User talk:Ichibrosan

RomWBW is a system software distribution written to execute on N8VEM hardware.

The N8VEM family of hardware are Z80 based microprocessor single board computers, as well as miscellaneous boards which may be combined and placed in an ECB-like buss, enabling the builder to create a custom computer systems.

These computers are primarily built from discrete components as were computers in the late 1970's and 1980's.

The majority of the systems are Z80 based and use the CP/M-80 operating system that was developed in the late 1970's by Digital Research, Inc.

The RomWBW system software is highly configurable and supports all of the Z80 based systems constructed with N8VEM components.

The system software is entirely open source and is provided in both machine readable source form and pre-built image for for those wishing to program firmware chips for insertion in the boards.

In addition to the fully implemented operating system with it's BIOS (customized for the N8VEM hardware), there are several dozen utility programs that configure and verify the proper operation of system components such as persistent storage in the form of IDE Hard Drives, Compact Flash, and Secure Digital chips.

The CP/M-80 BIOS is written in assembly language, specifically the TASM assembler.

Utility programs are written in TASM, and also a variety of natively hosted programming languages, RMAC/LINK, Aztec C, and Digital Research PL/I. These natively hosted programming languages, and tools such as WordStar (a popular editor of the time), execute under the CP/M operating system and read source files stored on memory disk or persistent media such as IDE devices or Compact Flash and Secure Digital devices through the use of an external adapter.

The version 1.x distributions of the system software has been written in a very standard CP/M-80 way and over the course of a half dozen releases has reached a highly usable state supporting the most commonly built configurations in use. The version 2.x operating software is currently under development and uses bank switched memory technology to achieve enhanced functionality beyond the average provided during the original lifetime of the software. Due to the new technology, there are no practical limits on the number of drivers that can be built in. This will allow dynamic configuration and will be much more flexible for the users. In many ways similar to the CP/M-80 Plus family of operating systems which also took advantage of.

In the same way the hardware is open source, the software is provided in source form as well, allowing users to both learn how software was written in the early days of microprocessors, but also to write new software using provided tools and documentation available both in the distribution, on the subversion server, and downloadable from a variety of public archives worldwide.

The current owners of the Digital Research, Inc operating system and language software licensed it for non-commercial use and the most comprehensive archives can be found at http://www.cpm.z80.de as well as other popular locations and mirrors.

The N8VEM hardware and operating software is very popular among hobbyists and has an enthusiastic following internationally. This active community of hardware builders utilize a wiki at http://n8vem-sbc.pbworks.com as well as several groups on Google to share knowledge and provide peer level support.

External links

The Official N8VEM Wiki

The N8VEM subversion web interface

[svn://goodall.com/public/n8vem The N8VEM svn top level folder]

[svn://goodall.com/public/n8vem/RomWBW The RomWBW distribution svn top level folder]

Ichibrosan (talk) 00:23, 29 May 2012 (UTC)