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SmartROM was one of MICROCode Consulting's first endeavors commercially.  It is a complete replacement for the Xerox 820-I and BigBoard ROMs offering a monitor and BIOS capability above and beyond that of the original package, but fitting in the same footprint.

Written in Z-80 assembler for use under QP/M, CP/M 2.x and compatibles, features of SmartROM include:


Downloads

Package Version Date Size (bytes) Download time
(28.8K baud)
Click to
download
Xerox 2.5MHz Xerox keyboard ROMs 2.3 Aug 1985 3574 10sec x820x25.zip
Xerox 2.5MHz generic keyboard ROMs 2.3 Aug 1985 3573 10sec x820b25.zip
Xerox 4MHz Xerox keyboard ROMs 2.3 Aug 1985 3569 10sec x820x4.zip
Xerox 4MHz generic keyboard ROMs 2.3 Aug 1985 3568 10sec x820b4.zip
BigBoard 4MHz generic keyboard ROMs 2.3 Aug 1985 3537 10sec bb4.zip
SmartROM software 2.3 Aug 1985 5692 15sec smartrom.zip
SmartROM documentation (updated) 2.3 Dec 2005 185k 1min 8sec smartrom.pdf
SmartROM software and documentation 2.3 Dec 2005 124k 46sec smartrmd.zip


Installation

Install this package as follows:

  1. Burn the "A" and "B" ROM images onto two 2716 EPROMs and then replace the "A" and "B" ROM chips prominently located in two adjacent sockets on the motherboard.  (MICROCode Consulting no longer stocks these EPROMs, so please do not contact us for a copy.)  Upon power-up, you should immediately see a sign-on message.  If you accidentally reverse the order and plug the EPROMs into the wrong ROM socket, nothing will work but your computer will not be damaged.  (Conversely, plugging in the EPROMs upside down could damage your motherboard.)
  2. Installation of the software package entails running NULU on your CP/M or QP/M system and extracting the files to your system to some drive/user area, likely drive A, user 0 as this is operating system software including a new operating system BIOS.
  3. Although not required, follow the directions given with your QP/M or CP/M operating system for replacing the BIOS in the operating system boot image.  You may be unable to use some of the features offered by this package such as date/time stamping and multiple drive support if you do not replace your BIOS.

This is restricted for personal use software that is provided without any warranty whatsoever as described in the legacy Z-80 home page.