http://classiccmp.org/pipermail/cctalk/2010-January/282022.html
It always suprised me that hre BBC micro used the 6502 rather than the
6809. By the time the Beeb was designed, Acorn had made a 6809 processor
board for their System machines, so they must have had experience with
the chip. THe Beeb is nice, but a Beeb with a 6809 processor would have
been something else :-)
-tony
Hi! When I designed the N8VEM 6809 host processor it is loosely based on an
article I read for the BBC computer called "Dragon in the tube". I am not
very familiar with the UK microcomputers but apparently 6809 "coprocessors"
were fairly common peripherals on their Z80 and 6502 designs. I used a
similar concept for the N8VEM to allow its Z80 SBC to access the 6809 as a
"host processor" peripheral on the ECB.
One of the builders was able to get CUBIX running on the N8VEM 6809 host
processor using the Z80 as its "IO processor". However, I can see how the
implementation can get confusing because it is either a Z80 based system
with a 6809 coprocessor or a 6809 based system with a Z80 IO processor. In
reality it doesn't really matter but it's a matter of perspective.
The N8VEM 6809 CUBIX implementation allows the use of ECB peripherals like
IDE, video, floppy, serial, parallel, etc but it requires the Z80 to serve
all the IO based on 6809 commands. I added the 6809 IO mezzanine board
(power, ACIA, PTM, 2 VIAs, expansion bus) to give builders the option of
using the 6809 host processor as a stand alone computer or to add separate
IO to the N8VEM system when connected to the bus. The idea being to let the
6809 host processor interact with the outside world using its own IO and
only involve the Z80 when absolutely necessary.
The hardware seems to work OK but we'll see where the software goes. I
think with CUBIX the 6809 N8VEM system becomes a lot more practical. The IO
mezzanine fits on top of the 6809 host processor. You can see some photos
here. These are out of date but give a good idea. Recently I fitted an
improved serial cable and the nylon standoff hardware. Also the PTM seems
to be working and that's good.
http://n8vem-sbc.pbworks.com/browse/#view=ViewFolder¶m=m6809
I have many 6809 host processor and IO mezzanine PCBs so if anyone is
interested please let me know. This would be a great opportunity for anyone
who would like to do some 6809 hardware and software hacking.
I think the N8VEM 6809 host processor is the only system I am aware of other
than Dave's homebrew that is running CUBIX. There maybe some other homebrew
systems out there too I can't find them after some searching.
Thanks and have nice day!
Andrew Lynch
Hi guys,
I'm trying to get my hands on a 5.25in double-sided 40 tracks per side
"360K" floppy drive with the Shugart or IBM PC 34-pin connector (either
edge connector or pin header is fine). Does anyone have a spare they'd
like to part with? Slight preference for Teac or Mitsubishi, but
anything will do at this point.
I've checked Ebay, there are tons in the US (complete with "seller does
not ship internationally, don't even ask"), but the only ones I've seen
>from UK sellers are parts scalpers wanting stupid money for them (?149
"sold untested with no guarantee"? really?).
A BBC Micro 40-track drive would also be fine -- as long as it's native
40-track, not 40/80 track switchable or double-stepping (an 80-track
drive mated to a PCB which double-steps the head). Cumana, Viglen and a
few other companies made these, they were extremely common a few years ago.
I'm on the verge of getting DiscFerret write support working (at least
for UNIX PC disks) but the sodding thing won't read anything my 80-track
drives have written!
I'd rather not borrow the 3B1's drive - the DiscFerret is experimental
and a benchtop lashup is hardly an ideal scenario.
Thanks,
--
Phil.
classiccmp at philpem.me.uk
http://www.philpem.me.uk/
>
>Subject: VT-180 (Robin) EPROM images?
> From: "Robert Armstrong" <bob at jfcl.com>
> Date: Sat, 10 Mar 2007 20:23:04 -0800
> To: <cctech at classiccmp.org>
>
> Does anybody have images of the v2.1 Z-80 firmware for the VT-180 (aka
>Robin) ? At least, I think 2.1 was the last version ever released. They
>should be DEC part numbers 23-017E3-00 and 23-021E3-00.
>
>Thanks,
>Bob Armstrong
I have enough of them laying around I could supply the actual roms. I've
never imaged them as It's easier to replace the code outright.
Curious why are you looking for them?
Allison
Yay! Woo Hoo! Great news! We have S-100 68K CPU running!
Once this project is working maybe we could take another look at the 68360
P1 and/or 68040 SBC?
This is really great news! Please post pictures and notes on the wiki!
Let's get the word out!
Thanks and have a nice day! You've already made mine! w00t!
Andrew Lynch
PS, this project has been in work for 2 years+ so I am very happy to see it
working.
