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SBC running cp/m

ziloo

Veteran Member
Joined
Feb 7, 2006
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in the basement
As you might all know, a while back, there were several breeds of single board computers (SBCs) on the market that had cp/m capability. Brand names such as SB180, P112, YASBEC, and others were bare-bone systems that could store/read data to/from an FD or HD driver. Because of lack of much interest in cp/m, most of these SBCs had ceased production. Very recently I found a link from a fellow in the US who is offering the P112 boards. The web site is:

[Link deleted at request of original poster]


I like to know your opinion about the hardware/software capabilities of this system.
 
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ziloo,

Do you follow the CP/M ng (comp.os.cpm)? There has been a lot of P112 information posted there over the years. Several of the regulars there have them, and they could prob'ly answer any questions you might have.

--T
 
Hello Terry,

As you said it earlier there are various breeds of cp/m out there, and each one has its own hardware dependencies. If one could have a generic computer, with a generic cpu, with a generic FD drive, and a generic HD drive, running a generic cp/m, then several people could have an easier time developing and exchanging ideas on cp/m.

Before making this post I was hesitant as to whether I would be advertising for others, but because this section of VC Forum is very quiet, I decided to go ahead and make the post.

ziloo
 
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ziloo said:
Hello Terry,

As you said it earlier there are various breeds of cp/m out there, and each one has its own hardware dependencies. If one could have a generic computer, with a generic cpu, with a generic FD drive, and a generic HD drive, running a generic cp/m, then several people could have an easier time developing and exchanging ideas on cp/m.

Before making this post I was hesitant as to whether I would be advertising for others, but because this section of VC Forum is very quiet, I decided to go ahead and make the post. :eek:nfire:

ziloo

That was the whole idea about CP/M in the first place. A standard OS that was easily ported to different hardware, as long as the hardware met certain minimum requirements (i8080-family CPU, disk system, 16Kb RAM, etc). As a modular design, all that is necessary is to modify the I/O requirements of your system software (BIOS) to match your hardware.

Of course, there's the applications software as well. By insulating the apps from the hardware through a 'standard' (software) interface, the apps became portable too. A proper CP/M app that runs on one machine should work on many other hardware platforms, because the app doesn't have to be aware of the specific hardware it's running on, it just needs to know that a certain system call will have a certain effect, regardless if it's addressing a NEC chipset, or a WD, f'rinstance.

When DOS came along, it was designed just the opposite, with the BIOS being the portable part of the system. This meant that the PC cloners would all have to design thier hardware to match that 'standard' BIOS instead of re-writing the BIOS to match the hardware.

BTW, I don't think too many people here will object to you plugging your favorite sources of vintage gear. In fact, most of us welcome it.

--T
 
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All this talk about single board computers in this and another thread or two has got me thinking hard about it. The Ataris that I have are practically single board in a case, and they run an os based on cp/m. *Very* interesting.
 
ziloo said:
As you might all know, a while back, there were several breeds of single board computers (SBCs) on the market that had cp/m capability. Brand names such as SB180, P112, YASBEC, and others were bare-bone systems that could store/read data to/from an FD or HD driver. Because of lack of much interest in cp/m, most of these SBCs had ceased production. Very recently I found a link from a fellow in the US who is offering the P112 boards. The web site is:

[Link deleted at request of original poster]


I like to know your opinion about the hardware/software capabilities of this system.

Have you seen this page?

http://home.att.net/~halbower/

--T
 
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Man.....I always wanted an SB180...

I remember drooling over their little tiny itty-bitty teensy-weensy catalogs, and they had the SB180 Dev System in the back, all built nicely into a dual-drive case.

Dang....I'd LOVE to get hold of one of those....

I'm gonna email about the P112, but I'd only take it if I can still get the GIDE for it.


Tony
 
Wavemate Bullet SBC

Wavemate Bullet SBC

I had a Wavemate Bullet SBC. The vendor even gave me the source for their BIOS. The Bullet died many years ago, but I'll still have the BIOS listing around in a box somewhere.
 
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