From Newsgroup: comp.os.cpm

Hi,

I still haven't soldered together my RC2014, but it's going to
be a rainy week here so I guess it's going to happen :)

In any case, I've been exploring CP/M 2.2 in the z80pack
emulator for the past week(s) and started writing some software
for fun and education.

I've been using the assembler that ships with the OS, 'asm', and
that works fine. It's been fun to re-acquaint myself with 8080
assembly (even though I never did any 8080 assembly before, but
did a lot of Z80 assembly which is basically the same with some
extras).

As the source grows longer, I'm dreading the point where I can
no longer edit it. Once I hit 512 lines, te (the editor I'm
using) started complaining. Apparently it's configured to have
a max of 512 lines by default. It can be increased, but the max
max is 4096. We'll see if I get there, but assembly tends to
grow pretty quickly.

I could chain assembly instructions together on one line with
the ; separator, but that's not going to help readability
I fear.

Anyway, at some point I might want to split it up in
multiple files anyway, just to keep things structured. I guess
that means I will have to switch to microslop's M80 assembler,
or are there others available?

It doesn't appear that there's some kind of build tool for
M80 either, which keeps track of which files have been
modified and need to be reassembled. I guess one could
(ab)use the 'changed' bit of the files for that, if one
doesn't already use it for tracking files for backup.

Now of course, I could be doing all this on my linux host
using cross compilers and a modern IDE and all that, but
where's the fun in that?

Cheers,

Koen
--
Software architecture & engineering: https://www.sonologic.se/
Sci-fi: https://www.koenmartens.nl/
Retrocomputing videos: https://retroscandinavian.eu/

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From Newsgroup: comp.os.cpm

On 5/31/26 1:08 PM, Koen Martens wrote:

Now of course, I could be doing all this on my linux host
using cross compilers and a modern IDE and all that, but
where's the fun in that?

Something I did pretty quickly with CP/M-68K was get a better editor.
The first was RED. Keyed in from the listing in Dr. Dobb's. And boy
wasn't that fun.

Then I got the uEmacs source from the C User's Group. I have been an
Emacs user ever since.

If you haven't found it already: http://cpmarchives.classiccmp.org/
--
http://davesrocketworks.com
David Schultz
"It's just this little chromium switch here..."
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From Newsgroup: comp.os.cpm

David Schultz <david.schultz@earthlink.net> wrote:

Something I did pretty quickly with CP/M-68K was get a better editor.
The first was RED. Keyed in from the listing in Dr. Dobb's. And boy
wasn't that fun.

Then I got the uEmacs source from the C User's Group. I have been an
Emacs user ever since.

There's also ve (a vi-like editor) for CP/M, listed on https://t3x.org/t3x/0/programs.html (Nils posted that here
recently). I have yet to try it though.

Cheers,

Koen
--
Software architecture & engineering: https://www.sonologic.se/
Sci-fi: https://www.koenmartens.nl/
Retrocomputing videos: https://retroscandinavian.eu/

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From Newsgroup: comp.os.cpm

On 5/31/26 1:08 PM, Koen Martens wrote:

Now of course, I could be doing all this on my linux host
using cross compilers and a modern IDE and all that, but
where's the fun in that?

Cheers,

Koen

Kudos on the effort and all the great fun you are having!

But don't worry too much about cross assemblers.
The 8080 has a long history of cross assemblers and compilers being used
for large projects.
Gates/Allen used one for the first Altair Basic for the 8080 back in the
70's.
I regularly use them for anything non-trivial.
I have several vintage machines connected in an rs-232 loop with a
Windows PC on one end running Terra Term for communication.
On this machine I have a CP/M emulator running in DOS and Notepad++ for editing. I edit/assemble/test everything on the PC. When it looks
good, I XMODEM it over to a vintage machine. This process saves wear
and tear on the old hardware too.

