Z88 OZ Versions
OZ Versions
| Version | Keyboard | Date At Hard Reset | CLI | :RAM.- | PrinterEd |
| ESC | Bug | Bug | |||
| 1.2 | British | ||||
| 1.41 | British | ||||
| 2.0 | British | ||||
| 2.2 / 3.0 | British | Tuesday 1st September 1987 | |[ | Yes | Yes |
| Icelandic | |||||
| 2.5 | Swedish | Sunday 24th January 1988 | |, | Yes | Yes |
| 2.6 | Danish | Friday 29th January 1988 | |, | Yes | |
| 3.12 | French | Monday 11th April 1988 | |[ and |, | No | Yes |
| 3.13 | Swiss | Monday 18th April 1988 | |[ | No | No |
| Icelandic | |||||
| 3.17 (Turkey) | Turkish | Monday 27th June 1988 | |[ | No | |
| 3.18 (Germany) | German | Wednesday 6th July 1988 | |[ and |, | No | Yes |
| 3.19 (Spain) | Spanish | Tuesday 19th July 1988 | |[ and |, | No | |
| 3.21 (Denmark) | Danish | Tirsdag 26 Juli 1988 | |[ and |, | No | |
| 3.23 (Italy) | Italian | Thursday 20th October 1988 | |[ and |; | No | |
| 3.26 (France) | French | Monday 28th August 1989 | |[ and |, | No | |
| 4.001 (UK) | British | Sunday 15th March 1992 | |||
| 4.005 (UK) | British | ||||
| 4.0 (UK) | British | Monday 3rd August 1992 | |[ | No | No |
| 4.01 (FI) | Finnish/Swedish | Wednesday 6th November 2002 | |, | No | No |
Z88 Fonts New 16 August
Notes
VersionPress the HELP key from any Z88 application. Press the left arrow key a couple of times until the text 'The Cambridge Computer Z88 Portable Version ' followed by a number and optionally a country name inside parantesis is shown. At least version 2.2, 2.5, 2.6, 3.0, 3.12 and 3.13 are not followed by a country name.
The first three versions EPROM /Vol1No01/Page06.html">1.2, 1.41 and 2.0 were reported by Roy Woodward, editor of the 'Z88 Users' Club' newsletter ' EPROM /index.html/">Z88 EPROM '. He got his first Z88 on the 30th June 1987. Version 1.2 didn't have the soft reset option, only hard reset. A 'save to EPROM ' command could sometimes reset the Z88. Version 2.0 had memory problems. At five instances of PipeDream there was a 'No Room' message regardless of available RAM.
Version 2.2 and 3.0 are identical except the version number and that 2.2 was on EPROM and 3.0 on ROM.
Version 2.6 seems to have been marketed both as Danish and Norwegian. Anyone know more?
The Icelandic versions based on 3.0 and 3.13 were made by Adam David <adam@veda.is> and were never officially sanctioned by Cambridge Computer.
The Finnish/Swedish 4.01 was made by Jorma Oksanen.
Keyboard
French, German, Icelandic, Italian, Spanish, Swedish and Turkish keyboard maps can be viewed at Rakewell | Z88 | Hardware | Foreign Z88 Keyboards.
Date At Hard Reset
This is the date displayed when going to the Clock []T popdown after a hard reset. Note the Danish version is unique in having the date in Danish format instead of British.
Index Help
Version 2.2/3.0 have an Index help page with rules for card changing.
PipeDream Help
Version 2.2 to 2.6 have ten PipeDream help pages describing Trig. Functions, Log. Functions, List Functions, Slot Functions, Integer & Date Functions, Conditionals, Operators, Logical Operators, Relational Operators and Wildcards.
<>ISO
Version 3.12 and later have a third page in PrinterEd, reachable with the command <>ISO, with 28 additional character translations.
CLI ESC
In the British versions, the characters |[ can be used in CLI files to symbolise pressing the Escape key. Actually it simulates holding the diamond <> key and then pressing the [ key which returns the ESC key code. If you have a British version, you can easily test it by going to the BASIC command prompt. Hold the diamond key and press the [ key. The response is the text 'Escape' just as if the ESC key was pressed.
If you have a non-British version where |[ doesn't return ESC it's easy to find out which keys do. Just hold the diamond key in BASIC and press other keys until you get the 'Escape' response. Probably it is diamond and a non-letter key.
In the Swedish version 2.5 and Danish 2.6, ESC is returned by holding the diamond key and pressing the ',' (comma) key.
There is actually not a one to one relation between which key combination returns Escape from the keyboard and which characters produce escape in a CLI file. In Swiss OZ 3.13 the keys <> and , produce escape from the keyboard but |, does not produce escape in a CLI file. |[ does. In Turkish OZ 3.17 the keys <> and Ç produce escape from the keyboard but |Ç does not produce escape in a CLI file. |[ does. In Italian OZ 3.23 the keys <> and ; produce escape from the keyboard and both |; and |[ produces escape in a CLI file.
