This is a really great thing and I'm very grateful for all your hard work. I think there's a huge need for a modern hacker console that's capable enough for real applications but simple enough to comprehend.
Hello Sir, I am a software developer. I have basic understanding of how Ben Eaters SAP 1 works and some basic understanding of Electronics . i really like to build this TTL CPU one day and run games on it, but as of now i don't have budget to do so. is there any way of designing the whole CPU in any kind of software, and then write games for that CPU and test whole as a single computer? (same as you are doing connecting your CPU to your computer and running games off of your TTL CPU). i guess that is the only option i have as of now so that i can follow along with your videos. How can i get started with this approach, any ref material, or any videos. if you could make a short video about my problem statement. this would help a lot of people like me who has very limited budget but would love to enter world of CPU. :) thank you in advance
Welcome to the Minimal 64. Please watch the earlier videos in the "Minimal 64" playlist. I have published a full emulator that allows you to run a Minimal 64 on your desktop or even from your internet browser. Also, in the descriptions of these videos you'll find the link to extensive reference material including a full manual. Good luck!
Sehr sehr sehr cool. Einfach Klasse was du da zusammengebaut hast. Da ziehe ich meinen Hut. Brilliant. Auch die Lösungen die du dir hast einfallen lassen. Echt clever. Und so performant. Ich würde ja sagen weiter so, aber ich glaub das Projekt bzw das Ziel was du dir gesetzt hast, hast du definitiv erreicht. Aber vllt sieht man ja noch weitere Demos von dir. Fände es jedenfalls cool. Eine Implementation die sich vor Ben Eater und James Sharman nicht zu verstecken braucht.
You might want to consider the CERN Open Hardware License 2.0 Strongly Reciprocal instead of your informal license to protect your work by requiring that any use of your work must also be made available under the same license so you can incorporate any changes made while also preserving freedom for people using your work.
I have a set of boards on the way to me - a friend and I will be assembling a couple. he asked a question I really didn't have an answer to. He asked if this would work using LS chips rather the the HC/HCT? Would this be a bad idea? Most of the chips I have in my inventory are old 70's and 80's so not even LS. So I'm ordering HC/HCT chips now, but still like to know if you have an answer. Fun project!
It won't work. For 74LS00, the propagation delay t_pd=10..15ns, for 74HC00 t_pd=7ns. The Minimal 64 is *completely maxed out* and *needs* the low t_pd to function. 74LSxx would - among other issues - also dramatically increase the current consumption.
Hi Ajinkya Mahajan, I am also very interested in seeing this circuit being converted to FPGA. Please keep me posted! What tools and environment are you planning to use?
@@slu467 I use Deeds (Digital Electronics Education and Design Suite) for designing and simulating the circuit. It also converts the code to VHDL from a block diagram and you can see timing analysis. For optimisation, I use Altera Quartus to edit code and burn it to DE1-soc cyclone 5 FPGA
I'm very interested in building one of these, is this the first minimal iteration as I see you've other PCBs created as well with reduced ic count ? Which one would you recommend to work with ? I've built my own version of the SAP computer a few years back but it wasn't very capable but this looks like what I was trying to get to.
I've completed the board but have 1 last question relating to the VGA HSYNC/VSYNC the BOM shows 68 Ohm, and the PCB shows values of 75 Ohm (including Jim's Mouser parts list). I know the difference is very small especially considering tolerances... but was 75 Ohm found to be better for impedance matching? Or was it modified to be 68 Ohm as reflected in the BOM in the manual. Was a fun build, thanks.
Congrats on build a Minimal 64! As I recall, the 75 would be "ideal", but I'd suggest go with whatever you have: both 68 and 75 will work. Send me a pic of your build if you want to score s/n #4 (see gallery in the manual).
Would you consider making a space invaders emulator ? (The Midway 8080 arcade machine, not a clone of the game) It is generally considered to be the next step in emulation programming after chip-8, but there aren't any clear tutorials about making this machine
The system show 64kb RAM. I remember, that some time ago just half of it was available to the CPU. Did something change in the architecture? This is, what I like so much about the Z80 + CP/M: The OS is so minimal, a bit more than 5 kb. Also having no Video-RAM you are left with relatively much RAM. Would be great, if the minimal CPU would also have more than 32 KB available.
'Minimal 64 Home Computer' and 'Minimal UART CPU' are two different animals. Both are minimalistic and do not have an integrated CPU. The former has 64KB RAM, the latter 32KB available.
You did a great job there. Have You ever considered compiling to a virtual machine, much like Wirth’s p-code? There might be some potential to gain performance without the hassel of generating low level machine code right off the compiler.
