Introduce yourself

[BigEd]

Welcome! My school allowed for remote coding too, but in Fortran and Basic. We were also taught Cobol...

[Wolverine6655]

I've been lurking for awhile.

My first computer was an apple lle in 1983.

I did some 6502 coding back in those early days but never really mastered it. Never understood the digital electronics until a few years ago. Now I'm really interested in it...

One question I have is why the 65x line was never continued to 32 bits. Maybe the 16 bit versions never caught on enough to warrant it.

[Tor]

Hi, and welcome!

WDC (Western Design Center) did have a 32-bit 65xx in the works. There was even a specification and a datasheet.
The W65C832, called Terbium. Not sure why there's no datasheet in the docs section on this site, but it can be found on the net. I looked at it some years ago and thought it was probably for the best that it wasn't produced. The impression I got was that the design went into a rather complex direction, at a time when the industry moved to simpler instruction sets (and rightly so, in my opinion). 24 addressing modes!

-Tor

[Dr Jefyll]

Welcome, Wolverine6655. There's a thread on the Terbium here.

Wolverine6655 wrote:

Never understood the digital electronics until a few years ago. Now I'm really interested in it...

Hmm, was that just a random event, or is there a story there? If you feel like sharing I'd be curious to hear a little more.

-- Jeff

[Tor]

I wrote:

The W65C832, called Terbium.[..]

Now I got a bit confused (re. the thread Jeff linked to). Maybe the W65C832 was not the one called Terbium. My datasheet is from 1990, and the thread talked about 65T32 and is from 2006 (and as if it was being worked on by WDC). So maybe they are different beasts. In any case, no 32-bit 65xx CPU ever came from WDC.. but there are some '32-bit architectures worked on by FPGA folks on this forum.

Edit: Yep, two different efforts: The W65C832, 1990, never finished. The 65T32 ("Terbium"), 2011-2012? Not finished.
Actually Terbium was supposed to refer to just 65 (element number 65 in the periodic table), so maybe that was meant to name the 65xx "ISA".

[ElEctric_EyE]

Welcome. Compare 65xxx to 68xxx devices. Back then (mid 1970's), you'd be comparing MOS to Motorola, i.e. 6800 vs. 6501...

Today we have Western Digital vs Freescale as far as hard core IC's are concerned.

[DavidBuchanan]

I've been lurking for a while now, and it occurs to me that I never posted in this thread.

Although I'm 18, my first experience with programming was Usborne's "Introduction to Computer Programming: BASIC for beginners", which I got from a second hand sale when I was around 8. I never had much access to a computer until I was about 11, so I had to make do with writing down programs on paper and running them in my head!

My first computer was a Pentium 4, which was much too slow for Windows, so I figured out how to install Linux, which led on to learning a lot about modern computers and programming in general.
So I guess I've now gone full-circle, and built a 6502 SBC running ehBasic. I bought most of the parts almost 2 years ago, although I only got around to assembling them late last year.

I'm going to be sitting an electronics A-Level in a few weeks. The syllabus hasn't been updated in decades so basic microprocessor theory, programming in assembly etc. are still being taught - which has the added bonus of allowing me to "revise" while I work on my SBC!

I'm currently thinking about making a more "modern" SBC, that will hopefully be able to run BSD or Linux, based on either the MC68020 or an AMD 80286 (I got a whole tube one eBay for almost nothing). I just need a load of free time to get things figured out, which I'll hopefully have over the summer.

[BigEd]

Great stuff! And you have your student years ahead of you, most likely, so lots of time for projects!

[drfiemost]

Hello all, I'm the current maintainer of reSIDfp, a software SID 6581/8580 emulation. I'm trying to analyze the vectorized circuits available at http://oms.wmhost.com/misc/ to get a better insight of the chip and improve the emulation but my nmos knowledge is quite limited. As for now I'm able to reconstruct some of the transistor structures and understand simple logic constructs but the timings and more complex stuff are still beyond my skills so I hope this is the right place to get some help.

[BigEd]

Welcome! Feel free to start a thread for any specific questions which come up - we're not all chip-reversing experts but there are probably a few here.

[drfiemost]

Thank you BigEd! I've seen some interesting stuff around here so I'm sure I can learn a lot

[kakemoms]

I think I forgot to introduce myself even after posting several topics..

My main work is in semiconductor optoelectronics (materials, processing and such) but my interest has always been in programming. I recently decided to go from programming to digital circuits and am having a great time putting together new designs in Eagle.

I collect Commodore computers, both for preservation and to use them. I try to keep them close to the original as there will be fewer and fewer of them as time passes by. My latest acquisitions are 3 Vic-20, an Amiga 1000 and 4000. The Vic-20 are used almost daily and generate some interest from my kids (unless they play Skylander).

[JasonRP]

Hello All,
I'm a 40-something, currently working in IT. My first computer was the Commodore 64 my sister and I got for Christmas, I think it was in 1983. That fueled an obsession with computers that has lasted ever since then. I remember as a kid flipping past the articles in Compute! magazine about bubblesorts to get to the games, now I find myself wanting to experience the non-game side of the 8-bit retro computers. The programming challenges, how sorts work, how the computer works, etc.

Additionally, during college I had a part time job at a vending company, fixing circuit boards in pinball machines and video games. I didn't really do any major in-depth work, but, it was amazing what you could fix by making sure you had a solid power supply outputting the proper voltages, and also changing out burned looking transistors. Over the years, I've grown to really enjoy electronics and electronics repair.

I am currently finding these two interests are satisfied nicely when I design and build my own 8-bit computers.. I started reverse-engineering and building my own Briel Altair 8800micro, using nothing but schematics and the firmware I downloaded from his website. I don't recommend others do that- it is perhaps 3 times cheaper to just by one from Vince! However, I learned a TON! Things learned were, advanced schematics reading and creating, bill of materials making, board layout and PCboard design/ordering, Atmel AVR chip programming, Parallax Propeller programming, etc.

Currently, I am working on my own 6502 computer design. I enjoyed the propeller chip so much for I/O and video, I've used it again in this role, but the rest of my computer is all period-correct: 65C02, 32k RAM, 16K ROM, Glue Logic, 6821 VIA, and even a 555 timer based reset circuit (ala Commodore 64!) The design has 12 chips total, on-board power regulation, expansion connector, basic I/O, and fits on a 4x6" 2-layer PCB.

I have a LOT more learning to do (now looking forward to adding a AY-3-891X sound chip and possibly some color and graphics from the propeller chip) and am excited to learn from you mentors here!

Here's a youtube channel showing my projects so far if anyone is interested:
https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCMZK0U ... yX5JoOO4qA

Jason

[BigEd]

Welcome Jason! I learnt a lot soldering up a kit computer when I got started - I can well imagine you'd learn even more in building a scratch machine from an existing design!

[Martin_H]

@Jason, welcome to the forum and thanks for posting a link to your YouTube channel. I plan to spend some time tonight watching your videos.