RC2014 CP/M Upgrade Kit - won't boot into CP/M

[Richard Kiernan]

Hello all,

I've built the CP/M Upgrade Kit for my RC2014 Mini today and while I seem to be able to use the Microsoft BASIC interpreter and both SCM R4 and R1 of the R0881099 ROM normally, I can't get the system to boot into CP/M. When I attempt to load it from Bank 2, there is inconsistent behaviour, but it usually amounts to either the loader returning to the "Press [SPACE] to activate console" message after pressing X and Y, or hanging on "Loading CP/M", with the LED flashing for about half a second before turning off. When I attempt to load it from Bank 1, the system hangs until the reset button is pressed.

The base RC2014 Mini has worked fine from my testing. I've rechecked the solder joints and can't see anything which I would consider amiss. All of the components are in the correct positions, with the ICs and diodes installed in the correct orientation. The Compact Flash card has the "RC2014 Compact Flash 128MB" label facing upwards and the card is marked as having the correct version for the Mini's 68B50 ACIA.

I've run the Compact Flash Information and Memory Test v2.0 utilities by Steve Cousins from here: https://smallcomputercentral.wordpress.com/scm-apps/

*g 8000
Compact flash card information v1.0 by Stephen C Cousins

Number of sectors on card: $0803E100
Card size: 128GB

Card model:       AMNGF/A              "
Serial number:    "PS30504152"
Firmware version: 4//06"

Default number of cylinders:  $08E1
Default number of heads:      $0808
Default sectors per track:    $0020

Card's self diagnostic test passed
*Ready

*
*g 8000
Z80 64k memory test v2.0 by Stephen C Cousins
Upper 32k RAM: Pass
Lower 32k RAM: Pass
ROM page out test: Pass

I'm a bit confused as to why the CF card test indicates a size of 128 GB rather than 128 MB, but otherwise, there are no complaints from those utilities. I have not yet tried the CF Test nor have I formatted the card or reinstalled CP/M using the other utilities, so the card should be as it was provided.

Are there any more steps that I should check at this point with respect to this?

[Richard Kiernan]

Subsequent to my last post, I've also tried using dd to write the CP/M image, CPM 128MB inc transient apps.img, from here: https://github.com/RC2014Z80/RC2014/tree/master/CPM, along with using the SCM CF card format and CP/M system transfer utilities:

Compact Flash card format v1.1 by Stephen C Cousins

Card at address $10:
Card size: 2TB
Number of logical drives to format: 16

WARNING: Format will erase all data from the card
Do you wish to continue? (Y/N)

Formatting drives: ABCDEFGHIJKLMNOP
Verifying drives:  ABCDEFGHIJKLMNOP

Formatting complete

CP/M System Transfer by G. Searle 2012
........................
System transfer complete

Unfortunately, CP/M still fails to load from both SCM R4 and the loader on bank 2; I'm also suspicious at the format utility picking up the card as 2 TB when Linux sees it as a 124 MB disk, which is close enough in the mathematics of storage vendors to the nominal 128 MB capacity. SCM still hangs when running the "cpm" command until a reset, while the Bank 2 loader is currently resetting to the "Press [SPACE] to activate console" message after I press X and Y to attempt to load CP/M.

Z80 SBC Boot ROM 1.1 by G. Searle
RC2014 port by Mitch Lalovic
Type ? for options

>x
Boot CP/M?
Loading CP/M...

Press [SPACE] to activate console
Press [SPACE] to activate console

The CF Busy LED is flashing for half-a-second, so it seems like it's trying to do something.

[Tadeusz Pycio]

The reported capacity figures for this drive are worrying. Can you check this card again but with version 1.1 software?
I am curious about this result:

Number of sectors on card: $0803E100

because this 8 indicates something is going on line D7, similar to here:

Default number of heads: $0808

because this value should rather be $0008

[Richard Kiernan]

I noticed after the fact that I ran the 1.0 version of the utility, but I ran it again with the v1.1 software and the details were consistent across the two.

*g 8000
Compact flash card information v1.1 by Stephen C Cousins

Card at address $10:

Number of sectors on card: $0803E100

Card size: 128GB

Card model:       AMNGF/A              "
Serial number:    "PS30504152"
Firmware version: 4//06"

Default number of cylinders:  $08E1

Default number of heads:      $0808

Default sectors per track:    $0020

Card's self diagnostic test passed

[Steve Cousins]

I agree that the card size report is suspicious.

While the size report is "wrong" your format output is at least correct:

WARNING: Format will erase all data from the card
Do you wish to continue? (Y/N)

Formatting drives: ABCDEFGHIJKLMNOP
Verifying drives:  ABCDEFGHIJKLMNOP

I believe the format has been completed correctly.

