Date   : Thu, 07 Mar 1991 08:53:06 GMT
From   : pacbell.com!pacbell!pbhyf!blholli@decwrl.dec.com (Brian Holliday)
Subject: Re: CPM Emulator for an AT?

In article <6400001@hplsla.HP.COM> marshall@hplsla.HP.COM (Marshall Lollis)
writes:
>You may find this an incredibly foolish question, but is there a CPM
>emulator I can run on my AT? The reason I ask is because of a family
>expense program that we have had from when we were running a z-card in
>our Apple.........many years ago. I guess I would assume that any
>emulator available would be in the form of software.

Yes, there are a few CP/M emulators in software.  I've used Joan Riff's
Z80MU (which emulates a Z80), and also one that came from Japan (which
emulates an 8080).  These were interesting, but not too useful to me.  The
emulator from Japan can be ordered through the C Users Journal magazine, for
$8.  It is floppy #284 -- "portable 8080 emulator" -- and it comes with C
source code.  I only got it partially working before I gave up.  Expect to
do some debugging if you get this.  Joan Riff's Z80MU works better, and is
public domain, but it is slow -- as all CP/M emulators in software will be.
Z80MU should be available in many MSDOS software collections.  (I heard that
a later version of Z80MU is being sold as a real, supported product.  If you
want the freebie, look for the "original" Z80MU.)

If you're serious about running CP/M under MSDOS, consider purchasing the
UniDOS Z80 coprocessor board.  But you may also have problems getting your PC
to read your old Apple floppies.  In the UniDOS documentation, it says:

   If your CP/M computer happens to be an Apple computer with a CP/M card,
   you should purchase MatchPoint-PC.  MatchPoint-PC will allow your PC
   compatible computer to read Apple II diskettes directly.  The standard
   disk controller in your PC is not capable of reading or writing Apple
   diskettes.

My old CP/M computer is a Kaypro, so I can't vouch for MatchPoint-PC.
I can vouch for the UniDOS Z80 coprocessor board.  I bought it for $170 in
August 1990, and it does everything I wanted it to do.  It is also quite
fast -- it runs at 8 Mhz with no wait states.

MatchPoint-PC and the UniDOS board are made by:

   Micro Solutions, Inc.
   132 West Lincoln Highway
   DeKalb, Illinois 60115
   (815) 756-3411

And I purchased UniDOS from:

   Emerald Microware
   12470 S.W. First St.
   P.O. Box 1726
   Beaverton, Oregon 97075
   (sorry, don't know the phone #)

Brian Holliday (...!pacbell!pbhyf!blholli)