MaxCoderz

Batman wrote:...and then it has a zilog z765APS FDC 8631... i'm assuming this is the main cpu.

The letters "FDC" in the name hint otherwise; my guess is that it's the Floppy Disk Controller. Judging by the string displayed at startup it's an XT class machine (ie designed to be compatible with the IBM PC XT) - XT machines used the Intel 8088.

Edit: I'm not sure what its system requirements are but see if you can find a copy of QuickBASIC; that's the "serious" version of QBASIC (allowing you to compile executables, load assembly libraries etc).

ok thanxs i will look for it
the debug.exe doesn't allow certain instructions on it for some reason- hello world display-

MOV AX,SEG MESSAGE (-error )
MOV DS,AX
MOV DX,OFFSET MESSAGE ( -error)
mov ah,0009
int 21h
mov ah,004C
int 21h
MESSAGE: DB 'Hello, world.$' (-error)

do you know why?
could it be that it has to have the actual value of it? not a name for it?

do you think its possible to switch one of the 5.25 floppy drives with a 3.5 floppy drive that works?
that way i could put programs off the internet onto it.
a lot of people think qbasic and quickbasic are the same don't they?

Depends on your board, though i think it should be capable of supporting it. What kind of interface do the floppy drives have? Are they pin connectors or is it a slot socket?

Batman wrote:ok thanxs i will look for it
the debug.exe doesn't allow certain instructions on it for some reason- hello world display-
[snip]
do you know why?
could it be that it has to have the actual value of it? not a name for it?

Yep, you have to use hex literals throughout.

how would you know the address of the text if you don't know the address that the program starts at... its not the same as ti83+ principle $9d93, is it???
in other words, it doesn't start at a certain place in memory, but only where the os puts it?

By careful planning. DEBUG is only marginally more usable than a hex editor for writing assembly programs. I suggest you find a "proper" 8088 assembler and use that instead.

Memory addressing is more advanced on the 8088 than the Z80; read up on segmentation for more information.

"How much" is it started? Do you even have an OS?
If you have an OS, well, I don't know then, but if you're booting straight into your code..
IIRC it starts up in real mode (which should be its only mode) with paging disabled at the address 0xFFFFFFF0 (if it's anything like a x86 with a number that properly ends in a 6)
My sources say that the 8088 was actually a 8086 with a smaller bus? Is that all there is to it?

http://wiki.answers.com/Q/What_is_the_d ... Intel_8088

... not that i understand what its saying. the buses i use hold up to 40 people!

What kind of interface do the floppy drives have? Are they pin connectors or is it a slot socket?

four pin floppy drive
but the long bunch of wires that connect to it has a diifferent setup than my drive i want to add -> (the pins in the slot kind). i don't know what you call it but its like a nintendo game slot only 2" long i don't know it i could somehow soder them temporarly to it or what. anyways i won't get the 3.5" floppy drive till saturday. hopefully... my parents never use that part of their computer anyway...

Four pins? Are you sure that's not the power connector? Here's the back of a typical floppy drive, with a four-pin connector for power and a 34-pin connector for control (sometimes one of the pins is missing). Most floppy drives I've used use a standard IDC connector (note the filled in hole to make sure you insert it the correct way around), though I have seen some older ones using an edge connector. I seem to remember that some 3.5" floppy drives have exposed pins (no IDC connector housing) and so would accept either the standard connector or the edge connector.

Oh, and the word is "solder" - Americans don't pronounce the L for some peculiar reason, but it's there in the spelling. I advise you keep the soldering iron well away from the hardware.