Dual processor CP/M computers
James M. Knox
In article <daveapE4...@netcom.com>, dav...@netcom.com (Dave) wrote:
>I don't have much information about older machines, mainly what I've read
>here..
>
>Anyway, I have read there was CP/M computers with two processors, although
>I'm not sure which ones it had. It seems they were a DOS-CP/M hybrid?
>
>If so, was it a combination of a Z80 and a 8088 or something similar?
>How did you switch between a DOS and CP/M session?
Actually, there were quite a few dual processor machines. The Vector 4 ran
Z80 and 8086. The Tandy TRS-80 Models 16 and 6000 ran Z80 and MC68000. There
were several S-100 boards that had Z80 and 8085 processors. Heck, we used to
have an IBM XT that had 8088 and 68000 processors.
As far as switching, usually just done in software. On the TRS-80 for
instance, while running CP/M-80 you could command "M68" and switch to
CP/M-68K. To switch back you typed in the command "Z80". [While in 68000
mode the Z80 acted as intelligent I/O processor.]
jmk
JSusanj
On this subject tri...@bga.com (James M. Knox) wrote:
> Actually, there were quite a few dual processor machines. The Vector 4
ran
> Z80 and 8086. The Tandy TRS-80 Models 16 and 6000 ran Z80 and MC68000.
There
> were several S-100 boards that had Z80 and 8085 processors. Heck, we
used to
> have an IBM XT that had 8088 and 68000 processors.
In addition the Commodore 128 has a Z80 and an 8502 (part of the 6502
family).
Jeff S.
John Thompson
>I don't have much information about older machines, mainly what I've read
>here..
>Anyway, I have read there was CP/M computers with two processors, although
>I'm not sure which ones it had. It seems they were a DOS-CP/M hybrid?
>If so, was it a combination of a Z80 and a 8088 or something similar?
>How did you switch between a DOS and CP/M session?
I have a couple dual-processor Epson QX-16's sitting right behind
me. These machines have both a Z-80 for CP/M and an 8088 for
MS-DOS. The operating system to boot is deterined at start-up:
the IPL activates the Z-80 first, which looks for a bootable
8-bit operating system. If none is found, the IPL passes control
over to the 8088, which executes the BIOS ROM for a 16-bit
operating system.
-John (John.T...@ibm.net)
Don Maslin
James M. Knox (tri...@bga.com) wrote:
: In article <daveapE4...@netcom.com>, dav...@netcom.com (Dave) wrote:
: >I don't have much information about older machines, mainly what I've read
: >
: >Anyway, I have read there was CP/M computers with two processors, although
: >I'm not sure which ones it had. It seems they were a DOS-CP/M hybrid?
: >
: >If so, was it a combination of a Z80 and a 8088 or something similar?
: >How did you switch between a DOS and CP/M session?
: Actually, there were quite a few dual processor machines. The Vector 4 ran
: Z80 and 8086. The Tandy TRS-80 Models 16 and 6000 ran Z80 and MC68000. There
: were several S-100 boards that had Z80 and 8085 processors. Heck, we used to
: have an IBM XT that had 8088 and 68000 processors.
: As far as switching, usually just done in software. On the TRS-80 for
: instance, while running CP/M-80 you could command "M68" and switch to
: CP/M-68K. To switch back you typed in the command "Z80". [While in 68000
: mode the Z80 acted as intelligent I/O processor.]
: jmk
Almost forgot! There was also the venerable Seequa Chameleon.
- don
do...@cts.com
*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*
Don Maslin - Keeper of the Dina-SIG CP/M System Disk Archives
Chairman, Dina-SIG of the San Diego Computer Society
Clinging tenaciously to the trailing edge of technology.
Sysop - Elephant's Graveyard (CP/M) - 619-454-8412
*--*--*--*--*--*--*--*--*--*--*--*--*--*--*--*--*--*--*--*--*--*--*--*--*
see old system support at http://www.psyber.com/~tcj
Alan Matthews
Don Maslin wrote:
<snip>
>
> : Actually, there were quite a few dual processor machines. The Vector 4 ran
> : Z80 and 8086. The Tandy TRS-80 Models 16 and 6000 ran Z80 and MC68000. There
> : were several S-100 boards that had Z80 and 8085 processors. Heck, we used to
> : have an IBM XT that had 8088 and 68000 processors.
