comp.os.cpm Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ)
Don Kirkpatrick
Posting-Frequency: monthly
Last-Modified: 2 November 1998
=========================================================================
Changes from the previous FAQ are marked with a "|" in the first
column, additions marked with a "+". Corrections or additions to:
I wish to thank the following people for their contributions to this FAQ:
John D. Baker <jdb8042@blkbox^com>
Axel Berger <Axel_Berger@k2^maus^de>
Hal Bower <HalBower@worldnet^att^net>
David I. Baldwin <dibald@netcom^com>
Gene Buckle <geneb@nwlink^com>
Frank Cringle <fdc@cliwe^ping^de>
Ralph Becker-Szendy <RALPH@SLAC^STANFORD^EDU>
Mike Finn <mfinn@pacs^pha^pa^us>
Ramon Gandia <rfg@nome^net>
Mike Gordillo <S0621126@dominic^barry^edu>
Trevor Gowen <Trevor^Gowen@src^bae^co^uk>
Stephen R. Griswold <gelfling2@juno^com>
Howard Goldstein <71435^1203@compuserve^COM>
Roger Hanscom <rzh@dgs^dgsys^com>
Ulrich Hebecker <du124@fim^uni-erlangen^de>
Gottfried Ira <ira@iue^tuwien^ac^at>
Herb Johnson <hjohnson@pluto^njcc^COM>
Jeffrey Jonas <jeffj@panix^com>
Helmut Jungkunz <jungkunz@vossnet^de>
Tom Karlsson <tomk@Student^DoCS^UU^SE>
Kirk Lawrence <kirk^lawrence@3rd1000^com>
Mark Litwack <litwack@scotty^dccs^upenn^edu>
Mike Mallett <mike^mallett@zetnet^co^uk>
William P. Maloney <aq743@cleveland^Freenet^Edu>
Paul Martin <pm@nowster^demon^co^uk>
Don Maslin <donm@crash^cts^com>
Thomas J. Merritt <tjm@cgt^COM>
Udo Munk <udo@umunk^GUN^de>
Alan Ogden <arog@BIX^com>
Tim Olmstead <timolmst@cyberramp^net>
Keith Petersen <w8sdz@Vela^ACS^Oakland^Edu>
Matthew Phillips <chri0264@sable^ox^ac^uk>
Jay Sage <sage@LL^MIT^EDU>
Curt Schroeder <bpanther@netcom^com>
Peter A. Schuman <schu0204@gold^tc^umn^edu>
Tim Shoppa <shoppa@alph02^triumf^ca>
Scot Silverstein <ScotSilv@worldnet^att^net>
Kevin Spears <kspear@ss0^eng^wayne^edu>
Tom Sullivan <tsullivan@mail^fwi^com>
Bill Roch <broch@thegrid^net>
Tilmann Reh <tilmann^reh@bigfoot^com>
Geir Tjoerhom <geirt@nvg^unit^no>
Jack Velte <velte@cdrom^com>
Juergen Weber <weberj@dia^informatik^uni-stuttgart^de>
Jeffrey J. Wieland <wieland@ea^ecn^purdue^edu>
David Wilson <david@cs^uow^edu^au>
Randy Winchester <randy@tcm^mit^edu>
Frank Zsitvay <frank^zsitvay@bytewarrior^altcit^eskimo^com>
NOTE: All of the above addresses have had the periods replaced with ^
to foil spammers.
While this FAQ is not intended to be an advertisement for any product,
please note that some of the contributors have a financial interest in
some of the items mentioned. Your editor has NO financial interest in
anything mentioned in this FAQ. The most recent copy of this FAQ can be
found at:
ftp://rtfm.mit.edu/pub/usenet-by-group/comp.os.cpm
or:
http://www.psyber.com/%7Etcj/
Another resource is the Z80 Support Home Page maintained by Thomas
Scherrer:
http://www.geocities.com/SiliconValley/Peaks/3938/z80_home.htm
sche...@hotmail.com
=====================================================================
Table Of Contents
Q1: I just became a proud owner of a cool old machine.....
Q2: I'd like to sell/find a home for my old computer. What is it worth?
Q3: Does CP/M stand for anything?
Q4: What ever happened to Digital Research and Gary Kildall?
Q5: Is CP/M in the Public Domain?
Q6: Where are the CP/M archives?
Q7: Can I subscribe to com.os.cpm via E-Mail?
Q8: What languages/compilers/databases/editors are still available?
Q9: Where can I find Z80 math routines?
Q10: What new CP/M computers are available?
Q11: What is this I hear about a CP/M CD ROM?
Q12: How can I transfer my CP/M files to DOS?
Q13: How can I convert an (insert name) disk to (insert name) format?
Q14: Can I read my 8" disks with my PC?
Q15: Where can I buy new diskettes?
Q16: Can I use the newer floppy drives on my old machine?
Q17: Can I run CP/M on my MSDOS/UNIX/68K machine?
Q18: Where can I get a boot disk for (insert system name)?
Q19: What terminal emulation programs are available?
Q20: How do you unpack a .ARK or .ARC file?
Q21: How do you unpack a .lbr file?
Q22: What are all these .xQx, .xYx, and .xZx file types?
Q23: Are any of these .ARK, .LBR, or CRUNCH utilities on MSDOS?
Q24: Why does my Kaypro drop characters above (insert baud rate)?
Q25: What is an Advent TurboROM?
Q26: How can I add a hard drive to my CP/M Machine?
Q27: What belongs in the unpopulated board area on a Kaypro?
Q28: What is The Computer Journal?
Q29: Are there other magazines supporting CP/M?
Q30: Does anybody support Amstrad machines?
Q31: Does anybody support Sharp Machines?
Q32: What is ZCPR and the Z System?
Q33: What ever happened to the Z800?
Q34: What is the status of the Z380?
Q35: What is the KC80?
Q36: What is the S-100 bus (also known as IEEE-696 bus)?
Q37: Anyone know a good source for cross assemblers?
=====================================================================
Q1: I just became a proud owner of a cool old machine.....
A: (Herb Johnson, Tim Shoppa)
So you have aquired an old system, not one of the all-in-one systems
like Kaypros or Osbornes, but rather one with lotsa cards in a
cardcage. But... no disks, no manuals, maybe even no hard or floppy
drives. "Hey, *I* remember these systems! I've always wanted one of
these!" you say. And now you need some help to get it running.
We hate to sound discouraging - we like to help owners of old
equipment after all - but we also want to set people's expectations
before they spend a lot of time and/or money. We need be clear as
to what it takes to "own" an older, pre-IBM PC system.
You will need to have some degree of knowledge of digital
electronics, and have some electronic test equipment. Do not expect
"the net" to instantly give you the knowledge to fix all your
problems. There is no consensus about the amount of knowledge or
equipment: a VOM for sure, a scope is reasonable, a logic
analyzer... probably not. You will learn from the experience of
debugging and maintaining an older system.
You will discover that these systems may not be amenable to using
IBM PC stuff, that they may need 8-inch floppy drives, that these
systems may not support hard drives. In some cases, these systems
may not even run all that well even with the original 8-inch drives
or wierd hard disk controllers! When you also discover you can't
get the parts without spending more money, you may lose interest.
To most people these days, a BIOS by definition is in ROM, so it
automatically comes with the hardware. You will learn that the CP/M
BIOS gets loaded off the boot floppy and lives in RAM. You'll need
BIOS source code to do any tinkering, and you may have to
disassemble it to obtain the source. And other documentation like
manuals may be hard to obtain.
So we'll help you in your search for the original boot disks, the
original type of floppy drives, and some software to run, but don't
think you'll just add a hard drive and some (5.25-inch) floppy
drives and off you'll go!
Q2: I'd like to sell/find a home for my old computer. What is it worth?
A: (Herb Johnson)
Make a list of what you have to offer: computer types, features, and
conditions. if it's a bus-based system, what cards are in it? Find
all the docs and disks, particularly the boot disks. Check the
system out if you can, and make *multiple copies* of the boot
disks. Put one in the disk drive, one with the docs. Take notes.
Weigh the system, its floppy drives and its documents and disks
(separately if they are heavy); decide if you want to ship or just
want local pickup. If you ship, you will have to pack it carefully
and take it to the shipper. Figure 25 to 50 cents a pound
shipping.
Post a message in comp.os.cpm describing your system, its condition,
and where you are located. Disclose any special conditions the new
owner should know: "museum quality", "good for parts", "local
pickup only", "cost of shipping", "will help you", whatever. Owners
often recount their history of use to add a human dimension to it
and often makes negotiations smoother and faster. You'll eventually
end up working through all this anyway, so why not do it up front?
You'll probably get some replies that will inform you on what you
have and the level of interest in it. Use your common sense about
all this. One virtue of offering old computers is that their
minimal value will not be of interest to scam artists!
