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Least Significant Byte
Registrace 1. 12. 2019
Retro computing and technical reviews.
Acorn Electron AP5 review
A review of Dave Hitchins New Advanced Plus 5 (AP5) cartridge for the Acorn Electron Plus 1 expansion unit. I replace my ElkSD Plus 1 and ATI with ABR for an AP5 to provide the functionality of both products in a single cartridge.
As always, many thanks to everyone on StarDot, especially Dave Hitchins and David Banks, who helped sort out my various odd problems.
StarDot thread about the New AP5:
www.stardot.org.uk/forums/viewtopic.php?t=8602
ADFS 1.30E source code:
github.com/mincebert/ADFS130/tree/elkcursor
StarDot thread about MMFS and the Pi1MHz JIM RAM:
www.stardot.org.uk/forums/viewtopic.php?t=28666
Latest Pi1MHz source and releases:
github.com/dp111/Pi1MHz
As always, many thanks to everyone on StarDot, especially Dave Hitchins and David Banks, who helped sort out my various odd problems.
StarDot thread about the New AP5:
www.stardot.org.uk/forums/viewtopic.php?t=8602
ADFS 1.30E source code:
github.com/mincebert/ADFS130/tree/elkcursor
StarDot thread about MMFS and the Pi1MHz JIM RAM:
www.stardot.org.uk/forums/viewtopic.php?t=28666
Latest Pi1MHz source and releases:
github.com/dp111/Pi1MHz
zhlédnutí: 2 685
Video
RISC-V 3D 10 PRINT using the BBC BASIC assembler
zhlédnutí 551Před 9 měsíci
Yet another version of the 3D 10 PRINT program in assembler - this time in an open instruction set architecture processor, the RISC-V. This is done on a BBC Master using the Indigo release of the PiTubeDirect software, which implements a new RISC-V co processor as number 23. The latest release at the time this video was made was alpha 4 - the current release is here: github.com/hoglet67/PiTubeD...
BBC Master MegaROM customisation and MultiOS boards
zhlédnutí 4,6KPřed 11 měsíci
Explanation of how the MegaROM in the BBC Master is organised and can be customised with your own sideways ROMs, as well as a review of the RetroClinic and IFEL MultiOS boards.
ARM 3D 10 PRINT using the BBC BASIC assembler
zhlédnutí 1,6KPřed rokem
My first ARM assembly language program - we convert the 3D 10 PRINT program from 6502 assembler to ARM assembler, using the built-in assembler in BBC BASIC V for the ARM on the ARM Native coprocessor on the PiTubeDirect, and the TWIN text editor from the ARM Evaluation System software discs. We first do a straight conversion then optimise things by using LDRB with post-increment, some reverse s...
ZX81 Composite Video and RGBtoHDMI Adjustments
zhlédnutí 909Před rokem
Trying to improve the picture from my ZX81 with Mutant Caterpillar ZXvid Composite Video board, when fed through an RGBtoHDMI. We check the voltages into the ZX81 and have a look at the video signal on an oscilloscope, then see how they change when the pots on the ZXvid are adjusted.
6502 3D 10 PRINT using the BBC BASIC assembler
zhlédnutí 4,2KPřed rokem
A line-by-line conversion of the 3D "10 PRINT" program from BBC BASIC to 6502 using the assembler built in to BBC BASIC. The code is all OS legal and runs with or without the Tube enabled. The Tube processor is the emulated 6502 JIT processor (*FX 151,230,24) provided by PiTubeDirect Hognose: github.com/hoglet67/PiTubeDirect Code editing uses the The BASIC Editor 1.45 by Acornsoft and enhanced ...
BBC BASIC 3D 10 PRINT - The Crunching
zhlédnutí 1KPřed rokem
Of course, I wouldn't let it lie. I couldn't resist a bit of crunching on the program! Final score is 144 bytes, including the BBC setup bits (66 without).
BBC BASIC 3D 10 PRINT
zhlédnutí 5KPřed rokem
A quick, improvised video showing a BBC BASIC version of 8-Bit Show and Tell's (@8_Bit) "3D 10 PRINT" Commodore 64 BASIC program - see czcams.com/video/VC-lbd8mTOs/video.html. The video goes over an explanation of the differences and how text and graphics work on the BBC, including definable colour palettes, user-definable characters and colour selection, as well as VDU control codes. No prizes...