@@slu467 oh, yes, sorry for the confusion. I meant turning the Min Interpreter into a compiler that spits out some kind of byte-code (or in N. Wirth’s terms p-code), that is then interpreted by a small runtime interpreter. You may define your own byte-code that’s easy to implement an interpreter for in your machine language. I came across this idea about 30 years ago when attending a compiler course based on a book by Per Brinch Hanson « on Pascal compilers »
I know from other comments and the manual that thr timings are very tight. How tolerant do you think the board would be to a little rearranging to fit a different form factor?
Obviously, I will not guarantee anything here. But I am quite confident a rearrangement would not affect the functionality. As I have demonstrated, this design even runs without problems on breadboards. So although I have called the timing *tight* it is tight by design not tight by luck ;-)
@@slu467 sounds good. Building it out on breadboards now. Once I get the programming issue mentioned elsewhere sorted my goal is work on a PC speaker type sound add on for the expansion port. Later on my plan is to rearrange the layout to match an ATX or micro ATX footprint.
PCB's ordered, parts ordered, manual printed, electronics coping machine warmed up 😃, I cant wait to try your latest creation!
Is there a ZIP of the Gerbers, or do you have to load the project into KiCAD and generate them yourself?
@@paulschreiber9384 Gerber zip included ;-)
Hi Jim, glad to hear you are going to build one. Pls keep me posted...
@@slu467 Maybe I am a Git_Idiot, but looking in the repository didn't see them. which directory?
@@paulschreiber9384 The-Minimal-64-Home-Computer/Revision 1.2/Minimal_64_Rev1.2_Gerbers.zip
This is a really great thing and I'm very grateful for all your hard work. I think there's a huge need for a modern hacker console that's capable enough for real applications but simple enough to comprehend.
Thanks, pbrninja19, that for me was exactly the reason why I've started this project. Glad you appreciate it!
Amazing job, I'm looking forward to trying this out! Thanks so much for all the hard work, I know projects like these are not always easy to finish.
Thanks, you are right, it's 10% fun & ideas and 90% of dark & hard work... but worth it ;-)
Your efforts are much appreciated. This kind of low-level approach to computer architecture is crucial for understanding other, more complex, systems.
Absolutely terrific project. Looking forward to building this project myself.
Glad you like it and will give it a go 🙂
Yes Finally!!!! Now I have no excuse not to dive into this! AMAZING work.
I will be ordering a PCB of this soon! I'll keep you posted how it goes
@@jacobapplebaum3326 Glad to hear you are going to build one.
Absolutely awesome, thanks for letting us all take a crack at this. Great work!
Thanks a lot ;-) Glad you like it.
Hello Sir, I am a software developer. I have basic understanding of how Ben Eaters SAP 1 works and some basic understanding of Electronics .
i really like to build this TTL CPU one day and run games on it, but as of now i don't have budget to do so.
is there any way of designing the whole CPU in any kind of software, and then write games for that CPU and test whole as a single computer? (same as you are doing connecting your CPU to your computer and running games off of your TTL CPU).
i guess that is the only option i have as of now so that i can follow along with your videos.
How can i get started with this approach, any ref material, or any videos.
if you could make a short video about my problem statement. this would help a lot of people like me who has very limited budget but would love to enter world of CPU. :)
thank you in advance
Welcome to the Minimal 64. Please watch the earlier videos in the "Minimal 64" playlist. I have published a full emulator that allows you to run a Minimal 64 on your desktop or even from your internet browser. Also, in the descriptions of these videos you'll find the link to extensive reference material including a full manual. Good luck!
I love this project.
Sehr sehr sehr cool. Einfach Klasse was du da zusammengebaut hast. Da ziehe ich meinen Hut. Brilliant. Auch die Lösungen die du dir hast einfallen lassen. Echt clever. Und so performant. Ich würde ja sagen weiter so, aber ich glaub das Projekt bzw das Ziel was du dir gesetzt hast, hast du definitiv erreicht. Aber vllt sieht man ja noch weitere Demos von dir. Fände es jedenfalls cool. Eine Implementation die sich vor Ben Eater und James Sharman nicht zu verstecken braucht.
Vielen Dank, TheMason76. Wenn du magst, was ich mache, sende doch einen link/post an andere Interessierte ;-)
You might want to consider the CERN Open Hardware License 2.0 Strongly Reciprocal instead of your informal license to protect your work by requiring that any use of your work must also be made available under the same license so you can incorporate any changes made while also preserving freedom for people using your work.
I've been looking forward to this video for a while. It's a great achievement. I might build one later in the year when I get some free time.
Hi David, it took some time, unfortunately, since my daytime work got in the way as well. Glad you like it ;-)
Amazing work, this project is 🤯, congratulations my friend! I loved open source projects and people who work for it!
Thank, I am glad you appreciate it :-)
I have a set of boards on the way to me - a friend and I will be assembling a couple. he asked a question I really didn't have an answer to. He asked if this would work using LS chips rather the the HC/HCT? Would this be a bad idea? Most of the chips I have in my inventory are old 70's and 80's so not even LS. So I'm ordering HC/HCT chips now, but still like to know if you have an answer. Fun project!