You can try to donate your computer to a school or charity but they
will most likely refuse or junk it. There is so much IBM-PC
compatible stuff around that is considered preferable, and IT gets
junked most of the time! If you put an ad in the newspaper be
prepared for a lot of "will it run Windows?" phone calls. You can
take it to a hamfest or flea market, but you may end up abandoning
it at the end of the day.
What is it worth? Generally, the answer is cost of shipping. Prices
are based on the interest of the buyer and the (dis)interest of the
seller. There is no "blue book". People will offer, and some even
pay, hundreds of dollars for rare systems such as a MITS Altair
8800. Most likely, unless your system is very special, you are
competing with people who will give away similar systems to a good
home. If you are trying to make money, do your homework and check
for previous sales and requests across the Internet, and use your
business judgement.
Q3: Does CP/M stand for anything?
A: (Don Kirkpatrick)
There are at least three popular answers - Control Program for
Microcomputers, Control Program for Microprocessors, and Control
Program/Monitor. The issue is clouded by authors of popular CP/M
books giving different answers. According to Gary Kildall (the
author of CP/M), in response to a direct question on the PBS show
"The Computer Chronicles" following Computer Bowl I, the answer is:
Control Program for Microcomputers. This is also consistent with
DRI documentation. See, for example, p. 4 of the DRI TEX manual.
Q4: What ever happened to Digital Research and Gary Kildall?
a: (Don Kirkpatrick)
DRI was bought out by Novell and subsequently sold off to Caldera,
which currently owns the copyright to all DRI software.
Personal computer pioneer Gary Kildall, who but for a single failed
business deal might have enjoyed the wealth and fame of Bill Gates,
died July 11, 1994, in a Monterey hospital at age 52.
Kildall was taken to the hospital after suffering a concussion in a
fall. Evidence indicates Kildall suffered a fatal heart attack. It
is unclear if the two conditions were related.
Q5: Is CP/M in the Public Domain?
A: (Jay Sage, Don Maslin, Tilmann Reh, Kirk Lawrence, Tim Olmstead)
On Sept 10, 1996, Caldera, the company that bought all of the
Digital Research assets from Novell. They have released all of the
source code for DR products. You can now go to the OFFICIAL CP/M
web site at :
Go to the OpenDos page, then select CP/M downloads.
The last source for new, legal copies of CP/M (with documentation,
$9, plus shipping), is:
California Digital, Inc.
17700 Figueroa Street
Gardena CA 90248
310-217-0500
310-217-1951 Fax
http://www.cadigital.com
There exists a privately maintained web site with many DRI programs
and manuals. (Caldera is aware of this site and has given its
permission to present the material.) Available for download are:
CP/M 2.2 (binary, source, manuals)
CP/M 3.0 (binary, source, manuals)
CP/M-68K (binary for v1.2, and v1.3, no manuals yet)
The software is licensed free to non-profit users. This includes
individual users. Commercial licenses are available, but without any
form of support. The address of the site is:
Or its mirror:
http://www.mathcs.emory.edu/~cfs/cpm
On the other hand, there have been lots of greatly improved clones,
including ZCPR3 for the command processor and several replacements
for the BDOS. Some of these are commercial (e.g., ZSDOS/ZDDOS), but
many have been released to the public. Most of the latter can be
obtained from oak.oakland.edu and many BBSs.
There is also a CP/M-Plus replacement named ZPM3, written by Simeon
Cran. It offers much more performance and some additional features
compared to CP/M-Plus. An extended CCP, the ZCCP, is also available.
Unfortunately, it still seems to have some bugs. ZPM3 and ZCCP are
free! However no sources as Simeon won't give them away.
New legal copies of CP/M-86 were still available, for $75, from:
DISCUS Distribution Services, Inc.
17607 Vierra Canyon road
Salinas, CA 93907-3312
(408) 663-6966
And CP/M-68K is available from:
James Knox
TriSoft
1825 East 38 1/2
Austin, TX 78722
(512)472-0744
(800)531-5170
(512)473-2122 (FAX)
Q6: Where are the CP/M archives?
A: (Don Maslin, Ralph Becker-Szendy, Paul Martin, Ulrich Hebecker)
Simtel20 is no more. Six sites that stock CP/M files are:
oak.oakland.edu
wuarchive.wustl.edu
ftp.update.uu.se
ftp.demon.co.uk
reze-2.rz.rwth-aachen.de
soltrans.cr.usgs.gov
As of 25 March 1998, people have been reporting difficulty reaching
the reze-2.rz.rwth-aachen.de site and it may be no longer.
The main archive is oak.oakland.edu. Assuming the availability of
anonymous ftp, look into the subdirectories of /pub/cpm. There is a
*lot* there! One of the first directories to check is starter-kit.
It contains everything you need to get up and running.
If you wish to submit material to oak.oakland.edu, contact:
Jeff Marraccini
Senior Computing Resource Administrator
Oakland University
Rochester, MI USA 48309-4401
(810)370-4542
je...@vela.acs.oakland.edu <- Work
j...@msen.com
He will send you instructions and passwords necessary to perform
an ftp upload.
Ftp.update.uu.se specializes on CP/M programs for the DEC Rainbow,
but has also some generic CP/M software such as a Micro Emacs, the
HI-TECH Z80 C compiler and a few games. Questions about this site
can be directed to Tom Karlsson, <to...@Student.DoCS.UU.SE>, the site
administrator.
There is a European file server group, named TRICKLE. This group
mirrors oak.oakland and other archives. For more information, get
in touch with your local TRICKLE operator.
There is a longrunning CP/M file archive with a focus on Microbee
computers at:
http://www.omen.com.au/Files/hdisk/cpm.html
and some DOS<->CP/M file utilities at:
ftp.omen.com.au/pub/files_3/hardflop
Q7: Can I subscribe to com.os.cpm via E-Mail?
A: (Keith Petersen)
To join the CPM-L mailing list, which is gatewayed to and from
comp.os.cpm, you must send email to the list server. If you are on
BITNET, send the following command:
SUBSCRIBE CPM-L your full name
to LISTSERV@RPITSVM. You can send that in an interactive if your
system supports them (e.g. the CMS TELL command), or in the body of
a mail message (*not* the subject line).
If you are not on BITNET, the Internet subscription address is
LIST...@VM.ITS.RPI.EDU. Send mail to that address with this text
in the body of the message:
SUBSCRIBE CPM-L your full name
Q8: What languages/compilers/databases/editors are still available?
A: (Ralph Becker-Szendy, Ulrich Hebecker, Jay Sage, Gene Buckle)
Unfortunately, SLR sold out to Symantec and all products except for
one DOS (or Windows) tool have been withdrawn from the market (what
a shame). However, The Computer Journal does carry the excellent
ZMAC package including a macro relocatable assembler, linker, and
librarian. Except for the speed, ZMAC is better and cheaper than
the standard SLR tools.
MIX C and other MIX products are available from:
Ed Grey
P.O. Box #2186
Inglewood, CA 90305
(213)759-7406
<ac...@cleveland.Freenet.Edu>.
Hi-Tech C V3.09 for CP/M is now freeware. The authors are still
maintaining their copyright, but are allowing free use for both
private and commercial users without royalty. The original is on
their bbs in Australia, at +61 7 3300 5235. Copies can be obtained
from:
ftp.update.uu.se: /pub/rainbow/cpm/c
ftp.mcc.ac.uk: /pub/8051c/htc.zip
oak.oakland.edu: /pub/cpm/hitech-c
ftp://ftp.hitech.com.au/hitech/cpm
http://www.hitech.com.au
Hi-Tech also offers a Z80 cross compiler for DOS or Unix supports
compilation of CP/M programs. The cross compiler is commercial
software, but a working demo is available from their ftp and web
servers.
The Computer Journal still offers BDS C, in both the original,
straight CP/M version and in a version that includes Z-System
support. The package, with both versions of the compiler and a very
large manual, is only $25.
Micro Emacs is available from:
ftp.update.uu.se: /pub/rainbow/cpm/emacs
Public domain CP/M programs are available via:
Elliam Associates
Box 2664
Atascadero, CA 93423
(805)466-8440
In the past, Elliam has sold Turbo Pascal, Uniform, Nevada COBOL,
SuperCalc, and much more. Call for availability and price.
