New Project: Book
Oldbitcollector (Jeff)
Posts: 8,091
It's time to take the concept of the "Propeller Cookbook" to the next level.
I've launched into writing a new book entitled "Designing Your Own Microcomputer: with the Propeller"
It'll be a month or two before it'll be ready to publish and be available in soft-cover from myself or lulu.com
Entries in the Cookbook will continue as they have from month to month, but this will be a more
targeted publication.
Here's the Preface... Let me know what you guys think..
Oldbitcollector
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Buttons . . . check. Dials . . . check. Switches . . . check. Little colored lights . . . check.
— Calvin, of 'Calvin and Hobbes.
I've launched into writing a new book entitled "Designing Your Own Microcomputer: with the Propeller"
It'll be a month or two before it'll be ready to publish and be available in soft-cover from myself or lulu.com
Entries in the Cookbook will continue as they have from month to month, but this will be a more
targeted publication.
Here's the Preface... Let me know what you guys think..
Oldbitcollector
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Buttons . . . check. Dials . . . check. Switches . . . check. Little colored lights . . . check.
— Calvin, of 'Calvin and Hobbes.
pdf
36K
Comments
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I am become death, destroyer of worlds.
Power tends to corrupt, and absolute power corrupts absolutely. Great men are almost always bad men.
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--DFaust
It is for this reason(to at least take the mystery out of the computer )that I got my son a boebot, and he is just now starting to love it. Before it was kind of scary, and he didn't know what to do. Now he is learning loops and counting and variables, wiring up leds and steppers, etc.
He is really loving it now that the fear factor has warn off.
I really like your preface. It really hit home for me. My first computer was a commodore 128, but I also got to work on a 6502 microprocessor trainer and apple II's in high school. I always wanted to build my own computer based on the 68000 processor. It never happened though, and now with the propeller, almost everything I would have put in that computer is in the chip, except for some more memory, and serial port hardware.
Keep up the good work.
Doug
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Propeller Wiki: Share the coolness!
I always covered a very small part of what I intended only...
To my opinion there is a (quite un-American) difference between "understanding" and being "able to use" something: The typical example for this distinction being the motor car and the cell phone.
The "computer" (as such) is an example where you are assumed to "understand" at least a little bit of to be able to use it. But is it so? And what does "use" mean in the first place? And is there anything as a "computer hardware" at all - or is "software" the soul of it, so any study of hardware is vain and void?
One of my duties is to look through applications from programmers from time to time: All of them say they "know" MS Windows - none of them does. The other funny thing is: None of them say they understand "computers".... Is this a commonplace nowaday?
In my class we start with a 74HC00 and understand logical functions within 10 minutes (after 20 minutes of heavy breadboarding), then we understand caps and build a 20 Hz oscillator (another 10 minutes), then we add a 74HC4040, a 74HC42, and 10 LEDs which takes another 20 minutes.
After this hour I say: "So, that's what a computer is all about - the rest is organization and some further good ideas.."
When you have time, you can break down the '00 and fully understand it if you understand transistors; you can break down the '4040 and swiftly understand concept and use of a flip-flop; and the '42 is nothing but a bag of ANDs and ORs...
When you have even more time you can discuss the internals of static RAM, dynamic RAM, PROM, FLASH, core, disk/drum memory, which are all fundamentally different concepts electronically speaking.
But few peoply will get interested into that. The main challenge is the "organization", the "architecture" of computers. You will learn most from "exotic" designs (dataflow architectures, associative memory, mercyless RISC, nano-programming,...) The funny thing is that those things - being generally part of public research - are better documented than the next best garden variety of a processor..
And the "soul"? Software is tricky.... I once - and long ago - knew a maintenance engineer who could not program.... But he understood how his machines worked: There where bit patterns inside controlling the transistor gates.... At that time computers were "booted" through paper tapes. He was able to punch paper tapes that checked external devices and blinked lights from his sole imagination of bit patterns....This was remarkable...
Post Edited (deSilva) : 10/27/2007 8:24:51 AM GMT
I really love this idea of yours, the chance that you could inspire someone to take up and run with microcontrollers is great!
I've just turned 40 and my first computer was a hand built Sinclair ZX80 in electronics club, which was during school lunchtimes.
From then on I've always had the bug but have become disillusioned over the years with the way computers have evolved into room warmers!
The Propeller chip has re-ignited my interest in electronics and programming and this is the sort of idea that would make it even more appealing to the hobbyist element such as myself...
I'm already looking forward to it.