Econet - costing, installation, file servers and the PiEconetBridge
zhlédnutí 6KPřed rokem
A review of Econet - comparing the cost vs disc systems, showing the installation in a BBC Model B and BBC Master, building a network and a demo of the Level 1 and Level 3 file servers. Also shows the PiEconetBridge v1 and v2 boards and software running. The PiEconetBridge software: github.com/cr12925/PiEconetBridge Beebmaster's All about Econet: www.beebmaster.co.uk/Econet/IWantanEconet.html B...
Integra B for the BBC Micro
zhlédnutí 8KPřed 2 lety
Examination of the Integra B expansion board for the BBC Computer Model B. Originally made by Computech but recently remade and improved by Ken Lowe. Covers sideways RAM/ROM, the startup configuration (*STATUS and *CONFIGURE) the Real Time Clock (RTC), in-situ EEPROM rewriting on the BBC, the IBOS recovery mode.
RGBtoHDMI with multiple computers
zhlédnutí 2,2KPřed 2 lety
A largely impromptu ramble explaining how you use an RGBtoHDMI with different types of computers and what you need to do when moving it between them. This is the answer to a question from my Commodore 128DCR with c0pperdragon RGBtoHDMI video: czcams.com/video/mvTGewKlmK4/video.html The RGBtoHDMI project: github.com/hoglet67/RGBtoHDMI ... and the page about supported computers from the wiki: git...
Commodore 128DCR c0pperdragon + RGBtoHDMI
zhlédnutí 7KPřed 2 lety
Video showing the awful standard video image on my Commodore 128DCR and how it was significantly improved by installing a c0pperdragon Video Enhancer component output board and an Raspberry Pi RGBtoHDMI converter. Many thanks to c0pperdragon and bodgit for their work on component Video Enhancer, and supplying me with one, and hoglet67 and IanSB for the RGBtoHDMI development and the board itself...
Acorn Electron AP6 2V2 Plus 1 expansion
zhlédnutí 3,6KPřed 2 lety
Installation and review of Retro Hardware's 2021 update to the PRES AP6, the 2V2: a board that fits inside the Acorn Electron's Plus 1 expansion unit and gives you more seven extra sideways memory banks and a real time clock. My ElkSD Plus 1 ATL with ABR reviews are here: czcams.com/video/9YSvyUEiIdQ/video.html My original review of the ElkSD64 (with diagrams of how paged / banked / sideways me...
Acorn Electron ElkSD Plus1 + ATI w/ ABR and ElkSD128 reviews
zhlédnutí 2,7KPřed 3 lety
Acorn Electron ElkSD Plus1 ATI w/ ABR and ElkSD128 reviews
The Anglicising of a French Commodore 128 - Part 2: The Jumpers
zhlédnutí 216Před 3 lety
The Anglicising of a French Commodore 128 - Part 2: The Jumpers
The Anglicising of a French Commodore 128 - Part 1: The ROMs
zhlédnutí 481Před 3 lety
The Anglicising of a French Commodore 128 - Part 1: The ROMs
Exploring the BBC Micro's video outputs on a digital oscilloscope
zhlédnutí 2,6KPřed 3 lety
Exploring the BBC Micro's video outputs on a digital oscilloscope
As a student in Australia in the 80's, we ran labs full of BBC model B's and BBC Master 128's all connected via Econet - The level2/3 system was amazing for it's time. At the beginning of each year, the teacher would create a class directory and allow us to create our own user directories and logins under the class directory (we naturally had no access to root), of course you only had access to your own directory and not the parent directory or any additional user directories present under the parent directory. As an inquisitive student constantly looking for ways to hack the network, I found that if you created a user account under the parent directory and made your user name a full stop, you got access to the whole parent directory as well as any user directories present under the parent directory, no matter what individual users had set their permissions to - Sadly, you didn't get access to root (where all the games were stored). It was a small win as a student at the time. As time progressed, we did work out a way to create a root account when the teacher let their guard down during the school fete and allowed more access than they should have so kids attending the fete could play games in the computer labs. Good days and fond memories of both the BBC micro and Econet.
Great video. Are any of rom's available for download?
I really appreciate the presentation and content of your videos. It’s a breath of fresh air.
Awesome content, this is exactly what I needed. I've had a RetroClinic MultiOS for a few weeks now and I'm finally getting around to customizing it, mostly so I can have MMFS built in and use the OS 1.2 and OS 3.x versions and ditch the separate 3.x ROM, and gain access to it in OS 1.2. Thanks for making this video, it explains everything quite clearly.
