Retrocomputing Maker and Designer in Ontario, Canada. I make stuff without promising a delivery date. I don't do crowdfunding, but I do gratefully accept Patreon and Ko-Fi support for what I do.
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npub1qnufz4pycufk27kkeev5g0fgm0w0tqexsly674s2uwy0tynk5ymsk5hzwk Profile Code
nprofile1qqsqf7y32sjvwym90ttvuk2y855dhh84svng0jd02c9w8z84jfm2zdcpz3mhxue69uhhyetvv9ujuerpd46hxtnfduqs6amnwvaz7tmwdaejumr0dsslrxl6
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2024-06-04T03:58:05+02:00 Event JSON
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Last Notes npub1qnufz4pycufk27kkeev5g0fgm0w0tqexsly674s2uwy0tynk5ymsk5hzwk mos_8502 :verified: The hardest part of gamedev for me: Coming up with ideas. npub1qnufz4pycufk27kkeev5g0fgm0w0tqexsly674s2uwy0tynk5ymsk5hzwk mos_8502 :verified: I'm not confident in the very limited, very flawed studies on "deskilling", but I admit to the possibility. npub1qnufz4pycufk27kkeev5g0fgm0w0tqexsly674s2uwy0tynk5ymsk5hzwk mos_8502 :verified: I'm so happy you enjoy it! npub1qnufz4pycufk27kkeev5g0fgm0w0tqexsly674s2uwy0tynk5ymsk5hzwk mos_8502 :verified: Gridlocker beta 2 is out! npub1qnufz4pycufk27kkeev5g0fgm0w0tqexsly674s2uwy0tynk5ymsk5hzwk mos_8502 :verified: Pining for the days of bedroom coders making money for their work, while malding about someone actually doing it today in the here and now, is certainly A Choice™. npub1qnufz4pycufk27kkeev5g0fgm0w0tqexsly674s2uwy0tynk5ymsk5hzwk mos_8502 :verified: @npub1yex…0chl, thanks for buying Gridlocker, but you were on the list to get a free copy! npub1qnufz4pycufk27kkeev5g0fgm0w0tqexsly674s2uwy0tynk5ymsk5hzwk mos_8502 :verified: It has been brought to my attention that it’s possible some people are reluctant to buy Gridlocker because it’s technically in alpha versions. So the next version is going to be beta 1. That’ll be out tonight or tomorrow. npub1qnufz4pycufk27kkeev5g0fgm0w0tqexsly674s2uwy0tynk5ymsk5hzwk mos_8502 :verified: Wat https://cosocial.ca/@mhoye/116406257551730140 npub1qnufz4pycufk27kkeev5g0fgm0w0tqexsly674s2uwy0tynk5ymsk5hzwk mos_8502 :verified: Now if I can just find a decent deal on a 35mm prime lens… npub1qnufz4pycufk27kkeev5g0fgm0w0tqexsly674s2uwy0tynk5ymsk5hzwk mos_8502 :verified: The ideal for me would be a chip or module that basically acts like an 80s CPU but faster with a wider bus. npub1qnufz4pycufk27kkeev5g0fgm0w0tqexsly674s2uwy0tynk5ymsk5hzwk mos_8502 :verified: You don’t need to sell me on the virtue of a more modern arch. I’m all about it, if it’s available. npub1qnufz4pycufk27kkeev5g0fgm0w0tqexsly674s2uwy0tynk5ymsk5hzwk mos_8502 :verified: I agree, it’s not the best possible choice. But I can’t make an FPGA CPU that’s better. Or even worse. I’m not qualified. I would love to have a 32 bit RISC-V FPGA that exposed the full demultiplexed bus on a pin grid array carrier. That’d be the dream. npub1qnufz4pycufk27kkeev5g0fgm0w0tqexsly674s2uwy0tynk5ymsk5hzwk mos_8502 :verified: That’s why I say the eZ80 is the best option, until or unless someone comes up with an FPGA based CPU that’s suitable. The eZ80 supports 16MB of RAM, more with banking. That’s not a lot, but we’ve done more with less. npub1qnufz4pycufk27kkeev5g0fgm0w0tqexsly674s2uwy0tynk5ymsk5hzwk mos_8502 :verified: Former houseguest took about two grand worth of my shit on his way out the door. npub1qnufz4pycufk27kkeev5g0fgm0w0tqexsly674s2uwy0tynk5ymsk5hzwk mos_8502 :verified: I may have to sell some things. I don’t want to. But I’m flat fucking broke, my shit has been stolen, and I have a powerful need to eat sometime this month. npub1qnufz4pycufk27kkeev5g0fgm0w0tqexsly674s2uwy0tynk5ymsk5hzwk mos_8502 :verified: While you are, quite justifiably, purging all things Harry Potter from your life, consider also ditching anything related