Browser-Based CP/M emulator — finally!
For a while now I have been wanting to get my JavaScript CP/M emulator working.
Z80 CPU emulation was working great, and parts of CP/M were working. You could run Microsoft BASIC and load and execute Star Trek, for example.
But even with a ton of debugging, BDOS references, and the slop-making-plagiarism-machine, it just would crash on doing anything more advanced than that, such as compiling C programs using Hi-Tech C.
Hair-pulling no longer, it works! You can even play Rogue.
I did have to "cheat", of course.
Once I knew I could have DOSBox running in a web browser, it was just a case of finding a working and capable CP/M that ran on DOS.
You should remember at this point that DOS and CP/M have a "history", but also most of the people who wanted to run CP/M on an x86 machine had DRDOS and CP/M86 right there.
Fortunately, there is an amazing and compact CP/M80 emulator called MyZ80 and not only does it do what I need to bundle the compilers etc that I want, it allows import and export of files to the host OS, which should allow me to pass in and out files from my online IDE. Maybe.
So that is the next job, but for now I am happy to get this far. For now I will leave my published CP/M emulator running the old code, I do like how you can select your own disks, but I think getting the ability to run more software is a fair exchange.
I am always amazed by emulators and being able to run them in a browser is crazy. Our hardware these days is thousands of times faster so you can do a lot. I used CP/M a fair bit before the IBM PC stuff came along. I really need to write up my computer history, but I don't generally have photos of what I used. I don't have the programs I wrote back then either.
I didn't get to use CP/M much back in the day but the times I did the experience stood out. Our NHS region used a db/os/programming platform called MUMPS and the main system was on a PDP11 but we had an Apricot CP/M machine with a local copy.
My father-in-laws best friend had a PCW word processor and that was CP/M too :)
My dad ran his business on CP/M. I wrote a game on that for my O level computing and I borrowed a machine from him to type up my degree project. Good old Wordstar :)
I still have wordstar keys muscle memory. In fact, I should add that to the emulator :D
I'm not familiar with Rogue. When I read that I was thinking about the old game Joust with the flying birds and stuff. Then I realized I was totally off. Emulators are pretty amazing. I remember the first time I got my hands on an NES emulator and it was practically life changing for me :)
Console and arcade emulation is way beyond my abilities because you are dealing with all those extra chips and timings and shudder
Such a shame that Nintendo in particular are hostile to it, we are going to lose so much if they manage to chill or stamp out all preservation efforts!
Yes, that is very true. I kind of understand their stance, especially when they offer those old games on platforms like the Wii, but it's clearly just a money grab.
Thanks for your contribution to the STEMsocial community. Feel free to join us on discord to get to know the rest of us!
Please consider delegating to the @stemsocial account (85% of the curation rewards are returned).
Consider setting @stemsocial as a beneficiary of this post's rewards if you would like to support the community and contribute to its mission of promoting science and education on Hive.