In that case, 6502 asm is nicer than z80, I never did like the idea of io ports.
If you don't like using io ports, just memory map all your I/O on your Z-80 design.
Really, the 6502 is one of the weaker 8 bit architectures, and the Z-80 is one of the stronger.
People like the 6502, IMHO, mostly out of the historical fact that Apple used it on their 8 bit machines. That's not really enough of a reason anymore.
Or, of course, you could design your machine using my namesake chip as one of the central chips and go all low level TTL. You'll probably want a 74S182 then, too (look ahead carry generator).
I'm asking this as a general question, since I've never owned a console with anything more than an 8 bit processor in it:
Can't the PIC processors often used for these MOD chips be cracked and the code freed for us all to use? I know there's a protection mechanism on the PIC chips to prevent this, but $50 is a hell of a lot of money for a PIC that you can buy raw and unprogrammed from Digi-Key for maybe $5-7.
I program PICs and know there are people out there who've explored cracking them. I don't own an X-Box and probably never will, but freeing up these expensive chips so they're code you can download and burn yourself seems like a viable project for people to work on.
I'm one of those guys who buys your stuff after you're tired of it at a swapmeet. Don't make a horrid wreck of it, leaving corrosive flux and burn marks all over the inside.
I fondly remember coding my first scrolling LED sign back in 'Computer 1 Lab' in tech school in 1983. We were using vunerable old MC6800D2 emulator boards that had six (I think) seven segment LEDs on board with a hex keypad.
We were supposed to make our name (six characters of it, anyhow) come up on the display, written in hand assembled machine code. I was bored with such a pitiful assignment so I made mine scroll 'Eat At Joes Bar And Grill'
It could be done so much more nicely these days with just a PIC and a few latch/driver parts. Those were the days. I remember at the time being politically aligned with the Z-80 chip and resenting that they were forcing us to use decprepit old 6802 chips in lab.
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In that case, 6502 asm is nicer than z80, I never did like the idea of io ports.
If you don't like using io ports, just memory map all your I/O on your Z-80 design.
Really, the 6502 is one of the weaker 8 bit architectures, and the Z-80 is one of the stronger.
People like the 6502, IMHO, mostly out of the historical fact that Apple used it on their 8 bit machines. That's not really enough of a reason anymore.
Or, of course, you could design your machine using my namesake chip as one of the central chips and go all low level TTL. You'll probably want a 74S182 then, too (look ahead carry generator).
I'm asking this as a general question, since I've never owned a console with anything more than an 8 bit processor in it:
Can't the PIC processors often used for these MOD chips be cracked and the code freed for us all to use? I know there's a protection mechanism on the PIC chips to prevent this, but $50 is a hell of a lot of money for a PIC that you can buy raw and unprogrammed from Digi-Key for maybe $5-7.
I program PICs and know there are people out there who've explored cracking them. I don't own an X-Box and probably never will, but freeing up these expensive chips so they're code you can download and burn yourself seems like a viable project for people to work on.
Yikes.
Don't buy the cheapest soldering iron you can find.
Get one with an iron plated tip. Use good flux. Use Good Soldering Technique.
I'm one of those guys who buys your stuff after you're tired of it at a swapmeet. Don't make a horrid wreck of it, leaving corrosive flux and burn marks all over the inside.
I fondly remember coding my first scrolling LED sign back in 'Computer 1 Lab' in tech school in 1983. We were using vunerable old MC6800D2 emulator boards that had six (I think) seven segment LEDs on board with a hex keypad.
We were supposed to make our name (six characters of it, anyhow) come up on the display, written in hand assembled machine code. I was bored with such a pitiful assignment so I made mine scroll 'Eat At Joes Bar And Grill'
It could be done so much more nicely these days with just a PIC and a few latch/driver parts. Those were the days. I remember at the time being politically aligned with the Z-80 chip and resenting that they were forcing us to use decprepit old 6802 chips in lab.