WordStar 4.0 is available from:
Trio Company of Cheektowaga Limited
3290 Genesee Street
P. O. Box 594
Cheektowaga, NY 14225-0594
716-892-9630
Dynacomp stills sell CP/M software (or to be accurate, they still
had several dozen CP/M programs in the 1992 catalog.) It is the
kind of programs which ought to be written in BASIC: Typing tutors,
little engineering programs like calculation of the stiffness of
beams, education math programs. Their address is:
Dynacomp
178 Phillips Road
Webster, NY 14580
(800)828-6772 orders
(716)265-4040 support
There is no known U.S. source to purchase the following programs:
muMath/muSimp
Any Microsoft product (M80, L80, F80, Pascal, BASIC)
VEdit
Most have been "abandoned" by their makers, but not placed in the
public domain. There is now a site specializing in making available
commercial abandoned software. You may find a copy of what you seek
at The Commercial CP/M Archive:
http://deltasoft.fife.wa.us/cpm
For our European readers, much is available in Germany. dBASE,
WordStar 3.0, Multiplan 1.06, SuperCalc PCW, and Microsoft Basic
(Interpreter and Compiler), M80, L80, CREF80 , and LIB80 can be
ordered in either PCW format or C128 (also native 1571) format from:
Wiedmann Unternehmensberatung & EDV-Handel
Hauptstrasse 45
73553 Alfdorf
F.R.Germany
Tel: +49-7172-3000-0 (Inside Germany use 0-7172...)
Fax: +49-7172-3000-30
They are marketed as "for the C128", however the disks are in KAYPRO
IV format, and since the C128 uses the same screen codes as ADM-31
or KAYPRO, it's probably interesting for people with other CP/M
machines as well. Everything is said to come with a German language
manual and each one is offered for DM 149.50 , including sales tax
of 16%, which you could probably somehow get a refund on if living
outside the EC.
Also, for our European readers, Z3PLUS (for CP/M, DM 70.--), NZCOM
(for CP/M 2.2, DM 70.--), (both for package 100.--), Z-Systems come
complete with Z3COMs and ZHELPs (another 14 Disks at 360K app. or
equ.) and German manual(!), BDSC-Z, TURBO Tools, Turbolader, and
Juggler (DM 50.--) from:
Helmut Jungkunz
Spixstr. 12
81539 Muenchen, Germany
Tel.: +4989-69737382
BBS : +49.8801.2453 (24 hours) "ZNODE 51"
jung...@vossnet.de
and C128 CP/M Plus (DM 80.-) from:
Schaltungsdienst Lange Berlin Tel.: 030/7036060
VDE is a very popular free editor that uses WordStar key bindings.
It can be obtained from
http://www.acs.oakland.edu/oak/cpm/vdoedit.html
for a plain vanilla CP/M system or
http://www.acs.oakland.edu/oak/cpm/zsystem.html
for those running a Z-system.
Q9: Where can I find Z80 math routines?
A: (Roger Hanscom, Hal Bower)
Programmers looking for examples of commonly used Z80 assembler
routines may want to look at "Z80 Assembly Language Subroutines" by
Leventhal and Saville. It was published by Osborne/McGraw-Hill in
1983 (ISBN 0-931988-91-8), and it 497 pages long. It also contains
general programming information, as well as a summary of the Z80
instruction set and reference data for the Z80 PIO. Assembler
routines given in the book fall into the following categories:
- code conversion -array manipulation and indexing
- arithmetic -bit manipulation and shifts
- string manipulation -array operations
- I/O -interrupts
For transcendental routines, it is generally better to use a high
level language, such as Hi-Tech C, where they are built-in.
Basic 16-bit four-function math (add, subtract, multiply and divide)
are available in source code as modules within the SYSLIB collection
of utilities (SMTHxx). SYSLIB Version 3.6 is freely available, and
Version 4.x was released in source and linkable (SYSLIB.REL) form
for non-commercial use only. Joe Wright still holds the copyright
as Alpha Systems as far as I know, and Hal Bower has maintained the
code since circa 1987.
Q10: What new CP/M computers are available?
A: (Ralph Becker-Szendy, John D. Baker, Tilmann Reh, Ramon Gandia,
Hal Bower)
The YASBEC (uses a 64180, has SCSI interface), written up in TCJ,
issues #51 and #52. It is important that the YASBEC uses a
proprietary bus system.
The CPU280 (uses a Z280, an IDE interface is available), also
written up in TCJ, issues #52 and #53. Circuit boards are available
from The Computer Journal. CPU280 uses the ECB-bus which allows
many other I/O cards to be connected.
Ampro LittleBoard products are no longer available from Dean Davidge
nor are the SB180/SB180FX from Micromint.
Another CP/M machine is the PalmTech CPUZ180, designed and built in
Australia. The complete SBC fits on a 6"x4" and runs at 18MHz.
Included are floppy and IDE hard disk controllers, color/monichrome
video controller, IBM PC/XT keyboard interface, printer parallel
port, two serial ports, real time clock, 1 Meg ram, amd many other
features. Complete details can be found at:
http://www.19th.com.au/member/ptech1.html
and may be ordered from:
Ramon Gandia <r...@nome.net> tel. 907-443-7199
Anvil Technology or 907-443-2437
Box 970, Nome, Alaska 99762-0970 fax. 907-443-2487
And the P112 from D-X Designs Pty Ltd is a single board CP/M
compatible computer with the footprint of a 3.5" floppy disk drive.
It provides a Z80182 (Z-80 upgrade) CPU with up to 1 MB of memory,
serial parallel and diskette IO, and realtime clock in a 3.5-inch
drive form factor. Powered solely from 5V, it draws 150mA
(nominal: not including disk drives) with a 16MHz CPU clock.
Details can be found at:
http://www.iinet.net.au/~daveb/
and may be ordered from:
Dave Brooks <da...@iinet.net.au>
Australia
Q11: What is this I hear about a CP/M CD ROM?
A: (Jack Velte)
The disk is no longer being offered by Walnut Creek. However, copies
of it are available for $30.00 each, including shipping, from:
Timer Saver
521 Sycamore Dr
Windsor, CO 80550
or
It contains over 19,000 files with executable programs, source code,
documentation, and other materials. Included are the the entire
Simtel20 pub/cpm archives, the contents of some major bulletin
boards, and the personal collections of several leaders in the CP/M
community. You'll find:
Assemblers, compilers, code libraries, and programming tools
Editors, word processors, spreadsheets, calculators
Disk, printer, modem and other system utilities
Archive and compression tools
Telecommunication software for users and BBS operators
Articles from user's group journals and other publications
Games and educational software
Help files
You'll also find CP/M emulators and other tools for working with
CP/M files under DOS, OS/2, and Unix. Most programs include not
only documentation but also complete source code. Programs for all
different computers are on the disc: Kaypro, Osborne, Commodore,
Amstrad, Starlet, and others. This disc comes with a MSDOS view
program which allows you to view, decompress, or copy files to your
disk. It's fully BBS'd with description files compatible with
popular MSDOS BBS programs.
A spokesman for Walnut Creek said that it is just not feasible for
them to have another run made. When asked specifically about having
a few made privately, the spokesman said the entire disk is public
domain and freeware, and that Walnut Creek doesn't need to give
permission to have anyone copy it. They're not looking for a
royalty or even acknowledgment.
Q12: How can I transfer my CP/M files to DOS?
A: (Don Maslin, Will Rose, Alan Ogden, Tilmann Reh, Herb Johnson,
Trevor Gowen, Hal Bower)
(Note: also see Q13 on "disk formats".)
One solution is Sydex' excellent shareware program 22DISK which
permits reading, writing, and formatting many CP/M format disks on a
PC. Version 1.44 is available at:
22DISK is shareware and should be registered. It supports 8-inch
drives on PC's, provided either a adaptor is wired to the PC's
floppy controller or that a CompatiCard is installed. Sydex or Herb
Johnson can provide assistance with using standard PC controllers.
Sydex can be reached at:
Sydex
P.O. Box 5700
Eugene, OR 97405
Voice: (541) 683-6033
FAX: (541) 683-1622
Data: (541) 683-1385
MicroSoulutions used to make a program called Uniform and You might
be able to locate a copy at a swap meet or from a distributor. There
are versions for both the IBM-pc's and a lot of different cp/m
machines.
Some flavors of PC have a problem with both UniForm and 22disk and
UniForm will not operate properly under DRDOS v6.0. UniForm also
fails if the machine clock exceeds ~20MHz. This has been confirmed
with MicroSolutions, and no fix is available.
Another solution is the MSODBALL suite of programs by John Elliot.
They work by using a format (the msodball format) that is
convertible via the main program to become useable on either CP/M
(3.x ?) or MSDOS. MSODBALL.COM has been written in such a way that
the latest version will run directly under either CP/M or MSDOS.
They can be found at:
ftp.demon.co.uk: /pub/cpm/amstrad/mso210.arc
You need not use the DOS machine - there are also at least three
transfer programs running under CP/M: TRANSFER (for CP/M-2.2), of
which a quick-hack CP/M-3 adaptation also exists; DOSDISK, and MSDOS
for CP/M-Plus written by Tilmann Reh, latest version 2.1 of Oct 93.
TRANSFER and MSDOS are freely available, DOSDISK is commercial.
MSDOS has two related utilities: MSFORM will create the DOS Boot
Record, FAT and directory structure on a freshly formatted disk, and
MSDIR will give you a quick look at the main directory of a DOS
disk.
