RE: [sebhc] CP/M-80 and CP/M-85 for Zenith computer Z-100

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Kenneth L. Owen

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Apr 23, 2013, 6:36:05 PM4/23/13
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Hi Marc,

I think I sent some disks to someone on the group for a Z100 who also was
an Avalon Hill enthusiast. I think I also sent MBASIC for the Z100. I
will pull the Z100 and check again and let you know if I find it.

-- ken

-----Original Message-----
From: se...@googlegroups.com [mailto:se...@googlegroups.com] On Behalf Of
bell430
Sent: Tuesday, April 23, 2013 4:44 PM
To: se...@googlegroups.com
Subject: [sebhc] CP/M-80 and CP/M-85 for Zenith computer Z-100

Hello!

I am a flight simulator enthusiast and would like to booth up an old Avalon
Hill game (B-1 Nuclear Bomber)on my Zenith Z-100 computer.

I have CP/M-85 version 2.2 release 103 on soft-sectored disks

According to Avalon Hill's instruction sheet, there should be a MBASIC.COM
file on one of the CP/M disks but there is none at least on release 103.

Would someone know where to get this file, perhaps on a previous CP/M-80/85
version.

Regards,

Marc

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Marc-Andre Handfield

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Apr 23, 2013, 7:02:44 PM4/23/13
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Hi Ken,
 
Am I ever glad to hear from you.
 
You probably sent the disk I am looking for to Bill Loguidice (see websites).
I contacted him but did not get any reply back...!
 
 
 
I bought those games in Venezuela two years ago but was never able to booth them up because of the missing MBASIC.COM file
 
If you can sell me a copy, please do as I really would like to play the B-1 Nuclear Bomber. Let me know how much and I will use PAYPAL
 
I live in Canada.
 
My mailing address is:
 
Marc-A. Handfield
PO Box 66017
Anjou
PQ
Canada, H1J3B8
 
Best regards,
 
Marc
 
 


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Kenneth L. Owen

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Apr 23, 2013, 7:14:13 PM4/23/13
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Hi Marc,

 

Yes, you are right.  It was Bill Loguidice.  Like I said in the previous note, I will check and see what I can do.

 

-- ken

 


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Marc-Andre Handfield

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Apr 23, 2013, 7:31:52 PM4/23/13
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Hi Ken,
 
Much appreciated!
 
Regards,
 
Marc

From: Kenneth L. Owen <tx83...@bellsouth.net>
To: se...@googlegroups.com
Sent: Tuesday, April 23, 2013 7:14:13 PM
Subject: RE: [sebhc] CP/M-80 and CP/M-85 for Zenith computer Z-100

Hi Marc,
 
Yes, you are right.  It was Bill Loguidice.  Like I said in the previous note, I will check and see what I can do.
 
-- ken
 

ken

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Apr 25, 2013, 1:15:58 PM4/25/13
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Hi Marc,
 
I booted the Z100 and made a disk with Mbasic.COM for CP/M-85.  It will go into the mail on my next trip to the Post Office.
 
-- ken

Marc-Andre Handfield

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Apr 25, 2013, 5:10:00 PM4/25/13
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Hi Ken,
 
I thank you so much.
 
Please let me know how much I owe you for your time and disk. I will need your PAYPAL address.
 
Best regards,
 
Marc

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Kenneth L. Owen

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Apr 25, 2013, 5:26:34 PM4/25/13
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Hi Marc,

 

I don’t do PayPal.  I let you know when I mail it and see what the postage costs.

 

-- ken

 


From: se...@googlegroups.com [mailto:se...@googlegroups.com] On Behalf Of Marc-Andre Handfield


Sent: Thursday, April 25, 2013 5:10 PM
To: se...@googlegroups.com

Marc-Andre Handfield

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Apr 25, 2013, 5:47:50 PM4/25/13
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Fine with me.
 