Regards,
Coley
I will post a couple more pages as they return from the folks who are assisting me with the finer editing...
Several of you are X-generation microcomputer users and see exactly what I'm talking about.
This book is again targeted at beginners who know just enough to be dangerous. The idea is
to help them go from zero to working Propeller board using various configurations. The reader
will also have an understanding of the basic electronics that make up the connected accessories.
The idea is to empower them, not overwhelm them, so I'm keeping things simple.
Imagine the first computer book that introduced microcomputing to you back in the
80's, then imagine that the assembly instructions are just a little more complicated. [noparse]:)[/noparse]
A copy of the spin manual will still be recommended reading by the end of this book,
but the reader will be more than ready for it by the last page.
Oldbitcollector
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Buttons . . . check. Dials . . . check. Switches . . . check. Little colored lights . . . check.
— Calvin, of 'Calvin and Hobbes.
BTW, he is not quite dead yet.
Oldbit, what is a "computer"?
To me it's the central processsing unit and some less important parts around...
But "designing and building your own computer" ... would that just mean to solder these boring parts together??
Post Edited (deSilva) : 10/28/2007 7:16:33 AM GMT
www.webopedia.com/TERM/C/computer.html
Since we can program ourselves we are basically a computer is a sense, but a just heavily parallelized.
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I am become death, destroyer of worlds.
Power tends to corrupt, and absolute power corrupts absolutely. Great men are almost always bad men.
Graham
This will include the PE Kit as well, and move goal-like fashion.
It will include all the information someone who has had no
experience with the propeller could get up and running easily.
Oldbitcollector
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Buttons . . . check. Dials . . . check. Switches . . . check. Little colored lights . . . check.
— Calvin, of 'Calvin and Hobbes.
I just asked because I think some of the responses suggest that the goal of the book has been misinterpreted.
Graham
I see at least two approaches...
The one I am interested in...
One example: In what way to connect slow memory to high speed processing units? There are many more or less successful ideas in use, starting from associative memory (which rather is NOT in use), going to caches, over memory banks to a simple brute force approach to use the fastest memory possible to try to match the processor... Other items of interest are superscalar computation as in multi stage pipelines, true SIMD as in the INTEL SSE units.. As compilers become available for some months now for the main GPUs, true parallel computing with floating point numbers will become available to the standard PC.... Trade offs between RISC and CISC architectures WRT the instruction format...
These are a few examples of what I think computer technology is about....
The other way is to say: "Here is a shopping list: 1 Prop, 1 Crystal, 1 EEPROM, 1 Battery, 10 Wires. Got it? Now put it here on the breadboard! No, not there! Here! Now switch it on! Does ist work? No? So what can it be? Try this! Try that!"
I think this is useful... Many of the threads here will profit from that appproach. In fact my class started somewhat similar
I am very eager to see Oldbit's first chapters... The challenge will be to explain things without diving too deep. Otherwise 1000 pages minimum
Post Edited (deSilva) : 10/28/2007 8:51:53 PM GMT
And - so it does not help my question - it does not seem to compries the thing Oldbit has in mind
Post Edited (deSilva) : 10/28/2007 11:40:14 AM GMT
Be it Windows or Linux, it makes no difference, we are all "owned".
A thousand years from now,·the Great Evil·will be just another operating system by another Great Evil Genius who will (again) "own" us. So, it makes no difference. The same thing happens over and over again, and we can do nothing except understand it, and accept it, and living one day to the next making the most wonderful software creations that we can, no matter that it be on a Windows, Linux, or a MAC computer.
Yes, I am "owned".
Lucidman
RANT MODE = 1
Two things:
Open Code and Open Data. Do this, and you can have plenty of options. These days, I run a mix. SGI, win32, Linux, ...even that old Atari, from time to time. The Prop is an up and comer in this mix, and it will be just fine.
I've a rule. Been very tough to live by, but it's working for me much better now. I don't run win32, unless somebody else pays for it, period. Somebody is owned, but it's really not me. If I have to walk, I do. Linux, some combination of hardware that suits me, and a net connection mean I get to compute, period. Might not be optimal, might miss out on doing a thing or two, but it's not the end of the world. Lots to do, see and build.
Building ones computing skills on open stuff, storing the result in open data, means not having ones ability tied to some particular software. IMHO, this is very important --even for ordinary users. It's also quite possible these days as there is very little that is tied directly to some software. At the least, there are *no* general computing tasks where this is required.
Started it sometime around early '00. Was a complete (expletive), but only for a while.
