Frozone212 Posted May 15, 2021 Share Posted May 15, 2021 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 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
carlsson Posted May 15, 2021 Share Posted May 15, 2021 (edited) 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 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Frozone212 Posted May 16, 2021 Author Share Posted May 16, 2021 much appreciated Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
carlsson Posted May 16, 2021 Share Posted May 16, 2021 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. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Frozone212 Posted May 16, 2021 Author Share Posted May 16, 2021 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 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
carlsson Posted May 17, 2021 Share Posted May 17, 2021 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. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Frozone212 Posted May 17, 2021 Author Share Posted May 17, 2021 if you don't mind me asking, what is the meaning of your signature? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
carlsson Posted May 18, 2021 Share Posted May 18, 2021 I answered your question on April 28. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Frozone212 Posted May 18, 2021 Author Share Posted May 18, 2021 did not see that. thanks Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DavidD Posted May 21, 2021 Share Posted May 21, 2021 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... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+evg2000 Posted May 30, 2021 Share Posted May 30, 2021 So totally off topic, but it sounds like 2 people (besides me) in this thread are in the Sacramento area? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DavidD Posted May 30, 2021 Share Posted May 30, 2021 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. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Frozone212 Posted June 1, 2021 Author Share Posted June 1, 2021 I actually live in Lodi but would love to move to sac 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MarkO Posted June 20, 2021 Share Posted June 20, 2021 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 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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