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GeneralRe: Wordle 430 Pin
OriginalGriff22-Aug-22 18:49
mveOriginalGriff22-Aug-22 18:49 
GeneralRe: Wordle 430 Pin
ChandraRam22-Aug-22 20:13
ChandraRam22-Aug-22 20:13 
GeneralRe: Wordle 430 Pin
Sander Rossel22-Aug-22 20:45
professionalSander Rossel22-Aug-22 20:45 
GeneralRe: Wordle 430 Pin
pkfox22-Aug-22 21:09
professionalpkfox22-Aug-22 21:09 
GeneralRe: Wordle 430 (5/6) Pin
musefan23-Aug-22 2:11
musefan23-Aug-22 2:11 
GeneralRe: Wordle 430 Pin
Cp-Coder23-Aug-22 2:36
Cp-Coder23-Aug-22 2:36 
GeneralRe: Wordle 430 Pin
jmaida23-Aug-22 8:05
jmaida23-Aug-22 8:05 
GeneralZwölf is dead! Pin
CodeWraith22-Aug-22 3:51
CodeWraith22-Aug-22 3:51 
There was not much left to be learned and it's time to build Zwölf 02. This time around we are going to have 64k RAM and 32k EEPROM, as well as the first I/O devices like a IDE port with up to two storage devices that support the old 8 bit mode. For starters, I have two 8 gb compact flash memory cards. Zwölf 02 is going to have two 'SSDs' with a total 16 gb of storage space. A lot for a humble 8 bit computer.

Ahh, and my little 1802BCE has maxed out at 7.39 MHz at VCC = VDD = 5V. The only way to reach more is to raise VDD (the processor's core voltage) to up to 10V. Overclocking the 1802 works exactly like overclocking a much more modern processor. But I doubt that I will ever go there. It's very easy to kill the processor and I don't want to have any active or passive cooling. Besides that, further on I will also have to take care of more periphery and the I/O devices may have problems keeping up with the processor. For example, a TMS9918 graphics chip only worked with a CDP1802 up to 4 MHz and I'm already going twice as fast. At the moment my only option left is the MC6847, which makes my eyes bleed.

Hardware work to do: Finish wiring everything up on the breadboard. I swear, it's the last time I will do that on a breadboard. Zwölf 03 with megabytes of RAM will get a real circuit board.

Programming work to do: I need drivers to access the memory card(s) (actually already finished) Ancient file systems like CP/M can't handle 8 gb storage space and that's be far not the biggest memory card around. And I might also want to stay compatible to a PC to make transfering files a little easier. FAT16 seems barely up to the job, so will I really have to go all the way and at least use FAT32 on a 8 bit computer? Has anybody here ever messed with something like that?

Am I happy when all this is over and everything is ready for Zwölf 03. Then I can concentrate on the memory expansion, wich will not be very gard on the hardware side. it's just more of the stuff that I already designed for Zwölf 02. On the software side it's going to be another story.

It's a good thing that the CDP1802 does not have any CALL or RETURN instructions. You have to use simple procedures to implement a more elaborate calling convention. And elaborate it is already. Actual memory addresses are not needed anymore to call a routine and there are two stacks, a call stack and a parameter stack. The only thing still missing is to extend the whole thing to support my simple 'MMU' and I can call any routine that has been loaded into any 48k memory page without knowing its memory address, nor the page to which it has been loaded.

The code gets portioned into modules, like DLLs, and I have trouble forcing traditional assemblers to generate that kind of code with possible external references, dependencies and not knowing actual addresses. And a higher level language for the more complicated stuff would also be nice. We have a C compiler, but it also is rooted firmly in the old memory model. So I picked a flavor of FORTH if I will have to implement it myself. The 1802 and FORTH are old friends. Just ask the Galileo space probe. But let's forget the whole FORTH as an OS and also the interpreter stuff. Let's implement it as a cross compiler on the PC. I think I will not call it FORTH. Maybe ZWÖLFTH.
I have lived with several Zen masters - all of them were cats.

His last invention was an evil Lasagna. It didn't kill anyone, and it actually tasted pretty good.

GeneralRe: Zwölf is dead! Pin
CPallini22-Aug-22 4:05
mveCPallini22-Aug-22 4:05 
GeneralRe: Zwölf is dead! Pin
CodeWraith22-Aug-22 4:41
CodeWraith22-Aug-22 4:41 
GeneralRe: Zwölf is dead! Pin
TheGreatAndPowerfulOz22-Aug-22 4:47
TheGreatAndPowerfulOz22-Aug-22 4:47 
GeneralRe: Zwölf is dead! Pin
Mike Hankey22-Aug-22 5:35
mveMike Hankey22-Aug-22 5:35 
JokeRe: Zwölf is dead! Pin
Daniel Pfeffer22-Aug-22 10:41
professionalDaniel Pfeffer22-Aug-22 10:41 
GeneralRe: Zwölf is dead! Pin
glennPattonWork323-Aug-22 0:00
professionalglennPattonWork323-Aug-22 0:00 
GeneralRe: Zwölf is dead! Pin
Daniel Pfeffer23-Aug-22 1:03
professionalDaniel Pfeffer23-Aug-22 1:03 
GeneralRe: Zwölf is dead! Pin
Jörgen Andersson23-Aug-22 2:22
professionalJörgen Andersson23-Aug-22 2:22 
GeneralRe: Zwölf is dead! Pin
CodeWraith23-Aug-22 9:46
CodeWraith23-Aug-22 9:46 
GeneralRe: Zwölf is dead! Pin
Jörgen Andersson23-Aug-22 10:10
professionalJörgen Andersson23-Aug-22 10:10 
GeneralRe: Zwölf is dead! Pin
CodeWraith23-Aug-22 11:18
CodeWraith23-Aug-22 11:18 
GeneralHow does USB to HDMI work? Pin
Marc Clifton22-Aug-22 3:43
mvaMarc Clifton22-Aug-22 3:43 
GeneralRe: How does USB to HDMI work? (edited) Pin
Dan Neely22-Aug-22 4:16
Dan Neely22-Aug-22 4:16 
GeneralRe: How does USB to HDMI work? (edited) Pin
Peter Shaw23-Aug-22 3:10
professionalPeter Shaw23-Aug-22 3:10 
GeneralRe: How does USB to HDMI work? Pin
charlieg22-Aug-22 11:49
charlieg22-Aug-22 11:49 
GeneralRe: How does USB to HDMI work? Pin
maze322-Aug-22 23:45
professionalmaze322-Aug-22 23:45 
GeneralRe: How does USB to HDMI work? Pin
obermd22-Aug-22 17:14
obermd22-Aug-22 17:14 

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