Sharp MZ-2800 Upgrades
Summary
Amongst the machines I have renovated is a Sharp MZ-2800, the dual CPU successor to the MZ-2500 or Super-MZ. The machine was a synergy of the old Z80 world and the dawning of the new 16bit
world based on the 80286, the heart of the IBM PC AT and the basis of most modern computers.
The machine kept full compatibility with the MZ-2500 by inclusion of the Z80 and all it's associated hardware. It also added an 80286, the primary processor of the machine along with more memory (768KB), more Graphics RAM (512KB) and an abundance of expansion options, allowing both MZ-2500 expansion cards and new MZ-2800 16bit expansion cards to be sited in the same casing. It was, in effect, a Super Super MZ!
Unfortunately the machine gave up some of the MZ-2500 features, namely compatibility with the MZ-2000 and MZ-80B but this was a small price to pay for the power and performance on offer.
As with the MZ-2500, I decided not to pursue the tranZPUter upgrade path for this machine as there is basically no space, other than the expansion bay, to add functionality. The tranZPUter would need to be redesigned as an add in card and may not be able to provide all the same features it provides to an MZ-80A/MZ-700/MZ-2000. I thus stuck with renovating it and discovering the wonders it provided.
The machine kept full compatibility with the MZ-2500 by inclusion of the Z80 and all it's associated hardware. It also added an 80286, the primary processor of the machine along with more memory (768KB), more Graphics RAM (512KB) and an abundance of expansion options, allowing both MZ-2500 expansion cards and new MZ-2800 16bit expansion cards to be sited in the same casing. It was, in effect, a Super Super MZ!
Unfortunately the machine gave up some of the MZ-2500 features, namely compatibility with the MZ-2000 and MZ-80B but this was a small price to pay for the power and performance on offer.
As with the MZ-2500, I decided not to pursue the tranZPUter upgrade path for this machine as there is basically no space, other than the expansion bay, to add functionality. The tranZPUter would need to be redesigned as an add in card and may not be able to provide all the same features it provides to an MZ-80A/MZ-700/MZ-2000. I thus stuck with renovating it and discovering the wonders it provided.
Renovation Begins
The photos below are taken from the actual machine during rebuild and are adhoc at the moment. They will in time be formed into a comprehensive guide, please bear with me.
Credits
Where I have used or based any component on a 3rd parties design I have included the original authors copyright notice within the headers or given due credit. All 3rd party software, to my knowledge and research, is open source and freely useable, if there is found to be any component with licensing restrictions, it will be removed from this repository and a suitable link/config provided.
Licenses
This design, hardware and software, is licensed under the GNU Public Licence v3.
The Gnu Public License v3
The source and binary files in this project marked as GPL v3 are free software: you can redistribute it and-or modify it under the terms of the GNU General Public License as published by the Free Software Foundation, either version 3 of the License, or (at your option) any later version.
The source files are distributed in the hope that it will be useful, but WITHOUT ANY WARRANTY; without even the implied warranty of MERCHANTABILITY or FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE. See the GNU General Public License for more details.
You should have received a copy of the GNU General Public License along with this program. If not, see http://www.gnu.org/licenses/.
The source files are distributed in the hope that it will be useful, but WITHOUT ANY WARRANTY; without even the implied warranty of MERCHANTABILITY or FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE. See the GNU General Public License for more details.
You should have received a copy of the GNU General Public License along with this program. If not, see http://www.gnu.org/licenses/.