DosDisk is a standard CP/M product. As supplied, it runs only on
the following specific hardware:
all Kaypros equipped with a TurboROM
all Kaypros equipped with a KayPLUS ROM and QP/M or CP/M
Xerox 820-I equipped with a Puls-2 ROM and QP/M
Ampro Little Board
SB180 and SB180FX equipped with XBIOS
Morrow MD3 and MD11
Oneac On!
Commodore C128 with CP/M-3 and 1571 drive
DosDisk also runs on any of the configurations with B/P Bios
(non-banked ZSDOS only), to include the Ampro Little Board, SB-180,
SB180FX, YASBEC and P112.
There is also a kit version for which the user can write his own
driver, provided the BIOS implements a table-driven disk interface.
Contact Jay Sage for details. DosDisk and MSDOS both handle DOS
subdirectories.
You can also use a null modem or other serial link and terminal
emulation programs running on each machine. For example, the CP/M
machine could run KERMIT, IMP, or MEX and another program that
supports the same file transfer protocol on the second machine, such
as Procomm or Hyperterminal on a PC. The usual problem is getting
the terminal program onto the CP/M machine - having someone send you
a disk is the easiest way, but you can also use a crude assembler or
basic program to transfer the real program, or use pip to send
across a hex version (pip can only transfer ascii files.)
Remember, these conversion programs only move the data, as is, in
its current binary form, from one disk format to another. They do
not reinterpret the data so that a different program can use the
information. However, there are some tools under DOS that will
convert word processing file data among different word processors,
such as WordStar, Word Perfect, and Microsoft Word. If the CP/M
computer that made the original disk is still running, you might
want to try to generate a pure text (ASCII) version of your
information (e.g., by "printing to disk") before moving it over to a
DOS disk. If the computer is not working but you still have the
program, you might try copying it over to a DOS disk and running it
under a CP/M emulator on the DOS machine to produce a text file.
Q13: How can I convert an (insert name) disk to (insert name) format?
A: (Jay Sage, Curt Schroeder, Mike Gordillo, Helmut Jungkunz, Tilmann Reh,
Randy Winchester, Hal Bower, Scot Silverstein)
Elliam Associates (see above) offer disk conversion services at
modest prices that can convert from just about any format to just
about any other format.
If you have a Kaypro equipped with an Advent TurboROM, Plu*Perfect
Systems offers a program called MULTICPY that can read/write about
one hundred different 5 1/4 formats.
The simplest way of converting *CP/M formats to a PC* is to use a PC
with 22DISK - just copy the files from one CP/M disk to DOS, and
then back to the other CP/M disk. (See Q12.) But a few older CP/M
disks have what are called "hard sectors". These disks use several
physical holes in the disk to mark divisions of data, instead of ONE
hole which is used as a timing reference. These disks can only be
read by a PC or a CP/M system with suitable hardware. The problem
is NOT the diskette drive, but the controller cabled to the drive:
the drives are unmodified, it's all in the diskette controller. CP/M
hard-sectored disks come from some older Vector Graphics,
Heath/Zenith H89, NorthStar, IMSAI and other CP/M systems.
Similarily, it is not possible to directly read/write Apple II CP/M
disks on any other host machine because an Apple disk is recorded in
GCR which is incompatible with FM/MFM *floppy* disk controllers.
The only way to get files out of either kind of these disks is via a
serial link with the original host system, or with special hardware
on the PC compatible. (See Q12.)
An example of PC hardware is a MicroSolutions device called the
MatchPoint PC. When used in conjunction with a MicroSolutions
CompatiCard, files can be read from an Apple CP/M disk and transfer
to another disk format with a special configuration of UniForm. The
CompatiCard is also able to directly read some hard-sectored disk
formats.
If your are *lucky* enough to have a *CP/M* B/P BIOS, it comes with
a built-in disk format emulation capability, and a library of
formats, including the source so that new formats may be added.
There exists a program called "Jugg'ler" for the C128's CP/M that
will read/write 140 different CP/M formats both 3.5 and 5.25 MFM
(and some GCR) formats. A demo version with 22 formats, and other
C128 specific CP/M software, can be found at:
ftp://ccnga.waterloo.ca/pub/cbm/os/cpm
The creator/owner of Jugg'ler, Herne Data Systems, is still in
business, but no longer sells it. Rather, Jugg'ler's creator, Mike
Garamszeghy, has graciously placed it in the public domain. Copies
can be obtained from his C128-CP/M web page at:
His disk format data base and other CP/M related items are also
available there.
Montezuma Micro CP/M has a "config" utility that allows logical
device reassignments, setting up of comm hardware parameters, etc.
Option [f] "disk drive definitions" allows the user to set the
logical format of any disk drive connected to the system. There are
about 100 different floppy formats provided, from A to Z. Montezuma
Micro often shipped software in Kaypro format, for example. Using
this redefinition utility, it is easy to read "alien" disks, format
them, duplicate them to another's format via 'pip' to another
drive.
The CPU280 CP/M-3 implementation offers the AutoFormat feature which
allows to format, read and write almost every disk format.
Q14: Can I read my 8" disks with my PC?
A: (John Baker, Tom Sullivan)
With a program called 22disk, and an adaptor board that you can
make, you can read those disks on your PC. All it takes is
rearranging some of the lines on the 34 pin cable, and wiring them
to the 50 pin cable, and you're in business.
The interface on 8" drives and 5 1/4" drives are essentially the
same. The 34 lines on a typical 5 1/4" controller are sufficient to
control most 8" disk drives using soft-sectored disks. Here, is a
diagram for a basic conversion cable to allow connection of an 8"
drive to an IBM-compatible, AT-style (high density) controller.
8" disk drive
PC-AT style controller Based on Shugart SA-851
Grnd. Sig. Sig. Name Sig Name Sig Grnd
1 2 Double/High Density ->>
>>- Write Current Switch/ 2 1
Active Read Compensation
User Customizable I/O pins 4 3
" " " " 6 5
33 34 **Ready ---------------<<------------ True Ready 8 7
<<-------------#Two Sided 10 9
33 34 **Disk Change ---------<<----------- Disk Change 12 11
31 32 Side 1 Select ------->>-----------#Side Select 14 13
3 4 In Use/Open --------->>---------------- In Use 16 15
15 16 *Motor On ------------>>------------- Head Load 18 17
7 8 Index ---------------<<----------------- Index 20 19
33 34 **Ready ---------------<<----------------- Ready 22 21
<<---------------##Sector 24 23
9 10 Drive Select 0 ------>>-------- Drive Select 1 26 25
11 12 Drive Select 1 ------>>-------- Drive Select 2 28 27
13 14 Drive Select 2 ------>>-------- Drive Select 3 30 29
5 6 Drive Select 3 ------>>-------- Drive Select 4 32 31
17 18 Direction Select ---->>------ Direction Select 34 33
19 20 Step ---------------->>------------------ Step 36 35
21 22 Write Data ---------->>------------ Write Data 38 37
23 24 Write Gate ---------->>------------ Write Gate 40 39
25 26 Track 00 ------------<<-------------- Track 00 42 41
27 28 Write Protect -------<<--------- Write Protect 44 43
29 30 Read Data -----------<<------------- Read Data 46 45
<<------##Separation Data 48 47
<<-----##Separation Clock 50 49
This diagram also works in the other direction--that is, to attach
high-density 5 1/4" drives to an 8" controller.
Notes:
* - It seems to be a logical substitution since the vast majority of
8" drives have continuously running spindles and instead of
MOTOR ON require a HEAD LOAD signal. Also, a controller sends
MOTOR ON before a DRIVE SELECT.
**- Most 5 1/4" disk drives do not provide a READY signal but send a
DISK CHANGE signal on line 34 of the interface. An 8" drive has
provisions for both signals. Likewise, most AT-style
controllers expect a DISK CHANGE signal on line 34, so lines 33
and 34 should be connected to lines 11 and 12 of the 8" disk
connector. Also, some 8" drives provide a TRUE_READY signal
which is more useful than the standard READY.
# - Unused on single sided drives (SA-800/801).
##- Used only on hard-sector configured drives (SA-801/851).
Some 5 1/4" disk drives have the option of providing _either_ DISK
CHANGE _or_ READY on line 34 (in particular, the TEAC FD55R
series). Some 8" disk controllers do not care about the DISK CHANGE
signal, but must have the READY signal. If you are attaching a
high-density 5 1/4" drive to an 8" controller, you may get away with
making the drive always ready by shorting lines 21 and 22, but this
may cause a few re-tries when switching sides. If your drive offers
a READY signal that your controller can deal with, by all means use
it.