It won't work. For 74LS00, the propagation delay t_pd=10..15ns, for 74HC00 t_pd=7ns. The Minimal 64 is *completely maxed out* and *needs* the low t_pd to function. 74LSxx would - among other issues - also dramatically increase the current consumption.
Congratulations on finishing!!! So exited to build this
Thanks a lot! Glad to hear you plan on building one. Still in for the summer project?
I am trying out this project next weekend, the only difference is that I use an FPGA.
The document helps a lot.
Thanks for sharing.
Cheers !!
Oo, do share that.
Hi Ajinkya Mahajan, I am also very interested in seeing this circuit being converted to FPGA. Please keep me posted! What tools and environment are you planning to use?
@@PaulasTechStuff definitely
@@slu467 I use Deeds (Digital Electronics Education and Design Suite) for designing and simulating the circuit. It also converts the code to VHDL from a block diagram and you can see timing analysis.
For optimisation, I use Altera Quartus to edit code and burn it to DE1-soc cyclone 5 FPGA
5 hours ago? Perfect timing ^^ I am obsessed right now with neat little computer projects like this one
This was a neat little 4-year project in total ;-)
@@slu467 To clarify, I didn't mean to put down your amazing work ^^ Massive respect.
I'm very interested in building one of these, is this the first minimal iteration as I see you've other PCBs created as well with reduced ic count ? Which one would you recommend to work with ? I've built my own version of the SAP computer a few years back but it wasn't very capable but this looks like what I was trying to get to.
This is the most complete design I have released (in the sense that it has VGA and PS/2). Minimal UART has only a UART, no VGA/PS2.
I've completed the board but have 1 last question relating to the VGA HSYNC/VSYNC the BOM shows 68 Ohm, and the PCB shows values of 75 Ohm (including Jim's Mouser parts list). I know the difference is very small especially considering tolerances... but was 75 Ohm found to be better for impedance matching? Or was it modified to be 68 Ohm as reflected in the BOM in the manual. Was a fun build, thanks.
Congrats on build a Minimal 64!
As I recall, the 75 would be "ideal", but I'd suggest go with whatever you have: both 68 and 75 will work. Send me a pic of your build if you want to score s/n #4 (see gallery in the manual).
Would you consider making a space invaders emulator ? (The Midway 8080 arcade machine, not a clone of the game)
It is generally considered to be the next step in emulation programming after chip-8, but there aren't any clear tutorials about making this machine
The system show 64kb RAM. I remember, that some time ago just half of it was available to the CPU. Did something change in the architecture?
This is, what I like so much about the Z80 + CP/M: The OS is so minimal, a bit more than 5 kb. Also having no Video-RAM you are left with relatively much RAM. Would be great, if the minimal CPU would also have more than 32 KB available.
'Minimal 64 Home Computer' and 'Minimal UART CPU' are two different animals. Both are minimalistic and do not have an integrated CPU. The former has 64KB RAM, the latter 32KB available.
New Sub! Dryden, Michigan, US
This is Freaking AWESOME!
Thanks, MotownBatman and welcome aboard.
this is amazing work
Thanks. It means a lot to me ;-)
You did a great job there. Have You ever considered compiling to a virtual machine, much like Wirth’s p-code? There might be some potential to gain performance without the hassel of generating low level machine code right off the compiler.
Can you elaborate some more on that? I am not presenting any compiler here. Are you referring to my interpreter "Min"?
@@slu467 oh, yes, sorry for the confusion. I meant turning the Min Interpreter into a compiler that spits out some kind of byte-code (or in N. Wirth’s terms p-code), that is then interpreted by a small runtime interpreter. You may define your own byte-code that’s easy to implement an interpreter for in your machine language. I came across this idea about 30 years ago when attending a compiler course based on a book by Per Brinch Hanson « on Pascal compilers »
I know from other comments and the manual that thr timings are very tight. How tolerant do you think the board would be to a little rearranging to fit a different form factor?
Obviously, I will not guarantee anything here. But I am quite confident a rearrangement would not affect the functionality. As I have demonstrated, this design even runs without problems on breadboards. So although I have called the timing *tight* it is tight by design not tight by luck ;-)
@@slu467 sounds good. Building it out on breadboards now. Once I get the programming issue mentioned elsewhere sorted my goal is work on a PC speaker type sound add on for the expansion port. Later on my plan is to rearrange the layout to match an ATX or micro ATX footprint.
Wonderful!
Awesome, it’s a great project and I’m looking at parts availability as I fancy building one.
Hi Paula, glad you like this one. Although it's tiny compared to your design and lacks colour and sound ;-)
@@slu467 it is more complete and functional than mine, which is a great achievement.
08:50 /jaw hits floor
you're a lovely person, I want you to know that.
I have extra blank boards if anyone needs them. Located in Dallas.
Promo*SM 😃