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DIY CPU Demo'd Running Minix

Posted by Zonk on from the homebrew-is-darn-tasty dept.

DeviceGuru writes "Bill Buzbee offered the first public demonstration of the open-source Minix OS — a cousin of Linux — running on his homebrew minicomputer, the Magic-1, at the Vintage Computer Festival in Mountain View, Calif. The Magic-1 minicomputer is built with 74-series TTL ICs using wire-wrap construction, and implements a homebrew, 8086-like ISA. Rather than using a commercial microprocessor, Buzbee created his own microcoded CPU that runs at 4.09 MHz, and is in the same ballpark as an old 8086 in performance and capabilities. The CPU has a 22-bit physical address bus and an 8-bit data bus."

16 of 313 comments (clear)

  1. But does it run.... ? by iogan · · Score: 5, Funny

    Does it run Linux... I mean minix.. I mean... Oh forget it!

    --
    Nyhetsankaret.com -- det bÃsta av Sveriges Nyhetssido
    1. Re:But does it run.... ? by maxwell+demon · · Score: 5, Funny

      Even more importantly, can't you guys realise that none of these jokes are funny? Sorry, the fun flag has not yet been implemented on this processor. Therefore it's not yet possible to determine which jokes are funny. While there already exists a jnf instruction (jump if not funny), it currently does nothing. We do have code like the following, though:

      ; post joke if funny
          test joke
          jnf .nopost
          call post_joke
      .nopost:
      ; continue reading slashdot
      --
      The Tao of math: The numbers you can count are not the real numbers.
    2. Re:But does it run.... ? by osu-neko · · Score: 3, Funny

      Even more importantly, can't you guys realise that none of these jokes are funny?

      Hmm. If you understand that humor is subjective, you will realize that what you've just posted is stupid. Alternately, if you think humor is objective, well, then you're just plain stupid.

      Your post could be made in a way that doesn't make you look stupid. You could say, "Don't you people realize that I don't find any of these jokes funny?" Of course, posted that way, it makes it rather clear what a self-centered individual you are. Why would they refrain from posting things some people do find funny, just because you don't? And why can't you just skip over content that doesn't interest you, rather than complain anytime anything is posted that you didn't care to see? Does it really bother you that much that you're not the center of the universe?

      --
      "Convictions are more dangerous enemies of truth than lies."
    3. Re:But does it run.... ? by sr180 · · Score: 4, Funny

      Sorry, the fun flag has not yet been implemented on this processor.

      But does it support the TCP Evil Bit?

      --
      In Soviet Russia the insensitive clod is YOU!
  2. Next step by The+MAZZTer · · Score: 4, Funny

    Beowulf Cluster

  3. cousin? by m2943 · · Score: 4, Funny

    the open-source Minix OS [CC] -- a cousin of Linux

    That must be the same sense in which Dick Cheney is "a cousin of" Barak Obama.

    1. Re:cousin? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Funny

      If you're implying that Barack Obama was originally conceived and developed as a freer alternative to Dick Cheney, then yes, that's right.

  4. Re:Minix was Sire of Linux by Dunbal · · Score: 4, Funny

    OBVIOUSLY the guy stole the code for Minix from SCO. Lawsuit at 11.

    --
    Seven puppies were harmed during the making of this post.
  5. Heh heh heh... by Pollux · · Score: 5, Funny

    From the site about the homemade processor:

    Except when I'm working on it, Magic-1 is connected to the net. It serves web pages at http://www.magic-1.org

    Not any more!

    (I know, I know, some of you might be thinking..."How could you be so cruel as to post a link on /. to a server that's only running at 4 MHz? Have you no mercy?" My response: Nope.)

    1. Re:Heh heh heh... by Joebert · · Score: 5, Funny

      Hey when that guy signed up for the ass-kicking contest he knew damn well he only had one leg !

      --
      Wanna fight ? Bend over, stick your head up your ass, and fight for air.
  6. Re:Is there a kit version? by RattFink · · Score: 4, Funny

    Here is your kit:
    Part 1
    Part 2

    Good Luck :)

    --
    "I don't necessarily agree with everything I say." - Marshall McLuhan
  7. Re:Is there a kit version? by RattFink · · Score: 3, Funny

    Of course, Almost forgot...

    Debugging Tool

    --
    "I don't necessarily agree with everything I say." - Marshall McLuhan
  8. I thought this kind of work was dead. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Funny

    I can just picture Woz now saying "The force is strong in this one. "

  9. meh by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Funny

    He's just a fucking script kiddie as far as I'm concerned. Real men mine and smelt their own metal. Consumer metal bought over the counter just doesn't offer enough customisability if you really want to do a project like this right.

  10. How many concurrent users? by Colin+Smith · · Score: 5, Funny

    2Gb RAM, 3GHz CPU, 20Gb of disk - Windows Vista: 1
    4Mb RAM, 4MHz CPU, 500Kb ram disk - Minix: ?

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    Deleted
  11. A decent job, but if he was serious.... by gooneybird · · Score: 3, Funny

    Nice job, but if he was a real "man" he wouldn't have used advanced circuits like TTL. He should have wired it using 2N3904 and 2N3906 transistors using RTL (Resistor/Transistor/Logic) instead of taking the easy way out and using that new-fangled TTL stuff. And when he gets real serious, he can start with triode tubes (ala Eniac / Multics), then he will really have demonstrated his manhood (or lunacy).