CP/M/CPM_CDROM.iso/jsage/znode3/uploads/z-4-at11.arc/Z-4-AT.HLP

Text File | 1992-08-24 | 8.3 KB | 213 lines

;         
 Z AT Last! Z AT Last! Thank Cran And Others! Z AT Last! 

 
 (A Primer On Using Z-System Software On AT-Class Machines Under MYZ80) 

     On the 1st day of the 
 8th  month, 1992, Simeon Cran brought forth
MYZ80100.ZIP, a 58k package which lets AT-class machines run Z80-class
software. Not only does Cran's emulator run CP/M programs, but it also runs
Z-System programs. As CP/M machines die and IBM machines get produced, this
development comes as exciting news to those who have remained active in the
8-bit community. Few AT-class machine owners are aware of the advancements
that have taken place in 8-bit operating systems over the last ten years.
Now that these advancements are available to them, I think a short article
which talks about how to get the software and how to use it has a place.

                   1. 
 What You Need And How To Get It 
  
 Press ^C        2. 
 Getting Started With MYZ80 
  
  To Exit        3. 
 Getting Started With Z-System 
  
    HELP         4. 
 Bringing Up The Key Z-System Tools 
                   5. 
 Concluding Remarks, Update Information 
:1

                     
 What You Need And How To Get It 

     As of this writing (August 24, 1992), the first thing you need is the
file MYZ80100.ZIP. You may send for it directly by writing the author.
MYZ80 is user-supported software and Simeon Cran will send you the latest
version of his emulator and listen to your questions. The registration fee
is $30 Australian ($23.50 US) and the address is:

                  MYZ80 Registration, Software by Simeon
                     2 Maytone Avenue, Killara N.S.W.
                              AUSTRALIA 2071

     MYZ80100.ZIP is available for download from electronic bulletin
boards. I run such a board in Connecticut, Z-Node #12, [phone]. If
you don't care or are not equipped to download, a 720k 3.5" disk with
MYZ80100.ZIP *plus* the 20 or so files discussed below may be obtained by
sending a $10 check to:

    Small Computer Support, 24 East Cedar Street, Newington, CT 06111

I strongly encourage you to register your copy with the author.

     The second thing you need is the NZCOM package, an automatic, dynamic,
universal Z-System, a CP/M 2.2 compatible operating system. To order it,
send a check for $49 plus $3 S&H to:

 Sage Microsystems East, 1435 Centre Street, Newton Centre, MA 02159-2469

:2

                       
 Getting Started With MYZ80 

     Since MYZ80 is provided in .ZIP form, you'll need to unZIP it. For
this you'll need PKUNZIP.EXE. Place the disk with MYZ80100.ZIP in your
drive and copy it to a subdirectory of your hard disk. Say you've created a
subdirectory via

     C:\> md myz80

Then, copy the .ZIP file to this subdirectory via

     C:\> copy a:myz80100.zip \myz80

Next, change directories and unZIP the file via

     C:\> cd myz80
     C:\MYZ80> pkunzip myz80100

At this point, you should have 6 or so files in the subdirectory. One of
them is CPM.EXE. Run it via

     C:\MYZ80> cpm

If you are running an unregistered copy of the software, you will be
presented with several screens of information. By hitting return you will
eventually get the "A prompt."

     A0>

Type DIR at this prompt to get a directory of the files on the "A disk."

     A0> dir

Among the files, the following will appear: DOSDIR.COM, EXPORT.COM,
IMPORT.COM and QUIT.COM. There will be others, but the four listed above
are the most important ones. DOSDIR lets you get a directory of the
subdirectory from which you invoked the emulator.

     A0> dosdir

should show you something like the following:

     myz80100.zip|cpm.exe     |a.dsk       |boot.cpm
     myz80.doc   |read.1st    |            |

[Note: DOSDIR actually supports a full DOS path prefix, so to see what's on
your "floppy disk" in your DOS computer's B: drive, you could type dosdir
b: or to see the files on your hard disk in your UTIL subdirectory, type
dosdir c:\util. End of note.]

