Date   : Wed, 20 Feb 1991 19:01:16 GMT
From   : amethyst!organpipe!afthree.as.arizona.edu!tom@noao.edu (Thomas J. Trebisky)
Subject: ZCPR, ZCPR3.x, and the Z-System

cwr@pnet01.cts.com (Will Rose) writes:
>
>If you are using CP/M 2.2 the message is clear, switch to the Z-system.
>It will run on any machine that runs CP/M.  I personally dislike CP/M 3.0,
>and even if I liked it, I'd still prefer Z (there's logic for you).  Sage
>sells autoinstalling versions of Z, and a lot of related stuff.  Most of
>the code is available on Z-nodes scattered around the country.
>

OK, I'll bite - all this raving about Z-system and ZCPR has gotten me
interested.  One kind fellow even suggesting he post the whole thing for
us (admirable intentions).  In lieu of that, how about this - post instructions
about where to get the stuff and how to bring it up.  Here is my question
list about ZCPR..

1 - Can I get it for free ?? (always first in my list), if so where --
SIMTEL ??  Can I get all the source code from SIMTEL?  Where else.

2 - Can I bring it up on my own motley collection of hardware, or am
I stuck unless I have a "supported" system.  In other words can I throw
together a disk controller, Z80 CPU, and one or more 64K ram boards in
an S100 box and bring up ZCPR on it  (apart from the usual S100 hardware
compatibility issues). I am asking this because I have a collection of
hardware gathering dust that this sounds like an interesting project for.
In yet other words - can I get example bios source to start off with?
I assume I can use one of my working CP/M 2.2 systems and M80, L80 to
fire up ZCPR for a new system.

3 - what is the mimum hardware config - I take it it handles bank switched
memory, but will some version run with just 64K of RAM.

4 - how about posting a list of what files to get, where to get them,
and how to get started with this  (I mean "the code is available on Z-nodes
scattered around the country" is a just a tad too vague. :-) )

I like the fact that this is a Z80 software package - I mean, If I had any
8080 or 8085 S100 boards, I would take my coping saw, cut out the circuitry
leaving the fingers and sides of the board (so it would still slide into the
card cage) then I would epoxy a piece of nice perf board with solder pads
into the hole thus generated and use the thing for a wire-wrap board.
(Here's a hot tip for you folks wondering what to do with old S100 boards).
--
       Tom Trebisky    ttrebisky@as.arizona.edu        (Internet)
       Steward Observatory     University of Arizona   Tucson, Arizona