OK, so I got these CP/M Disks, now what do I do with them? (or the VERY BEGINNER'S STARTING POINT FOR CP/M) Bill Juliani <C128.CPM> GEnie Tonight, as you know, is the first CP/M Help Desk Held in the FlagShip (625;2). I want to thank all who have dropped in, and also a big thanx to DEB and Keith, for allowing me this time. THE BIGGEST problem that I have seen is new owners of C-128's and C-128D's opening up there Digital Research Disks and try to copy them, as specified in their manuals. What usually happens is the user FORMATS the original disk, destroying the contents. <You ask 'did this ever happen to me, a SYSOP?' Question ignored.> If this has happened to you, do NOT write or read to that disk, and send it to me, along with a dollar for postage. I will try to restore the disk to the original condition, and mail it back to you, using the dollar for postage. I can't guarentee that I can restore all of the info, but its better than sending in $19.95 to CBM, and waiting 3-4 months. Tonight, we are going to start at the beginning!! First we will boot the CP/M disk, then FORMAT a blank one, then copy the CP/M Systems disk over to the blank disk. Items needed: 128 CP/M SYSTEMS DISK, one disk drive as device #8 (called 'A' drive in CP/M lingo), a C128, monitor, 2 blank disks, and a copy of this file (items not needed: any knowledge of CP/M!!) At this time, please open your Term BUFFER to capture this info. The Digital Disk with the CP/M System on it is titled '128 CP/M SYSTEM DISK, and just below it CP/M PLUS VERSION 3.0' above that is a serial number starting with 622-xxxxxx. Turn on your 'puter and drive, have it in 128 mode, and have the 80 column (or 40) monitor hooked up. Its also a good idea to disconnect your phone line from your modem, as an incomming call sometimes messes CP/M up!! Just slap the CP/M SYSTEM disk in your 1571 (or'81) device #8. Hit the reset switch on the C128 and the CP/M disk will boot. If you see a message that say, 'No CPM+.SYS hit return to re-try, or.....' then you have tried the wrong disk. You will now see the CP/M disk load. It's about 27K long, and the two CPU's in the C-128 are swapping information. If everything goes right, then you will see a date like 6 DEC 85, 8 DEC 85, or 27 MAY 87. If your date is earlier than these dates, then you should get a newer version (or at least update it with file #796 in Library 34 in the CP/M RT on GEnie). If you have more than one version, use the LATEST DATE! Just ignore all that TPA lingo that appears! Not needed!!!!! Now the magical A> will appear. If it doesn't and you get garbage, or the 'puter resets, or you see 'break' or whatever, then your CP/M disk is trashed! <AARRRGGGHHHHH> Now hit F3 (the 'Function key #3') and just after the A> prompt, it will say 'dir' and the disk contents will appear. See the file 'FORMAT.COM'? That's the baby that we are going to use. Now type FORMAT<RET> That's it, nuthin else. Use either caps (FORMAT) or the little guys like; format. The opening screen will display after the FORMAT program has loaded into memory. FORMAT will even tell what kind of drive it thinks you have (notice I said thinks)! Remove your CP/M Plus SYSTEM DISK at this time............................... TO repeat, take out the CP/M SYSTEMS DISK........................ Put in in the blank disk, ........................................ Now insert a blank disk into drive 8 (its now called A) and select from the menu format select C128 double sided, just under where it says 'Please select disk type to format'. Use the C128 (upper) curser control keys for other types of format. This program varies from issue to issue, but they are about the same. It will not ask you for a disk name. Hitting '$' should satisfy that all is in order, and the program will begin formatting your (hopefully) blank disk. After the program is done it will ask you if you want to format another. Entering an 'N' will return you to the A> prompt, but lets go for broke and format another blank disk. Just type 'Y'!! Remove the new, just formatted disk, and insert the original CP/M SYSTEM disk. Hit F3 to verify that 'PIP.COM' is on that disk. We will now use PIP.COM to copy our original CP/M SYSTEM disk to the just formatted one. Enter at the A>PIP E:=A:CPM+.SYS then hit return. You can use the delete key for editing this 'command line'. The program 'PIP' will now load, and instruct you to insert the other disk, etc. Follow all of the directions on the screen. The PIP program will now call the freshly formatted disk 'E', and will know when disk 'E' is in the drive. Note: for extra high IQ users see below, for all the rest of us, continue. After this file is copied, you will get another A>. Now type: A>PIP E:=A:CCP.COM, follow the same directions and this will complete copying the SYSTEM FILES to the new disk. Now, again at the A> type: A>PIP E:=A:*.* Make sure that you have your original SYSTEMS disk in your 'A' (or #8) drive before you type this command, or it will return 'PIP?'. Again follow the directions, and swap the disks when prompted. What we are doing is first copying the CPM+.SYS file so that is auto boots!! The *.* is a wildcard for all other files. When your all done, you will have an exact copy of your original systems disk. No need to flip the SYSTEMS disk over, its all on one side! Now put the original away, in a real safe place. You should only use it in an emergency. Now make a copy of the copy. That will give you a back-up SYStems disk, and a working copy for us to fool around with next week. See why 2 drives are easier? If you are lucky enough to have two drives, the pip command is: PIP B:=A:*.* B is your destination (#9) disk, and A (#8) is your source. Be warned, though, CP/M will NOT boot from device 9!! For those lucky enough to have an REU: PIP M:=B:*.*. Now insert a blank disk in drive 'A' and type M: (return) This is how you 'log' onto a different drive, just type a:<RET> or B:<RET>> and then PIP A:=M:*.* Yes, for now you must be 'logged' onto whatever drive the PIP.COM is in. Now go out for a coffee while it 'cooks'. For 2 drives: an '81 disk won't fit in a '71 drive <GRIN>, so unless you have 2 '71 drives (A and B, or 8 and 9) you must either copy the files back to A drive, or switch device numbers. For those REAL LUCKY users of the '81 drive, that have the extra 19.95 28MAY87 SYSTEMS DISK from Commodore, and are using the '71 as A and the '81 as B, then just copy the 3 1/2" disk (User Area 1) over to the 1571 drive (A) and bingo! It boots the 28MAY from the '71!! We have learned the following: To distinguish between the CP/M SYSTEMS disk and the BOULDERDASH disk, how to 'pull' a DIR with the F-3 key (switch Jiffy F key off for this), how to copy disks (one of the most favorite pass-times in the CP/M world), and of course, how to boot CP/M from device #8 (A)! Remember: device 8 is drive A; device 9 is drive B, and the REU is M. ** NOTE: For advanced MENSA Users: just type 'PIP', and at the * prompt type in your commands: *B:=A:CCP.COM <RETURN>. Sorry this took so long, but we need to start somewhere, now back to Questions and Answers................................... This was a portion of the GEnie CP/M Help Desk held on Sat. nights, Page 625;2 FlagShip RTC at 9:00PM eastern.
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