The MOTOR ON/HEADLOAD dilemma may also have an alternate solution if
you are connecting 5 1/4" drives to an 8" controller. Some 5 1/4"
drives permit motor turn-on by means other than the MOTOR ON
signal. For example, the TEAC FD55R series of drives may be
configured to turn the motor on based on the state of the IN USE
light. The IN USE light can, in turn, be set to turn on only on
drive select. Thus selecting the drive automatically turns on the
motor and neither a MOTOR ON or IN USE signal need be present.
Another way to handle 8 inch drives on a PC is with a Microsolutions
Compaticard IV, if you can find one. (MicroSolutions no longer
offers this product.) It has the necessary software support to
properly handle 8 inch drives, and in both SSSD and DSDD. This
controller can be set up as both a primary controller, or as a
secondary. It can support 4 drives, of any type, including 2.8 meg.
It supports two MSDOS 8 inch formats, SSSD (about 250k) and DSDD
(1.2 meg). It works perfectly with 22disk, and can read and write
almost any 8 inch CP/M format.
Q15: Where can I buy new diskettes?
A: (Don Maslin)
California Digital still lists hard and soft sector diskettes - both
10 and 16 sector at $9.95. They also stock 8" drives and diskettes.
California Digital, Inc.
17700 Figueroa Street
Gardena CA 90248
310-217-0500
310-217-1951 Fax
http://www.cadigital.com
One might also try:
GLOBAL Computer Supplies
2318 East Del Amo Blvd.
Dept. RA
Compton, CA 90220
Q16: Can I use the newer floppy drives on my old machine?
A: (Jeffery Jonas, Axel Berger, Dave Wilson)
You can. 3.5" and 5.25" are fully hardware compatible and your
computer will never notice the difference - unless the 5.25 are HD
drives. As 3.5" drives are able to step faster and draw less
current, this direction of swapping is totally uncritical. The other
way round sometimes proves more tricky.
Both 3.5" and 5.25" drives have the same 34 pin interface. 3.5"
disks spin at 300 RPM thus the 250k/500k data rates. 5.25" disks
spin at 300 RPM for all but the 1.2 Meg capacity, which is 360 RPM,
thus the ratios:
15 sectors per track / 18 sectors per track
= 300 RPM / 360 RPM
= 1.2 meg / 1.44 Meg
All 8" floppy disks spin at 360 RPM too.
Most old systems didn't use pin 2, 34. That's GOOD NEWS since
modern 3.5" floppy drives place signals there that the old
controllers can't handle. The ready/disk changed lines changed from
the "XT" generation drives to the "AT" generation drives. Older
floppy drives had jumpers for drive select 0-3 and where to place
the status signals The "AT" floppy drives assume the "AT" signals
and usually allow only setting the middle 2 drive selects, thus the
cable twist nonsense. for completeness, here are the pinouts:
Mini/Micro Floppy Interface
Pin# Description Alternate Functions
---- ----------- -------------------
1 GND Eject, Disk Change Reset
3-33 Odd pins are GND
2 High Density
4 Head Load In Use, Eject
6 Drive Select 3
8 Index Pulse +
10 Drive Select 0 Motor On A \ IBM twisted
12 Drive Select 1 Drive Select B \ cable - both
14 Drive Select 2 Drive Select A / drives are
16 Motor On Motor On B / strapped DS1
18 Direction
20 Step
22 Write Data
24 Write Enable
26 Track Zero +
28 Write Protect +
30 Read Data +
32 Select Head
34 Disk Changed + Ready +
+ signal from drive to controller
The following table is extracted from the CompatiCard manual:
Card 34 37 50 8 Inch Drive
Signal Name Pin Pin Direction Pin Signal Name
============================================================
Programmable 2 3 ---> 2 Low Current
Index 8 6 <--- 20 Index
Drive Select 1/3 12 8 ---> 28 Drive Select 2
Motor Enable 1/3 16 10 ---> 18 Head Load
Step Direction 18 11 ---> 34 Direction Select
Step Pulse 20 12 ---> 36 Step
Write Data 22 13 ---> 38 Write Data
Write Enable 24 14 ---> 40 Write Gate
Track 0 26 15 <--- 42 Track 0
Write Protect 28 16 <--- 44 Write Protect
Read Data 30 17 <--- 46 Read Data
Select Head 1 32 18 ---> 14 Side Select
The odd pins of 34 pin connector to odds of 50 pin connector.
Pins 21/37 of the DB-37 go to the odd pins on 50 pin connector.
Q17: Can I run CP/M on my MSDOS/UNIX/68K machine?
A: (Juergen Weber, Udo Munk, Paul Martin, John D. Baker,
Mark Litwack, Tilmann Reh, Frank Cringle, Gottfried Ira,
TJ Merritt)
Available by anonymous ftp from the primary mirror site
OAK.Oakland.Edu and its mirrors:
simtel/msdos/emulator/zsim241.zip
ZSIM is an (extremely accurate) Z80 emulator (80386/40 -8 MHz Z80)
in conjunction with a CP/M 80 BIOS, i.e. it simulates a Z80 machine,
that can run CP/M. Together with the original CP/M operating system
you have a full Z80-CP/M machine.
If you don't have a CP/M system disk at hand, you can use the
included public domain CP/M compatible operating system P2DOS.
ZSIM uses CP/M format disks, a ram disk and a hard disk. Supported
disk formats are CP/M 86 single sided and double sided, but you can
install any singled sided CP/M format PC drives can physically
read. So you can use ZSIM to transfer data to MS-Dos. The ram disk
can be saved to the PC hard disk. The hard disk is in an MS-Dos
file. A sample hard disk containing the SMALL-C compiler is
included.
As ZSIM uses an original operating system and CP/M disks it should
run every CP/M program that does not use special hardware. ZSIM is
free for personal use. Sources of the CP/M BIOS are included.
On silver.cstpl.com.au (formerly: raven.alaska.edu) you'll find:
/pub/coherent/sources/z80pack.tar.Z.
(Also available as z80pack.tgz at ftp.cs.uni-sb.de in the directory
/pub/others.)
This is a Z80 CPU emulation completely written in C, an I/O
emulation for a typical CP/M system also is included. The package
also comes with the BIOS source for the I/O emulation and a Z80
cross-assembler. It was developed it under COHERENT but it's known
that it does work under Linux and SunOS too. You still need a CP/M
license to get CP/M running or you might try to get one of the free
available CP/M clones running on it. On a 486/66 DX2 running
COHERENT it's like a 11Mhz Z80 CPU, so the emulation speed is
acceptable.
On sunsite.unc.edu you'll find:
/pub/Linux/system/Emulators/cpm-0.2.tar.gz
This package, written by Michael Bischoff, is well integrated into
the host operating system. It provides options to use either a
container file for the CP/M disk for full BIOS compatibility, or to
access the Linux file system through the included BDOS emulator.
The Z80 emulator is written in 86 assembler and the rest is in C. A
pre-assembled ZDOS CCP is included with the package. The emulation
speed on a 486/66 is approximately a 22 Mhz Z80, and on a Pentium/90
it is 50 Mhz. Full source is included.
On oak.oakland.edu you'll find:
/pub/msdos/emulator/myz80111.zip
MYZ80 is a Z80/64180 emulator package. The new 80486, 80386 & 80286
machines with the fast hard drives and the snazzy OS/2 operating
systems are such a delight... but for many, the Z80 machines still
have to be fired up from to time in order to develop code for CP/M
and the Z80 chip. Well, not any more, thanks to MYZ80.
Other emulators on the market are less than satisfactory solutions.
Of the small number which can actually run without causing system
errors under the later versions of DOS, apparently none is capable
of running real CP/M. Instead they use an emulated version of CP/M
which is only as accurate as the developers have bothered to make
it.
MYZ80 can run CP/M 3.0 and ZCPR (which is such a useful Z80
developer's environment). So if you suffer from less than perfect
Z80 emulation and slow overall performance, give MYZ80 a try, and
save the 'real' Z80 machines for those cold winter mornings when
you really need the heat. The author of MYZ80, Simon Cran, can be
reached at:
Simeon Cran P/L
PO Box 5706
West End, Queensland, AUstralia 4101
Simeo...@myz80.brisnet.org.au
(One byte is wrong in the MyZ80 CPM 2.2 bios distributed with the
registered version 1.20. Subsequent releases will be fixed, but
everyone who has that version will have trouble accessing the ram
disk unless the C: drive is accessed first. To fix the problem
change the byte at offset 16CE in MYZ80.SYS. It will be 03 but
should be 04.)
