weird computer in Winvice

[Frozone212]

Has anyone heard of the CBM-5x0? What computer is it. It reads Commodore 128 basic v4.0 yet none of the commands work for the 128.

 

curious about this

 

[+OLD CS1]

Looks like the B128.

[Frozone212]

thanks

 

[carlsson]

P128 or P500 to be more exact. It was part of the CBM-II line, released in parallel with the C64. It has both VIC-II and SID, but 6509 and 128K RAM. In the beginning of 1983, Commodore internally called this computer C128, but it soon disappeared from the market. The P128/P500 today is very rare and valuable, in particular in US NTSC version - slightly more often seen in European PAL version.

 

There is also the D128 which is kind of a precursor of the "real" C128, but that one never made it beyond prototype stage.

[Frozone212]

is there an assembler for this computer or a monitor or anything?
 

[carlsson]

SYS 4 will throw you into the built-in TIM monitor, just like it does on most PET and CBM-II systems. But don't expect much, it can list memory with the M command and a few more commands.

 

Generally the P500 has very little software archived. I know some people have worked on converting C64 games, for instance there is a version of Atarisoft Pac-Man that was made to run on the P500. However just like the 80 column CBM-II series, it has a convoluted memory map so despite it has 128K RAM, it is scattered in a layout that makes it a PITA to program in machine code. BASIC might actually be preferred as the interpreter handles the memory juggling.