prindle@nadc (06/30/86)
From: prindle@NADC Now that there is about to be released, or already released, formal version of the "new" BIOS for the 128 CP/M 3.0, I have a question about the memory expan- sion modules: supposedly, they require a modified BIOS to access the RAM expansion as RAM-DISK (Drive P: I believe). This results in a matrix of CP/M versions, with old vs. new in one dimension, RAM Expansion support vs. no RAM Expansion support in the other. Hopefully, the version which everyone will eventually end up with is the combination of the "new" BIOS and the RAM expansion support! The problem is if I buy RAM expansion, what version of the CP/M will I get in the box? What version will I get in the mail? Also, I have seen the TPA (transient program area) drop from 59K to 58K in going to the "new" BIOS version; I sincerely hope that Commodore never allows the TPA to drop below this point (58K), since this is the absolute minimum that will support several products, such as the FTL Modula-2 compiler. With the ability to use banked code, it is hard to understand why the TPA is even this small. Frank Prindle Prindle@NADC.arpa
daveh@cbmvax.cbm.UUCP (Dave Haynie) (06/30/86)
> Now that there is about to be released, or already released, formal version of > the "new" BIOS for the 128 CP/M 3.0, I have a question about the memory expan- > sion modules: supposedly, they require a modified BIOS to access the RAM > expansion as RAM-DISK (Drive P: I believe). This results in a matrix of > CP/M versions, with old vs. new in one dimension, RAM Expansion support vs. no > RAM Expansion support in the other. Hopefully, the version which everyone will > eventually end up with is the combination of the "new" BIOS and the RAM > expansion support! The problem is if I buy RAM expansion, what version of the > CP/M will I get in the box? What version will I get in the mail? > ... > Frank Prindle > Prindle@NADC.arpa Every version of CP/M dated since November 3, 1985, I believe, supports the RAM Expansion, as a RamDisk labeled drive M:. The modem support first showed at the same time, though the December release improved on this and added other enhancements, like the CONF command. The CP/M that's shipping with the RAM Expansion is, as far as I know, the latest and so far the last version, which is the same version they should be shipping as updates and including with any new C128 machines. There's no matrix effect here; the upgrades are linear. The December (and any later versions) allow you to use the CONF program to set up logical mappings of physical drives, including dual drives, into logical drives (A:, B:, etc.) and allow the printer translation to be turned off when driving an ASCII printer. -- /\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\ Dave Haynie {caip,ihnp4,allegra,seismo}!cbmvax!daveh A quote usually goes here, but its currently being rennovated. These opinions are my own, though for a small fee they be yours too. \/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/