Re: Help with APPLI-CARD Z80

[ddoms@tyrell.net (Dennis Doms)]

In article <3lpa5m$b26@athos.cc.bellcore.com>, jalin@iscp.bellcore.com
(Jun-Gang Alin) wrote:

> Does any one have one of these cards working?  I have APPLI-CARD with Z80 and
> 64K RAM on it and pin header connectors.  It seems that the card provide CP/M
> capability to Apple //'s.  But I don't know what software it needs, which
> expansion slot number, how to boot off it, etc.
> 
> Any help from APPLI-CARD owner/user?

You need the <surprise> Appli-card CP/M support disks. The CP/M version is
tailored to the Appli-card hardware so CP/M disks for other systems won't
work.

The problem is that the disks should usually travel with the hardware; if
all you have is the card you may have trouble finding a set of "available"
disks.

It can go in any expansion slot where it will physically fit (some may be
blocked on a IIe, and the card is a touch too long for a IIgs case). I
can't remember if it expects the 5.25 disks to be in slot 6, etc. (I seem
to remember a configuration utility coming with the software). The
software recognizes the card when it boots and will automatically load
CP/M and start the card.

The interesting thing about the Appli-card is that it is actually a
complete CP/M computer and uses the Apple essentially as an I/O subsystem.
The Appli-card drivers communicate with the Apple's 6502 using some
I/O-mapped registers and runs driver support routines, etc.,
asynchronously on the Apple II processor and memory.

-- 
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Dennis Doms     | "Into this night I wander, it's morning that I dread
ddoms@tyrell.net|  Another day of knowing of the path I fear to tread..."
                | Sarah McLachlan ("Possession", _Fumbling Toward Ecstasy_)