I will mail cash
 
Marc

From: Kenneth L. Owen <tx83...@bellsouth.net>
To: se...@googlegroups.com
Sent: Thursday, April 25, 2013 5:26:34 PM
Subject: RE: [sebhc] Re: CP/M-80 and CP/M-85 for Zenith computer Z-100

Hi Marc,
 
I don’t do PayPal.  I let you know when I mail it and see what the postage costs.
 
-- ken
 

Kenneth L. Owen

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Apr 27, 2013, 9:46:51 AM4/27/13
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Hi Marc,

 

Your MBasic disk left here this morning.  Postage was $7.35 + .50 for the disk, so eight dollars is more than adequate.

 

-- ken

 


From: se...@googlegroups.com [mailto:se...@googlegroups.com] On Behalf Of Marc-Andre Handfield


Sent: Thursday, April 25, 2013 5:10 PM
To: se...@googlegroups.com

Marc-Andre Handfield

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Apr 28, 2013, 6:50:59 PM4/28/13
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Hi Ken,
 
Thanks a lot. Where should I send the payment
 
 
Best regards,
 
Marc
From: Kenneth L. Owen <tx83...@bellsouth.net>
To: se...@googlegroups.com
Sent: Saturday, April 27, 2013 9:46:51 AM
Subject: RE: [sebhc] Re: CP/M-80 and CP/M-85 for Zenith computer Z-100

Hi Marc,
 
Your MBasic disk left here this morning.  Postage was $7.35 + .50 for the disk, so eight dollars is more than adequate.
 
-- ken
 

Kenneth L. Owen

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Apr 28, 2013, 6:54:05 PM4/28/13
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Hi Marc,

 

When you get the disk, it will have my return address:

 

Kenneth L. Owen

P.O. Box 47

Six Mile, SC 29682-0047

 

-- ken

 


Marc-Andre Handfield

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Apr 28, 2013, 7:00:22 PM4/28/13
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Great!
 
Will mail you cash in USD
 
Best regards,
 
Marc-A. Handfield

From: Kenneth L. Owen <tx83...@bellsouth.net>
To: se...@googlegroups.com
Sent: Sunday, April 28, 2013 6:54:05 PM
Subject: RE: [sebhc] Re: CP/M-80 and CP/M-85 for Zenith computer Z-100

Hi Marc,
 
When you get the disk, it will have my return address:
 
Kenneth L. Owen
P.O. Box 47
Six Mile , SC 29682-0047
 

Marc-Andre Handfield

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May 2, 2013, 5:22:57 AM5/2/13
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Hi Ken,
 
This may sound like a silly question but I would like your opinion on this.
 
I have several 5.25" floppy disks already initialized (formatted) for my Apple II and Commodore 64 computers.
 
Question: Is it possible to de-initialize (unformat) used floppy disks and make them blank again. I would like to re-format them with my Zenith Z-100 computer.
 
Thanks!
 
Marc

From: Kenneth L. Owen <tx83...@bellsouth.net>
To: se...@googlegroups.com
Sent: Sunday, April 28, 2013 6:54:05 PM
Subject: RE: [sebhc] Re: CP/M-80 and CP/M-85 for Zenith computer Z-100

Hi Marc,
 
When you get the disk, it will have my return address:
 
Kenneth L. Owen
P.O. Box 47
Six Mile , SC 29682-0047
 

Kenneth L. Owen

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May 2, 2013, 8:33:02 AM5/2/13
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Hi Marc,

 

The formatting process can be thought of as putting lines on paper to aid in writing to it.  As long as the floppy disk is of the correct type (hard vs soft sector, rated density, etc), it can be reformatted for a different machine.  The formatting process will set the base structure for the new machine and all data previously on the disk will be over-written.

 

-- ken

 


Dan Emrick

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May 2, 2013, 8:44:58 AM5/2/13
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Hi, Marc/Ken,

I've done this several times and found it works best if you degauss them first.  This will quasi-randomize the oxide surface so that after re-init
 the there will be less chance that the heads will detect any residual of the previous format pattern.