Here is the terminal output running various versions of the SCM utilities with a 128MB CF card:

*g8000

Compact flash card information v1.0 by Stephen C Cousins

Number of sectors on card: $0003E000
Card size: 128MB

Card model:       "SAMSUNG CF/ATA                          "
Serial number:    "                    "
Firmware version: "S1.18.4 "

Default number of cylinders:  $01F0
Default number of heads:      $0010

Default sectors per track:    $0020

Card's self diagnostic test passed

*
*
*
*Ready

*
*g8000

Compact flash card information v1.1 by Stephen C Cousins

Card at address $10:

Number of sectors on card: $0003E000
Card size: 128MB

Card model:       "SAMSUNG CF/ATA                          "
Serial number:    "                    "
Firmware version: "S1.18.4 "

Default number of cylinders:  $01F0
Default number of heads:      $0010

Default sectors per track:    $0020

Card's self diagnostic test passed

*
*
*Ready

*
*g8000
Compact Flash card format v1.1 by Stephen C Cousins

Card at address $10:
Card size: 128MB

Number of logical drives to format: 16

WARNING: Format will erase all data from the card
Do you wish to continue? (Y/N)

*

[Richard Kiernan]

I'm wondering if the fact that the formatting tool only looks to address the first 128 MB means it only writes to the sectors on the CF card that should be there. I'm also wondering if there's more that can be divined about why the card is reporting such a high capacity by stepping through the size calculation.

[Richard Kiernan]

I've reimaged the CF card again, this time using Win32 Disk Imager. I also installed cpmcbfs as per instructions provided previously on the group and the output on CP/M drives A: and C: implies that the reimaging has worked correctly. Between this and the continued output from the CF Info utility, I'm inclined to suspect some sort of physical issue somewhere on the RC2014, as was alluded to by Tadeusz. However, I'm at a loss to understand how to proceed with diagnosis from here.

[Tadeusz Pycio]

Assuming that when we omit this eight from the number of sectors, which gives us the correct card size, the results obtained should look as follows:

Number of sectors on card: $0003E100

....

Default number of cylinders:  $03E1

Default number of heads:      $0008

Default sectors per track:    $0020

The change in the number of cylinders to $08E1 is a little worrying, as this may indicate a bigger problem than interference on line D7 (swapping 0000011b for 10000000b). It also appears that the text strings are also incorrect.

I think you should use a different CF card, as this one unfortunately won't work for you with this CF module.

[Richard Kiernan]

Unfortunately, I don't have another CF card to hand at the moment. I can look about getting one ordered in from Radionics, but I've seen suggestions that the CF interface is a bit picky about which types of CF cards it accepts. Aside from the advice of avoiding the ones that obviously look dubious, are there any manufacturers in particular to look for or avoid?

[Spencer Owen]

Hi Richard,

I sent a direct email to you earlier this morning.  Can you confirm if you have received it.

Thanks

Spencer 

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[Richard Kiernan]

Hello Spencer,

Thank you, I have just checked my email now; I'll report back when I have received this card and let you know if this has resolved the issue.

[Huw Thomas]

Hi, I hope it's appropriate to add this here -- I'm having a similar problem with my own RC2014 mini CP/M upgrade, including strange data being reported from the CF card. I'd be grateful for any suggestions.

1st problem: unable to boot CP/M from the CF card.
2nd problem: bank 3 not booting -- don't really need it, mention in case significant.

Where I am:
Bank 0 - Microsoft BASIC. No apparent problems.
Bank 1 - SCM R4. Seems fine except for the fact that on trying to booting CP/M, the LED flashes and the system hangs.
Bank 2 - CP/M 2.2. Boots, but trying to start CP/M results in the same failure that I get above.
Bank 3 - SCM R1. Doesn't boot at all. I've checked pins 1 and 27 on the ROM (A14/15) with this bank selected (both jumpers out) and they're both around 4.8V.


Here's the "Small Computer Workshop" CF test output for the supplied card:

> Compact flash card information v1.0 by Stephen C Cousins
>

> Number of sectors on card: $2903DF00
> Card size: 512GB
>
> Card model:       ")imp)eTe)h F)ash)   )   )   )   )   ) "
> Serial number:    "S I)2LN)041)602)202)"
> Firmware version: ")729)6L2"
>
> Default number of cylinders:  $29DF
> Default number of heads:      $2908

> Default sectors per track:    $0020
>

> Card's self diagnostic test passed

There's clearly quite a bit of oddness above.
Here's the CF test with a spare 256MB card:

> Compact flash card information v1.0 by Stephen C Cousins
>

> Number of sectors on card: $0007A400
> Card size: 256MB
>
> Card model:       "TOSHIBA THNCF256MMA                     "
> Serial number:    "TSBC256M03917C78499C"
> Firmware version: "3.10    "
>
> Default number of cylinders:  $03D2

