diff --git a/menu.c b/menu.c
index 1cbbdb7..f145705 100644
--- a/menu.c
+++ b/menu.c
@@ -139,6 +139,7 @@ void SelectFile(char* pFileExt, unsigned char Options, unsigned char MenuSelect,
 
 void HandleUI(void)
 {
+    char *p;
     unsigned char i, c, up, down, select, menu, right, left, plus, minus;
     unsigned long len;
     static hardfileTYPE t_hardfile[2]; // temporary copy of former hardfile configuration
@@ -298,7 +299,7 @@ void HandleUI(void)
 	  else if(user_io_core_type() == CORE_TYPE_MIST)
 	    menustate = MENU_MIST_MAIN1;
 	  else
-	    menustate = MENU_DUMMY_MAIN1;
+	    menustate = MENU_8BIT_MAIN1;
 	  
 	    menusub = 0;
             OsdClear();
@@ -307,30 +308,57 @@ void HandleUI(void)
         break;
 
         /******************************************************************/
-        /* dummy main menu                                                */
+        /* 8 bit main menu                                                */
         /******************************************************************/
 
-    case MENU_DUMMY_MAIN1 :
+    case MENU_8BIT_MAIN1 :
 	menumask=0;
-	OsdSetTitle("Menu", 0);
+	// string at first index is the core name
+	p = user_io_8bit_get_string(0);
+	if(!p || !strlen(p)) OsdSetTitle("8BIT", 0);
+	else                 OsdSetTitle(p, 0);
 
-	OsdWrite(0, "", 0,0);
-	OsdWrite(1, " Dummy menu test", 0,0);
+	// check if there's a file type supported
+	p = user_io_8bit_get_string(1);
+	if(p && strlen(p)) {
+	  menumask = (menumask << 1) | 1;
+	  strcpy(s, " Load *.");
+	  strcat(s, p);
+	  OsdWrite(0, s, menusub==0, 0);
+	} else
+	  OsdWrite(0, " no file", 0,1);
+
+	OsdWrite(1, " 8 bit menu test", 0,0);
 	OsdWrite(2, "", 0,0);
 	OsdWrite(3, "", 0,0);
 	OsdWrite(4, "", 0,0);
 	OsdWrite(5, "", 0,0);
 	OsdWrite(6, "", 0,0);
 	OsdWrite(7, "", 0,0);
-        menustate = MENU_DUMMY_MAIN2;
-	parentstate=MENU_DUMMY_MAIN1;
+        menustate = MENU_8BIT_MAIN2;
+	parentstate=MENU_8BIT_MAIN1;
         break;
 
-    case MENU_DUMMY_MAIN2 :
+    case MENU_8BIT_MAIN2 :
         // menu key closes menu
         if (menu)
 	  menustate = MENU_NONE1;
+	if(select) {
+	  switch(menusub) {
+	  case 0: {
+	    p = user_io_8bit_get_string(1);
+	    strcat(p, "   ");  // expand short extensions to 3 bytes
+	    p[3] = 0;
+	    SelectFile(p, SCAN_DIR | SCAN_LFN, MENU_8BIT_MAIN_FILE_SELECTED, MENU_8BIT_MAIN1);
+	  }
+	  }
+	}
         break;
+	
+    case MENU_8BIT_MAIN_FILE_SELECTED : // file successfully selected
+        iprintf("selecte file %s\n", file.name);
+	menustate = MENU_8BIT_MAIN1;
+	break;
 
         /******************************************************************/
         /* mist main menu                                                 */
diff --git a/menu.h b/menu.h
index d184104..b938eec 100644
--- a/menu.h
+++ b/menu.h
@@ -86,8 +86,9 @@ enum MENU
     MENU_MIST_VIDEO_ADJUST2,
 
     // Dummy menu entries
-    MENU_DUMMY_MAIN1,
-    MENU_DUMMY_MAIN2,
+    MENU_8BIT_MAIN1,
+    MENU_8BIT_MAIN2,
+    MENU_8BIT_MAIN_FILE_SELECTED,
 };
 
 // UI strings, used by boot messages
diff --git a/usb/hid.c b/usb/hid.c
index 643e6e5..018c49c 100644
--- a/usb/hid.c
+++ b/usb/hid.c
@@ -365,8 +365,8 @@ static uint8_t usb_hid_poll(usb_device_t *dev) {
 	    uint8_t jmap = 0;
 	    uint8_t ax;
 
-	    //	  hid_debugf("Joystick data:");
-	    //	  hexdump(buf, read, 0);
+	    //	    hid_debugf("Joystick data:");
+	    //	    hexdump(buf, read, 0);
 
 	    // currently only byte sized axes are allowed
 	    ax = buf[conf->joystick.axis_byte_offset[0]];
@@ -389,6 +389,8 @@ static uint8_t usb_hid_poll(usb_device_t *dev) {
 	    
 	    // check if joystick state has changed
 	    if(jmap != info->iface_info[i].jmap) {
+	      //	      iprintf("jmap changed to %x\n", jmap);
+
 	      // and feed into joystick input system
 	      user_io_joystick(ax, jmap);
 	      info->iface_info[i].jmap = jmap;
diff --git a/user_io.c b/user_io.c
index 614cc6a..931e74c 100644
--- a/user_io.c
+++ b/user_io.c
@@ -288,6 +288,48 @@ static void kbd_fifo_poll() {
   kbd_fifo_r = (kbd_fifo_r + 1)&(KBD_FIFO_SIZE-1);
 }
 
+// 8 bit cores have a config string telling the firmware how
+// to treat it
+char *user_io_8bit_get_string(char index) {
+  unsigned char i, lidx = 0, j = 0;
+  static char buffer[16+1];  // max 16 bytes per config item
+
+  // clear buffer
+  buffer[0] = 0;
+
+  /* read status byte */
+  EnableIO();
+  SPI(UIO_GET_STRING);
+  
+  i = SPI(0);
+  // the first char returned will be 0xff if the core doesn't support
+  // config strings
+  if(i == 0xff) {
+    DisableIO();
+    return NULL;
+  }
+
+  iprintf("String: ");
+
+  while ((i != 0) && (i!=0xff)) {
+    if(i == ';') {
+      if(lidx == index) buffer[j++] = 0;
+      lidx++;
+    } else {
+      if(lidx == index)
+	buffer[j++] = i;
+    }
+
+    iprintf("%c", i);
+    i = SPI(0);
+  }
+    
+  DisableIO();
+  iprintf("\n");
+
+  return buffer;
+}    
+
 void user_io_poll() {
   if((core_type != CORE_TYPE_MINIMIG) &&
      (core_type != CORE_TYPE_PACE) &&
diff --git a/user_io.h b/user_io.h
index e0dd6ac..1c393b2 100644
--- a/user_io.h
+++ b/user_io.h
@@ -37,6 +37,8 @@
 #define UIO_JOYSTICK5   0x12  // -"-
 #define UIO_JOYSTICK6   0x13  // -"-
 
+#define UIO_GET_STRING  0x14
+
 // codes as used by 8bit (atari 800, zx81)
 #define UIO_GET_STATUS  0x50
 #define UIO_SECTOR_SND  0x51
@@ -72,6 +74,7 @@ char user_io_button_dip_switch1();
 char user_io_user_button();
 void user_io_osd_key_enable(char);
 void user_io_serial_tx(char *, uint16_t);
+char *user_io_8bit_get_string(char);
 
 // io controllers interface for FPGA ethernet emulation using usb ethernet
 // devices attached to the io controller (ethernec emulation)