22NICE is (like 22DISK) from Sydex. It emulates the application
program while translating all BDOS and BIOS calls into the
appropriate DOS calls. This way, it's comparably fast and allows
for free use of the DOS file system (including paths). You are able
to map drive/user combinations to particular paths in the DOS file
system. The emulator can be configured for different emulation modes
(8080, Z80, and automatic detection) and different terminal
emulations. There are two run-time options: First, you can create a
small COM file which will then load both the emulator and the CP/M
program (contained in a .CPM file to avoid confusions); Second, you
can build the emulator and the application together to a single COM
file (which is larger then but needs no run-time module). You can
obtain a demonstration copy from:
Yaze is another Z80 and CP/M emulator designed to run on Unix
systems. It is available via ftp and www at:
ftp://ftp.ping.de/pub/misc/emulators/yaze-1.10.tar.gz
The package consists of an instruction set simulator, a CP/M-2.2
bios written in C which runs on the Unix host, a monitor which loads
CP/M into the simulated processor's ram and makes Unix directories
or files look like CP/M disks, and a separate program (cdm) which
creates and manipulates CP/M disk images for use with yaze.
Yaze emulates all documented and most undocumented Z80 instructions
and flag bits. A test program is included in the package which
compares machine states before and after execution of every
instruction against results from a real Z80. Yaze is independent of
the host machine architecture and instruction set, written in ANSI
standard C, and is provided with full source code under the GNU
General Public License. It supports CP/M disk geometries as images
in Unix files or as read-only disks constructed on-the-fly. These
disks are indistinguishable from real disks for even the most
inquisitive, low-level CP/M programs and can be mounted and
unmounted at will during emulation.
Parag Patel provides a z80 and CP/M emulator at:
ftp://ftp.cgt.com/pub/z80/z80.tgz
This archive includes complete sources and has been ported to a
number of Unix systems as well as DOS and the Mac. Executables for
both are available in the same directory. It run exceedingly fast
on DEC Alphas. It can use either PDOS or CP/M 2.2. The PDOS image
is included with the sources and the modified source for PDOS can be
found in the same directory as well.
There is a CP/M 2.2 Simulator that simulates an 8080 CPU and CP/M
2.2 environment. The heart of the simulator is written in 680x0
assembly language for speed. It has been tested under DNIX (a SVR2
compatible with many SVR3, BSD, Xenix, and Sun extensions), on a
68030 NeXT, and on a 68030 Amiga running SVR4. One 'benchmark'
shows that on machines of the 68020/68030 class the simulator
performs about as well as a 7 MHz Z-80 would. Other tests indicate
that this is somewhat optimistic. The simulator was posted to
alt.sources and can be found at:
ftp://src.doc.ic.ac.uk:/usenet/alt.sources/articles/09000-09999/
http://wuarchive.wustl.edu:/usenet/alt.sources/articles/09000-09999/
in files 9954 to 9959.
Q18: Where can I get a boot disk for (insert system name)?
A: (Don Maslin, Herb johnson)
Getting a system disk is pretty easy - if Dina-SIG CP/M System Disk
Archives has it. However, some dialogue with the requester has
usually been necessary to assure that we are talking about the same
Jurassic inhabitant! There are just too many variants in the CP/M
world. A request with specifics on the computer, an address to mail
to, and some recompense is all it takes. Since this is an unfunded
effort on the part of the SIG, the costs of media, mailer, and
postage must be recouped. In general, and there are variations,
this runs $3 for the first disk and $2 or less for each additional.
Eight inch disks are a bit more! However, a swap can be arranged if
the other party has disks that are not duplicative of ones already
in the archive. If you can help augment the archive, yours is
free.
The keeper of the archives can be reached at:
Don Maslin
7742 Via Capri
La Jolla CA 92037
619-454-7392
or use the email address given above.
Q19: What terminal emulation programs are available?
A: (Peter A. Schuman, Howard Goldstein)
The leading CP/M public domain or freeware (author kept copyright
but distributed it for free) modem programs are:
MDM740 - The last of the "MDMxxx" programs.
IMP245 - This is nice, and works smoothly within what it does.
What it does, it does very well. IF you have slow floppy
drives, there is a patch to cut down the receive buffer size.
MEX114 - different from the above two, but minimally functional
with just a MDM740 overlay. To use all of its fine features,
you need MEX overlay for your machine.
ZMP15 - This program includes ZMODEM file transfers.
KERMIT - This program may have the widest implementation base
because it uses only printable characters for its file
transfers. This is a plus because the MODEM7 family of
protocols send binary characters that sometimes conflict with
the underlying system use. It is a minus because many more
characters must be sent and thus is slower. KERMIT may be
found on watsun.cc.columbia.edu.
QTERM43F - This is somewhat like using QMODEM on an MSDOS
machine. Qterm has VT100 emulation mode as well as XMODEM and
KERMIT protocol. If you can get (or write) a good overlay,
this is a nice program. (Bug fixes to 43E were released in a
separate library to bring it up to 43F. The FIX library did
not include a new binary; users had to do their own patching.)
For high speed transfers, you will probably need interrupt-driven
routines, which are available for some these. The exact baud rate
where it becomes necessary varies by system and program.
Q209: How do you unpack a .ARK or .ARC file?
A: (Gier Tjoerhom, Don Kirkpatrick)
Archive files are a collection of related files packed together so
they stay together. They have somewhat been replaced by librarys,
but are still encountered often. The C or K at the end only
differentiate the original packing program, they are otherwise
identical. Some archives are self extracting, just rename them
with a .com ending and execute them. Others must be unpacked with
a program, unarc16.ark containing one of the most popular (in a
self extracting archive). This archive can be found at:
oak.oakland.edu: /pub2/cpm/arc-lbr/unarc16.ark
Q21: How do you unpack a .lbr file?
A: (William P. Maloney, Peter A. Schuman)
A .lbr is a single file that contains a number of compressed files
inside. The files must be extracted from the .lbr before the can be
used.
One very good library extract program is called lbrext.com. It's
simple to use and uncrunches the files at the same time. EXAMPLE:
A>lbrext b:myfile.lbr c:*.* uo
This takes the lbrext.com file on 'A' to extract all the files in
myfile.lbr on 'B' and put them on 'C' uncrunched. A simple 'lbrext'
first will show you how to use the .com file.
Other popular library maintenance programs are LUE, DELBR, and NULU,
the latter being one of the best CP/M programs for handling LBRs.
However, don't use NULU to extract and unsqueeze simultaneously. It
occasionally screws up doing this, and it can trash an entire disk
when it does so.
LT31 is also able to unpack libraries and also supports all
current compression standards (including LZH 2.0!). It is a very
useful utility and can replace several single programs.
Q22: What are all these .xQx, .xYx, and .xZx file types?
A: (Don Kirkpatrick)
These are compressed files, a.k.a. squeezed or crunched files. They
must be uncompressed before they can be used. They differ in the
compression algorithm; .?Q? was the first generation and .?Y? the
newest. There are many fine programs that uncompress files, but
most handle only one or two compression types (e.g. SQ111.ARC and
CRUNCH24.LBR). One program that will uncompress all three types can
be found in CRLZH20.LBR.
Q23: Are any of these .ARK, .LBR, or CRUNCH utilities on MSDOS?
A: (Geir Tjoerhom, Mike Finn)
Yes, MSDOS versions do exist and can be located as follows:
oak.oakland.edu:/pub/msdos/arcutil/lue220.zip (.LBR)
ftp.switch.ch:/mirror/simtel/msdos/archiver/arce41a.zip (.ARK)
nic.funet.fi:/pub/msdos/simtel/compress/alusq.com (.xQx)
nic.funet.fi:/pub/msdos/simtel/compress/uncr233.zip (.xZx)
ftp.cts.com/pub/donm/cfx.zip (.LBR, .xQx, .xYx, .xZx)
Also check out the files in oak.oakland.edu: /pub/unix-c/cpm.
CFX is the acronym for Cp/m File eXchange by Carson Wilson. As its
name suggests, CFX is a tool intended to allow quick access to CP/M
files. While CFX will operate on standard ASCII files, its main
strength is its ability to access files stored with the special
archiving and compression methods native to the CP/M operating
system. Specifically, CFX can handle files compressed with Roger
Warren's LZH utilities (.xYx), Steve Greenberg's CRUNCH utilities
(.xZx), "squeezed" files (.xQx), and archives built using Gary
Novosielski's Library definition (.LBR).
Q24: Why does my Kaypro drop characters above (insert baud rate)?
A: (Jeff Wieland, Stephen Griswold, Don Kirkpatrick)
The basic problem is that updating the screen takes too long and some
incoming characters are missed. The exact baud rate where
characters begin to disappear depends on the configuration of the
Kaypro and the terminal program. Generally, the older non-graphic
Kaypros will run at a much higher baud rate before characters start
to disappear. Stock Kaypros are not interrupt driven and the BIOS
ROM has several built-in delays, which demanded too much of a
2x/4x/10's time.
Several things can be done to help the situation. If your Kaypro
came with the MITE software package, you can use it for high speed
terminal emulation. A Kaypro 2X using MITE can go as fast as 19200
bps. MITE uses interrupts to achieve this.
Sometimes the problem can be ignored. A 2X will drop characters at
300 baud using Kermit-80. File transfers work fine at 19200 bps.