>
> : As far as switching, usually just done in software. On the TRS-80 for
> : instance, while running CP/M-80 you could command "M68" and switch to
> : CP/M-68K. To switch back you typed in the command "Z80". [While in 68000
> : mode the Z80 acted as intelligent I/O processor.]
>
> : jmk
>
> Almost forgot! There was also the venerable Seequa Chameleon.
>
> - don
> do...@cts.com
> *-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*
> Don Maslin - Keeper of the Dina-SIG CP/M System Disk Archives
> Chairman, Dina-SIG of the San Diego Computer Society
> Clinging tenaciously to the trailing edge of technology.
> Sysop - Elephant's Graveyard (CP/M) - 619-454-8412
> *--*--*--*--*--*--*--*--*--*--*--*--*--*--*--*--*--*--*--*--*--*--*--*--*
> see old system support at http://www.psyber.com/~tcj
We can't forget about the DEC Rainbow 100, with a Z80 and a 8088.
The Z80 ran CP/M 80 and handled floppy I/O for the 8 or 16bit OS.
Frank Peseckis
do...@cts.com (Don Maslin) wrote:
>James M. Knox (tri...@bga.com) wrote:
>: In article <daveapE4...@netcom.com>, dav...@netcom.com (Dave) wrote:
>: >I don't have much information about older machines, mainly what I've read
>: >here..
>: >
>: >Anyway, I have read there was CP/M computers with two processors, although
>: >I'm not sure which ones it had. It seems they were a DOS-CP/M hybrid?
>: >
>: >If so, was it a combination of a Z80 and a 8088 or something similar?
>: >How did you switch between a DOS and CP/M session?
>
>: Actually, there were quite a few dual processor machines. The Vector 4 ran
>: Z80 and 8086. The Tandy TRS-80 Models 16 and 6000 ran Z80 and MC68000. There
>: were several S-100 boards that had Z80 and 8085 processors. Heck, we used to
>: have an IBM XT that had 8088 and 68000 processors.
>
>: As far as switching, usually just done in software. On the TRS-80 for
>: instance, while running CP/M-80 you could command "M68" and switch to
>: CP/M-68K. To switch back you typed in the command "Z80". [While in 68000
>: mode the Z80 acted as intelligent I/O processor.]
>
>: jmk
>
>Almost forgot! There was also the venerable Seequa Chameleon.
>
> - don
Also worth a mention is the DEC Rainbow.
Frank Peseckis
fr...@5points.com
http://www.5points.com/
Razzpy
On Dual Processors - Compupro/Vaisyn put out an 8085/8088 card. MacroTech
had an 80286/Z80 card. They ran at about 6mhz, though one of my Compupro
cards runs 8mhz for the 8088 and 7mhz for the 8085 (Yep, 14mhz crystal).
The Macrotech board ran at 6mhz, but was a bit hot. Supposably it was an
upgrade direct replacement for the Compupro card.
Jeff Wieland
And the Kaypro 2+88 and 4+88. These came from the factory with the
SWP coprocessor board (plugs in under the Z80). SWP had software for
a number of Z80 CP/M machines, such as the Morrow MD-3. They even
sold a version of Lotus 123 that would run on the '84 series Kaypros
equipped with their board (used a special console driver to make it
work like a MDA display). I have no idea how many of these they
actually sold.
--
Jeff Wieland | Agricultural Computer Network
Communication Systems Programmer | 1144 ENTM 216
Voice: (317)494-8333 | Purdue University
FAX: (317)494-8342 | West Lafayette, IN 47907-1144
Rick Rodman
Dave wrote:
>
> James M. Knox (tri...@bga.com) wrote:
> : In article <daveapE4...@netcom.com>, dav...@netcom.com (Dave) wrote:
> : >I don't have much information about older machines, mainly what I've read
> : >here..
> : >
> : >Anyway, I have read there was CP/M computers with two processors, although
> : >I'm not sure which ones it had. It seems they were a DOS-CP/M hybrid?
> : >
> : >If so, was it a combination of a Z80 and a 8088 or something similar?
> : >How did you switch between a DOS and CP/M session?
>
> : Actually, there were quite a few dual processor machines. The Vector 4 ran
> : Z80 and 8086. The Tandy TRS-80 Models 16 and 6000 ran Z80 and MC68000. There
> : were several S-100 boards that had Z80 and 8085 processors. Heck, we used to
> : have an IBM XT that had 8088 and 68000 processors.