Use any relatively strong permanent magnet and pass it over to the floppy envelop serveral times.  Just be careful not to scratch the medium through the head access slot in the envelop.  I put a sheet of paper between the floppy and the magnet.

I have some quarter sized magnets that I bought at some surplus store years ago that work well for this.  I'm not magnets expert, but I suppose you could try a refrigerator magnet if you don't have one from an old speaker or some such.

Dan

Glenn Roberts

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May 2, 2013, 8:59:32 AM5/2/13
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and for H110/120 you want to see that the diskettes are "soft sectored" double/sided double/density disks.  these are the same disks that were made in the millions back in the PC days ("360K" disks, though I think the early versions of Zdos only formatted them at 320k?).
 
"HD" (high density) won't work - wrong coercivity.
 
- glenn
 
 

Marc-Andre Handfield

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May 3, 2013, 8:45:06 AM5/3/13
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Thanks everyone!
 
I used a DS/DD disk and everything is fine. I was using HD and Single Sided disks...!
 
Regards to all of you,
 
Marc

From: Dan Emrick <dsem...@verizon.net>
To: se...@googlegroups.com
Sent: Thursday, May 2, 2013 8:44:58 AM
Subject: Re: [sebhc] Re: CP/M-80 and CP/M-85 for Zenith computer Z-100
Hi, Marc/Ken,

I've done this several times and found it works best if you degauss them first.  This will quasi-randomize the oxide surface so that after re-init
 the there will be less chance that the heads will detect any residual of the previous format pattern.

Use any relatively strong permanent magnet and pass it over to the floppy envelop serveral times.  Just be careful not to scratch the medium through the head access slot in the envelop.  I put a sheet of paper between the floppy and the magnet.

I have some quarter sized magnets that I bought at some surplus store years ago that work well for this.  I'm not magnets expert, but I suppose you could try a refrigerator magnet if you don't have one from an old speaker or some such.

Dan

On Thursday, May 2, 2013 8:33:02 AM UTC-4, ken wrote:
Hi Marc,
 
The formatting process can be thought of as putting lines on paper to aid in writing to it.  As long as the floppy disk is of the correct type (hard vs soft sector, rated density, etc), it can be reformatted for a different machine.  The formatting process will set the base structure for the new machine and all data previously on the disk will be over-written.
 
-- ken
 
To post to this group, send email to se...@googlegroups.com.
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Marc-Andre Handfield

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May 22, 2013, 9:13:23 PM5/22/13
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Hi Ken,
 
Have you received my payment for the MBASIC-80 disk?
 
Thanks!
 
Marc

From: Kenneth L. Owen <tx83...@bellsouth.net>
To: se...@googlegroups.com
Sent: Thursday, May 2, 2013 8:33:02 AM
Subject: RE: [sebhc] Re: CP/M-80 and CP/M-85 for Zenith computer Z-100

Hi Marc,
 
The formatting process can be thought of as putting lines on paper to aid in writing to it.  As long as the floppy disk is of the correct type (hard vs soft sector, rated density, etc), it can be reformatted for a different machine.  The formatting process will set the base structure for the new machine and all data previously on the disk will be over-written.
 
-- ken
 

Kenneth L. Owen

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May 22, 2013, 9:37:11 PM5/22/13
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Hi Marc,

 

Yes, it arrived while I was staying with my wife at the hospital and I picked it up on Monday at the PO.

 

It was more than I asked for – thank you.

 

-- ken

 


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Marc-Andre Handfield

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May 28, 2013, 12:44:12 AM5/28/13
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Hello Ken,
 
I have a Z-90 computer with a single disk drive. I try to boot up my CP/M-80 software but cannot do it. I know my disk is good because it is working fine on my Z-100 computer.
 
The disk drive spins but nothing appears on the screen. I tried an other disk drive without success so I think my disk controller card is defective...Would you have one for sale or know where I could get one?
 
Thanks for your assistance.
 
