chuckcmagee
Veteran Member
Hmm, think my working one is identical or close to what you were trying. It's a Gateway 600YGR with 1.8 G pent M processor. The VMware Player with RH 7.1 and that vfloppy14.tgz file works perfect.
- VCF South West - June 14 - 16, Davidson-Gundy Alumni Center at University of Texas at Dallas
- VCF West - Aug 2 - 3, Computer History Museum, Mountain View, CA
- VCF Midwest - Sept 7 - 8 2024, Schaumburg, IL
- VCF SoCal - Mid February 2025, Location TBD, Southern CA
- VCF East - April 2025, Infoage Museum, Wall NJ
-
Please review our updated Terms and Rules here
You are using an out of date browser. It may not display this or other websites correctly.
You should upgrade or use an alternative browser.
You should upgrade or use an alternative browser.
PX-8 - You Just Won't Believe This!!!
- Thread starter DoctorPepper
- Start date
Sharkonwheels
Veteran Member
No - I mean PURE hardware, not a virtual machine.
How slow does a REAL PC need to be, to run this diretly against the hardware?
Tony
How slow does a REAL PC need to be, to run this diretly against the hardware?
Tony
chuckcmagee
Veteran Member
Next, I tried the PX8VFS package. First I tried it in XP (no go, I should have known). Then, I tried it in native DOS 5, and this worked somewhat - I could read the disk image, but not write to it. So instead of using my desktop system, I hooked it up to my old Toshiba 486 laptop, and whammo, virtual read/write disk drives!
The above is a direct quote from the other forum. That's about all I know as far a "real hardware". I didn't have anything slow enough to even begin to work.
The above is a direct quote from the other forum. That's about all I know as far a "real hardware". I didn't have anything slow enough to even begin to work.
Sharkonwheels
Veteran Member
OK. So maybe with a little bit of luck, a Pentium 200-233MHz will do the trick, and I can also use that to transfer CP/M and CoCo 5.25" images....
Can't use a laptop, though, because I need an ISA slot for the EPROM writer, unless I can find an EPROM writer with an RS-232C port on it.
Tony
Can't use a laptop, though, because I need an ISA slot for the EPROM writer, unless I can find an EPROM writer with an RS-232C port on it.
Tony
Sharkonwheels
Veteran Member
The manuals arrived today.
Man - nice condition!
Of course, i think it sucks they yanked the manuals out, and tossed the Basic reference back into the PX-8 box.
Oh well...where else can ya get a NIB PX-8, 120kb RAMDisk, portable Calc/Wordstar, with all manuals, for $120 shipped???
Tony
Man - nice condition!
Of course, i think it sucks they yanked the manuals out, and tossed the Basic reference back into the PX-8 box.
Oh well...where else can ya get a NIB PX-8, 120kb RAMDisk, portable Calc/Wordstar, with all manuals, for $120 shipped???
Tony
chuckcmagee
Veteran Member
Ohhh, so you agree with me.... I was pretty sure they were doing that. Pulling the manual to sell separately. I am enjoying my PX-8, that's for sure. My "star trek" basic game is tooo big so far. I run out of main ram before all the source gets read in. No big deal, never liked that game much anyway. I remembered a few DDT commands before I had to google it to find more.
Sharkonwheels
Veteran Member
Oh, I *TOTALLY* agree!
When I got the manuals today, the Basic Reference binder was empty.
I was about to get on the phone and call them, when I remembered a basic refernce, ring-bound manual was in the PX-8 box.
That pretty much proved the point.
No matter - where else can you get something like this?
I suppose a $15 manual-tax is semi-acceptable....
Tony
When I got the manuals today, the Basic Reference binder was empty.
I was about to get on the phone and call them, when I remembered a basic refernce, ring-bound manual was in the PX-8 box.
That pretty much proved the point.
No matter - where else can you get something like this?
I suppose a $15 manual-tax is semi-acceptable....
Tony
PX-8 Microcassettes
PX-8 Microcassettes
Hi,
I purchased a pack of standard microcassettes from Walmart and they work fine in my PX-8.
I was able to initialize it, save BASIC programs to it and then load the programs back into memory.
It is cool how the PX-8 keeps a directory of the programs on the tape at the beginning.
Derek
PX-8 Microcassettes
Hi,
I purchased a pack of standard microcassettes from Walmart and they work fine in my PX-8.
I was able to initialize it, save BASIC programs to it and then load the programs back into memory.
It is cool how the PX-8 keeps a directory of the programs on the tape at the beginning.
Derek
I purchased a pack of standard microcassettes from Walmart and they work fine in my PX-8.
I suspect the only requirement is that they be "leaderless".
Terry Yager
Veteran Member
px8vfs.doc said:"Due to problems with the serial port library, the MSDOS version relies on a timing loop for good performance. If the PX-8 can read from the filesystem but not write to it, try running the software on a slower machine."
Guess it never hurts to RTFM, eh? Doesn't say what is the fastest machine it'll work with though.
