Baby Blue II CPU Plus (ISA card): software + scans of manuals, inserts, disks

[DeathAdderSF]

Hello, all.

I recently picked up a complete Baby Blue II CPU Plus on the cheap. This is a Z80 co-processor card that allows super-oldie PCs to run CP/M-80 natively. Yee-hah!!
I didn't see scans anywhere, so I made some myself. The operating software is also available, direct from the original 160kb 5.25" floppies. Please download & enjoy.

Operating software...

Baby Blue II CPU Plus - Operating software

Manuals...

Baby Blue II CPU Plus User's Manual Version 1.0
BSTAM - Byrom Software Telecommunications Access Method Version 4.6

Inserts...

Battery Protector
Warranty Registration Form
Byrom Software End User Software License Agreement

Floppy disks...

Floppy disks

These downloads will be permanent. Eventually I plan to host a modest, informative website about the Baby Blue cards.
So! Keep an eye on this space, I guess...

www.diskman.com/presents/babyblue

 

[Trixter]

I had to look at the manual to realize I have the earlier version of the same board: The Baby Blue. Yours is in better shape than mine But for posterity I've archived both sets of manuals and software here: ftp://ftp.oldskool.org/pub/drivers/Microlog/

From the earlier version's manual:

"Baby Blue is a single-board microcomputer which enables the IBM Personal Computer to run programs written for the CP/M-80 operating system. Although small enough to fit in a single expansion slot, it contains a high-speed Z-80B microprocessor and a full 64 Kilobytes of memory, making it actually more powerful than most first-generation microcomputers.

"Baby" connotes a symbiosis in which Baby Blue handles CP/M-80 code written for the Z-80, while depending on the the host PC's 8088 microprocessor to manage "life support" (operating system) functions - keyboard, screen, disk drives, printers, etc. The closeness of this "mother-child" relationship is Baby Blue's unique strength; you get dual operating system capability under PC-DOS alone, not the hassle of maintaining two separate operating systems."

 

[DeathAdderSF]

I've got one of the first-gen boards myself, with the Xedex branding, though it is in pretty piss-poor shape (still works, though).
Thanks for adding the scans + software to your site; the wider distribution, the better.

 

[DeathAdderSF]

OK! I, just the other day, acquired an original Baby Blue CPU Plus card, complete in box, also on the cheap. So that stuff had to be scanned too, natch. Once again I got lucky and everything's in fantastic shape, esp. considering it's from 1983. Only problem is the floppy disk seems to be dead but that's fine; the software is downloadable from Trixter's archive linked a couple posts up.

Scans...

Baby Blue CPU Plus User's Manual
Floppy disk
Microlog Accessory Price List

Enjoy!

 

[tingo]

I like your scan of the floppy disk

 

[Al Kossow]

I like your scan of the floppy disk

that has been standard practice to establish provenance of floppy dumps for a while now

 

[Trixter]

that has been standard practice to establish provenance of floppy dumps for a while now

Until you run across one that was faked, which I did a few years ago. So I treat them as reference, but not proof.

 

[DeathAdderSF]

I like your scan of the floppy disk

They were just buying consumer floppies in bulk and pasting their own labels over them. The older the labels get, the cheesier they look. :-|

 

[DeathAdderSF]

I'm back with scans of the Baby Blue & Baby Blue II boxes! Say whaaaat?

Boxes...

Baby Blue CPU Plus - box
Baby Blue II CPU Plus - box

I really didn't enjoy the scanning process for the boxes, so they're not perfect. But they're still better than you'll probably find elsewhere on the 'net, methinks.

'K bye.

 

[Eudimorphodon]

I had to look at the manual to realize I have the earlier version of the same board: The Baby Blue. Yours is in better shape than mine But for posterity I've archived both sets of manuals and software here: ftp://ftp.oldskool.org/pub/drivers/Microlog/

I randomly found myself skimming through the "Baby Blue CPU Plus User's Manual" last night, and it's fascinating reading how the board is basically just a 64k memory card with a Z-80 wedged on there as an inferior partner to the 8088, with lower priority access to the shared memory and the ability to be halted or otherwise manipulated by setting bits on an I/O latch.

Does anyone know if schematics of this board, or even just high-res pictures of it and a parts list, are in the wild? Part of me is kind of itching to try recreating it. In particular, I wonder if with some creative software gymnastics it could be hacked into behaving as a TRS-80 emulator.

 

[Ruud]

Part of me is kind of itching to try recreating it. In particular, I wonder if with some creative software gymnastics it could be hacked into behaving as a TRS-80 emulator.

Did you manage it?

I have this Atom-in-PC from Roland Leurs himself and I was wondering if there something like "Z80-in-PC" or "CP/M-in-PC" existed. So I created my own Z80-in-PC, but just as an idea, no PCB yet. The problem: how do I get the CP/M software on a PC floppy or disk drive? So I did some Google and I ran into this page.

But then another thought raised: has anybody else done this job before? To be sure: I'm talking about a Z80 (or better CPU) on an ISA or PCI card. I don't want to invent the wheel twice And why I want it? Just for the fun of it. It was quite weird to run an Acorn Atom-ish computer on my old Commodore 386SX PC.