Date   : Fri, 28 Dec 1984 11:42:00-EST
From   : Herb Lin <LIN@Mit-Mc.ARPA>
Subject: report on macro-tech board (80286/z80) - of interest to 8085/8088 users

a report to netland about the Macrotech dual processor board,
 (with an 80286 (10 MHz) and a Z-80 (8 MHz) advertised as a "drop in
replacement" for the Compupro dual processor board (8085/8088).

It isn't.

No doubt it does adequately with certain configurations, but with
mine, it does not.  The symptom of difficulty is that when I boot my
system (a Compupro System 8/16 C) running MPM 8-16 (Gifford Computer
Systems), the system does not boot properly (but only intermittently).
It sometimes takes me a few pushes of the reset button to even start
the system; then, sometimes, the system seems unable to find the right
INIT files.  Sometimes, it finds the files, but then branches off into
some strange part of the code.  It has never entirely failed to work,
and these troubles seem to happen only when I am doing my boot.  Once
the system has booted properly, it appears to operate properly after
that. 

The problem has been diagnosed as an interaction problem between the
processor board and my hard disk controller board, a Morrow HDCA, that
probably results from timing problems.

Gifford has offered to refund in full the cost of the dual processor
board; they have also suggested that I upgrade my hard disk controller
to a COMPUPRO Disk 2 board.  They have explicitly refused to develop a
fix to my problem.

Since I would really like Z-80 capability for my 8 bit processor, can
anyone make suggestions to me?

tnx.