Commodore 128 compatibility?

[KG7PFS]

I have a commodore 128 with a 1571 and a CP/M boot disk - just the one disk that came with it so far - and I've heard it will read other disk formats, but what other formats, and how? Do I need extra software, or to use a disk utility to change formats?

If I find a pile of Kaypro, Osborne, or Xerox software at the thrift shop like I used to (ok, so it's been 15+ years) will it work on the commodore?

 

[krebizfan]

Try http://www.herne.com/jugg.htm to read disks. IIRC, you will need to copy files from the other to a 128 disk and some CP/M programs won't run.

 

[KC9UDX]

There's inbuilt functionality in the C128 CP/M for reading different formats.

Unfortunately I'm not much help because all I remember about it was that it was not intuitive at all. There are others here who are well versed in these things if only New Posts will alert them of this thread.

 

[ClassicHasClass]

The answer is a qualified maybe. The 1571 will read (though it may or may not be able to run software from) CP/M-86 disks, Osborne, Epson QX-10, Kaypro II, Kaypro IV and of course the Commodore-specific CP/M formats. When you insert such a disk and try to access it, CP/M Plus will display a format string at the bottom of the screen. Use the right arrow and then press RETURN when the expected format appears.

 

[AdamAnt316]

Many years back, I played around with CP/M+ 3.0 on the Commodore 128. After some trial-and-error, I found that using 22DISK (installed on a Commodore 286 PC, ironically enough) to create Kaypro-formatted disks resulted in something which could be read by the C=128/1571. I made a WordStar disk which worked enough to run the program from, but attempting to print a WS document using my Commodore MPS-1250 printer resulted in odd text formatting. I couldn't figure out how to fix the issue, so I didn't go too far beyond that.
-Adam

 

[KG7PFS]

Thanks, ClassicHasClass! That's exactly what I was hoping for. I always make backup copies, so if I find compatible CP/M software I'll just copy all the files to a Commodore format disk. Will CP/M work with the SD2IEC?

 

[ClassicHasClass]

I don't see why not, since the native Commodore CP/M disks can easily be imaged as .d64, etc., though I've never tried personally.

 

[Rick Ethridge]

How about Juggler? Multiformat program.