tzxtools

This is a collection of command line tools for processing TZX files.

TZX is a common file format for preserving computer tapes of the ZX Spectrum, but also Amstrad CPC, C64 and MSX. tzxtools mainly supports ZX Spectrum TZX files, but raw file operations can be applied on any TZX file. It also supports TSX files, which are mainly used for MSX.

Features

• Convert your old ZX Spectrum tape recordings into TZX files.
• List, split, merge, and divide the blocks inside TZX files.
• Play back TZX files and load them into the real hardware.
• Extract binary content from TZX blocks.
• Read hex dumps, disassembled Z80 machine code, or ZX Spectrum BASIC code.
• Convert ZX Spectrum screens to PNG files.
• Generate TAP files for ZX Spectrum Next and some emulators.
• Disassembler also supports all undocumented Z80 instructions and Z80N (ZX Spectrum Next) instructions.
• Also supports TSX Kansas City Standard blocks.
• All tools can also read TAP files.

Installation

All the tzxtools are written in Python 3.

pip install tzxtools

On MacOS X, PortAudio needs to be installed before:

brew install portaudio
pip3 install tzxtools

Tools

• tzxcat - Extracts data from a TZX file. Optionally disassembles, hex dumps or converts blocks to PNG.
• tzxcleanup - Removes all clutter blocks and leaves a clean TZX file.
• tzxcut - Cuts blocks from a TZX file.
• tzxls - Lists the contents of a TZX file.
• tzxmerge - Concatenates multiple TZX files into one file.
• tzxplay - Plays back a TZX file for loading into a real ZX Spectrum.
• tzxsplit - Splits a TZX file into separate programs.
• tzxtap - Converts a TZX file to TAP file format.
• tzxwav - Converts WAV file ZX Spectrum tape recordings to TZX files.

See the documentation for how the tools are used.

File Format References

The TZX File Format is specified at World of Spectrum.

The TSX "ID 4B - Kansas City Standard" block is not a part of the specification. A documentation can be found at the makeTSX wiki.

The TAP File Format is described at Sinclair Wiki.

Contribute

• Fork the Source code at GitHub. Feel free to send pull requests.
• Found a bug? File a bug report!

License

tzxtools is open source software. The source code is distributed under the terms of GNU General Public License (GPLv3).

Acknowledgements

• I would like to thank all the people who keep the retro computing scene alive.