How to Load a Disc, Tape, or Save State in jsbeeb

Updated

jsbeeb runs entirely in your browser, so loading media means handing a local file (or a Google Drive file) to the emulator and then telling it where that media should live — Drive 0, Drive 1, or the cassette deck. You can drag a file in, use the file picker, or open one from Google Drive, then optionally let it autoboot. The steps below follow the controls described on the jsbeeb page itself.

What you need before you start

  • A BBC Micro disc image, tape image, or jsbeeb save state file on your computer, or the same stored in your Google Drive.
  • A desktop browser — the page states jsbeeb works best in Chrome or Firefox.
  • Sound is suspended until you click or press a key, so expect silence until you interact with the page.

Load a disc, tape, or save state

  1. Open the Media panel. The page shows a "Drop a disc, tape or save state" area and a Media control.
  2. Either drag the file onto that drop area, or use Open a file… to pick it from your computer.
  3. Choose the destination:
    • Drive 0 or Drive 1 for disc images.
    • Cassette for tape images.
  4. If you want the machine to start the media automatically, leave Autoboot after loading enabled; otherwise turn it off and start it yourself from inside the emulated BBC Micro.
  5. Confirm the media appears in the Discs and tapes list, where you can search, show, or hide entries.

Expected result: the disc or tape shows up under the drive or cassette you selected, and with autoboot on, the BBC Micro begins running it.

Work with the disc surface and drives

The Disc surface view lets you inspect and manipulate what is mounted:

  • Drive 0 / Drive 1 and Side 0 / Side 1 select which surface you are looking at.
  • Format drive 0/2 and drive 1/3 are available from this panel.
  • Pulse and motor indicators (including cassette motor) show activity while media runs.

For tapes, the data recorder gives you rew, play, stop, and eject, plus a counter. Use Rewind to return a tape to the start before playing it.

Open from Google Drive or create a blank disc

  • Connect Google Drive lets you reach your own discs stored in Drive. The page notes that logging in to Google Drive stores only what is needed to reach your own discs, and that this is never shared with the jsbeeb developers.
  • New blank disc… creates an empty disc you can then format and use.

Save, load, and rewind state

The top-level controls include Save state, Load state, and Rewind. Use Save state to capture the current machine state, Load state to restore one, and Rewind to step back through recent execution. Save states can also be dropped into the Media area like any other file.

Common snags

  • No sound at first. The page suspends audio until a mouse click or key press — click the emulator area to enable it.
  • Media loads but nothing runs. Check whether Autoboot after loading was disabled; if so, start the disc or tape from within the emulated machine.
  • Wrong drive. A disc assigned to Drive 1 will not behave like one in Drive 0; reassign it if the software expects a specific drive.
  • Tape sits idle. Press Play on the data recorder, and Rewind first if it is partway through.

Related tools on the page

  • Edit BBC BASIC with Owlet (bbcmic.ro) opens a separate editor for BBC BASIC.
  • Econet and File Server controls appear in the interface for networked setups.
  • A debugger panel shows 6845 state, registers, and CPU registers (A, X, Y, S, PC) with single-step and breakpoint keys.

The default disc loaded by jsbeeb is Elite, made available by Ian Bell. Source is on GitHub, and the page points to the StarDot forums for BBC-related discussion.