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251 lines
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251 lines
10 KiB
\chapter{Getting Started}
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Because of the wide variety of hardware combinations, there is no "one
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case fits all" approach to getting started. The good news is that RomWBW
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operates very consistently regardless of the specific hardware. The
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operating systems, applications, and storage formats are all common.
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However, building and testing your hardware is entirely outside the scope
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of this document. The RetroBrew Computing Forum
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(https://www.retrobrewcomputers.org/forum) is probably the best place to
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get advice if you get stuck on hardware issues.
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\section{SIMH Simulator}
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It is not necessary, but I highly recommend running RomWBW under the SIMH
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Simulator as a first step. This requires no hardware and will allow you
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to see how it should look when you use it on real hardware. Since the
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SIMH software is included in the distribution package, you can start it
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with a single command. Using a command prompt window, navigate to the
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high level directory of the distribution. Enter the command "sim" and
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the simulator should start up. The first few lines of output should
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look similar to Figure \ref{fig:simhboot}. You may see some benign
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warning messages that can be ignored.
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\begin{figure}[ht]
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\setlength\abovecaptionskip{-0.5em}
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\begin{Verbatim}[commandchars=\\\{\}, fontsize=\scriptsize, frame=single, rulecolor=\color{cyan}, numbers=left]
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ROM Image: 'Output\textbackslash{}SBC_simh.rom'
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RetroBrew HBIOS v2.8.0-pre.5, 2016-06-22
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SBC Z80 @ 20.000MHz ROM=512KB RAM=512KB
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UART0: IO=0x68 8250 MODE=38400,8,N,1
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SIMRTC: Wed 2016-06-22 15:10:17
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MD: UNITS=2 ROMDISK=384KB RAMDISK=384KB
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HDSK: UNITS=2
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\textsl{<Additional Output Truncated>}
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\end{Verbatim}
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\caption{SIMH Boot Example}
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\label{fig:simhboot}
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\end{figure}
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\section{Board Setup}
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In all cases, you will want to start with a Z80/Z180 host board. Any of
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the boards listed in System Requirements will work fine. I strongly
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recommend that you initially work on getting just the single host board
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running by itself -- don't even plug it into an ECB backplane.
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Given a host board that is assembled and passes any hardware checks
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recommended by the boards designer, you need to make sure the board is
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configured for RomWBW. Refer to the entry in Appendix A for your board
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and confirm that all switches and jumpers on the board are set as
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required by RomWBW.
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Your initial goal is to locate and program a ROM image for your host
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board. The ROM images are located in the Output directory. You are
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looking for the files that end in ".rom". Don't worry about all of the
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other variations at this point. Refer to Table \ref{tab:basicromfiles} to
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determine the ROM image that you want.
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\begin{table}[ht]
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\center
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%\renewcommand{\arraystretch}{1.5}
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\setlength{\arrayrulewidth}{2pt}
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\begin{tabular}{l l}
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\toprule
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\bf CPU Board & \bf ROM Image File \\
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\midrule
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SBC v1/v2 & SBC\_std.rom \\
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Zeta v1 & ZETA\_std.rom \\
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Zeta v2 & ZETA2\_std.rom \\
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N8 (2511) & N8\_2511.rom \\
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N8 (2312) & N8\_2312.rom \\
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Mark IV & MK4\_std.rom \\
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\bottomrule
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\end{tabular}
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\caption{Basic ROM Files}
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\label{tab:basicromfiles}
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\end{table}
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Locate the appropriate ROM image file in the Output directory based on
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Table \ref{tab:basicromfiles}. You should see that the file is exactly 512KB in size.
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As indicated above in System Requirements, your system should have a ROM
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capacity of 512KB or greater. You need to program the file to your ROM
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using whatever tool you have. Programming a ROM chip is beyond the scope
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of this document, but any feel free to ask for help at the RetroBrew
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Computing Forum. The ROM image files are pure binary and should be
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programmed into the ROM chip starting at address 0H thru address 7FFFH (8000H bytes).
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Insert the programmed ROM chip in your system.
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Initially, you will need two external connections to your board. Power
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and serial port. All of the CPU boards provide an onboard power
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connection. Refer to the board designer's notes on the RBC Wiki for more
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information on the power connection your board requires.
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Finally, you must connect the primary serial port of your host board to a
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terminal using 38,400 baud, 8 data bits, 1 stop bit, and no parity. You can
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use either a dedicated terminal or use terminal emulation software on
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your PC\footnote{Under Windows, Tera Term is a good choice for terminal
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emulation.}.
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When connecting to a standard PC serial port, a null modem cable is required.
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There is a good document on the Wiki that explains cabling of serial ports at
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http://???????. \todo{Need to restore serial port cabling document on Wiki!}
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\section{Startup}
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System startup (booting) is accomplished simply by applying power. In some cases,
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it may be necessary to press the reset button after applying power to get a
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successful startup.
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If everything is working properly, you should see something like Figure \ref{fig:boot}
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on your terminal screen. Your output will vary somewhat depending on your
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specific hardware. The example shown comes from a Mark IV.