The result of this is that you can actually not develop a cli routine relying on producing escape that works on all OZ versions.
The following examples marks the last suspended application in Index ready for <>KILL or other action regardless of where the selection bar is initially.
#I|CARD|[~R
#I|CARD|,~R
#I|CARD|;~R
#I|CARD|[|,~R
Save one of the above lines at the time to a file in PipeDream as plain text and execute it from the Filer to see which ones work with your OZ version.
:RAM.- Bug
- From The BBC BASIC(
Z80) Reference Manual for the Z88: "There is a bug in versions of the filer up to and including version 3 that will cause the Z88 to crash if you use the device :RAM.- and then perform a soft reset whilst any files are still present in the device."
- From Z88 Developers' Notes v.093: "Due to a bug in the current operating system (version 2.2/3.0) if any files are stored in the device when a Soft Reset occurs, the system becomes badly confused, and is it very likely that a crash will follow sometime later."
See Z88 User Manual, Third Edition, Additions and Corrections and Z88 Internal ROM Modifications for several notes on avoiding :RAM.- files.
PrinterEd Bug
Goto PrinterEd []E. Enter the command <>FNEW. When the cursor returns enter the command <>FS. Enter a suitable filename to save. Load the file in PipeDream. If row 15 to 18 looks like this:
0 Y
1 Y
3 Y
4 Y
then you have the small 'Ext. sequence Off at CR' bug. The entry '2 Y' for Ext. sequence Off at CR is missing.
The serious 'Ext. sequence Off at CR' bug doesn't come into play until you update <>FU a printer driver without this option specified. Then it seems to upset the system and often cause an OZ Fail.
The cure is simple. Move the cursor to the option for Ext. sequence Off at CR and press Y even if it already shows Y. Then a save will include the entry '2 Y'. I don't know how or in which OZ versions it is fixed.
In my experience with v2.5 the :RAM.- bug and the PrinterEd Ext. sequence bug are responsible for the wast majority of OZ crashes.
Application Static Structures
From version 2.2 these major changes were made.
2.5
Index ApplHelpOffset
3.12
Index, Diary, PipeDream, Filer, PrinterEd, Panel and Terminal TopicsOffset, CommandsOffset and ApplHelpOffset.
No PipeDream Info topic.
BASIC SafeWorkspace
Filer ApplicationCodeEntryPoint
PrinterEd Desired binding of Segment 0
Terminal ApplicationCodeEntryPoint
Terminal Desired binding of Segment 3
3.17
Alarm, Filer ApplicationDorBank, ApplicationDorOffset
Alarm TopicsOffset, CommandsOffset, ApplHelpOffset
Alarm TopicsBank, CommandsBank, ApplHelpBank
I.e. from v3.17 the main application blocks didn't move around.
John Rish of Home Electronics is now able to install internal RAM and the V4 ROM in the Z88. The internal RAM can be increased to either 128K or 512K, as opposed to the 32K that the Z88 came with internally. You may do this (if you feel qualified and are willing to take the risk upon yourself of opening and modifying your Z88). You can email him at: 74601.1535@compuserve.com
Your Z88 may be sent to John for the modifications to be done, or for any needed repairs. Just email for where to send it to. Basic cost for repair is $40 plus parts as needed. John Rish is an excellent and qualified repair technician for your Z88 and we highly recommend and trust him. Please allow 8-12 days for turnaround on repairs, though often it may be faster than that. John is also available for other Cambridge or Sinclair Computer repairs as well as monitors.
THE V4 ROM CONTAINS THE FOLLOWING FIXES:
LOST HANDLES
In V3, handles could be lost by pre-empting the Filer during a catalogue, resulting in a "File in use" error which required a soft reset to clear.
ROM CARDS
It is no longer possible to insert and remove cards while the Z88 is switched off, which previously could cause the Z88 confusion. Now the Z88 wakes up when the flap for card intallation/removal is opened.
PrinterED
When updating the PrinterED settings under V3, it is common to encounter a "FAIL" condition. This has been fixed with V4. In addition, the "Allow line feeds" option now works correctly.
RAM.-device
The system no longer gets confused if files are present in this useful device if the Z88 is reset.
EXPANDED MACHINE
The Z88 will now behave as an expanded machine (giving a full map in PipeDream, and 40K workspace in BASIC) if there is 128k RAM anywhere in the system, and not just in slot 1 as it did with V3 ROM.
FILER DISPLAY
In V3, a problem sometimes occurs with Filer when marking a file after scrolling the cursor. This caused the first letter of the filename to disapear, but has been fixed with V4.
These are some of the improvements you can expect to have if you have your Z88 upgraded from the V2.2 or the V3 ROMs to the V4 ROM. Email us for further details.
The bad side of the new Version 4 ROM is that in order to make room for all these changes they had to remove most of the online help files built-in to the V3.0 ROM. There was only so much room.