bandy@well.UUCP (Andrew Scott Beals) (09/21/88)
Let's clear things up. There are three general classes of
objects that people are talking about:
* Unix-like shells (CCP replacements)
* Unix-like operating systems (ground-zero efforts)
* Unix ported to the z80
Of the first class, Unix-like shells, there are any number, of which,
CNIX and MicroShell come to mind. These allow you to do i/o redirection,
type multiple commands on a line and do "pipes" (not real pipes as the
programs are executed sequentially). These make using your CP/M
programs a bit more palitable, as the CCP is pretty ugly.
The second class are microcomputer operating systems designed to look
and feel somewhat like Unix.
Mark Davidson mentioned an effort which was described to the C User's
Group a number of years ago. This was the Marc operating system -
unfortunately I don't remember the name of the gentleman who did most
of the work on it, but when he died (due to an accident), Lauren
Weinstein (yes, that Lauren) took over the project for a while, but
decided to retire it when it simply got too big to run on the micros of
the day (this was around 1981).
Another effort in the unix look-alike class is the Cromix operating
system from Cromemco. Yes, they're still in business and they still
maintain a uucp site. They make postings every once in a while.
I'm not sure that Cromix runs on a z80, but I have heard that it
does. Cromix also runs on Cromemco's 68000 machines and a port was
done to the Amiga by a gentleman who lives in the Great Northwet -
when he was down here during the summer he told Cromemco about it,
but I don't know what they thought of it. He just re-wrote the i/o
drivers to get it working in glass-tty mode (no windowing system).
As to real live Unix for the z80, after Morrow Designs did their
MPU80 board, Unisoft did a v7 port (perhaps v6?) to that cpu. The
MPU80 provides a number of features lacking in the z80, namely
memory mapping, decent arithmetic, kernel&user modes and instruction
traps. User-mode processes aren't allowed to do (this is from
memory) i/o instructions or halts - the kernel is called whenver
a user process attempts such an instruction. With the additional
hardware, a z80 starts to look like an 8-bit PDP-11.
For those of you with a yen to hack, you also might want to consider
doing a Minix port to your machine - if it has sufficient memory
and can map memory easily enough.
--
Andrew Scott Beals Ridu dum tiam vi povas, simiulo-knabo!
bandy@lll-crg.llnl.gov or {pacbell,lll-crg,hoptoad,hplabs,apple}!well!bandyCarra_its-me_Bussa@cup.portal.com (09/26/88)
bandy@well.UUCP (Andrew Scott Beals) writes... [stuff] > Another effort in the unix look-alike class is the Cromix operating > system from Cromemco. Yes, they're still in business and they still > maintain a uucp site. They make postings every once in a while. > I'm not sure that Cromix runs on a z80, but I have heard that it > does. Cromix also runs on Cromemco's 68000 machines and a port was FYI, Cromix v11 _DOES_ run on a Z80. I worked for the local Cromemco store here and we had it back then. As a matter of fact, I was at the VPs house last night and he was busy connecting it via modem to his PC clone. Whipping up his own quick and dirty XMODEM transmitter in C to Procomm 2.4.2. Cromix/Z80 uses bank swapping--the first 64K is for the OS, other 64K banks are used for CP/M & CDOS tasks. REAL Cromix tasks can share a single 64K bank if they are relocatable-binary. The C compiler he has for it is pitiful.. Slow as xmas, but it works!! Three pass from C to ASM, then to OBJ (?) then a link to .BIN (whew! usoft/borland runs a little faster now-a-days! :-) ) Cromix v20 and up used a Z80 AND a 68000 processor; it could figure out what you were trying to run and select the correct processor. If anybody has any Cromemco stuff they'd like to sell (or buy!) drop me a line and I'll have Steve get in touch w/you. carra bussa @ cup.portal.com PS - somebody ported Cromix to an AMIGA??? Hell, that'd almost be worth having!
spolsky-joel@CS.YALE.EDU (Joel Spolsky) (09/28/88)
In article <9464@cup.portal.com> Carra_its-me_Bussa@cup.portal.com writes: | FYI, Cromix v11 _DOES_ run on a Z80. | | [happy description of Z80 unix deleted] ah, time to start our discussions about porting Kermit to eniac, and running Unix on an HP-41C again.... Joel
mikes@ncoast.UUCP (Phil Smith) (09/30/88)
In article <7160@well.UUCP> bandy@well.UUCP (Andrew Scott Beals) writes: >Let's clear things up. There are three general classes of >objects that people are talking about: > > * Unix-like shells (CCP replacements) > * Unix-like operating systems (ground-zero efforts) > * Unix ported to the z80 > I have in my hands one port of XINU (as in Doug Comer) to the Z80; that was written in C/80 CP/M C. I have seen others. The XINU port that I have is a bare-bones kernel (no utilities). It is a little odd to see the results of ps -efl on an ADM-3a connected to an IMSAI, though. The XINU port that I have was done by Ed Schramm, who lives near Norfolk, VA. I can provide an address if needed. Mike Squires Allegheny College Meadville, PA 16335 814 724 3360 uucp: ..!cwjcc!ncoast!{mikes,peng!sir-alan!mikes} or ..!pitt!sir-alan!mikes BITNET: mikes%sir-alan@pitt.UUCP (VAX) MIKES AT SIR-ALAN!PITT.UUCP (IBM) Internet: sir-alan!mikes@vax.cs.pittsburgh.edu