From: n8vem-s100 at googlegroups.com [mailto:n8vem-s100 at googlegroups.com] On
Behalf Of yoda
Sent: Monday, August 12, 2013 10:40 PM
To: n8vem-s100 at googlegroups.com
Cc: monahan at vitasoft.org
Subject: Re: [N8VEM-S100:1808] S-100 68K CPU board V3
Hi John
Thought I would give an update - found the problem with memory - it turns
out pin 1 of U2 on the board had a cold solder joint - guess it finally gave
out. Reflowed the solder - the ground plane is a pretty big heat sink
around pin 1 and can easily get a cold solder joint. Any ways after
repairing that and playing with jumpers and switch settings I have 1 Meg of
memory working with the S100-68K-V3. I also have the oscillator at 16MHz
so the CPU is running at 8MHz and is a buss master. I am using the short
S100 mother board from the group so it may have better noise immunity than
the 22 slot mother board like you are using. I will do some more testing
and want to boost the memory to at least 2 Meg for some experiments. I
will get started next on the new monitor and getting data to load from the
IDE CF card. Looks like I am on my way to getting CP/M 68K ported. I
have a little clean up to do in a couple of areas (upgrade to latest
compiler code, etc).
Dave
>> >> [...non-ancient disk on Unibus machines...]
>>
> > I'm surely not the only collector who would be willing to pony up
> > some $$$ for such a project....
>
I would certainly pony up some $.
I built my own IDE->S-100 interface (with guidance from my amazing friend, Allison P); it was very easy, hardware-wise.
What makes IDE to Qbus or Unibus interfacing so difficult? There must be reasons, otherwise it would have been done by now.
JS
FYI, a new Mark 8 now exists - mine. I built it using wire wrap on 0.10
inch perf-board, with point to point wiring for power. I used 0.10
Molex sockets with standard header pins for a motherboard (they are not
as long and sturdy as one might like, but, oh well). Works fine.
In the process, I captured the schematics with KiCAD, and then routed
some PCB boards. Some of the PCB boards have been manufactured, and are
awaiting construction. The others have been ordered.
Also, in the process, I am testing a concept of replacing the Signetics
8263 and 8267 chips with programmed GALs (I had enough real ones to
build my prototype and build out my PCBs).
You might be able to see them in my Facebook album, I think, though my
Facebook page is generally not publicly viewable.
Try these links:
Mark 8 (my wire wrap "prototype"):
https://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.562945557100074.1073741829.100001…
PCBs:
https://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.562952890432674.1073741830.100001…
BTW, is there any interest out there in:
1) Sets of PCBS? (They would be around $500 per set, I guess - I would
not WANT to make and sell them in any quantity!).
2) GALs on little boards to substitute for the 8263/8267?
JRJ
Hello, folks!
Hope you all had a very merry Christmas, happy Hanukkah, or whatever you
celebrated! Also, best wishes for the New Year, which will be... in
around two and a quarter hours in my neck of the woods :)
It's been a while since I posted anything related to DiscFerret. Rest
assured, I have not been resting on my laurels (Balrog and Lord
Nightmare have made certain of that!). In fact, I've just released a
shiny new toy for all you DiscFerret owners... Well, two actually!
Microcode Release 0026 and C-API 1.3!
New in these releases...:
- Microcode:
- Added a clock divider to the Data Acquisition core. Now you can
specify how much timing resolution you need -- 80ns (12.5MHz), 40ns
(25MHz), 20ns (50MHz) or the full 10ns (100MHz). When set to 40ns, the
DiscFerret matches the Kryoflux for read speed (84 tracks double-sided
in one minute and 45 seconds). At full resolution, it still only takes
three minutes and 25 seconds to image the same disc.
- Completely rewrote the data sync-word detector. All the ripple
clocks and clock-domain crossings are gone, and the data separator is
FAR more reliable. The capture and lock range is about 20% of the
nominal data rate (!), which is more than adequate for most disc drives.
The sync word may be up to 16 bits long, and can also include "don't
care" bits!
- Miscellaneous fixes to the data separator configuration (it was
set for a 16MHz clock, but provided with a 20MHz clock. Despite this, it
still worked fine!)
- C/C++ API
- Support added for the new clock divider register.
Files are all downloadable from the usual place --
http://www.discferret.com/
(or more specifically:)
http://www.discferret.com/wiki/DiscFerret:Downloads
And you can, as always, browse the source code here --
http://hg.discferret.com/
On the cards for the New Year --
- Work has started on a new, simplified API. This will make its grand
d?but some time in the new year.
- I'm working on improving the accuracy of the INDEX pulse storage
logic. When finished, this will improve the accuracy of INDEX timing
measurements to match the data timing measurements! (This is a minimum
of a factor of 8 improvement over the KryoFlux analyser, and a factor of
128 improvement over the current microcode release!)
