To create a pre-loaded image from the BASIC paper tapes you first need to adjust the primary loader used for the BASIC version, and assemble it with the Intel 8080 cross-assembler or DRI's asm. Then load the BASIC tape with: ./altairsim -s -m0 -x ldr2sio.hex < "8K BASIC Ver 3-2.tap" Now switch the machine on and toggle the Run key, wait until the memory size prompt appears, then abort the simulation with CNTL-\. The CPU registers and memory contents will be written into file core.z80 caused by the s[ave] option. To convert the core image to a pre-loaded BASIC image in Intel hex format use: bin2hex -i 52 -l 8192 -o 0 core.z80 basic8k32.hex Input offset 52 is because core.z80 includes the contents of the CPU registers, but we want the memory image only. For details about how the bootloader works and format of the tapes see: http://www.solivant.com/altair_bootloaders/