Excellent video Sir. I also own both a B+ and a Master. My Master is fully kitted out, now I can do the same to my B+.
Takes me back - although we had an Amcom E-Net at school...
Funny! Among your parts and electronic tools you have a Brownian Motion Inducer! Adams would be very pleased!
I've picked one of these up with an AP6/Plus 1 from Dave H on the back of this. Absolutely perfect video, I've watched it dozens of times and have learned a ton about how it all works. Thankyou a hundred times. One question though, is it possible to program MMFS onto the EEPROM if you don't have another SD cart plugged in (like the Elk SD Plus1)? I'm thinking the only way I'll be able to do it is with another MMFS rom in the AP6, and then that should expose the roms to program onto the AP5 ROM. Anyway, maybe I'll take this to the forums if I struggle. I can always manually program the EEPROM on my PC too.
Mom's ivy can you tell her how to fix it
This was another excellently paced and entertaining video, thank you! All the way through I was thinking "but surely the bottle neck is in displaying via the 8 bit hardware, so the speed ups can't be seen", and then wham you hit us with the pi vdu. Bravo
Absolutely excellent and well presented review. Thankyou for this. I knew it was going to be good when I saw the bottle of Laphroaig in the background at the start.
Acorns "dabbling with a 32 bit processor" became the 'Acorn RISC Machine' which launched a family of ARM processors sold by the billions every year!
Games displayed better on a c64 allthough the beeb was far more industrialised
I use to do a bit of bit mapping on the acorn electron lots of maths working out the vdu data its quite simple its set out in the manual as user definable graphics
But will someone soon make a mini new mini version.
VDU stands for visual display unit.....you can change it to 640x256 and theres pokes for multi color but it uses over 20kb of memory...its in the user manual how to do this i remember coloring in mode 0 and using all the colors at the sametime on screen .i use to work my mums knitting patterns into an electron and it was using over 20kb of memory just for that mode leaving about 8000bytes freebl to program with i would use about 4-6 kb in basic programming although programing games in basic is something i almost got the hang of i just couldnt deal with the subroutines and poking around it memory it loaded in hex decimal values
As others have said, excellent video.
Your Electron videos are very interesting and useful to me, so please keep up the excellent work!
Excellent Videos - I should learn how to do better ones myself. Any chance you can contact me? I've some details to pass on about the 2V2 AP5 board and the ROM support - Dave H.
Great video! Well done. Very informative. I've been trying to find the perfect configuration(s) for my Electrons for a long while. It's a shame there's no version of ADFS, with SCSI support, that keeps page at E00 for the Electron. If a similar solution, implementated like MMFS on the AP5 could be found, then ADFS becomes so much more useful. I do like my BeebSCSI hanging off the 1Mhz port. BTW, there's a 5v connector on the AP5 inside, that I use to power the BeebSCSI.
An ADFS with hard disc support and &E00 PAGE would be lovely! I can't use the 5V power output on the AP5 because it's limited to 100mA an the Pi draws way more than that. Something like a BeebSCSI is presumably much simpler, though, so won't need as much.
Contrary to the purists, I actually like that you've slowly upgraded your Electron to a hybrid monster more capable and powerful than a Model B. I had a Model B when I was younger which I miss. Never had an Electron, but all these mods are making me seriously consider purchasing an Electron as it's much easier to find a reasonably priced Electron than an even remotely affordable Model B. One of the things I think was great about the Acorn ecosystem was its expandability both in software and hardware. These sorts of mods are totally in the spirit of what these computers were meant to be!
Holy this is hardcore...
Excellent video as always. There's a whole set of functionality I didn't even think about using my AP5 for!
The AP5 is a great bit of kit - not really had the chance to play with it fully, but getting the old Beeb user port for LED flashing and reading thermistors takes me back to 80s Comp Sci degree. I'm still holding out hope for a drop in replacement for the ULA. In terms of point of critical failure, it's the one that seems the hardest to overcome. The Blob ULA is pretty reliable (I have two motherboards, one socketed, and one blob) but it's getting old (as are we all). I've seen a few projects sort of fizzle out on Stardot, so, maybe it's not really doable.
