TIL about #ELKS and now part of me is wondering if this would run on a #V20MBC?! Does anyone in the #RetroComputing crowd know?

And I suddenly feel the desire to buy an old #16bit PC - maybe a #Commodore #PC1 or a #Schneider #EuroPC ... oh, behave!

https://github.com/ghaerr/elks

I wrote two programs for clearing the screen on CP/M-80 and CP/M-86, one in Intel 8080 Assembly for the Z80-MBC2 homebrew computer and the other in Intel 8086 Assembly for the V20-MBC:

https://journal.paoloamoroso.com/two-cp-m-programs-to-clear-the-screen

#assembly #z80mbc2 #v20mbc

I tested the Beagle Term terminal emulator with the Z80-MBC2 and V20-MBC homebrew Z80 and Nec V20 computers. It's a Chrome packaged app with good VT100 support.

The screenshots show Beagle Term on my Chromebox running the Catchum and Ladders games under CP/M Plus on the Z80-MBC2, and WordStar and the command processor under CP/M-86 on the V20-MBC.

https://chrome.google.com/webstore/detail/beagle-term/gkdofhllgfohlddimiiildbgoggdpoea

#z80mbc2 #v20mbc #retrocomputing

In the session of this screen recording I wrote, compiled, and ran a hello world program in Turbo Pascal 3.0, under CP/M-86 on the V20-MBC homebrew Nec V20 computer.

Compared to the full-screen IDE of version 4 and later, which is what comes to mind when thinking about Turbo Pascal, the environment of the versions up to 3 for CP/M was more spartan but equally powerful and productive.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LXe8qADbu3o

#pascal #retrocomputing #v20mbc

The two homebrew CP/M computers I use and love have logos that give them personality.

The Z80-MBC2 Limited Edition features a "Z80 inside" logo similar to the iconic Intel branding. The logo of the V20-MBC Black Edition, a two-flavor ice cream cone, is a nod to its Nec V20 chip with the 8080/8088 dual mode.

#z80mbc2 #v20mbc #retrocomputing

You have a working homebrew computer, now what?

Some enjoy the challenge of designing or making a computer kit. I have no hardware assembly skills, so I start from there by learning the operating systems of these devices, exploring software, and coding. I publish ongoing series of blog posts about my retrocomputing projects with these CP/M homebrew computers:

Z80-MBC2 (Z80)
https://journal.paoloamoroso.com/tag:z80mbc2

V20-MBC (Nec V20)
https://journal.paoloamoroso.com/tag:v20mbc

#retrocomputing #projects #z80mbc2 #v20mbc

The V20-MBC homebrew Nec V20 computer can boot IMSAI BASIC in 8080 mode. I played with the interpreter a bit by writing the short program in the screenshot, which prints the ASCII character set. Here are my notes:

https://journal.paoloamoroso.com/using-imsai-basic-on-the-v20-mbc

#v20mbc #retrocomputing #basic

Getting errors for basic disk access functions was a reminder WordStar must be...

https://journal.paoloamoroso.com/getting-errors-for-basic-disk-access-functions-was-a-reminder-wordstar-must-be

The V20-MBC homebrew Nec V20 computer comes with application software popular in the 1980s.

Here are WordStar and Turbo Pascal under CP/M-86, running in a Crostini Linux terminal emulator session on my Chromebox.

#v20mbc #retrocomputing

The CP/M Plus and CP/M-86 documentation browser HELP reminds me of a mix of Unix man(1) and GNU Texinfo.

Here it is running under CP/M-86 on the V20-MBC homebrew Nec 20 computer, inside a Minicom session on Crostini Linux. The first screenshot shows the main screen of HELP with a list of topics, the second the entry for the STAT command.

#v20mbc #retrocomputing