Peter's z80.eu site blog2012-05-18T03:49:18ZPeter DassowCopyright 2012, Peter DassowSPHPBLOGMicrosoft Adventure - Is this the first game from Microsoft ? And who wrote this ?There was an article about a MICROSOFT ADVENTURE which runs on a TRS-80 and an APPLE II (later, there was also a DOS version). Even though it's not the best adventure, there is an interesting side note. It wasn't invented from Microsoft, it already existed for a PDP 10 and/or 11/70 (see notes from the author in the below attached PDF). So it can be the first rip-off from Microsoft (and *not* MS-DOS). I am not sure at the moment, that it's identical to "Colossal Cave". If someone has further information about this and the creation history, please give me a hint.
Ensure to take a look into the article (PDF) - >HERE< !
And finally, there are a few CP/M-80 ports also, just download >this archive< (Mike Goetz made it possible).
P.S.: Meanwhile I saw there is another page which describes the creation history, but they didn't talk about a "rip off" or a copyright violation. Visit http://www.filfre.net/2011/07/microsoft-adventure/ for more details. Also, there is a page about the first version of this "Cave" adventure, written in Fortran. Just take a look at http://digitalhumanities.org/dhq/vol/00 ... 00009.html too. ]]>http://www.z80.eu/blog/index.php?entry=entry120404-1700002012-04-04T00:00:00Z2012-04-04T00:00:00ZCP/M on Apple II... new effortshttp://applecpm.blogspot.com/ ... hopefully he will have success. It's amazing that there is still a lot of ongoing development for Apple 2 enthusiasts.
I have now to resurrect my dead Apple II too, I guess (power suppy problems, but I have already a spare power supply here).
Project site for CFFA can be found at "Related Link" at bottom of this entry. I placed also a picture of this expansion card here: ]]>http://www.z80.eu/blog/index.php?entry=entry120205-1237022012-02-05T00:00:00Z2012-02-05T00:00:00ZDebian Linux 5.0.9 "Lenny" for DEC AlphaThere is still a living community related with a Debian Port for Alpha, regardless of the fact, that a port of Debian Linux for Alpha isn't developed further (and supported) anymore. There is a newsgroup named linux.debian.ports.alpha - and there are still new entries. I have found some other newsgroup related with this old CPU architecture, but there is no life anymore. This seems to be the last newsgroup which still covers the topic "Alpha".
If you're looking for ISO images for Debian 5.0.9 "Alpha", this will be difficult, too. But I've found a reliable download site in Europe: debian.bsnet.se (see "Related link" below). ]]>http://www.z80.eu/blog/index.php?entry=entry120130-1900002012-01-30T00:00:00Z2012-01-30T00:00:00ZDEC Alpha old advertisment and some PWS maintenance linksDo you remember ? (btw if you're using Firefox and Adblock, this image may be blocked too)
Especially the error codes (LED codes and beeps codes) were interesting.
Also, I found an outdated hint about installing CentOS and OpenBSD on a Miata (PWS). http://www.cromwell-intl.com/unix/linux-alpha.html CentOS development for Alpha CPUs were stopped in 2006 (latest CentOS Release is 4.3) OpenBSD is still also available for Alpha CPUs - Release is 5.0 (November 2011!)
So best choice for my PWS433a (beside a Windows 2000 RC2 for Alpha Build 2128) is OpenBSD at the moment, OpenVMS would be still interesting but license is time limited and not very easy to get.
Related link leads to current OpenBSD distribution for Alpha.
UPDATE: Meanwhile OpenBSD 5.1 is out. I refreshed the "related" link.]]>http://www.z80.eu/blog/index.php?entry=entry111110-2200002011-11-10T00:00:00Z2011-11-10T00:00:00ZApple Lisa 1 demo - surprisingly with 5 1/4" floppy disk drives (!)http://alker33.wordpress.com
He shows an Apple Lisa 1 running with a very early operating system version - named "Lisa Office System"(LOS) 1.0 - and surprisingly also with a kind of 5 1/4 inch floppy disk drive named "Twiggy media". I've seen more than one Apple Lisa in real, but never with such floppy drives. So take a look at his blog entry now: http://alker33.wordpress.com/2010/12/29 ... er-of-gui/
Here is a picture of it:
Very nice!
