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tnylpo Setup Guide

Overview

tnylpo is a CP/M 2.2 emulator for Unix/Linux that runs CP/M .COM executables. It's required for testing MBASIC programs compiled to CP/M format.

Important: tnylpo must be in your PATH for test scripts to work.

Installation

tnylpo must be built from source - there are no package manager installations available.

Prerequisites

Install ncurses development libraries:

Ubuntu/Debian

sudo apt-get install libncurses5-dev

Fedora/RHEL/CentOS

sudo dnf install ncurses-devel
# or
sudo yum install ncurses-devel

macOS

Should be included with Xcode Command Line Tools: 

xcode-select --install

Arch Linux

sudo pacman -S ncurses

Building tnylpo

  1. Clone the repository 

    git clone https://github.com/agn453/tnylpo.git
cd tnylpo

  2. Build tnylpo 

    make

  3. Install Option A: System-wide (requires sudo) 

    sudo make install
# Installs to /usr/local/bin

  4. Install Option B: User directory (no sudo needed) 

    mkdir -p ~/bin
cp tnylpo ~/bin/

  5. Add to PATH (if using Option B) 

    # Add to current session
export PATH="$PATH:$HOME/bin"

# Make permanent - add to ~/.bashrc or ~/.profile
echo 'export PATH="$PATH:$HOME/bin"' >> ~/.bashrc

# Reload bashrc
source ~/.bashrc

Verification

Check Installation

# Verify tnylpo is in PATH
which tnylpo

# Check with our utility
python3 utils/check_tnylpo.py

Test with a CP/M Program

# Compile a BASIC program
python3 test_compile.py test_loop.bas

# Run with tnylpo
tnylpo test.com

Usage

Basic Usage

tnylpo program.com

With CP/M Command Line Arguments

tnylpo program.com arg1 arg2

Configuration

tnylpo can be configured via ~/.tnylpo/tnylpo.conf. Common settings:

# Terminal settings
set terminal_lines 24
set terminal_columns 80

# Disk configuration
mount a: /path/to/cpm/disk/a
mount b: /path/to/cpm/disk/b

# Printer output
printer /tmp/tnylpo-printer.txt

Features

  • Full CP/M 2.2 BDOS/BIOS emulation
  • Console I/O with ncurses
  • File system access through Unix directories
  • Printer support (output to file)
  • Accurate Z80 CPU emulation
  • Supports most CP/M programs

Troubleshooting

"tnylpo: command not found"

  • tnylpo is not installed or not in PATH
  • Run echo $PATH to check your PATH
  • Run find / -name tnylpo 2>/dev/null to locate the binary

Build Errors

"curses.h: No such file or directory"

Install ncurses development package (see Prerequisites)

"make: command not found"

Install build tools: - Ubuntu/Debian: sudo apt-get install build-essential - Fedora/RHEL: sudo dnf group install "Development Tools" - macOS: Install Xcode Command Line Tools

Runtime Issues

Screen corruption

  • Try different terminal emulator (xterm, gnome-terminal, etc.)
  • Check TERM environment variable: echo $TERM
  • Try: export TERM=xterm-256color

Program hangs

  • Press Ctrl+C to interrupt
  • Press Ctrl+Z to suspend, then kill %1 to terminate

Integration with MBASIC Compiler

The MBASIC compiler test scripts use /usr/bin/env tnylpo to find tnylpo in PATH. This approach is portable across different installation locations.

Complete Workflow Example

# 1. Write BASIC program
cat > hello.bas << 'EOF'
10 PRINT "Hello from CP/M!"
20 END
EOF

# 2. Compile to C
python3 test_compile.py hello.bas

# 3. Review generated C code
cat hello.c

# 4. Compile C to CP/M .COM file (done by test_compile.py)
# Uses: /usr/bin/env z88dk.zcc +cpm hello.c -create-app -o hello

# 5. Run on CP/M emulator
tnylpo hello.com

Alternative CP/M Emulators

If tnylpo doesn't work for your system, alternatives include:

However, test scripts are configured for tnylpo specifically.

References

Implementation Note

Test scripts use /usr/bin/env tnylpo to locate tnylpo in PATH. See: - test_compile/test_compile.py - Test compilation and execution script - utils/check_tnylpo.py - Installation verification utility