>
Not to mention the S-100 machines with slave processors.
Also the DEC Rainbow, with a Z-80 and an 8088, which was available
with both MS-DOS and a hybrid CP/M called CP/M-86/80, running either
Z-80 or 8088 programs on the fly. I have two of these machines.
Tim Shoppa
In article <19970123124...@ladder01.news.aol.com>,
Razzpy <raz...@aol.com> wrote:
>On Dual Processors - Compupro/Vaisyn put out an 8085/8088 card. MacroTech
>had an 80286/Z80 card. They ran at about 6mhz, though one of my Compupro
>cards runs 8mhz for the 8088 and 7mhz for the 8085 (Yep, 14mhz crystal).
I would guess that you actually mean MHz. (Yes, I work in a field where
both mHz and MHz are seen!)
>The Macrotech board ran at 6mhz, but was a bit hot. Supposably it was an
>upgrade direct replacement for the Compupro card.
When using the Macrotech card with Compupro's CP/M 8-16, you often
need to replace SW!.COM (executed when switching from 16-bit to
8-bit mode) with a version that lived more happily with the
Macrotech. Macrotech attributed this to "bugs" in the Compupro
code. If anyone needs Macrotech's "fixed" SW!.COM, you're
welcome to get ahold of me and I'll put it onto SSSD 8" floppy
for you. (Getting the floppy past US Customs is yet another
difficulty that I won't go into here!)
Tim. (sho...@triumf.ca)
Jeff Armstrong
Don Maslin wrote:
>
> James M. Knox (tri...@bga.com) wrote:
> : In article <daveapE4...@netcom.com>, dav...@netcom.com (Dave) wrote:
> : >I don't have much information about older machines, mainly what I've read
> : >here..
> : >
> : >Anyway, I have read there was CP/M computers with two processors, although
> : >I'm not sure which ones it had. It seems they were a DOS-CP/M hybrid?
> : >
> : >If so, was it a combination of a Z80 and a 8088 or something similar?
> : >How did you switch between a DOS and CP/M session?
>
> : Actually, there were quite a few dual processor machines. The Vector 4 ran
> : Z80 and 8086. The Tandy TRS-80 Models 16 and 6000 ran Z80 and MC68000. There
> : were several S-100 boards that had Z80 and 8085 processors. Heck, we used to
> : have an IBM XT that had 8088 and 68000 processors.
>
> : instance, while running CP/M-80 you could command "M68" and switch to
> : CP/M-68K. To switch back you typed in the command "Z80". [While in 68000
> : mode the Z80 acted as intelligent I/O processor.]
>
> : jmk
>
> Almost forgot! There was also the venerable Seequa Chameleon.
>
> - don
And the DEC Rainbow 100! (8088 and Z80)
--
Jeff Armstrong (jb...@po.cwru.edu) |
Case Western Reserve University |
| Illegitimi Non Carborundum!
One of the last Rainbow 100 users |
http://b61984.student.cwru.edu/ |
Bill Marcum
In article <5c7ns7$5...@mozo.cc.purdue.edu>, Jeff Wieland wrote:
>And the Kaypro 2+88 and 4+88. These came from the factory with the
>SWP coprocessor board (plugs in under the Z80). SWP had software for
>a number of Z80 CP/M machines, such as the Morrow MD-3. They even
>sold a version of Lotus 123 that would run on the '84 series Kaypros
>equipped with their board (used a special console driver to make it
>work like a MDA display). I have no idea how many of these they
>actually sold.
SWP also made the ATR-8000, which connected to the serial bus on an Atari
8-bit computer. The ATR-8000 had a Z80 processor and could be used as a
disk controller for the Atari, or it could run CP/M, and could also use an
optional 8088 CPU board to run MS-DOS (maybe the same board that was in
the Kaypros). An Atari with this setup might be considered a 3-CPU
system--but then you might have to count the CPUs built into other
peripheral devices as well..
--
Bill Marcum bmarcum at iglou dot com
"...see the ominous eyes of the transdemonic corporate empire staring back
at you"
JWillard44
Well, the Comodore 128 was really a multi-processor machine. It had
the venerable and cheap 6502 for Comodore mode and the Z80 for CP/M mode.
It also had a processor in each disk drive.
It seems that processors are the cheap part of a computer.
