The Servant

[omicrondelta]

Just a quck question for you guys...

I just bought a 128 off of eBay and it has 'The Servant' installed.  Nice little program.  Had the 64 or 128 had something like that built in back-in-the-day I would've wanted a Commodore, rather than Atari (I know, I know) when I was younger.  OK... to the point... How do I enter The Servant again?  My 128 came with no manuals.

Another question...

I see that there's 'a few months', etc. wait for new stuff from www.cmdrkey.com.  Is it worth it?  If I pay, will I receive?  I would love an FD-2000 or two and a SuperCPU...

[bacon]

The Servant should start when you start your C128. If you leave the Servant, you should be able to enter it again with Shift-Run/Stop IIRC. And yeah, it's a fantastic piece of software to have installed in a 128. I use it all the time to copy disks, manage disk directories, etc. The manual is included in the Servant archive files at zimmers.net. Dowload the files and transfer them to a disk and extract them on your C128; if you have no way of transferring them to the real hardware, you can put them on a D64 disk image and use the VICE emulator to extract them instead.

Re CMDRKey: the general consensus is do not order from there. Maurice Randall (the man who runs it) never delivers. I ordered JiffyDOS for the VIC20 two years ago and haven't recieved anything. Luckily I haven't paid anything; other people have reported paying for SuperCPUs, HDs, and other stuff years ago without recieving anything and not having their money returned. A pity, Maurice used to provice a great service to the Commodore community. In the past I have been a happy customer, buying at least two JiffyDOS sets, a Turbo 232, a C64 port expander, and a copy of the Buddy128 assembler.

[omicrondelta]

Thanks...  I'll download the manual and give it a read tonight...

Too bad about CMDrkey...

[Andrew Wiskow]

Yes, the Servant should start up when you turn your C128 on.  When you're done with it, just press RETURN.  To go back to it, just press the computer's reset button.  Easy. 

And I agree, NEVER buy ANYTHING from the www.cmdrkey.com website.  There may be an option for buying a "new" FD-2000 on the horizon.  Check out this thread on Lemon64 for more info. 

As for the SuperCPU...  They show up on eBay every so often...  But be prepared to pay a LOT of money for one, due to the aformentioned "authorized seller" not selling them. 

-Andrew

[tomconte]

I've had the same problem recently: the manual for The Servant is really hidden in the .sfx archives. I couldn't find a copy anywhere on the Web... I found extracting the disks and then reading all the SEQ files slightly cumbersome (I know... that's how we did it in the old days... :-) I combined them all into a formatted PDF file and published it on Scribd:

http://www.scribd.com/doc/4711978/The-Servant-for-the-Commodore-128

FWIW :-)

Cheers,
Thomas.

P.S. and yes, The Servant is one of the most useful pieces of software for the C128... and the manual is one of the most detailed and informative I have seen!

[airship]

Thanks for taking the time to do that for the Servant docs. They look very nice. Might even inspire me to take out the BASIC 8 ROM I never seem to use and plug in a Servant ROM instead.

[Golan Klinger]

Wow! Very nice work indeed, Thomas! I'm looking forward to making a cup of tea tonight and sitting down for a good read (yeah, I actually enjoy reading documentation).

P.S. Hell of a first post too!

[airship]

Thanks for taking the time to do that for the Servant docs. They look very nice. Might even inspire me to take out the BASIC 8 ROM I never seem to use and plug in a Servant ROM instead.

First time I've ever quoted myself!

Does anyone sell a two-ROM board w/switch for the C128 internal socket?

[Andrew Wiskow]

Does anyone sell a two-ROM board w/switch for the C128 internal socket?

Hmm... That's an interesting idea, although I've never seen one.  Is there even room for such a thing inside the C128?  An easier option is to use the spare ROM socket inside an REU.  Of course, you need an REU to do that.  Plus, there's no switch; both internal and REU ROM's are ON.

Thomas...  I, too, extend my thanks to you for making the PDF of The Servant docs! 

[Golan Klinger]

Why not burn two function ROMs to a single EPROM with a simple switch to throw it high or low? I've seen that done. I do remember seeing a guy with three toggles and multiple (8, I guess) function ROMs in his 128. I didn't see the inside though so I'm not sure how he had it setup.

[airship]

Why not burn two function ROMs to a single EPROM with a simple switch to throw it high or low? I've seen that done. I do remember seeing a guy with three toggles and multiple (8, I guess) function ROMs in his 128. I didn't see the inside though so I'm not sure how he had it setup.

You'd need a chip adapter though, wouldn't you? More pins?

[Golan Klinger]

Think JiffyDOS. Same principle.

Quick poll: Who would be interested in a plug-in ready multi-function ROM with 8 different function ROMs and a little three switch toggle?

[airship]

What's in the ROMs?

Edit: Aw, who am I kidding? I don't even care what's on them. I'm interested.

[Golan Klinger]

I guess I should have said 'up to 8 different function' ROMs. As for what could go in there, whatever you want provided we can find a working dump. I know of BASIC 8,  File Browser 6, GEOS 128, KeyDOS, Servant, Super 81 Utilities, Super "C" and TASM. There are probably more but I can't think of them off the top of my head. Anyone?

[geneb]

I would certainly be up for this, especially if I can buy just the PCB so I can burn the ROM myself...I can also burn them for others as well, once the layout is known.

g.

[got128]

Hey,
I'd be interested in a PCB or kit for this - would be great!  I already have 2 or three roms and would like to just burn them in to one big chip with a switch or decoder / latch to let you change roms with a keystroke.

got128