> There's an OS in the disk drive ROM (the drives are pretty intellegent)
> which used with CBM BASIC on the 6502-like CPU. There's also a Z80-like
> CPU in the C128 which runs CP/M. You need a boot disk for that, but you
> don't need any boot disk for the '6502' one.
Practically, yes. Technically, no. The Z80 is actually the master processor
on startup and polls the expansion lines for cartridges and for the C= key
to send the system straight to 64 mode. It then initialises the MMU
appropriately and switches control over to the 8502 which then goes into
either the 128 or 64 boot-up sequence.
But yes, it's difficult to take advantage of the Z80 without CP/M :-)
(The story behind this architecture is interesting and I paraphrase it here:
http://www.floodgap.com/retrobits/ckb/secret/d128.html
).
--
----------------------------- personal page: http://www.armory.com/~spectre/ --
Cameron Kaiser, Point Loma Nazarene University * ckaiser_at_stockholm.ptloma.edu
-- Life is too short to use anything but a Mac. -- Roger Ebert ----------------
Received on Tue May 28 2002 - 21:50:48 BST