{"id":41,"date":"2010-10-10T20:11:39","date_gmt":"2010-10-10T20:11:39","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.basoft.co.uk\/wordpress\/?page_id=41"},"modified":"2012-02-04T21:59:05","modified_gmt":"2012-02-04T21:59:05","slug":"sharp-mz-80b","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"http:\/\/www.basoft.co.uk\/wordpress\/emulation\/computer-system-emulation\/sharp-mz-80b\/","title":{"rendered":"Sharp MZ-80B"},"content":{"rendered":"

This page provides some introductory technical specifications about the MZ80B machine, and also showcases the MZ80B emulator produced by me.<\/p>\n

Technical Specifications<\/h3>\n

Dimensions:<\/h5>\n

450mm x 520mm x 270mm<\/p>\n

Approx. Weight:<\/h5>\n

16Kg<\/p>\n

Processor:<\/h5>\n

4MHz Zilog Z80A Clone (Sharp LH-0080A)<\/p>\n

RAM:<\/h5>\n

32K Standard DRAM,<\/p>\n

Optional 32K Expansion Available.<\/p>\n

2K Text Video RAM<\/p>\n

ROM:<\/h5>\n

2K Character Generator<\/p>\n

2K IPL (Initial Program Loader)<\/p>\n

Operating System:<\/h5>\n

(None built in):<\/p>\n

Initial Program Loader was used to load operating systems from Disk\/Tape. These included Sharp BASIC, Disc BASIC (FDOS), CP\/M 2.2<\/p>\n

Keyboard:<\/h5>\n

92-Key Professional Touch<\/p>\n

Display:<\/h5>\n

Built-In 9″ Green CRT (60Hz VSync, 15.75 KHz HSync)<\/p>\n

Text:<\/h5>\n

40×25 and 80×25 software-switchable<\/p>\n

Graphics:<\/h5>\n

(Optional)\u00a0Hi-Res (320×200 pixels) – Each board contains 8K Video RAM:<\/p>\n

Capacity for 2 Graphics Boards giving 2 independent mono 320×200 planes.<\/p>\n

Audio:<\/h5>\n

8cm 32-Ohm 1-Channel Speaker.\u00a0Max 400mW @ 440Hz<\/p>\n

Storage:<\/h5>\n

Integral Cassette Tape. Software controlled transport system.\u00a01800 bits\/sec using Sharp PWM.<\/p>\n

(Optional) Dual 5.25″ Floppy Drive<\/p>\n

Architectural Components:<\/h5>\n

Zilog Z-80A CPU,\u00a0Zilog Z-80A PIO Controller,\u00a0Intel 8253-Compatible Precision Timer,\u00a0Intel 8255-Compatible Peripheral Interface<\/p>\n

Accessories<\/h3>\n

The MZ-80B was originally designed as a modular system. Some of the planned expansion modules were subsequently manufactured and sold, others, sadly, were not.<\/p>\n

MZ080RM – 32K Expansion RAM Unit<\/h5>\n

This module inserts in “piggy-back” fashion over the standard 32K of RAM providing a total of 64K RAM<\/p>\n

MZ-80GM – Hi-Res Graphics Card<\/h5>\n

This card clips beneath the CRT housing and connects to the motherboard using 2 ribbon-style cables with IDC Connectors.<\/p>\n

MZ-80GMK – 2nd Hi-Res Graphics Card<\/h5>\n

This card is inserted into the MZ-80EU Expansion Unit, and coupled to the MZ-80GM 1st Graphics card using a ribbon-style cable.<\/p>\n

MZ-80EU – Expansion Unit<\/h5>\n

This module holds up to 6 expansion cards, and is inserted in the cavity at the rear of the machine. It is connected to the PSU and Motherboard of the main machine. A MUST in order to add expansion cards.<\/p>\n

MZ-80IO2 – Universal I\/O Card<\/h5>\n

This card claims to offer a bi-directional interface to the computer. It was intended primarily for use as an RS-232 interface. Inserts into the MZ-80EU Expansion Unit.<\/p>\n

MZ-8PB5I – Printer Interface Card<\/h5>\n

This card inserts into the MZ-80EU Expansion Unit and provides an interface for a centronics-style printer. Various printers were available (80-Col and 132-Col), and were based around EPSON Engines. Additional ROM sets were available to adapt existing Epson printers to print the Sharp character set.<\/p>\n

MZ-80FI – Floppy Disk I\/O Card<\/h5>\n

This card inserts into the MZ-80EU Expansion Unit, and allows connection of the MZ-80FD\/FB\/FBK Floppy Drive Units. Based around a Ferranti MB-8866 FDC I\/C.<\/p>\n

MZ-80FB(K) – Dual 5.25″ Floppy Drive (and MZ-80FD, the later model)<\/h5>\n

This external dual-floppy drive unit was suitable for connection to the MZ-80FI interface, and provided 2 drives each with 286K of storage capacity. Geometry of the disks was: 70 tracks (35 double-sided), 16 sectors, 256-Bytes per Sector.<\/p>\n

