On Thu, 25 Feb 2010, JP Hindin wrote:
I have a friend with an TRS80 Model III would is
looking for some bootable
media w/TRSDOS and, possibly if available, CP/M. I'm not familiar with the
TRS80 line, and I don't own any, so I'm not in a position to help.
The TRS80 III, like the 1, had ROM in low memory. and therefore couldn't
run any form of "normal" CP/M. FMG, and a few others, produced a
relocated CP/M for model 1 and 3, but it never caught on, AT ALL.
When you see mention of a TRS80 Model 1 or 3 CP/M, it normally means that
the machine has a small but significant hardware mod to permit
switching the memory map around. (That included Omicron, Parasitic
Engineering (Howard Fullmer), Montezuma Micro, etc.)
There were also hardware mods for the Expansion Interface to run 8"
drives.
Q: What is the official standard format for 5.25" disks for CP/M?
Gary Kildall: 8" SSSD.
RS sold "TRS-DOS for Model 3" 1.0,? 1.1?, 1.2, and 1.3, which were ported
versions of Model 1 TRSDOS 2.x. DOSPLUS, NEWDOS, LDOS were also available
from third parties.
The Model 4 was very similar to the model 3, but had a CTRL key on the
keyboard, and directly supported a CP/M compatible memory map. Radio
Shack sold "CP/M PLUS" (CP/M 3.0) for it, as well as there being a number
of after market 2.x ports.
Eventually RS bought rights to LDOS, and released it as "TRSDOS 6.0" for
Model 3 and 4, and Randy Cook finally started getting royalties!
(The EARLIER history of TRSDOS and Randy Cook is much more interesting)
For your model 3, you need "TRSDOS for Model 3 V1.3", and either DOSLUS,
NEWDOS80, or LDOS.