---as for the friend being owned, via updates. That's his choice. I've a Mandrake 8 (yeah, I know old) system, I just recently decided to quit using. Again, open data is the key. Was that system as nice as a new Ubuntu box? No. However it did what it was supposed to do nicely, and the entire body of software it was running was on CD, easily moved from box to box, if needed.
One can do this anytime with a Linux. Don't just run the auto update thingy. Go and get the software distributions, assemble them into your system, that does what you want it to do, then archive it. Done!
(sorry, but I gotta say this)
Most people, I believe, don't fully grok what multi-user computing is about. When one is running an X window system, the actual combination of computers and hardware that forms the "environment" is completely arbitrary, given open data is leveraged to the fullest. Say I wanted to continue with my Mandrake system, or better, continue to use my SGI. (which I still do) Build another box, put the combination of software on it, that is necessary to do that newer thing, then remote it and integrate it with the environment you have. This is what NFS, X and scripting is for! (among lots of other things)
eg: Quite possible to have one box running applications, another providing the desktop, still another providing window management, another doing storage, another handling the network, etc.... Mix in virtualization, and now it's one box, doing things however the user decides they are to be done. Where closed OSes and applications are concerned, virtualization also frees up a lot of options. Totally viable, in a very high number of cases, to just package that closed combination, to be run in a static way, for the very longer term. Emulation follows that, over time.
The end result is very little forced choice and with that comes very little, if any ownership. IMHO, being "owned" in this fashion is no big deal. Depends on how one sees things, ideology, etc... The important thing to note is that it simply is not mandatory, Gates or his successor, or not. So long as we are permitted to either build or purchase turing complete machines, there is no ownership that is not a voluntary thing.
Therefore, those who are owned, choose to be. How big of a deal that is, really is personal. The current numbers indicate a very high percentage of people just don't care. So, either the market will end up correcting this (price abuse, feature function conflicts), or it will not. Either way, it's self correcting enough to be of very little longer term worry. The way I see it, should that ownership be leveraged too much, self-correction kicks in, thus preserving the options for those of us looking to avoid that whole affair.
(hat tip to some really great web author, whose name escapes me at the moment) RANT MODE = 0
Edit: Was Paul Ferris.
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Propeller Wiki: Share the coolness!
No, I don't.
I have a Notebook. I have not a very clear idea what's inside.. Most likely a computer. That's not news. A computer is in my micro wave oven, my alarm clock, my telehone,.....
I buy a new notebook every two years... Considering tax effects this means I pay around 50 Euro per month for it (I used to pay 100+ years ago for "computers"). "Connectivity" costs monthly the same again. My rent is 15 times as high.
Every time I buy a new notebook (this has happened 4 times now) there is a new operating system on it and masses of bonus software. In most cases I succeed to copy my data files and emails to it. I use this opportunity to install newer versions of programs I have used during the last 2 years.
I am not very aware that this is assumed to be a "computer" as I worked with 20+ years ago in the computer center of my university.
I know I COULD install a different operating system, and I could do this and that.... Mainly I write, I paint, I make spreadsheets.... I am happy that this machine supports me doing that... I wouldn't have done 1% of the things I do without it.
O.k. I see ist now: It can ALSO function as what I think a "computer" should be:
- I type a program, supported by a fancy IDE
- I compile and start the program
- It works ..... not!
- But you get a second chance....
I do not mind much what's AROUND that thing I use as a "computer". Most likely another COMPUTER.... And around that????
Post Edited (deSilva) : 10/29/2007 7:12:26 AM GMT
This is interesting, I'm writing a book for propeller beginners and have apparently hit a nerve or two..
(Perhaps I should take up writing full time. [noparse]:)[/noparse]
If the preface can generate this much discussion wait until you see the Introduction page. (next page) <smirk>
So getting my prop to run Windows might get me banned from this forum for being owned?
(Note to self: discontinue "dll2spin" project...)
Oldbitcollector
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Buttons . . . check. Dials . . . check. Switches . . . check. Little colored lights . . . check.
— Calvin, of 'Calvin and Hobbes.
Post Edited (Oldbitcollector) : 10/29/2007 4:54:35 AM GMT
OldBit, I really liked your preface.
Chip, I'll really like it when the dev system is in the chip!
Doug
I think if you get that far, you'll have to start spelling it pwned...
cuz u b 2 733t 4 us!
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Max Wooden
Reedley, California
Not all home computers from that time used BASIC as their command interpreter.
(Most did, though)
Some ran CP/M, and there were dozens of 'custom OSes' out there.
I even have a computer that used 'Interactive Pascal'...
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