Retro: 8086 Arduino
erco
Posts: 20,256
http://gizmodo.com/this-arduino-style-board-uses-intels-37-year-old-8086-c-1686055431
Jeff Goldblum said in JP, "Just because you can doesn't mean you should." But this one is pretty cool.
Jeff Goldblum said in JP, "Just because you can doesn't mean you should." But this one is pretty cool.
Comments
All I know about Arduino is 'stick with Uno' and it is easy.
At least the 286, 386, 486 and later Pentiums started up in 16 bit mode at boot time and required some not so simple software to get them into full blown protected and possibly 32 bit mode for running their OS.
That simple sounding transition caused me a lot of trouble back in the day when working on 386/486 embedded systems.
I have no idea if that is still true of modern 64 bit Intel processors but I suspect it is.
Anyway, the idea of taking an original 8086 and a Xlinx FPGA and turning the whole thing into an Arduino kind of makes me sick.
The FPGA can do that all by itself and it's disrespectful to the 8086.
And then he goes and builds the thing with an FPGA!
How "old style" is that?
Very clever and all. I just don't understand the point.
I recall a certain SIG from the past:
"For me, the past is....not over yet"
Still true. In my mind, and your x86 PC it seems
Edit: It seems silly for me to be quoting my own sig shown in the image above. But I did not get to see the image when replying on my phone.
http://tech.mattmillman.com/first-8od-feedback/
Welcome to the forum. I hope we can have an interesting and informed conversation.
I see that on your site if you have pulled me up as an example of a "poo-poo"er.
Now, the basis of my "poo-poo"ing was the statement about "old style", wrt the 8086, when using an FPGA. These two things do not jive well together.
But, on your blog you say "Oh dear. I wonder if ‘Heater’ has noticed (yet) that there is no FPGA on my board."
Well, I may be mistaken but when I follow the link on the first post here I see a picture of a blue PCB with what looks like an 8086 processor, some kind of UV erasable memory, and a Xilinx FPGA chip. Together with a bunch of other chips that may well be RAM and support devices.
So my question has to be, am I mistaken? Is there an FPGA on there or not? Is that picture in the first link your project or something else.
Basically where do I get the low down on the reality of your project?
Edit: OK, I did finally get to your hardware page. Where I find that what I thought was an FPGA is actually a CPLD.
I'm sorry for that mistake but, good grief, "FPGA" vs "CPLD" what are you quibbling about?
Finally, apart from the "quibble" on my part about anyone claiming a retro design when using such modern parts, my hat is off to you for actually doing it. Well done.
In case you have not noticed I am also prone do doing such crazy things. Like writing a Z80 emulator that runs on the Propeller.
I notice in your project pages that you have a V20 or two and mentioned the need for a C compiler for the 8080.
No problem there is BDSC http://www.bdsoft.com/resources/bdsc.html. Runs under CP/M which you use easily with the SIMH emulator: schorn.ch/altair.html
Or all of that runs on a Propeller with ZiCog or qZ80 emulators
(I have the A model myself)
While there aren't any SSDs that fit in them, there exists a SCSI-to-CF converter(it's bl**dy expensive, though) and it doesn't work directly with the 16702A at least. It will hang at random points during OS install. But at least one other owner has gotten past that by using an CF-to-SD adapter and card in that SCSI-to-CF converter. Weird, but true.
Also, it's possible that the B isn't plagued by the same compatibility problems as the A.
There's a Yahoo group for old HP Agilent tech where this is mentioned.