Date   : Mon, 26 Nov 1990 06:32:51 GMT
From   : bionet!hayes.ims.alaska.edu!floyd@apple.com (Floyd Davidson)
Subject: Kaypro ROMs

In article <28387@usc> mlinar@eve.usc.edu (Mitch Mlinar) writes:
>In article <1990Nov22.110949.12852@hayes.ims.alaska.edu> floyd@hayes.ims.alaska.edu
(Floyd Davidson) writes:
>>In article <1990Nov22.030504.6649@simasd.uucp> donm@pnet07.cts.com (Don
Maslin) writes:
>>>      In order to use QD drives you need to make changes to both ROM and
>>>      BIOS.  There are/were a couple of outfits that had slightly
>>>      differing versions: Advent's TurboROM and Micro Cornucopia's MAX
>>>      ROM.
>>
>>I installed a TurboROM on a K-10, and once had a copy of the first
>>ROM that Micro C sold.  I don't recall that the BIOS needed to be 
>>changed with either of them.  Mind you I could be wrong on that,
>>but if I remember right all the code that handles disk blocking and
>>so on is in the ROM, all the BIOS does is call the ROM.  On most
>>earlier CP/M systems that code was actually in the BIOS itself.
>
>Floyd is part right: all blocking/deblocking of of disk sectors is done
>in the ROM itself.  And, although you can use the original BIOS with two
>of them (not KayPLUS - the third), why would you want to?  The original
>Kaypro BIOS is pretty poor and makes some bad assumptions.  See below.

Hey, what I said was that to use QD disks you don't *have* to change
the BIOS.  Thats is totally true, (I think).  As to why would one
want to use the original BIOS: only if you can't get or program a
new one.  I'll go along on that.

Floyd

-- 
Floyd L. Davidson                             floyd@hayes.ims.alaska.edu
Salcha, AK 99714                    paycheck connection to Alascom, Inc.
 When I speak for them, one of us will be *out* of business in a hurry.