Commodore Equipment

Message text written by INTERNET:classiccmp@u.washington.edu I plan on getting the 8050 drives today at noon, if they're still there. There was also an IEEE-488 printer to go with it.< That's what it sounded like; this seems to be the most common machine in the P/B line, at least in the U.S. It's the same as what I have. It seems rather unique, which I like, but I'm not sure if I'd actually use it, which is something I like to do as well... ]]< "Using it" is somewhat problematic. While there is a fair chunk of software out there for the PET/CBM line, a lot of that won't run on the B series, at least without modification. As a "for instance", the typical way to find out how much memory you have on a Commodore machine is the check FRE(0). The "0" is a dummy variable on most C= units-- checking FRE(0) will give you the same answer as FRE(1) or FRE(10), etc.-- but "0" is the one typically used. However, on the B series, the variable makes a difference; since it is bank-switched, the different variables let you check different banks. As I recall, a PRINT FRE(0) command on a B-128 yields-- 0. So any software that checks for free memory-- and a lot of PET/CBM software did, since there were 8K machines, 16 K machines and 32K machines-- asks a B-128 that question, gets "0" in response, and crashes. I note the TPUG newsletter seems to indicate the group has some B-128 software, so you could try that route if you wanted. Or, trade the unit off, since it sounds like other folks might be interested. I'm finding it interesting too, at least when it covers the home 8-bits (which I know something about) and not mini-mainframes (which mean nothing to me personally). help you've given me for the help on this little beastie!< Hopefully, that's what we're here for! If you want to trade it off, you might not want the drives. Those 8050 and 4040 units are VERY heavy, and a true Commodore enthusiast may already have a compatible drive with his PET/CBM equipment. And there ARE other CBM drives that will work; you might run across them elsewhere. (Actually, one of the nicest drives to own is a third party dual drive called an MSD-SD2. It is a smaller and quite rugged drive, which uses the 4040/1541 format. It has both an IEEE port and a Commodore serial port, so it will work with virtually any C= unit ever made (not counting Amiga and PC-clones). Further, another party came up with a "mass duplicator rom" for it, that allows quick copying from one drive to the other. In fact, it will copy a standard Commodore disk in 15 seconds, or 22 seconds for copy with verify-- and it doesn't even have to be hooked to a computer to do so!) Gil Parrish 107765.1161(a)compuserve.com