Processor OS List

On Tue, Nov 18, 2003 at 01:41:02PM -0500, J.C. Wren wrote: Commodore DOS didn't really have a name, largely because it was never a standalone product. It was built into ROM on all disk devices that implemented it. BASIC 4 machines (PET 8032, PET 4032, etc.) had some extra commands (compared to BASIC 2 machines, and the C-64 and VIC-20) that took care of some of the details, but the traffic between the computer and the drive was identical... For example: On a BASIC 4 PET, you could type CATALOG to get a disk catalog. On all machines, including BASIC 4 machines, you could load the special file "$" to get a catalog (i.e., "LOAD "$",8"). The drive itself knew about the directory format, media capacity, what a sequential file was, etc. The PET/C-64/VIC-20 just knew how to open a device (printer, disk drive, modem, etc.), how to move blocks back and forth, and how to close the device. It's a very different model than most computers use. There was no real "DOS" on the CPU, just low-level device access routines. There are DOS version numbers for devices, but they tend to be related to how new the drive is, and any details about media and capacity. I know of only one "upgrade" in the Commodore drive family - the original 2040 drives had a slightly buggy DOS for which a new set of ROMs were available, making it, in effect, a 4040 drive (the low-level format changed slightly, eliminating one block per track for one of the recording zones). There were version numbers like 1.0 and 2.0 for the 2040/3040/4040, up to 3.0 for devices like the D9060 and D9090 hard drives. It's probably too much detail for what you want, but the Commodore drive scheme isn't like the other microcomputers of the day, and it bears some explaining. -ethan -- Ethan Dicks, A-130-S Current South Pole Weather at 18-Nov-2003 22:30 Z South Pole Station PSC 468 Box 400 Temp -37 F (-38.4 C) Windchill -66 F (-54.4 C) APO AP 96598 Wind 8.4 kts Grid 034 Barometer 676.6 mb (10756 ft) Ethan.Dicks(a)amanda.spole.gov http://penguincentral.com/penguincentral.html