ALTAIR 8800 micro Users Manual
© Briel Computers 2010 page 30
Chapter 7: Saving memory to an SD card
Now that you have had the chance to use the Altair 8800 micro, you may need to save your work. The SD card
slot is connected to the terminal section of the system and the data from the Altair needs to be transmitted from
memory to the SD card. To do this, we must enter memory record mode.
With the system STOPPED make sure AUX and PROTECT are raised. Now, lifting the STEP switch will put
the system in memory record mode. It will now prompt for a file name to store the memory to. Enter a file name
with the 8.3 format. In other words, you MUST use a file extension.
NOTE: Failure to use a file extension like “.bin” will cause that file to be stored in an unreadable format.
You will not be able to delete that file from the card and the only way to remove it would be with a
format from your computer.
If you already had a file with the same name on the SD card it will automatically replace that file with the new
one. There is no prompt for this, so be aware of your file name before saving.
At this point, all of the memory in the 32K range is being stored to the SD card. This takes about 30 seconds to
perform and then the system goes back to being able to be programmed. You will get a message on the screen
stating that memory was saved to file name xxxxxx.xxx
You can now push the PROTECT switch down and resume programming on your Altair 8800 micro and your
memory contents are stored in the file on the SD card. To read the memory back, you do this from the power up
stage just like loading BASIC.
If you have a BASIC program you wish to store, you would simply lift the STOP switch right from BASIC,
then perform the memory record function described above. When powering up the system, your new file will
contain BASIC and the program you had in memory when you recorded it to the file.
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