I now have a working beta for the Model II - Hans-01 - LoTech - CF Card adapter drivers.
Download: Model II Lifeboat CPM 2.25-d LoTech Drivers v1.0.zip
Technique to install.
The following installation procedure is undertaken at your own risk. I am not liable for damage to your Model II, loss of your homework, your dog getting sick, etc. That said, I have done all of this to my Model II and no harm came to it. YMMV.
Please see the zipfile attached to this post. In it are the following:
Other notes:
Please let me know if you encounter any problems. I have a number of improvements planned:
I would like to thank some forum members for their work and kind assistance.
Cheers all
JonB
PS, here's a picture of it working on my Model II.
IMG_1486.jpg
Download: Model II Lifeboat CPM 2.25-d LoTech Drivers v1.0.zip
Technique to install.
The following installation procedure is undertaken at your own risk. I am not liable for damage to your Model II, loss of your homework, your dog getting sick, etc. That said, I have done all of this to my Model II and no harm came to it. YMMV.
- Acquire the hardware. You need a Hans-02 adapter and LoTech IDE adapter board, a CF card or 128k DOM, plus a 50 way IDC-IDC cable (a SCSI ribbon cable with IDC headers would do nicely). The Hans-02 is the later version (which works with a stock LoTech adapter). If you have a Hans-01 you need to alter the LoTech board by swaping one of the chips out (details on the other thread).
- Fit the Hans-02 and LoTech boards to the Model II. Plug the DOM or CF card into the LoTech adapter. Be very careful with plugging it all into the Model II card carrier, the orientation of the Hans-02 is critical. Read the thread linked to above FULLY before doing this. Failure to do this may damage your Model II.
- Power on the Model II and check there are no error lights showing on the LoTech adapter.
- Load and run the "VFORMAT.COM" executable. It should format the drive for you, and test it.
- Assuming all is well, use MOVCPM.COM to create a 63k CP/M system. This frees up 1K of memory for the CF card driver code and buffers. Save it down to the floppy drive.
- Reboot. You should see the sign on message "63k CP/M" or similar. If it says "64k" then you haven't done the MOVCPM step correctly. Try again.
- Launch the Lifeboat CP/M config program. In the MODE menu, set the DRIVE configuration to MULTIPLE drives. Save the configuration down and cold boot.
- Now, execute VLOAD.COM. It should respond with a sign on message and return to A:.
- Try to access the E: drive. It should be visible as a 5MB disk drive.
- If E: is working, you can set the system up so that it automatically executes the driver loader. Launch the Lifeboat CP/M config program. In the MODE menu, enable the Startup Command and set it to execute VLOAD (the name of the CF card driver). Save the configuration down and cold boot. E: should be available immediately.
Please see the zipfile attached to this post. In it are the following:
- TEST.COM - The CF card formatter & test program for CP/M
- VLOAD.COM - Driver loader must be executed on a 63k Lifeboat CP/M system
- KERMIT.COM - A bonus program (I use this to transfer stuff between a PC and the Model II. No HW handshaking, just a null modem cable)
- VI.COM - Another bonus program (my Lifeboat CP/M port of STEVIE, the UNIX vi clone. It is a work in progress and very, very, very slow. Should work with any CP/M that supports ADM3 escape sequences).
- LBT 225 CF-DRV.hfe - HxC emulator disk image containing the above. Boots as a 63k CP/M and auto loads the driver.
- LBT 225 CF-DRV.imd - Same file as hfe, in IMD format for disk imaging.
Other notes:
- This driver version supports Lifeboat CP/M Version 2.25-d only.
- The driver loader must not be run more than once per boot.
- The driver supports a single 5MB drive, hard wired as CP/M drive E:.
Please let me know if you encounter any problems. I have a number of improvements planned:
- Driver loader needs to check to see if it has already been executed once, and exit immediately if so.
- Reduce driver size and improve performance.
- Increase drive capacity to 8Mb per disk.
- Enable multiple drives (so, E: - P: are addressable from the CCP).
- Write a configuration utility (allow you to map CP/M drive designation to physical drive). Allows remapping A: to a hard drive, so the Model II warm boots from the hard drive. Allocate unused CP/M drive letters like B: and C: to hard drives.
- Port the driver to ATON, FMG and P&T CP/M implementations for the Model II.
I would like to thank some forum members for their work and kind assistance.
- Firebox wrote the VFORMAT.COM program (in the Model IV distribution it was called TEST.COM) and original read and write driver code as well as the DPB for the Model IV Montezuma CP/M. This version of my driver is based on his work.
- Chuck(G) offered some great advice (mostly, "Read the CP/M Alteration Guide!!") and he was right, of course.
- pierce_jj (and many others) worked to produce and distribute the LoTech IDE adapter card.
- Hans01 designed the Hans-01 and Hans-02 adapter boards that allow us to connect a LoTech card to the Model II's bus connector.
Cheers all
JonB
PS, here's a picture of it working on my Model II.
IMG_1486.jpg