Altair CP/M without a disk controller

[deramp5113]

I have created a version of CP/M 2.2 for the Altair that does not require a disk controller. Instead, disk transfers are done through the second port on an 88-2SIO serial interface board and disk images are served from a PC. The server on the PC is the same server program that works with the Altair FDC+ controller.

This CP/M is particularly well suited for use with Martin Eberhard’s 88-2SIOJP board since it supports baud rates as high as 76.8K. At this rate, performance is as good or better than original Altair versions of CP/M from Lifeboat and Burcon. An original 88-2SIO can run at 19.2K baud – and this works – but it does feel slower than a disk system.

deramp.com

deramp.com

Mike D

 

[alank2]

Nice work Mike!

 

[wperko]

Hi

The FDC+ board and FDC+ Serial Drive Server are what make building an Altair 8800c a very worthwhile project, and so far the best way to get started into the S-100 computer hobby!

Once I finished my Altair 8800c, I was up 'n running in no time without needing to learn assembly or MBASIC to start playing the games and exploring other software. The simplicity of swapping out .DSK files as floppies in the system has allowed me to learning MBASIC and accumulating more software than the original 300KB floppies hold.

Now I'm swapping out A: and B: as 8MB floppies while C: and D: are still the smaller 300KB floppies.

The speed is faster than using a real floppy disk, but not instant either. The FDC+ provides a very good vintage experience with the Altair 8800c computer.

I've got a 2nd FDC+ board waiting for my next computer build.

The minimum Altair 8800c build is: Altair 8800c cabinet, three Mean-Well switching power supplies, Altair 8800c Front Panel and Connector board, Martin Eberhard 88-2SIOJP board (provides console and utility serial ports) and lastly, the FDC+ board.

Altair 8800c

Altair 8800c

deramp.com

Walt Perko's Altair-Duino Page

www.brainless.org

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