Amstrad / Schneider CPC 6128 (1985)

Features

CPU: Zilog Z80 4 MHz
RAM: 128 kb (2 banks of 64ko)
VRAM: 16 kb
ROM: 48 KB
Text Modes: 20 x 25 with 16 colors, 40 x 25 with 4 colors, 80 x 25 with 2 colors
Graphic Modes: 160 x 200 with 16 colors, 320 x 200 with 4 colors, 640 x 200 with 2 colors
Colors: 27
Sound: 3 channels, 7 octaves +1 noise channel
I/O Ports: Printer port, Expansion port, 1 Joystick plug (Atari standard), Floppy Disc Port, DIN plug for Amstrad monitor, Headphone / Sound stereo jack output, DIN plug for external tape recorder
Keyboard: All grey QWERTY / AZERTY mechanical keyboard. Numeric keypad with arrow keys
Built In Media: 3” disk-drive built-in
OS: AMSDOS or CP/M

Usage

MESS currently emulates two versions of this computer

cpc6128 [Amstrad CPC6128]
cpc6128f [Amstrad CPC6128 (France, AZERTY Keyboard)] - same as the above, but different keyboard (as sold in France)

Both drivers support emulation of the CPC 6128 with one “cassette” (cass) device and up to two floppy drives, “floppydisk1” (flop1) and “floppydisk2” (flop2). The former one supports tapes in .wav and .cdt format; the latter ones support disk images in .dsk format.

Also notice that a “snapshot” (dump) feature is available for .sna files and that the “printer” (prin) is emulated as well.

Keyboard

This system requires full keyboard emulation to work correctly. At startup, full keyboard emulation mode is enabled by default. Whilst in full keyboard emulation mode, some key associated functionality may be disabled (like the ESC key for EXIT). The keyboard emulation mode is toggled using the “Scroll Lock” key (by default).

Floppy Disks

With a disk image loaded, the emulation starts from the BASIC “Ready” prompt. From here you can enter commands to access the disk image

A directory listing can be obtained with:

CAT

A program can be run with:

RUN"filename"

The common programs to run are those with a .BIN or .BAS extension and usually the smaller of the files on the disk image.

On a few games you can type:

RUN"disc

RUN"disk

to start the game.

If a directory listing cannot be obtained, then the disc might be copy-protected. In this case, try:

|CPM

“|” is obtained by pressing “shift” and the ”@” key together. Since the keyboard is mapped so the keys are in the roughly same place as on a real Amstrad keyboard, then @ can be found around the ”[”,”@”,”]”,”#” keys of your PC keyboard.

The |CPM command works by loading and executing the first sector on the first track of the disc.

Snapshots

Snapshots, which contain a memory dump, CPU state and hardware state, can be run from a command line interface with the following command:

mess cpc6128 -snap "snapshot name"

The snapshot will start automatically.

Miscellaneous

There are a few excellent utilities for creating and maintaining disk images for the Amstrad CPC emulators. Here are just a couple

Others can be found in the FAQ at http://genesis8.free.fr

Known Issues

Runs many disk images and snapshots well.

History and Trivia

The CPC 6128 was a 8-bit Amstrad computer, produced in 1985. The CPC6128 was the third in the CPC series. It had basically the same hardware as the CPC464 and the CPC664.

The Amstrad CPC 6128 was the successor to the Amstrad CPC 664 which had a very short life. It had almost all the same features as the 664, except the memory. Like the 664, only 42 Kb could be accessed, the upper 64 Kb were used as a RAM disk or to store data. It was old with quite a good quality monitor (monochrome green or color) and a built-in 3” floppy disk drive (2 x 180 KB).

It ran under Amsdos (the Amstrad Operating System) or under CP/M 2.2 or CP/M 3.0 (CP/M +). The CP/M 2.2 OS was bundled with DR Logo and CP/M+ with GSX (the graphic extension of CP/M). Like the CPC 664, the Amstrad CPC 6128 was almost fully compatible with the CPC 464.

The German version of the Amstrad (Schneider CPC 6128) had different “real” connectors instead of mainboard edge connectors. Norbert Unterberg reports that the main reason for this was that the original Amstrad did not pass the German “FCC” test because it was polluting its surroundings with electromagnetic waves, and the rules for that were much stricter in Germany. That's why the Schneider got real connectors and a metal housing inside. However, after “Schneider Rundfunkwerke” stopped selling the Amstrad CPC series of home computers and the PCW series of word-processors, Amstrad continued to sell the CPC under the Amstrad brand name in Germany.

Lots of Amstrad or third-party peripherals could be added, among them: 2nd 3”/3.5”/5.25” FD max 800k, 20MB Hard disk (4x5MB), Max 252x16k EPROMS, Max RAM Installed 640k (576k in use), RS-232 Interface, Modem, 3 key Mouse, Light Pen, Centronics Dot Matrix Printer, “PC-Hormon” MSDOS emulator

Amstrad CPC vs. Schneider CPC

(info from Lyall Moffitt): This document lists the differences between the English CPC's and the German CPC's. The original distributor in Germany was Schneider GmbH. The machines distributed by Schneider had the Schneider logo on them. (The monitors and some peripherals were also re-branded as “Schneider” e.g. Schneider DDI-1). Later CPCs were distributed by Amstrad and had the Amstrad logo on them.

The three models distributed by Schneider were:

Schneider CPC464: This had the Schneider logo followed by “64k Colour Personal Computer <>” printed on the keyboard. The keyboard did not have green and red keys, instead these were coloured light brown/grey.
Schneider CPC664: This had the Schneider logo followed by “64k Colour Personal Computer <>” printed on the keyboard. The keyboard did not have blue keys, instead these were coloured light brown/grey.
Schneider CPC6128: This had the Schneider logo followed by “CPC6128: schneiderCPC” printed on the keyboard.

Early German CPC's show “Schneider 64K Microcomputer …” or “Schneider 128K microcomputer …” on start-up. Later CPC's showed “Amstrad 64k Microcomputer …” or “Amstrad 128K microcomputer …”. The start-up name is defined by option links on the P.C.B. German CPC464's and CPC664's have P.C.B. edge connectors like the English CPC's. German CPC6128's have real connectors, instead of the P.C.B. edge of the English CPC's. This was done to reduce RF emissions. The printer is a 36-way female centronics type, the Expansion is a 50-way female centronics type and the second disc drive is a 34-way female centronics type. All the other connectors are the same. (joystick, stereo sound, monitor and power). All German CPC's have internal metal shield covering the circuit board. This is used to reduce RF emissions. Therefore the German CPC's are much heavier than the English CPC's. Internally, all German CPC's were identical to the English CPC's. The P.C.B. was identical. The quick reference “sheet” on the top of the CPC6128 and CPC664 disc drive is also in German. The computer information, printed on the base of the computer is also in German.

(info from old-computers.com)