Apple CP/M hardware comes in two major types:
Softcard
The Softcard-style cards all use the Microsoft Softcard mechanism of suspending the 6502 via the DMA line and taking over the bus. The Z80 has direct access to the Apple II hardware.
Because the Z80 must be synchronized to the Apple II bus, the cards generally ran the Z80 at 2 MHz. There are, however exceptions.
Clones with onboard Z80s generally (I have discovered no exceptions) use the Softcard interface.
SBC
The Single-Board Computer (SBC) cards all have their own RAM and function independently of the 6502. When active, they communicate with 6502-hosted software to perform I/O operations.
The cards generally operate the Z80 at 4-6 MHz, but they do not have direct access to the Apple II hardware.
The SBC-type cards plugged into either a standard slot or the aux slot.
Card | Type* | Notes |
---|---|---|
Microsoft Softcard | Softcard | The original Z80 card for the Apple II |
AE Z80 Plus | Softcard | |
ALS Z-Engine | Softcard | Hardware feature used for anti-piracy |
Checkmate Zee-80A | Softcard | |
Cirtech Z80 | Softcard | |
IBS AP51 | Softcard? | |
Microcomputers Mu-Z80 | Softcard | |
SPAOE Z80 | Softcard | Generic Softcard clone |
Unitron Z80 | Softcard | Generic Softcard clone |
Various | Softcard | There are many generic Softcard clones silk-screened with “Z80 Card Soft”, “Z80 Soft”, or similar. |
Ian Kim's Turbo7 | Softcard | Modern Softcard clone, fast 7MHz mode option |
Ian Kim's APSMX | Softcard | Modern card with additonal hardware, also supports MSX software. Up to 16Mhz! |
Ian Kim's A2Z80Plus | SBC | Modern 16 MHz Appli-card clone with expansion port. Expansion card supports SG1000 and Colecovision software. |
GGLabs GZ/80-A00 | Softcard | Modern Softcard clone, fast 7MHz mode option. Replaced by GZ/80-A01 and later models. |
GGLabs GZ/80-A01 | Softcard | Modern Softcard clone, fast 7MHz mode option. Works with IIgs in “fast” mode (at 2 MHz Z80 speed). |
GGLabs GZ/80-A02 | Softcard | Improvements to 7MHz mode timing |
GGLabs GZ/80-A03 | Softcard | Improvements to timing for greater compatibility |
GGLabs GZ/80-A04 | Softcard | SMT chips, removal of unused options |
PCPI Appli-Card | SBC | The original SBC-type Z80 card for the Apple II |
ALS "The CP/M Card | SBC | |
Franklin ACE-80 | SBC | OEMed version of the Appli-Card |
IBS AP22 | SBC | Maybe compatible with ALS? |
Microsoft SoftCard II | SBC | Microsoft's SBC-style card, uncommon |
Microsoft Premium Softcard //e | SBC (Aux) | |
StarCard | SBC | Appli-Card packaged with WordStar |
Alex Freed Z80 | SBC | 20MHz modern Appli-Card clone |
CardZ180 | SBC | 9.216 MHz Z180 CPU, came with ZCPR/ZSDOS, should run PCPI CP/M |
DRI CP/M Gold Card | SBC | |
Tembo Z80 | Unknown | Has ROMs, 8255 Programmable Peripheral Interface, and 2K SRAM on board. May not be a CP/M card. |
These universally plug into the CPU socket and will either include one or more jumper clips, or also plug into the MMU socket.
Card | Type* | Notes |
---|---|---|
AE Z80c | Softcard | |
AE Z-Ram (not Ultra) | Softcard | Z80 appears in “slot” 5. |
AE Z-Ram II (not Ultra) | Softcard | |
AE Z-Ram Ultra 3 | Softcard | Z80 appears in “slot” 4. |
Cirtech CP/M Module | Softcard | |
Ian Kim's Apple //c Z80 | Softcard??? | Unreleased card for Apple //c |
Various Apple II clones contained built-in Z80s that were (as far as I know) universally Softcard-compatible. The boards are usually missing slot 4, which is where the Z80 appears to be installed. Many of the boards also have 64K on board and slot 0 is used for a ROM card.
(*except Premium Softcard IIe and Softcard II)
Generally, all Softcard-workalikes can run Softcard CP/M and AE's CP/AM. The reverse is not true, specific CP/Ms shipped with certain cards do not work on generic Softcards. For instance, the ALS Z-Engine and Cirtech cards have hardware-specific behaviors that prevent their CP/M versions from working on other hardware.
The following are compatible:
Group | Compatible Cards |
---|---|
PCPI | PCPI Appli-Card, Starcard, Franklin ACE-80, Freed Z80, CardZ180, A2Z80Plus |
Softcard II | Only the Microsoft Softcard II |
Premium Softcard IIe | Only the Microsoft Premium Softcard IIe |
ALS | “The CP/M Card.” Other ALS cards are Softcard-type and not compatible. |
IBS | IBS AP22, compatibility unknown. |
CP/M | |||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Card/Group/Type | 1.x | 2.0 | 2.2 | 3.0/Plus | Other |
Softcard+clones (except premium/II) | 2.20 (44K) 2.20B (56K) 2.23 (60K) | 3.0 | AE CP/AM: 4.0B, 5.1 disk 1, 5.1 disk 2 | ||
Softcard II | 2.28B | ||||
Premium Softcard IIe | 2.25 2.26 | ||||
Cirtech | 3.0 (3.5“) | ||||
PCPI | 2.2 | ProDOS Support | |||
PCPI (Franklin) | 2.2 | Utilities | |||
PCPI (Starcard) | 2.2 | ||||
ALS (The CP/M Card) | 3.0 |
Card | Schematics |
---|---|
Microsoft Softcard | Card, Rev. E |
Cirtech //c | Card |
PCPI Appli-Card | Card & 128K Expansion |
IBS AP22 | Card & BOM |
IBS AP51 | Card & BOM |
7 MHz Z80 (Apple //e Only)