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RUN/CPM/Z80 Card for the IBM PC

ThisPostContainsComputers

ThisPostContainsComputers

Experienced Member
Joined
Oct 31, 2015
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119
Location
Minnesota
Hello,

I recently ordered a Z80 card for my IBM PC off of eBay. I have used Z80 cards on my Apple II, but as a fan of the CP/M operating system, I thought it would be interesting to be able to run it on my IBM PC. The board is labelled "RUN/CPM/Z80" and appears to be manufactured by "MICROINTERFACES CORP". While the pictures seem to indicate that the board is in good condition, I have not been able to find any information on it. If anyone could point me in the direction of information or drivers related to this card, it would be most appreciated.

z80card.jpg

Thank You,
 
I'm not familiar with that one. I have a Baby Blue II but I haven't used it in 35 years! If you think the docs and drivers for the Baby Blue would help you, I'm happy to zip them up and send them to you.
 
bobstek said:
I'm not familiar with that one. I have a Baby Blue II but I haven't used it in 35 years! If you think the docs and drivers for the Baby Blue would help you, I'm happy to zip them up and send them to you.
Click to expand...
archiving this would be a good thing to do
 
I thought the IBM PC could run CP/M natively. Why did people produce Z-80 cards for it?

Was there software available for Z-80 CP/M machines that wouldn't work on the 8088 CP/M?
 
Reaperducer said:
I thought the IBM PC could run CP/M natively. Why did people produce Z-80 cards for it?

Was there software available for Z-80 CP/M machines that wouldn't work on the 8088 CP/M?
Click to expand...
CP/M-86 required programs to be modified and recompiled. Strangely, MS-DOS thanks to the crazy CALL 5 interface had an easier time getting CP/M-80 programs to work. There were a number of Z-80 cards for the IBM PC to permit usage of those CP/M programs that had not been updated*. That was followed by software Z-80 and CP/M-80 emulators which gave good speed but also allowed CP/M programs to share the hard disk with DOS.

* The software would have been several years old before the Z-80 cards were released so newer versions of MS-DOS software that achieved the same function tended to be a more compelling option.
 
Last edited:
Reaperducer said:
I thought the IBM PC could run CP/M natively. Why did people produce Z-80 cards for it?

Was there software available for Z-80 CP/M machines that wouldn't work on the 8088 CP/M?
Click to expand...
The IBM PC could run both CP/M-86 and PC-DOS (MS-DOS) natively, but neither can run CP/M-80 applications.
A Z80 card would allow one to run both CP/M-80 and applications for it at regular speed, as emulation was too slow at the time.
 
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