> Default number of heads:      $0010

> Default sectors per track:    $0020
>

> Card's self diagnostic test passed

Here's my other spare card:

> Compact flash card information v1.0 by Stephen C Cousins
>

> Number of sectors on card: $0000F380
> Card size: 32MB
>
> Card model:       "Lexar Media ATA Flash Disk              "
> Serial number:    "31032226913999900120"
> Firmware version: "V1.01   "
>
> Default number of cylinders:  $01E7
> Default number of heads:      $0004

> Default sectors per track:    $0020
>

> Card's self diagnostic test passed

I formatted the 256MB card:

> Compact Flash card format v1.0 by Stephen C Cousins
>
> Card size: 256MB
>
> Number of logical drives to format: 272

>
> WARNING: Format will erase all data from the card
> Do you wish to continue? (Y/N)
>
> Formatting drives: ABCDEFGHIJKLMNOP
> Verifying drives:  ABCDEFGHIJKLMNOP
>

> Formatting complete

Then I tried initialising it using
PutSysPlus_LiNC80_Z80_SIOx00_CFx10_CF128_code8000
seemed worth a try even though my card is of a different size.

> CP/M System Transfer by G. Searle 2012
> ........................
> System transfer complete

*cpm

but the same thing happens as with the supplied CF card -- LED flashes once, then the system hangs.
Not sure what to try next, any advice appreciated!

Cheers
Huw

P.S. even with the above problems I'm having a blast with this little computer :-)

[Richard Kiernan]

Hello Huw,

My understanding is that the PutSysPlus version required for the Mini CP/M Upgrade Kit is PutSysPlus_RC2014_Z80_ACIAx80_CFx10_CF128_code8000.hex, which should have the correct code for the Mini's 86B50 ACIA chip. Give that a shot first and see if it works.

[Richard Kiernan]

More specifically, that's the version for 128+ MB cards and the 68B50 ACIA; there's a separate one for 64 MB cards and the partitioning required for those.

[Huw Thomas]

Bingo!

Thank you very much. I'd actually looked up which one to use and still managed to get it wrong ... must be getting old!

Cheers, Huw

[Richard Kiernan]

Mentioned this separately to Spencer earlier, but the new card seems to have done the trick. I've already uploaded XMODEM plus DEPKG, MBASIC, BBC Basic and Zork 1 and been playing around with those. Plenty now for me to try to figure out.

[David Latham]

Awesome!

Yeah - I have had the same experience.  When I reimaged the card sent to me.  Everything just started working.

Same as you:
- xmodem works brilliantly and is far superior to downlaod.com for pushing packages.  I get why download.com exists.  It's a good starting point, and in fact I used it to install xmodem. 

- depkg is essential for uploading a single package and extracting it.  So far I have the following things working:

* Wordstar 4 - not from foxhollow though.  That one doesn't have support for a vt100 terminal.  I got mine from: https://winworldpc.com/product/wordstar/40

* turbo pascal - But I don't think it's working like I thought it would.  I need to investigate more.

* MBASIC80

* All the Zorks

* Infocom Games

[zkne...@gmail.com]

So, I have the exact same problem with my RC2014 Pro using the CF card I got in the package. When I use SCM or BASIC it works splendidly. But when I try to boot CP/M, the LED on the module flashes for a second and the machine reboots (or that is what it looks like, it goes back to "press space to activate console"). 

I tried the following:

• Memory test - passed. 
• CF test utility - running for 15 minutes now and scrolling the "passed" message. 
• Tried all of the sockets on the backplane - same result. 

Here is the output from CF info utility; it definitely looks weird: 

Compact flash card information v1.1 by Stephen C Cousins

Card at address $10:
Number of sectors on card: $3103DF00
Card size: 512GB

Card model:       "1imp1eTe1h F1ash1   1   1   1   1   1 "
Serial number:    "S I12L01043105717351"
Firmware version: "172916L2"

Default number of cylinders:  $31DF
Default number of heads:      $3108

Default sectors per track:    $0020

Card's self diagnostic test passed

I wanted to format the card and reinstall CP/M on it (as per https://smallcomputercentral.com/installing-cp-m-2-2-with-scm/) but the format utility also detected the card as 512GB, so I stopped with the process, since I wasn't sure what the outcome will be. 

Anyone has any ideas what to try next? I mean, I could go with the format and reinstall of CP/M...people that reimaged the card, did you do it via the SCM utility or in Windows? 

Thanks!

Z

[zkne...@gmail.com]

Oh, and also, I didn't mention, the CF module is version 1.3.