 32k ROM loader, part 1)
- l32k1.mac (32k ROM loader source, part 1)
- l32k2.bin (compiled 32k ROM loader, part 2)
- l32k2.mac (32k ROM loader source, part 2)
- l32k2rst.bin (compiled 32k ROM loader with reset, part 2)
- l32k2rst.mac (32k ROM loader with reset source, part 2)
- l49k1.bin (compiled 49k ROM loader, part 1)
- l49k1.mac (49k ROM loader source, part 1)
- l49k2.bin (compiled 49k ROM loader, part 2)
- l49k2.mac (49k ROM loader source, part 2)
- l49k3.bin (compiled 49k ROM loader, part 3)
- l49k3.mac (49k ROM loader source, part 3)
- l49k2rst.bin (compiled 49k ROM loader with reset, part 3)
- l49k2rst.mac (49k ROM loader with reset source, part 3)
- mulfload.bin (compiled multi-file loader)
- mulfload.mac (multi-file loader source)
- preload.bin (compiled multi-file preloader)
- preload.mac (multi-file preloader source)
- rloader.bin (compiled ROM loader)
- rloader.mac (ROM loader source)
- rloadrst.bin (compiled ROM loader with reset)
- rloadrst.mac (ROM loader with reset source)
- binload.bin (compiled single file loader)
- binload.mac (single file loader source)
- readme.txt (this readme file)
- disclaimer.txt (disclaimer file)
- whats.new (list of new features)
- bin2inc.py (utility to convert .bin files into .inc files, requires Python)

Copyrights and Distribution

The CasLink project, is being developed by Alexey Podrezov. The project is distributed with the source code, so everyone can use it to develop his own MSX related tools. The project files can be put on any public ftp and web servers, however they should be always accompanied by the readme.txt file.

If any part of CasLink code is used in any third-party utility, please mention the original author's name in the credits. You do not need to ask the author's permission to use Caslink code, however it would be nice to send a message to the author to let him know that his code will be used to keep MSX scene alive.

The only restriction that should be observed is: the CasLink project's code must not be used for commercial purposes. However if someone finds the way to make money out of it, I would be interested to hear it. Just out of curiosity...

Additional Credits

I would like to thank a few more people who helped or inspired me to continue the development of the CasLink3 project:

- Pavel Zakharov (RBSC)
- Dmitry Pugachev (RBSC)
- Alexey Krasivsky
- Timur Tashpulatov (RBSC)
- Manuel Bilderbeek
- Wouter Vermaelen
- Danilo Drago

Contact Information

If you wish to contact the author of Caslink projects - Alexey Podrezov, please feel free to send a message to the e-mail address from the end of the readme.txt file.

If you would like to make a small donation as appreciation of the author's effort, please use the same e-mail address to send a few bucks via PayPal.

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Alexey Podrezov
This page was created on May 9, 2016
Last modified on September 6, 2022