When I opened up my Morrow MD-11 I was surprised to find two z-80s in
side. But according the the maintenance manual, the second is not a
processor but (best I could figure), a PLA. It worked so closely with the
Z-80 that it used its instruction address generation and clock but
performed disk I/O in a very tight loop. If anyone can explain that one,
I am interested.
Joel in Ogden
Roger Ivie
In article <32ebc108...@news.capital.net>, fr...@5points.com (Frank Peseckis) writes:
> do...@cts.com (Don Maslin) wrote:
>>James M. Knox (tri...@bga.com) wrote:
>>: In article <daveapE4...@netcom.com>, dav...@netcom.com (Dave) wrote:
>>: >If so, was it a combination of a Z80 and a 8088 or something similar?
>>: >How did you switch between a DOS and CP/M session?
>>: were several S-100 boards that had Z80 and 8085 processors. Heck, we used to
>>: have an IBM XT that had 8088 and 68000 processors.
"Bridge Card" anyone? It was a card to slide into the SBI of a VAX 11/780
and speed up CP/M emulation. It contained six Z80s.
--
-------------------------+---------------------------------------------
Roger Ivie | "Since then, it's been my policy to view the
iv...@cc.usu.edu | Internet...as an electronic asylum filled with
http://cc.usu.edu/~ivie/ | babbling loonies" -- Mike Royko
Tony Tynan
Read through the 14 responses with bated breath! Waiting in hope for
someone to mention the SORD M68, dual floppy which (apparently) is a dual
mode animal also - but not sure because mine - which works - but on the
only piece of s/ware I possess a bootable WORD PROCESSOR (disgust) so with
no literature and nothing resembling a 'system disk' I'm left sadly
wondering.
Any jolts of recollection out there?
Regards
Marc Wilson
On 23 Jan 1997 12:41:48 GMT, raz...@aol.com (Razzpy) wrote:
>On Dual Processors - Compupro/Vaisyn put out an 8085/8088 card.
Yep... although the fastest thy ever ran was 5 mhz for the 8085, and 8 mhz for
the 8088.
>MacroTech had an 80286/Z80 card.
I have one of these... nifty cards. I swapped the crystals around on it a
long time ago to push the '286 on it to 8 mhz. I think the Z80 on it runs at
4 mhz.
>The Macrotech board ran at 6mhz, but was a bit hot. Supposably it was an
>upgrade direct replacement for the Compupro card.
Depends on how you configure it. The manual tells you how to set it up as a
direct replacement for the CPU 85/88... CompuPro's SWITCH.CMD will even work
on it when it's configured that way.
Well... most versions, anyway. :) I don't have Macrotech's software for this
guy... does anyone else?
Marc Wilson | SD Comic Con '97 Volunteer Coordinator
Imperial Beach, CA | Check this URL for my home page & Con info:
e-mail: mwi...@cts.com | `--> http://www.geocities.com/Athens/1148
Allison
dav...@netcom.com (Dave) wrote:
Well there were a few that ran CP/M that were not 8088 based.
DecmateII/III with the APU ran cpm-80.
Actually it cheated as there were three cpus 6100<pdp-8>, z80 and
8051<for the floppy>.
Pro350/80 with the APU also could run cpm-80
This bugger could have up to 4 cpus! The Pro
itself was F-11 PDP11, floppy was 8051,
hard disk was 8x300 and the z80 for cpm.
There was a quad z80 card that ran is Unibus pdp-11s or Vaxes.
It ran CP/M for four users.
Just a few of the other combos.
Allison
Real address is: Allisonp @ world DOT std DOT com
This was done to discourage some of the junkmailers.
Curt Schroeder
Technically, the Microsoft Softcard equipped Apple II qualifies as a
dual-processor CP/M computer, as it is possible to make 6502 subroutine
calls from CP/M programs. I have used this to execute 6502 binaries
that upload keyboard macros to my Videx Keyboard Enhancer from within
CP/M (and more recently NZ-COM), and to call raster graphics drawing
primitives in the Apple II ROMs as part of a graphics library I wrote
for CP/M Turbo Pascal 3.0. While I have not disassembled the BIOS to
prove it, I suspect that keyboard and disk I/O in Microsoft CP/M 2.2 is
in part handled this way as well (there is an LED on the Softcard that
winks on and off as the Z80 activates and deactivates).
