Re: Apple II Z80 Card

[pausch@saaf.se (Paul Schlyter)]

In article <1190077626.506555.235150@22g2000hsm.googlegroups.com>,
Ed.Orbea@gmail.com <Ed.Orbea@gmail.com> wrote:

> I have a vintage Apple ][e I picked up on eBay. Over time I have
> collected several cards which after cleaning. reseating chips,
> cleaning slot lands, etc I have gotten them up and running. Recently I
> obtained a Z80 card. The card is very similar to the card that is
> shown at this URL:
> http://www.apple2clones.com/?q=node/view/222
> 
> However there seem to be several minor cosmetic differences. In the
> upper left corner, between chip U1 and U4 is a silk-screened number
> 534-003. To the immediate right of this number (in a different font)
> is the number 9309.
> Immediately above the U1 chip is the lettering Z80 and at the lower
> legt (below chip U3) it says Made in Japan.
> The model of the processor chip is: "Goldstar Z8400A PS 9247".
> 
> My questions are:
> (1) This seems to be "yet another clone 8088/Z80 expansion card" but I
> am not sure which slot to insert it into. Some sites say slot 7, some
> say slot 5, some say slot 4. Can anybody provide some guidance?

You can use any free slot really (except slot 0, and in a II europlus
also except slot 7), because the boot code scans the slots, looking
for the Z80 card.  Quite often slot 4 is used, mostly because it's
often still free when you have a lot of other cards in your Apple II
(slot 0: language card, slot 1: printer card, slot 2: serial port
card, slot 3: 80-column card, slots 5 and 6: disk controller cards,
slot 7: PAL card).

> (2) When I use ADP (either the PRO or the DOS) version to make what I
> think is a CPM boot disk from a .DSK image, the Apple doesn't boot,
> rather it goes to the monitor routine. Can ADP be used to make a CP/M
> "master" or boot disk?

Dunno .... what's "ADP" ????

> (3) I have looked at several Apple CP/M sites to identofy what I think
> is a CP/M "master" or boot disk, but perhape I am mistaken. Can
> somebody direct me to a specific CP/M "master" or boot disk?

If you list the sites you've looked at, I could point you to some disk
image which seems OK.  Or you could just try them until you find one
which works.  Assuming your Z80 card is a Softcard clone, you should
try disk images of "SoftCard CP/M" or "Apple CP/M", and avoid images
of "AppliCard CP/M" or "CP/M Card CP/M+" - the latter two require
different kinds of Z80 cards.

To test if the disk image is a valid Softcard CP/M boot disk, try to
boot it without any Z80 card in your Apple II - you should then get an
error message saying "CANNOT FIND Z80 SOFTCARD".  If you get that
error message, you know that the boot disk is looking for a softcard.
Now, turn off the power, insert your Z80 card in any slot but slot 0
(and, in an Apple II eurplus, also except slot 7), then boot again.
If your Z80 card really is a SoftCard clone, and if its hardware works
OK, and if all four DIP switches are set in the "off" position, then
CP/M should boot up.

> (4) Can someone poitn me to where an explanation of the settings for
> the 4 DIP switches on the board is available?

The standard setting of these 4 DIP switches is all four in the "off"
position.  They control the hardware behaviour of the Z80 card (e.g.
whether the translation of Z80 addresses to 6502 addresses should be
enabled or not), and you shouldn't fiddle with them unless you really
know what you're doing.  Setting these switches into anything but the
standard position will most likely mean you're not able to run CP/M on
that card - you'd have to run code you write yourself, code which is
adapted to the non-standard setting of the card's DIP switches.
 
> My system is a Apple ][e with the 80 column expansion board, and SSC
> comm board and the floppy disk controller. Using information available
> from the FAQs as well as the newsgroups I have been able to make
> PRODOS and DOS diskettes, ADP diskettes, and several utility
> diskettes, so I know my current "equipment" works (both null-modem
> cable, SSC board, Apple ][e and Windows Laptop), so without a hardware
> problem, my issue must be either software or "process/procedural", or
> perhaps the Z80 card itself.
> 
> Any help/guidance will be appreciated.
> 
> Ed
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