-J
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From Newsgroup: comp.os.cpm

John <john@somewhere> wrote:

But don't worry too much about cross assemblers.
The 8080 has a long history of cross assemblers and compilers being used
for large projects.
Gates/Allen used one for the first Altair Basic for the 8080 back in the 70's.
I regularly use them for anything non-trivial.
I have several vintage machines connected in an rs-232 loop with a
Windows PC on one end running Terra Term for communication.
On this machine I have a CP/M emulator running in DOS and Notepad++ for editing. I edit/assemble/test everything on the PC. When it looks
good, I XMODEM it over to a vintage machine. This process saves wear
and tear on the old hardware too.

The RC2014 isn't exactly old hardware :)

I've used cross compilers a lot, still do, and not just for vintage
targets. My job involves lots of low-power ARM and Risc-V CPUs, you
don't want to be compiling on those (if that would even be possible).

But I just want this one to be completely developed on the target,
to prove that it can be done. It's part of the challenge for me,
and goes back to my interest in permacomputing. I want to be able
to do everything I want on the physical CP/M system with as little
dependencies as possible. At some point this will also involve
running the system on solar power instead of from the grid.

Cheers,

Koen
--
Software architecture & engineering: https://www.sonologic.se/
Sci-fi: https://www.koenmartens.nl/
Retrocomputing videos: https://retroscandinavian.eu/

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From Newsgroup: comp.os.cpm

On 31.05.26 20:08, Koen Martens wrote:

Hi,

[...]

Anyway, at some point I might want to split it up in
multiple files anyway, just to keep things structured.

I suggest doing just that: split up your source into several source
files, then assemble each one into an object file and, last, link
everything together into the final executable.

Personally I have an old SB180FX with ZSystem which comes with all the
tools necessary, so ymmv.

Josef
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From Newsgroup: comp.os.cpm

Koen Martens wrote:

Hi,

I still haven't soldered together my RC2014, but it's going to
be a rainy week here so I guess it's going to happen :)

...<snip>...

Now of course, I could be doing all this on my linux host
using cross compilers and a modern IDE and all that, but
where's the fun in that?

Cheers,

Koen

Are you aware of the Unofficial CP/M website at <gaby.de>? The
Small-C section includes Small-MAC (assembler, librarian & linker) & Small-TOOLS (as well as the compiler). Various editors & other tools
also available.

See also the Walnut Creek CDROM (image) from <archive.org> (& SmallC
CDROM - includes cc driver for CP/M).

Lots of useful development tools for CP/M still available in internet accessible archives.

Fred

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From Newsgroup: comp.os.cpm

RP0000036664 <FredJScipione@alum.rpi.edu> wrote:

Are you aware of the Unofficial CP/M website at <gaby.de>? The
Small-C section includes Small-MAC (assembler, librarian & linker) & Small-TOOLS (as well as the compiler). Various editors & other tools
also available.

I have been on that site, but wasn't aware of Small-MAC, so thanks
for that. I'll be checking that out!

See also the Walnut Creek CDROM (image) from <archive.org> (& SmallC
CDROM - includes cc driver for CP/M).

Lots of useful development tools for CP/M still available in internet accessible archives.

My main problem is that there's so much, and I don't know what I'm
looking for specifically, not having used CP/M before. I guess I'm
just overwhelmed, but tips like the above make all the difference.

Cheers,

Koen
--
Software architecture & engineering: https://www.sonologic.se/
Sci-fi: https://www.koenmartens.nl/
Retrocomputing videos: https://retroscandinavian.eu/

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From Newsgroup: comp.os.cpm

Koen Martens <gmc@metro.cx> wrote:

I have been on that site, but wasn't aware of Small-MAC, so thanks
for that. I'll be checking that out!

Small-MAC seems nice! It uses different syntax than the
assembler shipped with CP/M itself though. I hope I can
track down the manual somewhere, otherwise I will have
to reverse engineer somehow ...

Cheers,

Koen
--
Software architecture & engineering: https://www.sonologic.se/
Sci-fi: https://www.koenmartens.nl/
Retrocomputing videos: https://retroscandinavian.eu/

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