Special thanks for this release are due to:
Rich Thomson,
Karsten Scheibler,
Sarayan,
Balrog,
Lord_Nightmare,
... and anyone else I've forgotten!
Thanks!
--
Phil.
classiccmp at philpem.me.uk
http://www.philpem.me.uk/
Hi folks,
I have a lot of 5 Digital LK401 keyboards. I am asking $20 each plus
shipping from 91942 (San Diego). Contact me off the list if you're
interested. Thanks!
-Kurt
As you may remember, I'm moving. This has required a significant amount of work
to get stuff packed. I've been making some progress. I have dug out enough to be
able to list *some* of what I have that I don't want to move.
Please make offers. I'll consider anything "reasonable" (I'm not expecting eBay prices
but I'm not going to give the stuff away either). I'm trying not to ship stuff
because frankly I don't have the time. If you're not in the area and really want something
it'll probably be best if you can get someone who's local (San Jose/San Fransisco
California area) to pick it up and get it shipped.
My plan is to get everything moved before October 1. After that anything that I'm not
moving will go to Weirdstuff.
I've put a lot of stuff on pallets for my ease of handling. You'll get a "deal" if you take
the pallet as-is (ie take the lot).
I have a lot of small stuff. Sorry but I can't search for little items. If you come by I'll
let you search through the various piles of stuff but I won't.
OK, so much for the "fine print". Here's a *partial* list:
MicroVAX 3100 (30's, 40s, 80s and 90s)
VaxStation 3100 (I think)
DEC Rainbow 100 (in it's original box...somewhat worse for wear)
Printer for DEC Rainbow
Documentation for DEC Rainbow
HP Apollo (don't know more than that)
12-15 RL01/RL02 drives. I don't know the condition. Some look good, others, well not.
4+ RK05 drives. Most of these don't work (from my notes) but shouldn't require a lot
5-6 Fujitsu Eagle drives. Don't know the condition but they look OK.
2-3 MicroVAX in BA23s
Sun IPX (not sure how many)
Sun IPC (not sure how many)
Sun SS10 (1 or 2)
Sun SS20 (1 or 2)
Sun Ultra 5
Sun Ultra 10
DEC PDP-8/a
SWTPC (no idea what's in the case)
4-5 DECWriter IIIs
2-3 KSR/ASR33s of various types and conditions
Micro PDP11s in various cases. Some are in BA23s, some are OEM cases
3-4 MicroVAXs in BA123
3-4 ADM3a. Don't know the condition
4-5 VT100. Don't know how well they work
4+ PDP-11 11/34s (a couple are still in racks)
2+ PDP-11 11/44s
a few PDP-11 11/84s (I know one is complete. I'm not sure what state the others are)
1-2 PDP-11 11/24s
1-2 PDP-11 11/05 or 11/10 (these are minimal)
a few BA11F chassis (some empty some full of backplanes full of cards)
TU80 tape drive
TU81+ tape drive
3-4 Kennedy tape drives (some in racks)
5-6 RX01/RX02 dual floppy drives
Contact me off-list.
TTFN - Guy
I have powered up the LA36 with the Selenar Graphics board in it, and
>from the information kindly obtained by list members (Byte Magazine
article about the Selenar Graphics II), I have been able to verify that
the unit indeed works. The graphics mode works, and all of the other
features documented in the Byte article seem to function properly.
The issue that I've found is that only 5 of the 7 print pins are
working. Numbered with the top pin as number 1, it is the 3rd and 6th
pins that are either not firing at all, or are jammed such that they
can't come forward enough to make an impression.
I can't find a service manual for this unit online anywhere, so I'm
wondering what the best approach to diagnosis would be. I do have
schematics, but since the unit has a Selenar Graphics II logic board,
I'm not sure how well the schematics will help. Since the Selenar board
replaces the stock logic board, I can safely assume that it retains the
pinouts for the connectors that go from it to the power board that has
the drivers for the solenoids in the printhead. So, I can probably
scope out the drivers to see if they are firing on pin 3 and 6 when
printing characters that require those dots, which I will do when I have
time, but I'm wondering the next step would be if I find that there are
firing pulses coming out of the pin drivers for pin 3 and pin 6.
Obviously, if I find that the pulses aren't being generated, then I have
to dig into the solenoid drivers for these pins and figure out what has
failed and fix it.
If I find that the solenoid drivers are OK, then what should be done
next?
Would it be to remove the printhead and do what Tony suggested, which
would be to use a bench power supply (I have a good Tektronix bench
supply does truly does deliver 0.00V) to try to fire the solenoids to
see if they are gummed up? If so, how do I go about removing the
printhead to do this? Just from looking at things, it looks like I would
have to do a lot of disassembly to get the printhead out of there. Does
the printhead come off separately from the carriage that it rides on, or
do I have to remove the whole carriage assembly?
Any guidance would be most appreciated.
Thanks,
Rick Bensene
