C64 CP/M carts (was: Re: Yet another weekend haul story)

From: Doug Spence <ds_spenc_at_alcor.concordia.ca>
Date: Mon Jun 9 17:08:17 1997

On Mon, 2 Jun 1997, George Lin wrote:

> At 11:24 PM 6/1/97 -0700, you wrote:
> ><...>
> >> accessories including a CP/M cartridge for C64
> >
> >A CP/M _carthridge_? Awesome.
>
> I just tried it yesterday. Pretty cool. The Z80 is in the cartridge. The
> package comes with a CP/M 2.2 diskette for 1541 and a condensed CP/M manual
> by Commodore (copyright 1983). There is a K-Mart price tag on the original
> box that reads $54. Not bad.

This reminds me... I also have a Z80 cartridge for the C64. But it's not
the one from Commodore. It's from a company called DATA 20 Corporation.

I haven't been able to get it to work. It has what looks like a connector
for a power supply on the back, but I didn't get the PS with it. It also
came without any disks, though it did have a cassette in the box with it,
which says "Use side A for Commodore 64/Use side B for VIC 20".

It's a Z-80 Video Pak, that combines the Z80 processor AND an 80-column
display adapter into one (big fat) cartridge.

To quote from the box:

   The Z-80 Video Pak brings the convenience of an 80 column screen and
   the power of a CP/M compatible operating system to the Commodore 64.

   Designed to be used with a monitor, the Z-80 Video Pak lets the
   Commodore 64 owner switch to a 40 or 80 column screen in black and
   white, or back to the standard color screen. All switching is done
   through software and no cables need to be moved.

   The Z-80 Video Pak has its own Z-80 microprocessor and operating
   system which allows the 64 to run CP/M software formatted for the
   Commodore 1541 disk drive. A Terminal mode which brings communication
   with central data bases is included at no extra cost. The Z-80 Video
   Pak also supports the advanced screen handling features of all Video
   Pak models such as erase to the end of line, erase to end of screen,
   and dump screen to printer.


If anyone out there knows this thing's power requirements (AAAGH! Another
wall-wart!) and where to get CP/M disks in 1541 format, please tell. :)


Doug Spence
ds_spenc_at_alcor.concordia.ca
Received on Mon Jun 09 1997 - 17:08:17 BST