It is always a good ides to run file transfers in the quiet mode if
terminal mode is dropping characters as then the display update time
is minimized.
The graphic-equipped Kaypros can be significantly improved in
terminal mode just by turning off the status line at the bottom of
the screen. As most terminal programs have an initialize sequence
available, just send the no status line command to the Kaypro -
<ESC>, C, 7 [1BH, 43H, 37H in hex].
There are several hardware changes that can lessen or eliminate the
problem. There is a speed modification for the 1983 Kaypro-II's &
IV's requiring changing some chips to faster versions and outfitting
the back with a toggle switch. Upgrading to a MicroCornucopia MAX-8
or Advent TurboROM also helps.
If your machine is equipped with the Advent TurboROM and you choose
to run QTERM, Don Kirkpatrick can send you an interrupt driver that
allows the graphic-enhanced Kaypros to work just fine to at least
2400 baud.
Q25: What is an Advent TurboROM?
A: (Don Maslin)
The Advent TurboROM is a firmware upgrade to the Kaypro. It
replaces the original Kaypro system ROM and provides flexible
configurations, additional disk formats, greater speed, and bug
fixes. Contact point for this is:
The Computer Journal
P.O. Box 3900
Citrus Heights, CA 95611-3900
Voice: (800) 424-8825 or (916) 722-4970
Fax: (916) 722-7480
Email t...@psyber.com
Web page http://www.psyber.com/~tcj
Q26: How can I add a hard drive to my CP/M machine?
A: (Don Kirkpatrick, Herb Johnson)
If you have a Kaypro, TCJ - The Computer Journal can sell you a hard
drive conversion kit. (See Q20.) Emerald Microware no longer offers
hardware support.
Tilmann Reh, an engineer in Germany, has designed an IDE hard drive
interface that plugs into a Z-80 socket, and described it in The
Computer Journal magazine as the Generic IDE (GIDE). He has produced
a number of kits that include the circuit board, parts, and even a
time of day clock chip. Several people have bought these (as of Jan
1996) and are beginning to write software to support these on
various Z-80 based computers (including ADAM and TRS-80 as well as
CP/M based systems).
Europeans can contact Tilmann Reh directly. In the USA, Tilmann may
refer you to a US distributor. The current US distributor is The
Computer Journal which has a GIDE Web page (See Q23.)
Q27: What belongs in the unpopulated board area on a Kaypro?
A: (Don Maslin, Don Kirkpatrick, Peter A. Schuman)
A clock and modem go there. The modem is rather useless as it is
only 300 baud. The clock/calendar is useful. The Computer Journal,
issue 64, Nov./Dec. 1993, describes the installation procedure.
There is also an area on a 2X for a hard drive interface.
Q28: What is The Computer Journal?
A: (David Baldwin)
The Computer Journal has had many articles on CP/M and Z-System and
has all back issues available. TCJ also sells software that was
formerly from Sage MicroSystems East and Kaypro items from Chuck
Stafford.
The focus of The Computer Journal is source code and schematics for
"do-it-yourself" software and hardware projects. We feature mostly
low level projects in hardware, assembly language, 'C', and
sometimes Forth. Our articles cover PC's, microcontrollers, and
embedded and older systems.
In general, we cover software and hardware that one person can work
with, where you can "do it by yourself". This includes common
programming languages and boards and systems where you can identify
(and get) the parts and get code to make it work. Source code from
the articles is posted on the TCJ Web pages and BBS so you can
download it instead of typing it in.
The subscription rate is $24 for 6 issues or $44 for 12.
Subscriptions may be sent to:
The Computer Journal
P.O. Box 3900
Citrus Heights, CA 95611-3900
Voice: (800) 424-8825 or (916) 722-4970
Fax: (916) 722-7480
The The Computer Journal has it's own mailing list. To subscribe,
send an email message to 'Majo...@psyber.com' with
subscribe list-tcj <yo...@email.address>
end
as the body of the message. 'list-tcj' is a digested mailing list -
the messages are collected during the day and then sent out to
subscribers in the middle of the night. That way, you only get one
email message from the list on any day.
The Computer Journal (TCJ) is also on the Internet.
Email t...@psyber.com
Web page http://www.psyber.com/~tcj
Q29: Are there other magazines supporting CP/M?
A: (Jay Sage)
The Z-Letter from David McGlone is no more. Classic Computing
(formerly Historically Brewed), edited by David Greelish is
available at:
Classic Computing Press
5227 Seaspray Ave.
Jacksonville, FL 32244
These magazines may list other publications, support groups and CP/M
supporting companies.
Q30: Does anybody support Amstrad machines?
A: (Matthew Phillips, Bill Roch, Howard Fisher)
WACCI on http://users.ox.ac.uk/~chri0264/wowww.html includes:
A directory of suppliers for Amstrad CPC and PCW machines
An "email helpline" of contacts who are willing to give advice
A listing of other Amstrad user groups and magazines
Forthcoming events in the Amstrad world
The WACCI PD Library listings - both Amstrad and CP/M stuff.
There is also information on WACCI itself, the UK's biggest Amstrad
CPC user club, including details of subscription rates.
Amstrad support is also available from Bill Roch. He offers
software, hardware and does repairs on the PCW's - 8256, 8512 and
9512. He may provide the most support for the wonderful Amstrad in
the U.S.
Bill Roch
4067 Arizona Avenue
Atascadero, CA 93422
(805) 466-8440 - phone
(805) 461-1666 - fax
br...@thegrid.net - email
The descendant of Locomotive Software, a developer of software on
the PCW (and CPCs) for Amstrad, are now with LocoScript Software.
Their web page is mainly concerned with proprietary word processing
software, but has some CP/M related stuff and has links to other
useful PCW CP/M related sites. Try:
Howard Fisher
LocoScript Software
10 Vincent Works
Dorking, Surrey H4 3HJ, UK
Tel 01306 747757
Fax 01306 885529
sa...@locomotive.com
http://www.locomotive.com
Q31: Does anybody support Sharp Machines?
A: (Maurice Hawes, Mike Mallett)
The SHARP USERS CLUB, based in the U.K. but with members in Europe,
South Africa, and Australia. The SUC started in 1980 and its quality
Magazine, published 3 times a year, covers ALL Sharp computers,
including the latest PC laptops. The SUC has a large library of PD
software for all the older Sharp machines such as:
Z80 machines (Sharp Basic Tape/Disk OS or CP/M programs): MZ-80K,
MZ-80B, MZ-80A, MZ-700, MZ-800, MZ-3500, and PC-3201 (The PC-3201
was known as the ZY-3200 in the USA).
Also Z80 machines that were sold mainly or exclusively in Japan
e.g. X1, MZ-2500.
Early 8086 machines (CP/M-86 or non-IBM Sharp MS-DOS programs):
MZ-5500, MZ-5600, 'SHARPWRITER', PC-5000 'Bubble' machine.
The SUC can supply hardware upgrades and documentation for many of
the above machines. Contact :
Maurice Hawes
Sharp Users Club
6 Belle Vue
The Esplanade
Weymouth
Dorset DT4 8DR United Kingdom
phone: +44 1305 783518
Email enquiries may be sent via mike.m...@zetnet.co.uk.
Q32: What is ZCPR and the Z System?
A: (Jay Sage, Mike Finn, Don Kirkpatrick, Dave Baldwin)
The original ZCPR was written in Z80 code and was called the "Z80
Command Processor Replacement". It was a drop-in replacement for
the Digital Research CCP (Console Command Processor) and adhered to
the 800H space restriction. ZCPR2 (February 14, 1983) was the first
experiment in greatly extending the power of the command processor.
It added additional memory modules for supporting such things as
multiple commands on a line, a dynamically reconfigurable command
search path, and directory names associated with drive/user areas.
The ideas and implementation in ZCPR2 were only half-baked, and they
came to logical fruition in ZCPR3 (Richard Conn's 3.0 and Jay Sage's
3.3 and 3.4).
ZCPR3 gives you UNIX-like flexibility. Features implemented include
shells, aliases, I/O redirection, flow control, named directories,
search paths, custom menus, passwords, on line help, and greater
command flexibility. ZCPR3 can be found on many BBS and SIMTEL
mirrors. The Z System commercial version is available for a nominal
fee from The Computer Journal. Further details can be found in the
text "ZCPR3, The Manual", by Richard Conn, ISBN 0-918432-59-6.
You can find a detailed history of the development of ZCPR and the Z
System in Jay Sage's column in issue #54 of The Computer Journal.
This article celebrated the 10th anniversary of ZCPR, which was
first released on February 2, 1982. His "ZCPR33 User's Guide" also
has a section on the history.