Curt
Curt Schroeder | Visit NSS Atlanta! http://www.netvisibility.com/nssatl
==========================================================================
These opinions are mine, mine, mine! | csch...@hercii.mar.lmco.com
--- Apple II Forever! --- | bpan...@netcom.com (lmco prefered)
Jeff Wieland
In article <19970123220...@ladder01.news.aol.com> jwill...@aol.com (JWillard44) writes:
> When I opened up my Morrow MD-11 I was surprised to find two z-80s in
>side. But according the the maintenance manual, the second is not a
>processor but (best I could figure), a PLA. It worked so closely with the
>Z-80 that it used its instruction address generation and clock but
>performed disk I/O in a very tight loop. If anyone can explain that one,
>I am interested.
> Joel in Ogden
I recall a few paragraphs concerning the disk I/O on the MD-11 in the
Kaypro column in Micro-C. It was the second of two columns that also
concerned the MicroSphere color graphics board for the Kaypro (which
is why I bought the back issue). I'll see if I can dig it out. They
are using the second Z80 in place of a hard disk controller, e.g. a
WD-1002HDO.
j.r. pierce [see .sig]
wil...@hopf.math.purdue.edu (Clarence Wilkerson) wrote:
>Of course an AT class machine might have a microprocessor
>it its keyboard, onboard keboard interface, the real CPU,
>the modem. the ethernet card, the sound card, and of course
>its printer.
Hey to get even sillier, virtually all late model hard disks have at
least one processor, and often two (one for servo and interface
functions, another more DSP like processor for the high speed data
path). The original MFM HD controllers all had 8085 or Z80's on them.
However ethernet cards and sound cards rarely have a programmable
processor, just fixed function chips. Now, if you got a late model VGA
monitor with onscreen digital controls, it certainly has a micro in
it. And, I'd imagine CDROM drives probably have a CPU in them too (in
fact, virtually any EIDE or SCSI peripheral is going to need a control
processor).
-jrp
--------------------------------------------------------------------
This posting has a invalid email address to discourage bulk emailers
if you need to mail me try "pierce at hogranch dot com"
--------------------------------------------------------------------
ds...@cameonet.cameo.com.tw
Curt Schroeder (csch...@HERCII.MAR.LMCO.COM) wrote --
> Technically, the Microsoft Softcard equipped Apple II qualifies as a
> dual-processor CP/M computer, as it is possible to make 6502 subroutine
> calls from CP/M programs. I have used this to execute 6502 binaries....
I was told by a tech wizard in '83 or '84 that the 6502 handled *all* I/O
for the SoftCard. I'd written a smidgen of Z-80 code to kill cursor blink
on the Videx 80-column display board, and patched it into an area of
WordStar provided for such things. It didn't work. My mentor said to use
6502 codes; we put those in and it worked like a charm.
Later, in '85/'86, I used a Japanese CP/M machine called the Formula 1
that had FOUR Z-80s. I forget how the work was divided among them.
Dan Strychalski
ds...@cameonet.cameo.com.tw
Clarence Wilkerson
Well, if we count peripheral controllers in the
tally of "dual processors"
1) the Heath H89 had two Z80's, one for CPU and another
to run the terminal ( H19 ).
2) quite a few hard drives had an onboard 8085 or such.
The DTC bridge cards had 8085's also.
3) Even some 8" floppies have 8085's: The NEC FD1100 (sic).
Of course an AT class machine might have a microprocessor
it its keyboard, onboard keboard interface, the real CPU,
the modem. the ethernet card, the sound card, and of course
its printer.
Clarence Wilkerson
John D. Baker
Curt Schroeder (csch...@HERCII.MAR.LMCO.COM) wrote:
> Technically, the Microsoft Softcard equipped Apple II qualifies as a
> dual-processor CP/M computer, as it is possible to make 6502 subroutine
> calls from CP/M programs.
This applies even more strongly to the PCPI AppliCard and
CardZ180. Whereas the SoftCard system alternately halts one
CPU when the other is active, the AppliCard and CardZ180 systems
have both CPUs running at all times, forming a distributed
processing envrionment.
The Apple ][ host provides all I/O functions via a command processor
and device drivers. The Z80/Z180 board runs a "stub" CBIOS that
communicates with the command processor running on the 6502 side.
