CP/M+ For The Einstein

CP/M PLUS

The CP/M+ operating system was developed by Duncan Elvin for the Einstein some five years ago. It does not require its own boot disk but loads on top of Xtal DOS.

The files CPMLOAD.COM, CPM3.SYS and CPP.COM need to be added to an XTAL boot disk. After booting into Xtal DOS type CPMLOAD <ENTER> at the Xtal Dos prompt and the CP/M+ operating system will load and run on the Einstein TC01.

CP/M+ for the Einstein was not widely distributed or has been reported to be used by many Einstein enthusiasts so faults and bugs could be encountered when running some programs under this system. A major setback for many established Einstein users was that it would not run Xtal's standard Xbas basic. Bbcbasic and all other Einstein software I have used, including the serial transfer utility EinTrans, have worked as normal so far under CP/M+.

Duncan Elvin did not provide a CP/M+ utility disk as such but provided files (including source code) from a folder on his PC that he used to develop the system for the Einstein. These are as sent and in the bios3eug.zip archive. The folder does not contain the support files expected to go with the CP/M+ system. These can found in the CP/M 3.0 distribution zip archive for the YAZE emulator.

Xtal's "backup.com" and "copy.com" will run under CP/M+ but Xtal's labels of - 0:, 1:, 2:, and 3: for floppy drives still has to be used and not CP/M+'s A:, B:, C:, and D:. These two Xtal programs can replace the need for CP/M's "pip.com".

The "DEL" key will not work with the CP/M+ operating system and the "SHIFT" together with the "LEFT & RIGHT" arrow keys has to be used to position the cursor before over typing character corrections.

CP/M+ will run on Einstein TC01s with both MOS 1.2 or 1.21 ROM eproms installed.

The "TRANSFER.COM" utility will only run with MOS 1.21and not a MOS 1.2 ROM chip installed.

TRANSFER.COM

Requires CP/M+ and MOS 1.21. Transfer.com will read the file directory of a 3.5" MS/DOS 720kb floppy in an Einstein drive. Sub directories can be opened and read. Files can then be transferred to an Xtal DOS formatted floppy in another Einstein drive. Files can also be transferred from an Xtal floppy to the MS/DOS floppy.

This utility has been made to work for the Einstein TC01 by Duncan Elvin. Professional software engineers who write programs voluntary can only create programs for the hardware they have access to; so, unlike a company writing propriety software, they can't be expected to have the programs they give out for free to run in all Einstein environments. Duncan's Einstein was installed with MOS 1.21 and unfortunately transfer.com as it is will not work with Einsteins installed with MOS 1.2.

Duncan has via correspondence mentioned that the source code files he has provided could be altered so a "TRANSFER.COM" version would run with a 1.2 MOS installed in an Einstein, also that it might be possible for a program adaptation to be made which will run under XTAL DOS 2.05 alone without CP/M+.

TRANSFER.COM and the source code files used to create it are in the TRANS.zip archive provided by Duncan Elvin.

Comment

The potential of the TRANSFER.COM CP/M+ utility in my opinion has been seriously overlooked.

Tranfer.com has given the Einstein the ability to put files onto a standard 720kb IBM/MS formatted floppy and another Einstein to read and place the files back on an Xtal DOS disk for some years now. Einstein software can be stored on large PC hard drives and archived to CD-ROM via the use of 720kb floppies. The IBM/MS computer and its connection to the internet are now common, affordable and/or accessible by almost every one. Einstein software can be shared and transported to others through cyber space by e-mail attachments and for downloading from web sites.

PC/Einstein serial transfer programs such as EinTrans may be more convenient to use but an Einstein isolated beyond the reach of a serial cable link can, with TRANSFER.COM & CP/M+, have the use of Einstein programs on a MS/DOS floppy. The MS/DOS formatted floppy holding Einstein files can be created on a PC any where. An Einstein owner does not need to own his own IBM/PC .

The above seems to have been overlooked by the few Einstein owners that had or new of CP/M Plus and the Transfer.com utility some five years ago. CP/M Plus may have been dismissed by them as the XBAS basic programs they had written and accumulated would not run under the CP/M Plus operating system. The possibility that their own xbas basic files could be put on MS DOS media then placed on larger IBM/PC hard drives & CD-ROM for storage and distribution does not seem to have been considered. CP/M Plus and transfer.com are needed for transferring files to and from a ms/dos floppy and an xtal dos formatted floppy. CP/M Plus is not needed to run all transferred files. Xbas DOS can be rebooted on the Einstein then Xbas basic can be loaded and transferred Xbas basic files can be run. For the lack of seeing this potential Einstein software may have been lost to archiving for a number of years now.

CP/M+ for the Einstein TC01 enables the use of more ready made software that will run under this operating system. Most Xtal DOS programs will run under CP/M+.