uClinux - can be built without MMU support. There's no memory protection, and program binaries have to be patched up by the loader, so that address references reflect the physical memory address at which the binary is loaded. http://www.uclinux.org/
Thanks for all the comments! This "68 Katy" is my project. The video is a good overview, and lots more tech details are at http://bigmessowires.com/2014/... and the rest of the site. I've built a couple of other home-made CPU / computer projects in the past, including "Big Mess o' Wires" a few years ago, but this was the first time I tried to add a real OS. Cramming Linux into 512K was a challenge!
The CPU is a 68008, which is a low cost version of the familiar 68000 with an 8-bit bus and fewer external address pins. It has a max of 1 MB of total address space. It’s paired with a 512K 8-bit SRAM, and a 512K Flash ROM (of which 480K is addressable – the remaining 32K is memory-mapped I/O devices). My 68008 runs at 2 MHz (it was unstable when tested at 4 MHz), providing similar performance to a 1 MHz 68000. That’s pretty slow, even in comparison to 68000 systems from the early 1980s, which were typically 8 MHz or faster. So frame rates in the latest games aren't great...
What, seriously? You were forced to work 40-50 hours per week actually writing software, without the union-mandated 5 hours per day for updating your blog and watching funny YouTube videos?
Why do people seem to think that being asked to actually WORK at work is some sort of heinous crime?
> reasonably smart people that study and learn a usable skill shouldn't have to live like that. Not in the US.
They should get to work in some gilded office and get their asses kissed for doing 30 minutes of actual work in a day?
What's with the trend of calling technical info "porn"? A while ago on Wired, there was an article on "nanotech porn". It really reinforces the stereotype that tech guys are all a bunch of creepy bearded child molesters, whacking off to photoshopped images of Catherine Janeway in their mom's basement.
I am reading this, and if that was an offer to pass on some old Augat boards, I'd *love* to have them! They're getting tough to find! My email address is on the stevechamberlin.com website if you want to contact me.
If I ever said Big Mess o' Wires was only 7400 logic, it was a lie. My original goal was to use mostly 7400 logic. In the end there were also quite a few 22v10 PALs as you noticed, and two LSI chips related to audio and video RAMDAC.
If you're doing this to gain experience that will help you land a job, forget about C or Fortran.
Otherwise, it depends on what kind of software job you're looking for. Games and application development tend to be C++. Web-related software is more likely to involve Java.
That's got to be the most incomprehensible story summary I've ever seen posted to Slashdot, and that's saying a lot. Seriously. The predicted shortest 25-mark Golomb ruler is optimal? What on earth are you talking about? How about giving us the barest minimum of a context, so we might have some tiny clue what that spew of buzzwords is getting at.
The BUG looks pretty slick, but it's $350 just for the base module! Add on modules like an LCD or GPS are about $100 each. Ouch.
For playing around with embedded electronics, try an open-source hardware Arduino board (http://www.arduino.cc), or just build your own using a PIC or AVR microcontroller. It's not as polished as the BUG and doesn't run Java, but it'll cost $40 instead of $400. Arduino has a decent set of software tools, and you can add modular "shields" for GPS, wireless, etc.
Slashdot Mirror
Oh man... this is spot on. This... I can't even... oh no.
I feel so empty right now. WHAT HAVE I DONE WITH MY LIFE??
uClinux - can be built without MMU support. There's no memory protection, and program binaries have to be patched up by the loader, so that address references reflect the physical memory address at which the binary is loaded. http://www.uclinux.org/
Thanks for all the comments! This "68 Katy" is my project. The video is a good overview, and lots more tech details are at http://bigmessowires.com/2014/... and the rest of the site. I've built a couple of other home-made CPU / computer projects in the past, including "Big Mess o' Wires" a few years ago, but this was the first time I tried to add a real OS. Cramming Linux into 512K was a challenge!
The CPU is a 68008, which is a low cost version of the familiar 68000 with an 8-bit bus and fewer external address pins. It has a max of 1 MB of total address space. It’s paired with a 512K 8-bit SRAM, and a 512K Flash ROM (of which 480K is addressable – the remaining 32K is memory-mapped I/O devices). My 68008 runs at 2 MHz (it was unstable when tested at 4 MHz), providing similar performance to a 1 MHz 68000. That’s pretty slow, even in comparison to 68000 systems from the early 1980s, which were typically 8 MHz or faster. So frame rates in the latest games aren't great...
What, seriously? You were forced to work 40-50 hours per week actually writing software, without the union-mandated 5 hours per day for updating your blog and watching funny YouTube videos?
Why do people seem to think that being asked to actually WORK at work is some sort of heinous crime?
> reasonably smart people that study and learn a usable skill shouldn't have to live like that. Not in the US.
They should get to work in some gilded office and get their asses kissed for doing 30 minutes of actual work in a day?
What's with the trend of calling technical info "porn"? A while ago on Wired, there was an article on "nanotech porn". It really reinforces the stereotype that tech guys are all a bunch of creepy bearded child molesters, whacking off to photoshopped images of Catherine Janeway in their mom's basement.
I am reading this, and if that was an offer to pass on some old Augat boards, I'd *love* to have them! They're getting tough to find! My email address is on the stevechamberlin.com website if you want to contact me.
If I ever said Big Mess o' Wires was only 7400 logic, it was a lie. My original goal was to use mostly 7400 logic. In the end there were also quite a few 22v10 PALs as you noticed, and two LSI chips related to audio and video RAMDAC.
If you're doing this to gain experience that will help you land a job, forget about C or Fortran.
Otherwise, it depends on what kind of software job you're looking for. Games and application development tend to be C++. Web-related software is more likely to involve Java.
In your example, the distance between 0 and 3 is the same as between 3 and 6. Not a Golomb ruler.
That's got to be the most incomprehensible story summary I've ever seen posted to Slashdot, and that's saying a lot. Seriously. The predicted shortest 25-mark Golomb ruler is optimal? What on earth are you talking about? How about giving us the barest minimum of a context, so we might have some tiny clue what that spew of buzzwords is getting at.
The BUG looks pretty slick, but it's $350 just for the base module! Add on modules like an LCD or GPS are about $100 each. Ouch.
For playing around with embedded electronics, try an open-source hardware Arduino board (http://www.arduino.cc), or just build your own using a PIC or AVR microcontroller. It's not as polished as the BUG and doesn't run Java, but it'll cost $40 instead of $400. Arduino has a decent set of software tools, and you can add modular "shields" for GPS, wireless, etc.