Commodore C-128 implementation of CP/M 3.0+ (128k banked system) Why?.. ------ Although my interest in CP/M is more or less centered around IBM CP/M-86, I used to service Commodore C64,128 & MSD drives and still had some of the stuff squirreled away in storage. It was just there.. Well, if you wanted to see platform compatibility taken to a fault, this was it. Z80 and 8502 (6502) processors are used transparently. Most hardware I/O is handled by the 8502 and Commodore's ROM Kernal system. Some of the low level CP/M bios portions are actually written in 6502 code. The CBM designers were just being practical - why re-invent the wheel? Here are some programming tools, sources and configurations tested. Although slower than most commercial systems (an understatement:) In my opinion, it's flexibility more than makes up for it. System Requirements ------------------- Commodore C-128 / 128dcr (looks like a pc) Two Commodore 1571 disk drives (model 1581 3-1/2 drives should work also) One drive and 1750 Ram Cartridge (512k ramdisk) - **preferred system by far** CP/M 3+ boot disk ( C-128 GCR format ) *Don't even bother trying to use the C-1541 SSDD 170k (GCR only) - trust me:) Best books ---------- Digital Research CP/M 3+ user/system/programing (600 pages) It is so generic, Commodore 128 is not mentioned anywhere. They are around - I bought mine as part of a c-128 junk lot for $30 on ebay:) Compute!'s 128 programmers's guide (444 pages) C-128 CP/M version differences ------------------------------ Aug 1985 does not support ramdisk, while 1986, 1987 or ZPM Fastbios will auto-configure a C-1750 reu ramcard as a cp/m ramdisk at boot-up. The ZPM bios family are all re-written to yield about a 30% speed increase. (Rename ZPM+.SYS to CPM+.SYS for the c-128 to recognize & boot) Simplified upgrade to a newer version ------------------------------------- Download new system files off the internet (CPM+.SYS, ZPM+.SYS, CCP.COM etc.) Use 22disk or similar utility to copy files to Epson QX-10 DSDD (376k) format. Boot CP/M+ on the C-128, format a fresh C-128 DSDD (GCR) disk (bootable). Copy files from the epson QX-10 disk to the fresh C-128 boot disk. When you run commodore's format.com, only the C-128 & C-64 GCR formats automatically write a boot track, who's only purpose is to switch the C-128 from 8502 (6502) mode to Z80 mode, load a file named CPM+.SYS which then loads the CCP.COM command line prompt. The Aug 1985 version formatted boot track can be used to load later versions of system files and utilities found at various sites on the internet. C-128 MFM formats compatible with 22disk.. Epson QX-10 (376k) - best one to use. Kaypro IV (390k) - will produce errors if 1571 drive heads/clamping poor. IBM CP/M-86 (314k) - works fine. IBM CP/M-86 (167k) - if drives are not in the best of shape. C-128 GCR format(326k) - not supported by 22disk and any other util I know of. It is the only format that will boot CP/M, very tolerant of worn 1571 drives. If this does not work for you, try giving a yell on the cpm newsgroup and someone should be able to provide disks ready to go :) The file list - Those flagged (*) are NOT included. Many C-128/ CP/M programs can be found on one or more internet sites. Suggested newsgroup: comp.os.cpm, comp.os.cbm Suggested websites : funet.fi or the commercial cpm website ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- AS COM * Software Toolworks C/80 assembler/linker ASM SUB Batch assemble and link using M80.com & L80.com C COM * Software Toolworks C/80 compiler C80 SUB * Batch compile an link using C/80 compiler. C80 TXT C/80 info. C80FNS C C/80 library sources. CCONFIG COM * C/80 configuration program. CLIBIO C * C/80 library sources. CLIBRARY ASM * C/80 library sources. CLS ASM dos like clear the screen (c-128 specific) CLS COM executable. COMMAND C C library source to support command line wildcard args. COMP C dos style compare (single files, does not support wildcards). COMP COM dos style compare (no wildcard args) COPY C Dos style copy.com (supports wildcard args at the command line) COPY COM executable CPROF C profiler source CTRACE C debugging source DIR#W COM * dos-like dir/w program, the'#' translated to '/' by the c-128 EXEC C example FPRINTF C C/80 library source HELLO C example HELLO COM executable L80 COM * Linker for *.rel object files LASM COM Z80 assembler. M80 COM * Macro assembler. M80 DOC some info. MATHLIB C C/80 source MBASIC COM * Microsoft mbasic 5.21 (requires some keyboard redefinition) PRINTF C example. QSET ASM File attribute utility. README DOC This file. SCANF C example. SEEK C example. STDLIB C C/80 library source. TAB C example. TPRINTF C C/80 library source. TREE C Example. VDO COM C-128 specific screen oriented text editor. (ed.com is just as horrible on the C-128 as generic cp/m) DBASE * Dbase 2.41 and Dbase 2.43 (will support full screen operation) Have loads of fun - Ken Mauro 4/29/99