You can read more about it at:
http://www.blkbox.com/~jdb8042/SmallSys/AppliCard.html
--
John D. Baker ->A TransWarp'802'd Apple //e CardZ180 Z-System nut //
Internet: jdb...@blkbox.com, jdb...@taronga.com
BBS: JOHN BAKER on PIC of the Mid-Town [(281) 326-5890] 1:106/31,
Z-Node #45 [(713) 937-8886], The Vector Board [(716) 544-1863]
http://www.blkbox.com/~jdb8042/
Roger Ivie
In article <E4q9y...@world.std.com>, <allison>@world.std.com (Allison) writes:
> DecmateII/III with the APU ran cpm-80.
> Actually it cheated as there were three cpus 6100<pdp-8>, z80 and
> 8051<for the floppy>.
You forgot the 8051 in the keyboard and the other one in the hard disk
controller (if you have one).
> Pro350/80 with the APU also could run cpm-80
> This bugger could have up to 4 cpus! The Pro
> itself was F-11 PDP11, floppy was 8051,
> hard disk was 8x300 and the z80 for cpm.
And another 8051 in the keyboard.
James D. Tucker
Two more few (I'm surmising) of you know: The Commodore SuperPet (6502 and
6809), and the Commodore 8032 with Z80 (for CP/M 2.2) subsystem.
JimT
--
Jim (SpeedBall) Tucker | First: Remember: Even paranoids have enemies.|
JDTu...@PrairieNet.Org | Second: Life is complex; It has both real and |
Near DownTown Urbana | imaginary parts. |
No Noise In Illinois | Third: I'm not an actor, but I play one on TV.|
barrym
Alan Matthews (al...@sprynet.com) wrote:
:
: We can't forget about the DEC Rainbow 100, with a Z80 and a 8088.
: The Z80 ran CP/M 80 and handled floppy I/O for the 8 or 16bit OS.
There was also the Dimension with it's Z80, 8086, 68000 and 6502.
I had one for a while. It came with CP/M, CP/M 68k, MS-Dos and
Apple's system, who's name I don't remember.
It wasn't very succesful running the Dos or Apple software. It would
run some things and not others. I once heard it referred to as the
world's most incompatible computer. :)
Barry
Paul Trezise
:>>>: were several S-100 boards that had Z80 and 8085 processors. Heck, we used
:> to
:>>>: have an IBM XT that had 8088 and 68000 processors.
:>>>Almost forgot! There was also the venerable Seequa Chameleon.
:>> Also worth a mention is the DEC Rainbow.
:>
:>"Bridge Card" anyone? It was a card to slide into the SBI of a VAX 11/780
:>and speed up CP/M emulation. It contained six Z80s.
Dont forget the Intertec Superbrain - had 2 Z80's one for the keyboard and IO.
Christoph Vogelsang
Clarence Wilkerson wrote:
>
> Well, if we count peripheral controllers in the
> tally of "dual processors"
>
> 1) the Heath H89 had two Z80's, one for CPU and another
> to run the terminal ( H19 ).
Sharp MZ-3500:
2 Z-80A (one of them for I/O)
1 8049 (for the keyboard)
2 uPD-7220 (high resultion graphics)
Chris
Steve Jahr
For even more multi-processor fun even though a bit off topic...
In the S-100 world you could roll up a system with as many CPUs as
you had slots for. Remember the CP/M knock-off called TurboDOS?
It supported multiple users, each with their own full CPU, memory,
etc. Some fun stuff to play^H^H^H^Hwork on (:
Steve Jahr
ja...@hprnd.rose.hp.com
wke...@ibm.net
not run as far as Dos and Apple software is concerned. I have a Dimension
68000 sitting on my desk right now, has all the processor cards, cga card,
memory card, math co-processor (for running UNIX), and winchester controller.
Very interesting machine.
Kent
Frank Peseckis
I don't think anyone has mentioned yet the Visual Technology 1050,
which had two z80s, one as cpu and one to control the display.
Allison
iv...@cc.usu.edu (Roger Ivie) wrote:
>In article <E4q9y...@world.std.com>, <allison>@world.std.com (Allison) writes:
>> DecmateII/III with the APU ran cpm-80.
>> Actually it cheated as there were three cpus 6100<pdp-8>, z80 and
>> 8051<for the floppy>.
Roger,
I was aware of the 8051 in the lk200 keyboard... I was limiting myself
to those directly on the motherboard.
I see keyboards and terminals as peripherals.
barrym
Yes it is an interesting one. I sold mine to a friend who was
heavily into CP/M, but I've wished ever since that I had hung
onto it. I was really having fun with it.