Mine's a blob one and, so far, no issues. But you never know when problems will strike and it is worrying! I have a Plus/4 where the 8501 failed but fortunately there's a FPGA version which dropped in nicely and seems to work well (and adapter boards to fit a 6510, but they don't run the tape motor control).
Another nice feature I have used is to add a real time clock to the elk via the I2C bus on the AP5. Great video btw. Looking forward to more on the econet.
Someone on StarDot is trying to add the support for the RTC in the AP6 (which also uses I2C) and it looks like progress is being made, with a hope to get that integrated into the Plus 1 Support ROM. There's a thread about it here: www.stardot.org.uk/forums/viewtopic.php?t=28720
Thanks a lot. Keep up the good work!@@lsbyte
I do all my retro computing on FPGA devices these days but it's always great to see new hardware for these systems.
I haven't even heard of the AP5! That's a very cool upgrade for the humble Elk. Thanks for the great video.
Lovely case on that ElkEconet board :) great video too
Thanks - it is, indeed, a beauty! And where might I order one, if I didn't already have one?
oh i do hop your going to do this for all the different pitube processor options
Now that is a quest!
This was great. Dearly wish I could buy one or a modern one for my Beeb. Anyone doing production runs of hobbyist boards?
Ken often has some available - you can check and ask on here: stardot.org.uk/forums/viewtopic.php?t=17455
Nice of you to share this.,.
Hi. Thanks for a great video. As a result, I now have the same setup as you. A couple of questions though. You mention a disk interface, which allows use of a Gotek. I can’t find any such device that uses the plus 1. Also, I see you have several language roms and copro applications. Again, I’m having trouble finding them. Do you have any links ir something to these? Thanks.
For the Electron, you're probably best getting a Advanced Plus 3 or 4, or a Pegaus 400. Dave Hitchins sells a remake of the latter with PAGE &E00 DFS and ADFS here: www.ebay.co.uk/itm/325963785261?hash=item4be4f4a42d:g:msIAAOSwvT9jZpsG&amdata=enc%3AAQAIAAAA4DpZxjIXcBr%2BnJVssqg3RtQMGJG%2FoKKl8F8CWUQiEMFmRaPAQ4PAf7dBFtztNAXC%2BqA2iB5kjDXXva2QWmLh8HfSVIOxkE35Yxz%2FKYqSH7ZpKEEnSKQQjajnr7U4RmsHwVfnsOWPG5w8SvJrZkw5nw4BzGcPA51sy3CTSay2rVNDrmxb6Wh2RYYYdIgf%2BU22eMKaxJHXleUfQS%2BL4PFShWxiLKoVp2aKqgIOLltNHa2wxbpOVCGUpwyJYLGUkmjm20pfeLB3KejWF33ciimPxiYOZD9eSQo8uq%2F4ZJMHhDgd%7Ctkp%3ABk9SR4j2k8mwYw That'll let you plug in a normal 5¼", 3½" or Gotek and use that. The only thing you can't do is power it as the Electron doesn't do that. (You could also probably use a Plus 3 with the second disc drive port, but that's probably overly expensive, unless you really want one - and it doesn't come with DFS.) The best place to get ROMs is from Jonathan Harston's web archive: mdfs.net/System/ROMs/ - if there's anything you can't find, let me know or ask on StarDot. I do have some odd versions of things that might not immediately be obvious (like version 1.45E of The BASIC Editor, which you get from Tom Seddon's GitHub repository).
What about going with a 65F02 FPGA based 6502.
I have one of those in my Plus/4 to replace the 8501 that stopped working properly. I initially had one of the adapters and replacement ROMs to allow you to use a 6510, but that didn't control the tape. The 8502 FPGA version just works like a native chip and obviously doesn't affect the programming (which is the aim of it!).
Those of us who grew up with that sound at primary school in the early 80's got to love it again when it was a well used sample in the acid house scene in the late 80's
Can someone pls inform Retroclinic to sort out its SSL and/or security issue on its website. FFS
Brilliant video. One thing I would like to clarify, though with reference to interlace on/off in mode 0-6 (non-teletext). It would be easy to get the impression that, with interlace off one is losing out, that there is some part of the picture generated but never seen. This is not the case at all. The vertical resolution of the BBC micro graphics modes is 256 lines and those same 256 lines are send in every field regardless of the interlace setting. What the interlace setting does is affect where on the TV/monitor they appear, i.e. either in same position twice in a row or one row up/down compared to the previous frame. Teletext is different in that the SAA5050 chip was designed for TVs and generates a full interlaced output, i.e. the two fields, even with a static display, are different.