--T
Sharkonwheels
Veteran Member
for the MicroCassettes, there a vendor on ebay (zoocrackers) selling generic
50-packs of 60 min microcassettes for $23+$12 shipping.
I THINK the seller also does like 10 or 12-packs as well.
Tony
50-packs of 60 min microcassettes for $23+$12 shipping.
I THINK the seller also does like 10 or 12-packs as well.
Tony
apple2fan
Experienced Member
Wow, 70 people have posted on this one! I just had to get that out.:D
Sharkonwheels
Veteran Member
Hey - it's a heck of a deal.
It IS truly New-In-Box. $15 is fair, I guess, for the Portable Wordstar, Calc, and Schedule. It's kinda; necessary to have SOME kind of RAMdisk, though, else it takes system RAM to make a RAMdisk.
I just got my RS232-port EPROM burner today, so this weekend I may start playing with burning custom PX-8 EPROMs
Tony
It IS truly New-In-Box. $15 is fair, I guess, for the Portable Wordstar, Calc, and Schedule. It's kinda; necessary to have SOME kind of RAMdisk, though, else it takes system RAM to make a RAMdisk.
I just got my RS232-port EPROM burner today, so this weekend I may start playing with burning custom PX-8 EPROMs
Tony
Terry Yager
Veteran Member
Can ya put my games on one so they quit taking up all the space on my RAMdisk?
--T
--T
Sharkonwheels
Veteran Member
Terry - I thought you had a burner? It isn;t very difficult, and it does not HAVE to be an RS-232 serial EPROM writer.
Biggest problem, is you need space, to make the ROM .HEX file
You have a 120K ramdisk, right? The way PROMFO.COM works, is you run it, enter on each line the .COM files you want to include, and when the list is done, PFOMFO generates a directory listing, and puts it, with converted .COM files into one big .HEX file.
Keep in mind - there's about 30-31K usable space per EPROM for the PX-8, assuming 27256 or 27C256 (32K x 8) units.
email me the games, and I'll use that as an experiment this weekend.
Tony
Biggest problem, is you need space, to make the ROM .HEX file
You have a 120K ramdisk, right? The way PROMFO.COM works, is you run it, enter on each line the .COM files you want to include, and when the list is done, PFOMFO generates a directory listing, and puts it, with converted .COM files into one big .HEX file.
Keep in mind - there's about 30-31K usable space per EPROM for the PX-8, assuming 27256 or 27C256 (32K x 8) units.
email me the games, and I'll use that as an experiment this weekend.
Tony
Terry Yager
Veteran Member
My burner is presently installed in a PC that went south, and I haven't had time to build up another machine. I just bought the V-40 mobo on eBay, which will be the board I'll build up once it's delivered. I haven't tried making any ROMs for the PX-8, but I'm sure I'll get around to it soon.
--T
--T
Sharkonwheels
Veteran Member
Ahhhhhh.....you know what's REALLY needed? To pop a ZIF socket on the PX-8. Yank those crazy carrier-requiring sockets, and you can switch-and-swap all day long with a ZIF socket.
Something like THIS:
http://www.jameco.com/webapp/wcs/st...toreId=10001&catalogId=10001&productId=102744
Hmmmmm....I need to get a beater for playing, though. Not this pristine shelf queen!
Anyone got a beater PX-8 they wanna unload?
Tony
Something like THIS:
http://www.jameco.com/webapp/wcs/st...toreId=10001&catalogId=10001&productId=102744
Hmmmmm....I need to get a beater for playing, though. Not this pristine shelf queen!
Anyone got a beater PX-8 they wanna unload?
Tony
Last edited:
Sharkonwheels
Veteran Member
Dang - no interest??
You guys MUST have a source for the EPROM carriers, then...
I gotta scare up a beater PX-8 to butcher - anyone got one for me to Frankenstein? Need a test bed to install the low profile ZIF sockets into.
Tony
You guys MUST have a source for the EPROM carriers, then...
I gotta scare up a beater PX-8 to butcher - anyone got one for me to Frankenstein? Need a test bed to install the low profile ZIF sockets into.
Tony
chuckcmagee
Veteran Member
No, I mostly leave the standard 2 roms in there now. As you already pointed out, toooo clumsy to change very often. I only purchased the WS rom because I loved it back when it was King. I can't really see me writing a book chapter on the PX-8, although I'm sure "one" could do just that. I'm finding the NEC 8201 MUCH easier to read. The PX-8 is hard work to read. You have to get the light to reflect just right and hold it there, barf.
Terry Yager
Veteran Member
No, I mostly leave the standard 2 roms in there now. As you already pointed out, toooo clumsy to change very often. I only purchased the WS rom because I loved it back when it was King. I can't really see me writing a book chapter on the PX-8, although I'm sure "one" could do just that. I'm finding the NEC 8201 MUCH easier to read. The PX-8 is hard work to read. You have to get the light to reflect just right and hold it there, barf.
Spoken like a person who has never lugged-around a Kaypro or Osborne 1 all day...If ya like CP/M and portable computin', ya can't help but love the Geneva.
--T