CBM II: Two questions

[Frozone212]

1: Commodore tried to get an 8088 processor to work on the CBM II. With modern tools and methods, could it be done today?

2: Is there any known software for the CBM II line and if so, where can i find listings or downloads

 

thanks in advance

[carlsson]

The 8088 CPU worked already back in the day, but only with MS-DOS 1.25 and software support was slim. Nowadays, people like Michal Pleban have improved compatibility and also made his own 8088 integration so soon enough you can run most MS-DOS software in text mode. He is also working on VGA support.

 

As for CBM-II software libraries, there is always Zimmers FTP and Steve Gray's page. There probably are more resources but it is the first two I can think of.

Edited May 15, 2021 by carlsson

[Frozone212]

much appreciated

[carlsson]

By the way, it is said that the original 8088 card is rather kludgy in its design and it shows a lot that it was made by engineers used to 6502 thinking. Perhaps they had to in order for it to get to work within reasonable time. It is also a time marker that Commodore by 1982/83 at least wasn't quite ready to design and manufacture their own MS-DOS compatibles even if they had wanted to, perhaps if they brought in external expertise or put a lot of effort in analyzing how e.g. the IBM 5150 was made.

 

I don't know how much Columbia, Compaq etc cloned IBM or if Intel had reference designs for them to work from, but that revelation shoots one of my dream computers into sank: the what-if Commodore instead of making the CBM-II as a PET/CBM successor with expansion cards for 8088 (and apparently planned Z80, perhaps 6809), they had made a 8088 based MS-DOS compatible with expansion card having 6502 etc for full PET/CBM compatibility. I think that could have attracted the business sector a bit more, but if they at the time had their hands full interfacing a 8088 with a new, 6509 based computer, imagine the effort it had been to make a full PC, if they could not copy a working design.

[Frozone212]

don't know if this is relevant but there is a place in Sacramento on J street called 1 up retro videogames. they have an odyssey 2 and a (unfortunately for me ) broken vic 20. The guy said the odyssey 2 was spitting out numbers and wasn't working right. ideas? still, it would've been nice to have one

[carlsson]

No idea. You're probably better off asking troubleshooting questions about the Odyssey^2 in its associated forum. Personally I've taken care of three units of the Videopac G7000 of which all worked 100% once I settled the power supply issues, but that isn't to say they're unbreakable.

 

Fixing a broken VIC-20 might be possible too, depending on what the fault is and how much the store is expecting to get for a broken machine. The fact it sounds like a dedicated retrogaming store does not bode well for making bargains unless of course they have a lot of stock and want to get rid of the duds.

[Frozone212]

if you don't mind me asking, what is the meaning of your signature?

 

[carlsson]

I answered your question on April 28.

[Frozone212]

did not see that. thanks

[DavidD]

On 5/16/2021 at 4:20 PM, Frozone212 said:

don't know if this is relevant but there is a place in Sacramento on J street called 1 up retro videogames. they have an odyssey 2 and a (unfortunately for me ) broken vic 20. The guy said the odyssey 2 was spitting out numbers and wasn't working right. ideas? still, it would've been nice to have one

I saw that place and was curious as to what it had...

[+evg2000]

So totally off topic, but it sounds like 2 people (besides me) in this thread are in the Sacramento area?

[DavidD]

2 hours ago, evg2000 said:

So totally off topic, but it sounds like 2 people (besides me) in this thread are in the Sacramento area?

I feel as though there are a decent number of Sacramento area Atari folks -- or there were.  Ten or so years ago I seem to regularly find odd things in local thrift stores -- like two 2600 "Lab Loaner" carts.

[Frozone212]

I actually live in Lodi but would love to move to sac

[MarkO]

I

On 5/30/2021 at 11:58 AM, evg2000 said:

So totally off topic, but it sounds like 2 people (besides me) in this thread are in the Sacramento area?

 

I live about 8 hours North of you...   That makes me "closer" that many people.....

 

MarkO