Fascinating - thanks for taking the time to create this video, in such high quality - much appreciated. I fall into the BBC B fans category, rather than the Master, so learning about the Integra was quite an eye-opener. Is Ken still producing these boards?
Thanks! Ken does make new boards occasionally - if he has them for sale, he posts in this thread on Stardot: www.stardot.org.uk/forums/viewtopic.php?t=17455&start=60
@@lsbyte Yes, I got one from Ken recently. Very high quality and it worked first time.
Every time I see the BBC micro, I just can't help but think about my school days. We had these things networked all over the place. I can even still remember my login details for econet. *I am 10.254 p110167(I think) 😄😄
Excellent video, thank you
Excellent video and work. How did you connect the RGB2HDMI adapter? I'm assuming you rigged it up to the composite jack. Thanks for sharing
Yup - I just made up a short cable with a 6-pin IDC connector on one end and an RCA plug on the other end, as described here: github.com/IanSB/RGBtoHDMI/wiki/Cables The ground (outside sleeve of the RCA) connects to pin 1 of the IDC and video (tip) connects to pin 4. I used a Mutant Caterpillar mod on the ZX81 to get a composite image. The problems I had in this video have been subsequently resolved by using a Clamp setting on the RGBtoHDMI, as that will automatically compensate for the varying voltage. I probably should do a short video about that but haven't had time!
@@lsbyte Excellent! Thanks for sharing this information. Great work!
Gosh, this is complicated. An even simpler break down would help me! Even so, I'd love to try this stuff.
BeebMaster has a lot of stuff about this on his website - www.beebmaster.co.uk/Econet/IWantanEconet.html - including a lot of screen-by-screen walkthroughs of things. If you get stuck, asking on StarDot is a good place to start, or I can answer simple questions here, but they're much more the experts!
the file server should have been written in assembler so that no one can hack the file server.
A big problem, but I think the protocol was pretty screwed to begin with!
Very cool! Awesome channel and very informative!
Excellent stuff. Question: when I now switch my Master on all I get is a continuous beep at startup and I can't type on the keyboard. Any ideas? Regards Kevin
I think you probably want to head over to the StarDot 8-bit forum - they're the best people to help you: www.stardot.org.uk/forums/viewforum.php?f=3
It's so impressive just how advanced the BBC Micro was compared to other 8bit home computers at the time.
Indeed - it got all the upgrades that other manufacturers never delivered on. There weren't many 8-bit computers with floppy disc, hard disc, networking and second processor support! And it all worked fairly seamlessly with the operating system.
I've got a BBC Model B+ which can use 32kByte EPROMs, such as the 27256. You can program them with two sideways ROM images so, for example, I have View and ViewSheet stored on one chip, occupying one physical ROM socket but providing two 16kByte sideways ROMs. The 28C256 is an EEPROM, which can be reprogrammed without the need to be erased with UV light and is still being manufactured, which make it more convenient. It's also almost pin compatible with the 27256, but not quite. There are two pins that are different, so I made a small PCB with header pins that fit into a sideways ROM socket on one side and a surface mount SOIC version of the 28C256, a pull-up resistor and a pair of jumpers on the other side. If you set the jumpers to the Program position the chip is connected directly to the pins and you simply plug it into the programmer. When you've programmed and verified it you can put the jumpers in the other position and it looks to the Beeb like a 27256.
I used that one too. While in there, why not change out that hot 7805 with a buck converter?
Is there a MIPS processor option in that PiTube thingy?
Don't think so - all the processors are listed when you do CALL &2000 on a 6502 copro, or do *HELP COPROS on the ARM Native processor, as shown here: czcams.com/video/AhAzVnUva-k/video.html
Woah... I last saw BBC BASIC on a Model B... this is all rather posh. I loved the assembler, in later years when I've used other assemblers, I always find myself thinking how much nicer/easier it would be if I had the BBC BASIC assembler.
Back in the olden days, I didn't have much interest in The Master... it was a bit too much of a word processing and spreadsheet machine for my liking. Watching your videos, I'm now finding out all the things I missed out on by being far too snobby.
Whenever I tell people I have a Master, nearly everyone says "is that the one with the numeric keypad". Maybe the most obvious, but probably the least useful and interesting thing about it!