Marc

From: Kenneth L. Owen <tx83...@bellsouth.net>
To: se...@googlegroups.com
Sent: Wednesday, May 22, 2013 9:37:11 PM
Subject: RE: [sebhc] Re: CP/M-80 and CP/M-85 for Zenith computer Z-100

Hi Marc,
 
Yes, it arrived while I was staying with my wife at the hospital and I picked it up on Monday at the PO .
 
It was more than I asked for – thank you.
 
-- ken
 
To view this discussion on the web visit https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/sebhc/1369271603.8496.YahooMailNeo%40web120502.mail.ne1.yahoo.com?hl=en-US.
For more options, visit https://groups.google.com/groups/opt_out.
 
 
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Glenn Roberts

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May 28, 2013, 6:16:19 AM5/28/13
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Not sure I follow here, but boot disks are not interchangeable between a z90 and z100.  The hardware is very different and so the BIOS is different (but the disk formats are the same).  CP/M on the z100 was marketed as CP/M-85 to help with this distinction.

Sent from my iPad

Marc-Andre Handfield

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May 28, 2013, 6:44:00 AM5/28/13
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You are right! I am new to this CP/M stuff. I got a reply from Lee Hart explaining this.  So I have CP/M-85 working on my Z-100 computer and I will have to find a CP/M -80 copy (soft sectored) for my Z-90 computer. I will also need the Z-90 user's manual
 
Thanks for your reply 
 
Narc

Glenn Roberts

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May 28, 2013, 10:35:03 AM5/28/13
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Marc:  your best starting point is Les's site:
 
 
Les has a very complete set of documentation
 
 
and disk images:
 
 
in your situation you have a "bootstrapping" problem.  you'll need to create a bootable disk when all you've got is the system itself.  the normal way to do this is with Dwight Elvey's utility described here
 
 
and
 
 
it lets you download the disk images (in H8D format) using a standard PC, then keying in a simple program on the H89 (using the built in BIOS) and connect the H89 to the PC via a serial cable.  with this setup you can download images and burn them on your H89 disk drive, then boot from them.  it works pretty well!
 
 
interestingly we've been seeing some "newbies" on this list and we may get more when we do the Jameco newsletter article.  would be great to have a "getting started with H8/H89 computers" guide to help them get started....  we've certainly got a lot of information on the collective web sites of the group!
 
- glenn 


Kenneth L. Owen

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May 28, 2013, 10:49:05 AM5/28/13
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Hi Glenn,

 

Since he doesn’t have a boot disk or an H17 drive, Les’ site leaves him a bit high & dry until he can boot and install a modem program.

 

-- ken

 


Glenn Roberts

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May 28, 2013, 1:02:39 PM5/28/13
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As long as Marc has a working drive he is ok.  Dwight's program (which is short) is keyed in using the H89 ROM routines.  It provides a rudimentary serial transfer routine that is smart enough to transfer over the more complete software.  It is a Godsend if you're starting with nothing...



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Mark Garlanger

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May 28, 2013, 1:25:36 PM5/28/13
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Glenn,

  Dwight's program doesn't work with a soft-sectored controller, which is what he has on the Z-90.

Mark


Mark Garlanger

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May 28, 2013, 1:36:47 PM5/28/13
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Marc,

  Do you have a PC system that can create disks with Dave Dunsfield's IMD program?

http://www.classiccmp.org/dunfield/img/index.htm

That would probably be the quickest and easiest way to get going. There are TD0 images of CP/M available which would need to be converted to IMG for Dave's program.

Mark



Glenn Roberts

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May 28, 2013, 3:15:05 PM5/28/13
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Oops, missed that .  Tax

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Norberto Collado

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May 28, 2013, 8:44:44 PM5/28/13
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Soft-sector floppy media!!! Cool!!!! :)

I can make a soft sector CP/M and HDOS boot diskettes for his H89 and with the COMM's utilities, but during the weekend.

Let me know on how to proceed.

Norberto
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