Yes, Kaypro even had at least six [6] different CP/M versions alone ! What a mess !
So many today find that out when they get an inexpensive - FREE? - Kaypro, but with no disks.
Then if the Kaypros were "modified" in some way by some of their owners, then things can get really "dicey !"
You just have to check the chips, etc. “under the hood” to verify what you really have. Bitsavers free download Kaypro technical manuals can help.
Of course, Kaypro in the later years when they were struggling to just survive with the incredible onslaught of Compaq, many issues in manufacturing probably occurred to further complicate matters – just what was in some of those computers that they were manufacturing ?
If you were ever in “production,” you can appreciate what can [and often does] go
wrong ! I was and the stories to tell – mostly “funny” and preventable !
Guess that is why "deviceside" has not gotten into CP/M that much.
By the way, Adam of "deviceside" just emailed me that he is adding some drivers so files converted by Uniform, that came with Kaypros and some other computers, will work better with his device.
If you do not know, Uniform can convert CP/M files, along with many other formats from many other computers, to MS-DOS files. It will format a 5.25” floppy disk to MS-DOS and put these converted files on it. Uniform is on eBay many times for less than $5.
My wife and I are just thrilled, since we have thousands of such floppies with a lot of our research and other work on them from the 1980’s / 1990’s.
When I get these new drivers I will see and let you all know.
Right now, briefly, I have found "it works as advertised" – but as some have pointed out - make sure you understand exactly what you are getting.
Will do the requested review when all of this is finally resolved and verified.
Frank
