agv@j.cc.purdue.edu.UUCP (12/04/87)
I am posting this for a friend who owns a NEC-APC running CPM-86 and who would like some tips in obtaining software: 1) Can a version of BASIC still be obtained for this beast? 2) Does anyone have some advice in getting a version of kermit from columbia for it? I've loaded kermit from there before so I'm familiar with the rudimentary procedures. Details and experiences with the APC or CPM-86 are appreciated, however. 3) Can anyone recommend a list of useful directories for the APC from simtel20? The <CPM.CPM86> directory looks like the place to start. Where to from here? 4) Finally, some information about the disk (8 inch) formats would be appreciated. From the documentation, there appears to be a single-sided single-density format (how many tracks and how many bytes per sector?) and a double-sided double-density format (again, what is the sector size and number of tracks?). I intend to ftp software from simtel20 and cu20b.columbia to our VAXen, then download to my own NEC-PC8801 to store on 8 inch disks (if my format is compatible with the APC). E-mail is the preferred medium for those wishing to respond. Many thanks in advance to those who do. ARPA: agv@s.cc.purdue.edu BITNET: murrell@purccvm UUCP: that mess in the header above.
berger@clio.UUCP (12/06/87)
I can help with Kermit and the disk formats. The NEC APC is an orphan machine now, but way ahead of its time. It's a shame to handicap it by running CP/M-86 instead of MS-DOS. NEC Information Systems still offers support, software upgrades, and maintenance. For the record, the NEC APC came out in 1983. List price was slightly higher than a "similarly" equipped PC system, but discounts were readily available. In 1984, $ 3200 bought: NEC APC, 8086 processor, 256K ram 640*512 graphics in 8 colors with monitor (VERY sharp - people still are amazed when they discover the display is COLOR). Two display processors, one for text, one for graphics with hardware line and circle drawing. Special hardware for custom character sets. Two 8" DSDD floppy disk drives (1.25 megabytes each), and the APC printer. Parallel and Serial ports are standard, 102 key keyboard. 22 Programmable function keys. NEC 8023 graphics printer. I've since added a math co-processor, and 640 K of RAM. Standard (included free!) documentation included complete machine- readable source listings of the BIOS and proprietary system utilities, a System Reference Guide (including full technical details and schematics), the MS-DOS Technical Reference Manual (far more complete than the expensive IBM version, which wasn't even available until 2 years later), MS-DOS user's guide, and bundled software (WordStar, Multiplan, and DBASE II in my case). I've never had a single maintenance problem since I've owned the machine. Now, can somebody explain how IBM sets the standards?!