Btw... it seems he is addicted to Lisa's. See his whole collection here: http://alker33.wordpress.com/2011/04/05 ... ollection/]]>http://www.z80.eu/blog/index.php?entry=entry111015-1500002011-10-15T00:00:00Z2011-10-15T00:00:00Z16 Bit but already extincted: ATARI ST - Amiga competitor, not PC killer This computer was ahead of the times, he offered a powerful CPU, a GUI (like the Macintosh), and was affordable ! Unfortunately marketing and also product development was chaotic.
I remembered it again and buyed one again. Here is my new (old) Atari Mega STE: It comes with a TT-alike case but only with a 16MHz 68000 CPU, 4MB RAM, a build in harddisk, an additional floppy drive, a Lacom/Syquest 44MB removable (hard)disk and an obligatory monochrome monitor (SM124).
At the moment, it runs without problems (boots from harddisk), but I did not get a Lacom driver/utility disk also. Also amazing, that keyboard is really usable, compared to earlier ST models, this was really a progress.
I started to look for Atari ST software and I was a bit surprised - you can't find so many sites with software ... may be some with games, but applications and utilities ? Nope. I even convinced you can find CP/M software more easily than ST software :-(
Update: Meanwhile I changed the TOS version from 2.05 to 2.06, when powering up, now I got an Atari Logo and a boot progress bar :-) Thx to "Gaga" (he sold me these 2 TOS EPROM Chips, discussion about it can be found at http://forum.atari-home.de) again ...]]>http://www.z80.eu/blog/index.php?entry=entry110917-1400002011-09-17T00:00:00Z2011-09-17T00:00:00ZZX81 Kits still available. A MS-DOS 1.x and 2.x version assembler source. Found a web site which still offers ZX81 kits. Like in the "Good old days", you can create your own, brand new ZX81. Just visit http://www.zx81kit.com/zx81_kits.htm The costs ? A bit expensive... £199.99
Also revisited again and still available... MS-DOS 1.x/2.x sources almost finished on a czech web page. It's name is MICRODOS and LT-DOS. Here is the "google" translated page link: http://translate.google.de/translate?js ... mp;act=url
Compared to FreeDOS it's much smaller. So it's very interesting as a base for an embedded PC, but also interesting to port it to a vintage PC back ;-) ]]>http://www.z80.eu/blog/index.php?entry=entry110821-2200002011-08-21T00:00:00Z2011-08-21T00:00:00ZA(nother) great blog moved to a new address http://virtuallyfun.blogspot.com/ becomes http://virtuallyfun.superglobalmegacorp.com/
This site is still a rich source even for re-compiled programs e.g. to run software on DEC Alpha machines (like my PWS433a) with Windows NT for Alpha (you know, there was also an almost finished Windows 2000 for Alpha which runs great!).
I discovered also this blog described the usage of "Stacker" for OS/2. I didn't know this "Stacker" was also available for OS/2, I thought it was only included or created for MS-DOS 6.20 ;-) ]]>http://www.z80.eu/blog/index.php?entry=entry110718-2200002011-07-18T00:00:00Z2011-07-18T00:00:00ZIMSAI 8080 info page + new z80pack link + ebook 8080/Z80http://www.nekochan.net/weblog/archives ... -8080.html And the sequel: http://www.nekochan.net/weblog/archives ... entor.html This blog has many other retrocomputer entries, too.
And btw... if you're a german, you have to visit a vintage computer enthusiast meeting named "Z-Fest". Infos can be found here: http://www.z-fest.de/ ... it's celebrated at the end of June... ]]>http://www.z80.eu/blog/index.php?entry=entry110604-2100002011-06-04T00:00:00Z2011-06-04T00:00:00ZThis is the first "Personal Computer" (not Altair, not Scelbi, not Micral) ? I didn't found so much infos about it yet, but it seems to be the oldest computer with a 8 bit CPU in one desktop case.
I know there was an OS named ISIS for the Intellec-8 mod 80 (which had an Intel 8080 inside). If someone have more information about an OS for the 8008 version, please tell me or comment it - thanks.
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