IMPORT lets you copy files from your hard disk (or your "floppies") to your
"A disk." EXPORT goes the other way. QUIT gets you out of the emulator and
back to MSDOS (or DRDOS etc.) The file named A.DSK holds the files you see
when you issue the CP/M DIR command. As you IMPORT, this file grows in
size.

     MYZ80 supports three 8 megabyte "partitions", "drives A, B and C", and
a RAM disk, "drive D." You log into these drives as follows:

     A0> b:
     B0> c:
     C0>

You may also log into drive A, "user area 1", via the CP/M USER resident
command:

     C0> user 1
     C1> a:
     A1>

Simeon put files in user area 0 and user area 1 of drive A.

     A1> dir

should show you a few files. One of them is MYZ80.Z3T. This file is a
"terminal capabilities" segment and will be used to provide hilighting,
clear screen, cursor positioning etc. functions when we bring up Z-System.

:3

                      
 Getting Started With Z-System 

     The key files you need to get Z-System going are MKZCM.COM, NZCOM.LBR
and NZCOM.COM. These files are part of the NZCOM package mentioned above.
NZCOM (ie. Z-System for CP/M 2.2 computers) may be purchased from Sage
Microsystems East (address above).

     Copy these files from your distribution disk to the MYZ80
subdirectory. If you are running the emulator, leave it and get back to
MSDOS (DRDOS etc.) via

     A0> quit
     C:\MYZ80>

Now, do the copy.

     C:\MYZ80> copy a:mkzcm.com
     C:\MYZ80> copy a:nzcom.lbr
     C:\MYZ80> copy a:nzcom.com

Next, run the emulator and bring these files into your "A disk" with
IMPORT.

     C:\MYZ80> cpm
     A0> import mkzcm.com
     A0> import nzcom.lbr
     A0> import nzcom.com

Next, run MKZCM, which allows you to define which "system segments" you
want and how big they are going to be.

     A0> mkzcm

The "system segment" called the "resident command processor" defaults to
one which is 16 records (2k) big. Since the stock "resident command
processor" in NZCOM.LBR is 18 records long, select option 5 from the MKZCM
menu and then enter 18 for the new size. To save the results, type S and
when asked what name to use for the "environment" files which will get
created, type NZCOM. Do not be concerned at this point about exactly what
is going on. MKZCM provides many choices. Our objective here is to get you
up and running, not to explain the details and possibilities.

     Run NZCOM (the Z-System segment loader) by typing:

     A0> nzcom

You will see a series of messages as NZCOM accesses NZCOM.LBR and loads
segments into the Z-System environment. The last thing you should see is
actually an error message, namely

     STARTZCM?

followed by a new "A prompt."

     A0:COMMANDS>

:4 :TOOLS
:5

                 
 Concluding Remarks, Update Information 

     I strongly encourage you to take advantage of both Cran's new product
(MYZ80) and the Z-System it lets you use on your AT-class (80x86) computer.
It is so exciting to me that CP/M, where "it" all started, has come full
circle and is now usable in a much more powerful version (Z-System) on a
much bigger and faster machine. Preliminary runs of benchmark programs show
that programs run from slightly slower to much faster than they run on a
standard CP/M machine running at 4 mHz (depending on what AT-class computer
you use). There is a wealth of software available for Z80-based machines
and with MYZ80, new applications will increase.

     This release of Z-4-AT.HLP and TOOLS.HLP contains many helpful
suggestions from Howard Goldstein, both grammatical and technical. The
original release was named Z-FOR-AT.ART and was packaged as an ARK file.
This release is packaged as an ARC file and contains real Z-System .HLP
files. My thinking is that ARC files mean something to MSDOS users (ARK's
don't). Actually, ARK's and ARC's differ *only* in name, ARK's typically
holding CP/M stuff, ARC's MSDOS stuff. I chose ARC because proper
date/timestamping can be done on CP/M machines only for LBR's and ARC's,
not ZIP's. - Lee Bradley, Sysop, Z-Node #12, [phone] - 08/24/92