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\begin{figure}[ht]
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\setlength\abovecaptionskip{-0.5em}
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\begin{Verbatim}[commandchars=\\\{\}, fontsize=\scriptsize, frame=single, rulecolor=\color{cyan}, numbers=left]
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RetroBrew HBIOS v2.8.0-pre.5, 2016-06-03
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MARK IV Z180 @ 18.432MHz ROM=512KB RAM=512KB
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ASCI0: IO=0x46,48 MODE=38400,8,N,1
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ASCI1: IO=0x47,49 MODE=38400,8,N,1
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DSRTC: MODE=STD Wed 2016-06-22 15:03:06
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MD: UNITS=2 ROMDISK=384KB RAMDISK=384KB
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IDE: MODE=MK4 IO=0x80 UNITS=2
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IDE0: NO MEDIA
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IDE1: NO MEDIA
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SD: MODE=MK4 FAST OPR=0x89 CNTR=0x4A TRDR=0x4B UNITS=1
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SD0: NO MEDIA
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Unit Device Type Capacity/Mode
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---------- ---------- ---------------- --------------------
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Disk 0 MD1: RAM Disk 384KB,LBA
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Disk 1 MD0: ROM Disk 384KB,LBA
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Disk 2 IDE0: Hard Disk --
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Disk 3 IDE1: Hard Disk --
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Disk 4 SD0: SD Card --
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Serial 0 ASCI0: RS-232 38400,8,N,1
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Serial 1 ASCI1: RS-232 38400,8,N,1
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MARK IV Z180 Boot Loader
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Boot: (C)PM, (Z)System, (M)onitor,
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(L)ist disks, or Disk Unit # ===>
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\end{Verbatim}
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\caption{Typical Boot Display}
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\label{fig:boot}
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\end{figure}
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If you see output on your terminal screen, but it is garbled/unreadable, then
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check the serial port configuration settings on your terminal or terminal
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emulation software.
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If you do not see any output of any kind on your terminal screen, the following
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general areas should be checked:
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\begin{itemize}
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\item Confirm power is being applied to the board and the the voltage is
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in an acceptable range.
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\item Confirm the ROM is programmed accurately by placing it back in the
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programmer and using the verify function.
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\item Verify the serial connection. When connecting to a PC, make sure
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you have a null modem cable or adapter.
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\item Review your board's construction carefully for chip orientation, bent
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pins, missing or bridged solder joints, etc.
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\end{itemize}
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You will find that the RetroBrew Computing Group is very helpful if you get
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stuck. The best way to request assistance is to post a message on the
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Forum.
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\section{Boot Display}
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As illustrated in Figure \ref{fig:boot}, RomWBW displays a lot of information
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about the system and it's configuration. There are 4 basic sections to
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the boot display.
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Line 1 is a banner that identifies the BIOS portion of the ROM including
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version and build date.
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Lines 3-12 display the hardware inventory of the system as understood by
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the ROM. Note that some of this information is \emph{not} discovered dynamically --
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it is built into the ROM. So, do not be alarmed if some parts of this
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display do not match your hardware. For example, the RAM and ROM size
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are configured into the ROM itself. You can refer to Appendix A for
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more information on how to read the specific lines.
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Lines 14-22 contain a table that summarizes the devices in the system. This
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information is used when the operating system is loaded/configured to
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assign OS devices to system devices.
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Lines 24-27 is the display of the boot loader menu and prompt. The boot
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loader allows you to choose the operating mode you want to initiate. These
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options will be described the next section.
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\section{Loader}
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At the conclusion of a successful system startup, the loader menu/prompt will
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be displayed on the console. The function of the loader is to load an
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operating system or system monitor.
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\subsection{Monitor}
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Pressing 'M' at the boot loader prompt will launch a basic system monitor.
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The system monitor provides very basic functions that are primarily useful
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for testing components of your system. These functions include displaying
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and modifying memory, reading and writing to I/O ports, etc.
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Refer to ??? for monitor operation.
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\subsection{CP/M}
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Pressing 'C' at the boot loader prompt will launch Digital Research CP/M-80
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Version 2.2. A complete copy of the CP/M operating system is imbedded in
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the ROM and will be loaded directly from there, so no disk access is required.
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Initially, drive A will be a RAM drive (initialized with no files). Drive B
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will be a ROM drive. The standard CP/M distribtion files are included on the
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ROM drive (e.g., ASM, PIP, STAT). Drive B will initially be the logged drive.
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At this point, you can execute the programs on drive B. Remember that drive B
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is a ROM drive, so any attempt to write to that drive will result in an error.
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Refer to Chapter ?? for more information on using CP/M 2.2.
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\subsection{Z-System}
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Pressing 'Z' at the boot loader prompt will launch Z-System, a CP/M 2.2
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compatible operating system with many enhancements. As with CP/M, this
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operating system will be loaded directly from ROM.
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The drive configuration for Z-System is identical to CP/M.
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Refer to Chapter ?? for more information on using Z-System.
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\subsection{Disk Boot}
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The boot loader also supports loading an operating system from a disk
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device. In this case, you must press the number key corresponding to
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the disk device containing the operating system to be loaded. The
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disk device numbers are the ones listed in the device summary table.
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In order to boot from a disk device, it must be properly initialized
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using the SYSCOPY application or equivalent. Attempting to boot a
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disk that has no operating system will result in an error and the
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boot loader prompt will be redisplayed.
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You can press 'L' at the boot loader prompt to display a list of
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the disk devices available. The existence of a disk in this list
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does \emph{not} mean that it has been initialized with an
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operating system.
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