Mine just had 2 floppies and 512k so no unix. But thats ok.
It had all the CP/M tools for the 8080 and the 68000. What
else could I ask?
Barry
wke...@ibm.net wrote:
Razzpy
On the system I have theoretically you can have 8 slaves on board along
with the dual processor card for a total of up to 10 CPUs. Each slave
80186 has 512K memory and can run one or more programs either using the
system I/O or its own serial port. The problem would be in getting enough
power and a large enough motherboard to handle all the boards needed. My
22 slot motherboard can really only support about 15 boards. The rest of
the space is needed to accomodate the double size boards and to stuff all
the cabling needed by the I/O and disk boards and get them out the back.
Would be fun though to try.
I also have some other boards from Compupro which were experimental and
not made commercially available to any great extent. One was an MPX board
whith its own CPU that was supposed to releive the main CPU of all the I/O
for the system. I never got around to programming it and probably never
will. It requires PROMS which are no longer made and I'm not much of a
hardware person.
Anyway there were a variety of reasons for more than one CPU in a system -
from the messages on this thread there were more than I had thought!
Steve Dubrovich
The Intertech Data's SUPERBRAIN has 2 z80's, one was the main processor,
the other was the floppy disk controller! Sounds to me you have the same
strategy.
roh...@digital.net
There sure has been a lot of messages on dual processor machines?
Does anyone know how many of them used more than one at a time.
(Multiprocessing)
On 1/30/97 4:11AM, in message <5cplgm$12...@baggins.cc.flinders.edu.au>, Paul
Az0th
I heard roh...@digital.net say:
: There sure has been a lot of messages on dual processor machines?
: Does anyone know how many of them used more than one at a time.
: (Multiprocessing)
My CompuPro/Viasyn System 10 uses 4 Z-80s and an 8086. The all run all
the time. The Z-80s each have their own serial interface, and you can
log into each inependently of the others. The 8086 boots the system
and manages the hard-disk, tape, floppy and printer IO for everybody
else, besides providing its own CP/M-86 session. Looks like a PC on
steroids, non S-100. Neat.
RF Buchanan - KF4FJH
Razzpy
>Does anyone know how many of them used more than one at a time.
>(Multiprocessing)
The Compupro/Vaisyn system did. The 8085/8088 cpu set was on a single
board and one or the other only could be active. When the slave
processors were used (80186 ot Z-80 SPU) all could be used at one time.
The slaves did not have direct access to the clock and other devices (from
SS1), but all would do one or more processes each when running under
Concurrent DOS (CP/M).
Note that I'm note sure about CP/M-816 as I never ran the slaves under
that OS. All I ever did was transfer to the Z-80 SPU card. Did not have
the interrupt CP/M OS running, so never did test if it would support
mult-[processor use. Might try it, but had trouble setting up the
interrupt structure. Got tired of trying and went to concurrent DOS (5.2
on my system) instead.
Mike Mallett
> >There sure has been a lot of messages on dual processor machines?
I have a BBC Master 128 (made by Acorn in the UK). The computer
itself has a 6502 series CPU but it has an Z-80 second processor in
an external box connected to the bus. This runs CP/M 80 just by
using the right boot disk and few keystrokes.
This unit was made by Acorn and use real CP/M but there were others
that used CP/M clones such as Torch CP/N and OS/M. So far I have not
been able to get the CP/M to run from the hard disk.
The machine also has an internal 80186 co-processor which runs DOS
Plus which was Digital Research's answer to MS DOS. It can run both
MS DOS and CP/M 86 programs, but it is not completely IBM PC hardware
compatible. This can be run in its own DOS Plus partition on the hard
disc - this normally uses ADFS for the 6502 series processor.
Acorn also produced 32016 and 6502 co-processors. I believe there was
a third party 6809 box as well.
--
--------------------------------------------------------------------------
Mike Mallett mike.m...@zetnet.co.uk Reading, UK
--------------------------------------------------------------------------
Joe Wright
Nothing new about dual processors. In 1980 I bought an Intellec II
development system from Intel. Dual 8080A processors, one for I/O and
the other for everything else. Both blazed away at 2.5 MHz. It became
a CP/M system when I wrote a BIOS for it. It cost $12,500. Sigh..
--
Joe Wright mailto:wri...@exis.net
"Everything should be made as simple as possible, but not simpler."
--Albert Einstein--