Which assembler/IDE to use to code on the MSX?

Expert (66)

29-06-2020, 08:52

Hi all, I wish to create assembly programs for the MSX. Glass seems to be a choice assembler on PC? Is there any other you might recommend, or is their like an IDE of sorts that is frequently used for MSX code?

On the C64 I use simple IDEs, but also Notepad++, batch files to compile and run/debug stuff on an emulator.

Which emulators do you use? Currently I am working a lot with OpenMSX, but perhaps BlueMSX is more popular?

Any other tips ? I've already bookmarked Grauw's assembly documentation pages

Por theNestruo

Champion (430)

29-06-2020, 09:40

I used Notepad++ on my old laptop; nowadays I use Visual Studio Code. It has several extensions for Z80, you can bind the build process (batch or makefiles or whatever), parse the output to highlight the errors on the code, etc.
For the emulator... I mainly use meisei because it's the one I feel more comfortable with. Sometimes I use BlueMSX and OpenMSX. Emulicious has interesting debugging/disassembling capabilities... So at the end I keep all of them and use the one that fits better whatever I'm doing at that precise moment (inspecting VRAM, debugging...)

Por Grauw

Ascended (10821)

29-06-2020, 10:43

Mr.Mouse wrote:

Which emulators do you use? Currently I am working a lot with OpenMSX, but perhaps BlueMSX is more popular?

If you’re already using openMSX definitely keep using it. It is a more accurate emulator and that is especially important for development. You may notice BlueMSX hasn’t been updated since 2009. Although back then it was chasing openMSX in terms of accuracy, nowadays it has fallen behind and issues found are no longer fixed.

Por Huey

Prophet (2696)

29-06-2020, 11:10

This is what I use:
Assembler: sjasm link
IDE: Notepad++
Emulator: Emulicious link

I just recently switched from OpenMSX to Emulicious as emulator debugger. I was quite used to openMSX but now I get things done faster with Emulicious (after getting used to it). If you are developing for MSX1 you should definitely give it a try.

Por Mr.Mouse

Expert (66)

29-06-2020, 12:00

Thanks for the replies!

Por ducasp

Paladin (712)

29-06-2020, 13:39

Even though OpenMSX debugger is better (it allows you to breakpoint in several conditions, including whic slot is assigned to a given page) and precision wise it is the best emulator out there, I use Bluemsx for the single reason that it is the only emulator supporting a MSX Network adapter (Obsonet) and I could easily adapt it to communicate over serial emulating the SM-X interface between ESP8266 and MSX (which allow me to plug an esp8266 with SM-X custom firmware and use it for Network as well). As most of my MSX work is TCP-IP UNAPI related, that is a really important feature that only Bluemsx on Windows provide (I don't think any Bluemsx port does it)

Por santiontanon

Paragon (1832)

29-06-2020, 18:00

I'd also recommend OpenMSX + OpenMSXDebugger because of accuracy, but as for editor/assembler it is more a matter of preference. I use Sublime and Glass. But it all depends on how are you going to use them! Glass is great for me for example, as it is written in Java, so, I can just build it into my Java-written tool chain and I use it internally in my scripts calling it directly from Java without having to do command line calls, which is convenient. But your use case might be different

Por friguron

Master (188)

29-06-2020, 22:08

I'm on MacOS, and I use SublimeTxt + Glass + OpenMSX (+ my own private Text_mode_only_keyboard_shortcuts™ OpenMSX debugger, but's that another story).

I can't imagine using anything different as this is a really multi platform tech stack. In case I'm forced to use windows, or linux, I'll still have all these tools with me, with the very same behaviour and way of doing things.

Por santiontanon

Paragon (1832)

29-06-2020, 22:46

Good point about the cross-platform-ness Friguron, I'm also on MacOS, and this stack works very well for me. I'm curious about your "Text_mode_only_keyboard_shortcuts™ OpenMSX debugger", if you wouldn't mind telling us more

Por syn

Prophet (2135)

29-06-2020, 23:13

IDE: Geany https://www.geany.org/
Assembler: tniASM v1.0 http://www.tni.nl/products/tniasm.html
Emulator: OpenMSX http://openmsx.org/, BlueMSX http://bluemsx.msxblue.com/download.html

This on windows 10 and a few years back win 7

Por friguron

Master (188)

30-06-2020, 00:03

santiontanon wrote:

As of now it's more a Proof of Concept more than a polished product. I've sent you an email with more info.