Other expansions<\/h5>\n

Other devices planned included a Hard Disk interface, Punched Card Reader, Color Display, IEEE-Compatible interface. Unfortunately, details of these are scarce, and I have not been able to find out whether they were ever produced (either in prototype or commercially).<\/p>\n

Tips for the Enthusiast<\/h3>\n

Tips & Tricks that may be of use or interest to other Sharp Collectors and Enthusiasts world-wide:<\/p>\n

Tip #1 – Where there’s smoke, there’s fire?<\/h4>\n

Well, not exactly! I experienced a Power Supply failure with both the Computer and Floppy Drive. When connected to the mains, they produced lots of smoke.<\/p>\n

This was caused by faulty smoothing capacitors across the supply connector. These capacitors are not required with today’s high-quality domestic power distribution, and can be safely removed, eliminating the smoke problem.<\/p>\n

I have performed this mod myself, and it works OK for me, however I accept no liability for damage caused by performing this. Remember: Always disconnect the power supply before opening a piece of equipment, and if you are not sure what you are doing, always consult the aid of a qualified electrical engineer.<\/p>\n

Emulator<\/h3>\n

After several incarnations (MS-DOS, Linux X11), finally the Windows version was completed. This is the most complete of any of the versions of my MZ80B Emulator (and in fact the only one I still have source code for!).<\/p>\n

\"MZ80B<\/a>

MZ80B Emulator About Box<\/p><\/div>\n

The emulator features a limited set of options, allowing for automatic emulated speed adjustment, and the ability to enable\/disable the graphics memory expansion, RAM expansion and to insert\/eject virtual floppy images.<\/p>\n

\"MZ80B<\/a>

MZ80B Emulator Options Dialog<\/p><\/div>\n

The virtual floppy format is that used by the amstrad emulator utility CPDREAD (.DSK format) as this is the most compatible for the two primary formats used by the Sharp machine; a CP\/M format, and an FDOS format. The emulator also includes a ubiquitous CPU debug display:<\/p>\n

\"MZ80B<\/a>

The MZ80B Emulator Debugger<\/p><\/div>\n

Emulation enables the use of the genuine IPL bootstrap ROM to boot the machine:<\/p>\n

\"MZ80B<\/a>

Screenshot of MZ80B IPL<\/p><\/div>\n

This ultimately permits both of the primary Operating Systems which were available to be executed (Sharp’s own FDOS which was a disk-based BASIC, and Digital Research CP\/M 2.2):<\/p>\n

\"A<\/a>

MZ80B BASIC Demonstrated<\/p><\/div>\n

\"The<\/a>

The sign-on message for MZ80B CP\/M<\/p><\/div>\n

\"MZ80B<\/a>

Screenshot of MZ80B CP\/M Running<\/p><\/div>\n

When running FDOS, this enables some of the old games which were available for the Sharp MZ80B to be loaded from Disk and played:<\/p>\n

\"MZ80B<\/a>

MZ80B Game - Missile Command Clone<\/p><\/div>\n

\"MZ80B<\/a>

MZ80B Game - PacMan Clone #1<\/p><\/div>\n

\"MZ80B<\/a>

MZ80B Game - Space Invaders<\/p><\/div>\n

\"MZ80B<\/a>

MZ80B Game - Arkanoid<\/p><\/div>\n

\"MZ80B<\/a>

MZ80B Game - Galaxian<\/p><\/div>\n

\"MZ80B<\/a>

MZ80B Game - PacMan Clone #2<\/p><\/div>\n

Download Binaries:<\/h4>\n

\"\"  MZ80B Emulator Binaries<\/a><\/strong> (934.1 KiB, 2,144 hits)<\/p>\n

Download Source:<\/h4>\n

\"\"  MZ80B Emulator Source<\/a><\/strong> (107.1 KiB, 1,132 hits)<\/p>\n

Download pack of \u00a0Floppy Images:<\/h4>\n

\"\"  SharpDisks.rar<\/a><\/strong> (2.4 MiB, 2,128 hits)<\/p>\n

Download Borland Libraries (needed by discmgr.exe):<\/h4>\n

\"\"  Borland Libraries<\/a><\/strong> (381.4 KiB, 1,361 hits)<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

This page provides some introductory technical specifications about the MZ80B machine, and also showcases the MZ80B emulator produced by me. Technical Specifications Dimensions: 450mm x 520mm x 270mm Approx. Weight: 16Kg Processor: 4MHz Zilog Z80A Clone (Sharp LH-0080A) RAM: 32K Standard DRAM, Optional 32K Expansion Available. 2K Text Video RAM ROM: 2K Character Generator 2K […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"parent":37,"menu_order":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":{"footnotes":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.basoft.co.uk\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/41"}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.basoft.co.uk\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.basoft.co.uk\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/page"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.basoft.co.uk\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.basoft.co.uk\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=41"}],"version-history":[{"count":10,"href":"http:\/\/www.basoft.co.uk\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/41\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":184,"href":"http:\/\/www.basoft.co.uk\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/41\/revisions\/184"}],"up":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.basoft.co.uk\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/37"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.basoft.co.uk\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=41"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}