This web space has been created by and for the 'die-hard' users of the Cambridge Z88, the iPad of the 80's, launched in September 1987 at the PCW computer show in London. The company behind it was Cambridge Computer, a spring-off company of Sinclair Research, founded by Clive Sinclair.


The object of this project is to streamline the operating system, OZ and to build new applications by replacing the built-in ROM with a larger device. All the software and documents here, is provided for free, ready to be downloaded in source code, or as ready-made binaries - all GPL V2 licensed.

  

This project started in 1989, when the Z88 was still commercially supported by Cambridge Computer - the manufacturer of the Z88. The idea behind this was to identify low cost tools (ideally for free) to develop applications, in the hope that a broader software base would prolong the life of the portable; tools that could be used by both professionals and enthusiasts. Cambridge Computer supported the software with very expensive compiler tools. This, and the cost of the incomplete 'Z88 Developer Notes,' took software development beyond the reach of the hobbyist. The Z88 project was formed on Sourceforge in 2002, where a group of people uploaded source code and tools, that had been produced since 1989. After the launch of the public project on Sourceforge, a lot of more work has been achieved from valued contributions made during those years by the community, for the community.

  

Doing software development on a real Z88 is possible, but it is very cumbersome and inefficient. A Z88 emulator was built (OZvm) and is still improved, so that tools could be used to develop, compile, execute and test the software seamlessly on one computer. A small, dedicated team got together, disassembled the original code and provided a full source listing of the "OZ" v4 ROM. This version was then worked on, improving its operation and fixing bugs. Whilst understanding what the software was doing, the 'Z88 Developer Notes' were expanded and updated. You can now upload the completed version of OZ and use it on your own Z88.

Many ideas and suggestions were expressed by individual users at that time in the only public forum available, "Z88 EPROM", a by-monthly magazine published by Roy Woodward. Many of these ideas from that publication have been implemented in this project.

Years later, long after Cambridge Computer had closed, a small company remained to support the Z88 commercially, Rakewell Ltd - and still does today. The internet has now become a useful way to get support for the Z88.

 

Browse or check out your own local copy of the project source code from our Bitbucket Git Repository (fork & write comments - we love feed-back!).

In our software release area you can download the latest Z88 operating system for Flash cards, Z88 emulator, 3rd party applications and desktop tools to upload your files to the Z88.

Latest news

  • This page shows important updates.
  • Use the Projects dropdown at the top of this page to browse at all our work and wiki's.
  • There's an overview of our wiki's and what we're working on at the bottom of this page.

June 2012

The Z88 emulator is being heavily revisited at the moment, optimized, fixing bugs and improving the hardware emulation & user documentation. Check out the source code or watch the issues.

Developer's Notes Wiki are almost done; all pages imported except for some text about the screen files - will be done soon. It has been a huge work - but now it's there, 250+ pages (PDF export counter). Up-to-date with OZ V4.3 API and cross-linked.

EazyLink popdown is being developed for V5.2 having two new commands; Device Info & File CRC32, both being used by the new EazyLink client.

EazyLink client - has come far now; has all major features now - we're working on smart volume backup for people with multiple Z88's and multiple memory cards... Later this month, we will be able to release first public beta.

May 2012

EazyLink Reference documentation - Added & improved (from original HTML in source code repository). It is being edited to comply with latest V5.1 (released Aug 2011).

EazyLink client - Work continues; we expect to release a public beta in June/July.

All system API's, DC_xxx, OS_xxx and GN_xxx API calls, - have now been imported, edited and cross-linked in the Developer's Notes Wiki.

April 2012

OZ Version screen - Garry Lancaster has allowed the OZ compile scripts to include Git tag revision string to be displayed. This identifies which version is running from our control repository.

RomCombiner - Fixed a bug that was reported by Rakewell; blowing data to a UV EPROM didn’t work from V2.08. This is now fixed in V2.10. You can get it from here. 

EazyLink client - Work is progressing on all three platforms; Mac, Windows & Linux. We hope to release it sometime in May. We are able to build & test-run the client on all platforms now. Stay tuned for more information soon.

Intuition/OZ - An improved keyboard routine has been implemented. The Intuition command line can now be used without disturbing OZ interrupts while debugging code in OZ!

Rich Mellor recommends the Z88 forum: http://www.rwapservices.co.uk/Z88/forums/

February 2012

Busy month, but now a few updates:

RomUpdate V0.9 has been released which now can handle generic card images and blow them to a user-selected slot.

OZ V4.3 latest release has been uploaded to Sourceforge which now uses RomUpdate V0.9 to blow OZ V4.3 for slot 1. This ZIP file contains updated instructions as well.

Z88 emulator has been improved. It has better breakpoint management and it can now execute debugger commands at breakpoints (requested by Garry Lancaster).

December 2011

RomCombiner V2.08 released - fixing a minor syntax error in a single program line. No functional changes. Get it from Z88 Applications File Area on Sourceforge. 

Z88 User Guide Wiki (approx 20% done) and the Z88 Developers Notes Wiki (approx 50% done) is progressing.

OZvm, the Z88 Emulator, is undergoing improvements. These are some minor fixes to the display so that it is shown correctly on Mac OS X, code cleanup and improvements of breakpoint system (when used as a developer tool).

November 2011

Open Source licenses -  We have received these to generate cross-platform installer builds for our projects by BitRock. We will soon be able to make installers for:

"Z88 Assembler Workbench" (install complete developer tools on Mac, Linux or Windows, with source code and Git access)

"EazyLink", the new Gui Client (currently under development, implemented in Qt)

"OZvm", so that end-users will be able to install the Z88 emulator individually.

Z88 User Guide - We have received the OCR-scanned material (section 7 onwards, and the appendixes) from Per Svensson. We will complete this in the coming months. Just select "Z88 User Guide" from the Projects dropdown to see more. Ultimately, the User Guide will be integrated completely inside the wiki here, so it will be easier to maintain and improve with more information.

Installer & Bootstrap - Garry Lancaster announced: "As you might have noticed, I have now added these and all the associated paraphernalia. They are currently disabled for OZ v4.1+, but I am working on fixing them up in another branch." So work is ongoing to get these essential tools working on the new OZ ROM that we now provide. 

October 2011

We moved project infrastructure from Sourceforge to Atlassian OnDemand (Jira / Confluence / Fisheye) & BitBucket (Git repository). Thank you, Atlassian! We will be adding wiki pages and work projects, little-by-little, to let you know more about what is available here.

OZ V4.3 - Released final binaries, ready to be uploaded & installed in slot 1.

Z88 Emulator V1.0.2 - Released now supporting emulation of latest Rakewell hybrid 512K RAM / 512K FLASH memory cards.

EazyLink - Work has started on a new Client for Linux, Mac & Windows (sponsored by Rakewell). It will be released here for download, once the software has been completed (mid November 2011).

Zip Utilities & ZipUp - Garry Lancaster has fixed an important bug in these suites for Z88, ZipUp release V1.02 / UnZip V1.13. Download here.

 

If you don't have a Z88 and are curious about what this portable can do, download a copy of the OZvm Java application from our Download area.

 

  • Available documentation:

  • What we're working on: