Date   : Mon, 11 May 1987 22:04:51 GMT
From   : cbmvax!fred@RUTGERS.EDU (Fred Bowen)
Subject: Re: 6DEC vs. 8DEC - CP/M

> I have heard numerous accounts as to the nature of the 8DEC version of CP/M
> for the C-128.  I'm interested in learning if this version is indeed
> available and being shipped with current equipment, and exactly what it
> achieves in the way of bug-fixes.

The following explanation comes from Alex Orgil, CBM Canada, where the 'bug'
was found (I was busy with other stuff at the time):

As I recall, the difference was simply that the final line feed was not being
sent to the printer to clear the buffer, thus your last line didn't get
printed until you tried to print something else. This may have only occurred
wiht the MPS1000 printers though. The change was a single byte (or possibly
a string) in the BIOS. The fixed version was labelled DEC 8 by Von, and 
later found its way into production. The NEWSYS.COM program for updating
the system was not changed (but was posted in public domain on Compuserve).
For Canada we made a special version of NEWSYS to reflect the change which
was made available through our [Canada] Parts department. But to make this
different, I also changed the date to read dec 8 (tricky hey?) so that we
could be sure of what they are using.

Ergo, (love that word!) for most users there is no real difference between
the two versions.  I have asked Alex to send me the patches he made to
NEWSYS.COM, and will post them for those people who can't bear not having
the absolute latest BIOS, whether they have an MPS-1000 or not.

I am putting the wraps on a new version which supports the 3.5" 1581 drive
which should be showing up on shelves "any day now."   Those of you who are
still reading may want to wait until the "1581" version is available before
you bother patching your 06DEC85 version.

I know better than to ask if there are any other CP/M bugs worth fixing...
--
--
-- 
Fred Bowen                     uucp:   {ihnp4|seismo|caip}!cbmvax!fred
                               arpa:   cbmvax!fred@seismo.css.GOV
                               tele:   215 431-9100

Commodore Electronics, Ltd.,  1200 Wilson Drive,  West Chester,  PA,  19380