There still are active Z-nodes supporting Z-system and many RCP/M's
supporting CP/M as well as some special interests. As of November
7, 1995, the known BBS's supporting the Z-System are:
Z-Node Sysop Telephone Type of BBS
3 Jay Sage 617 965 7046 PC 33,600 baud
5 Ian Cottrell 613 829 2530 Z-Syst 2,400 baud
6 Finn, Morgen, Isaac 215 535 0344 Z-Syst 2,400 baud
9 Don Maslin 619 454 8412 PC 14,400 baud
33 Jim Sands 405 237 9282 Z-Syst 2,400 baud
36 Richard Mead 626 799 1632 PC 28,800 baud
45 Richard Reid (Ken) 713 937 8886 PC ? baud
Michael McCarrey 509 489 5835 Z-Syst 2,400 baud
Wil Schuemann 702 887 0408 PC 28,800 baud
Wil Schuemann 702 887 0507 Z-Syst 9,600 baud (Soon)
TCJ Dave Baldwin 916 722 5799 PC 14,400 baud
There is also a Z-node in Munich, Germany,
51 Helmut Jungkunz +49.8801.2453 28,800 baud
and one in Perth, Australia.
62 +61 9 450 0200
Q33: What ever happened to the Z800?
A: (Ralph Becker-Szendy, Frank Zsitvay)
The Z800 was planned to be NMOS, and was finally implemented as the
Z280 in CMOS, five years late. And it does have a 4kB/8kB paged
MMU, and separate I/D space, and cache. There are small differences
between the Z800 preliminary spec and the final Z280 specification.
The call for Z280 end-of-life last time buys went out in December,
1995.
The Z180 was not an outgrowth of the Z800. It was a joint effort
between Zilog and Hitachi. The first two versions of the HD64180
were slightly different from the current Z180. The current HD64180
and Z180 are identical, and both have flags in one of the control
registers to emulate the earlier versions. The changes are mostly
bus timing, as the HD64180 was designed to interface with Motorola
6800 style peripherals as well as Intel and Zilog, which wasn't too
strange since Hitachi second sources some Motorola 6800 series
products.
Q34: What is the status of the Z380?
A: (Ralph Becker-Szendy)
The Z380 is a 32-bit version binary-compatible upgrade of the
HD180. The 18MHz part in the 100-pin QFP package is shipping. The
plan for a PGA-package for the Z380 has been scrapped. Zilog is
working on a 25MHz part, but it isn't quite ready yet. The
"Preliminary Product Specfication", Zilog part number DC6003-02,
documents the part. According to the manual, the plans include a
40MHz part, but the time frame is uncertain.
Q35: What is the KC80?
A: (Ralph Becker-Szendy)
There was an announcement in the trade press about a deal between
Kawasaki Heavy Industries and Zilog. Kawasaki has developed
something called the KC80, which is a Z80 (no MMU, extended address
space, or 32-bit enhancements), but speeded up to execute most
instructions in one or two cycles, and running at 20MHz. Zilog has
the rights to the design. The catch is that Zilog is currently not
planning to sell it as a chip.
Q36: What is the S-100 bus (also known as IEEE-696 bus)?
A: (Herb Johnson)
Among the earliest microcomputers offered to electronic hobbyists in
the mid-1970's was the Altair 8800 by MITS. It was offered as a $400
kit in an article in the January 1975 issue of Popular Electronics
magazine. Each functional block of the computer, such as the
processor, memory, or I/O required at that time many logic or memory
chips each. So a card was designed for each function, connected
together by plugging into a common bus of parallel connections or
"motherboard". The function and timing of signals on the 100 pins of
that bus became known as the "S-100 bus". The Altair was distinctive
for its "front panel" which displayed binary address and data on
LED's and which provided toggle switches to control the processor,
much like minicomputers of the era.
While not the first microcomputer or microcontroller to be offered
for public sale, the Altair 8800 is often cited as the "first
personal computer" as it was a widely accepted and visually
recognized product; it recieved a lot of press coverage inside and
outside the electronics industry; and it set a manufacturing
standard for a new industry. It and its successors were certainly
early yet enduring leaders in affordable personal, business, and
industrial computers. Only the IMSAI 8080 compares in recognition
value among hobbyists, but the Altair is often cited by the popular
press.
At first, MITS (and almost immediately others) produced cards which
were compatible to the Altair bus. Soon, IMSAI and others followed
with the production of competitive yet (somewhat) compatible
systems. The S-100 bus evolved as other manufacturers, notibly
IMSAI, made slight changes to the Altair bus signals and improved
the front panel. Yet other manufacturers used digital designs that
either depended on special signals from their own cards, or had
signal timing requirements that varied between manufacturers. Over
time, these differences and the limits of the original Altair/IMSAI
produced a number of manufacturer-specific bus variations for
extended addressing, bus operations, memory refresh and so on. MITS,
IMSAI, Cromenco, Compupro, Ithica Intersystems and Northstar were
among the major S-100 systems manufacturers of the time. Card
manufacturers are too numerous to list. Most S-100 systems used the
8080, Z80, or 8085 processors, but some companies produced cards
with almost any available 8 or 16-bit processor.
Bus signal differences were finally addressed in 1983 with the
publication of the IEEE-696 standard by the Institute of Electrical
and Electronic Engineers. The standard was previously in use
primarily by Compupro and Ithica. As CP/M personal systems went to
single-board designs with no bus at all, the introduction of new
S-100 designs peaked. Further competition, price pressures, and
finally the IBM PC caused new S-100 system designs for business and
personal use to drop in the mid-1980's. A notible system of the era
was the Heath\Zenith Z-100, a dual processor 8085/8088 system that
could run CP/M 80, CP/M 86 and MS-DOS: and *very* similar to the
popular Compupro 8\16 system. Zenith sold thousands of Z-100's to
the military. Incidently, many systems of the mid-1980s began to
run other operating systems, such as CP/M-compatible Turbodos, ZCPR
and Z-system; and various UNIX-compatible OS's on 68000's, 80286's,
and other processors.
New IEEE-696 systems were subsequently developed through the end of
the 1980's, primarily for industrial and/or development (non-CP/M)
applications, particularly where multiprocessing or speed were
important. Up to at least 1993, Compupro and Cromemco still
supported these systems at commercial prices, but apparently they
did not support their prior CP/M systems except as cards and
documentation for sale. New S-100 cards were also introduced
throughout the 1980's, but declining through the end of the decade.
Zenith's Z-100 system is supported by some active user groups and
on-line maillists such as Usenet's comp.sys.zenith.z100. Northstar
systems owners correspond occasionally on comp.sys.northstar.
One person who provides S-100 cards, documention, and some support
is Herb Johnson. As "Dr. S-100" he wrote (1994-96) a regular column
in The Computer Journal (www.psyber.com/~tcj/) and corresponds with
S-100 and IEEE-696 owners. As of 1996 he can be reached via The
Computer Journal or:
Herbert R. Johnson
Dr. S-100
59 Main Blvd
Ewing NJ 08618
(609) 771-1503
Email: hjoh...@pluto.njcc.com
Web page: http://pluto.njcc.com/~hjohnson/
Q37: Anyone know a good source for cross assemblers?
A: (Roger Hanscom, Mike Morris)
There are a variety of sources for cross platform development tools.
The C Users' Group (1601 W. 23rd St., Suite 200, Lawrence, KS
66046-2700) has a library of software that includes all kinds of
development tools. Source code is distributed with many of them.
They charge $4/disk and $3.50 s&h per order, and can supply 3.5" or
5.25" DOS formats. Those of you seeking assemblers or disassemblers
will be particularly interested in volumes number 398, 363 (2
disks), 348, 346 (2 disks), 338 (2 disks), 335 (4 disks), 316, 303,
and 292(4 disks). They also market a CD-ROM of volumes 100 through
364 for $49.95 list (it can usually be found at computer shows for
$25 to $35). They can be reached at 913/841-1631 FAX: 913/841-2624.
The Circuit Cellar BBS is on-line 24 hours per day with some cross
development tools, particularly for CPU's that are commonly used as
controllers. They have a Courier HST running 2400/9600 bps at
203/871-0549, and another line that will do up to 14.4k bps (8N1) at
203/871-1988. Both of these numbers are in Connecticut.
The Motorola BBS is in Austin, Texas, on 512/440-3733. They have
downloadable cross development products mostly for the 68xx and
68xxx architectures. Like the Circuit Cellar BBS, this BBS seems to
specialize in micro-controller development. Many of these files can
also be accessed over the network on bode.ee.ualberta.ca
(129.128.16.96).
2500AD software lists a Z80 assembler, a Z80 C compiler (that
includes the assembler in the package), a Z280 assembler, a Z280 C
compiler (that includes the assembler), and a Z380 assembler.
Don't forget to look in the old familiar places, such as
oak.oakland.edu and wuarchive.wustl.edu.
The Walnut Creek CDROM has some tools from some of the sources
listed above on the CP/M CDROM.
=====================================================================
End of FAQ