to a series made by Graham Linehan, who is even fouler than Rowling, if nowhere near as influential. npub1qnufz4pycufk27kkeev5g0fgm0w0tqexsly674s2uwy0tynk5ymsk5hzwk mos_8502 :verified: "Hooker, I'm not in the 'helping' business no more. I'm in the 'fuck off while I smoke a blunt' business, and business is about to pick way the fuck up." npub1qnufz4pycufk27kkeev5g0fgm0w0tqexsly674s2uwy0tynk5ymsk5hzwk mos_8502 :verified: Felling pretty good about never having paid money for anything made by or associated with JK Rowling right now. npub1qnufz4pycufk27kkeev5g0fgm0w0tqexsly674s2uwy0tynk5ymsk5hzwk mos_8502 :verified: I'm thinking tuna casserole for dinner. Easy, filling, and everyone in the house likes it. npub1qnufz4pycufk27kkeev5g0fgm0w0tqexsly674s2uwy0tynk5ymsk5hzwk mos_8502 :verified: Today’s thrifting finds are retro, but nothing too exciting. Textbook from 1977 on digital computer systems is neat though. npub1qnufz4pycufk27kkeev5g0fgm0w0tqexsly674s2uwy0tynk5ymsk5hzwk mos_8502 :verified: Retro being so damn expensive informed my design. npub1qnufz4pycufk27kkeev5g0fgm0w0tqexsly674s2uwy0tynk5ymsk5hzwk mos_8502 :verified: Good. Make it very clear that you will not, under any circumstance, collaborate with Nazis. Respect. npub1qnufz4pycufk27kkeev5g0fgm0w0tqexsly674s2uwy0tynk5ymsk5hzwk mos_8502 :verified: But you can probably find one easily enough. Offices dumped thousands. npub1qnufz4pycufk27kkeev5g0fgm0w0tqexsly674s2uwy0tynk5ymsk5hzwk mos_8502 :verified: I have a spare one of those UltraSharps if you want to pay shipping for it. I paid like $10 for it, so I don't even need anything out of it other than shipping cost. npub1qnufz4pycufk27kkeev5g0fgm0w0tqexsly674s2uwy0tynk5ymsk5hzwk mos_8502 :verified: For slots, I have chosen the 2x32 DIN 41612 connector, with the pins on the expansion card, and the holes on the backplane -- the same connector that connects the expansion port on the mainboard to whatever expansion. This means it should be possible to plug in a single expansion card without a backplane, simply plugging it directly into the expansion port. This probably won't require additional power. npub1qnufz4pycufk27kkeev5g0fgm0w0tqexsly674s2uwy0tynk5ymsk5hzwk mos_8502 :verified: An expansion backplane with multiple slots will probably need to provide its own +3.3V and +5V rails, which can feed back into the mainboard so long as the USB-C power connector is not used. npub1qnufz4pycufk27kkeev5g0fgm0w0tqexsly674s2uwy0tynk5ymsk5hzwk mos_8502 :verified: Also present are the reset, IRQ, and NMI active-low interrupt signals. npub1qnufz4pycufk27kkeev5g0fgm0w0tqexsly674s2uwy0tynk5ymsk5hzwk mos_8502 :verified: The same expansion bus also contains the SNES controller lines clock and latch, and the data lines for controllers three and four. npub1qnufz4pycufk27kkeev5g0fgm0w0tqexsly674s2uwy0tynk5ymsk5hzwk mos_8502 :verified: Expansions can contain RAM, ROM, and/or I/O devices. Basically whatever you like. The raw digital RGBHV signals are also present on the expansion bus -- you could, for example, make an expansion with an HDMI port on it to replace the VGA output, as well. npub1qnufz4pycufk27kkeev5g0fgm0w0tqexsly674s2uwy0tynk5ymsk5hzwk mos_8502 :verified: The expansion bus on Sentinel 65X is memory-mapped to two regions: 64 bytes from 0x00DFC0-0x00DFFF and 8 megabytes from 0x40000-0xBFFFF. The active low I/O1 signal decodes the 64 byte low expansion, and the active-low CS6 signal decodes the high region. Expansion cards will need to decode their own sub-regions to avoid conflict, but 8MB is a lot of room for that sort of thing. npub1qnufz4pycufk27kkeev5g0fgm0w0tqexsly674s2uwy0tynk5ymsk5hzwk mos_8502 :verified: The next stage is to make gender non-conformity a criminal offense. Then come the prison camps and the exterminations. npub1qnufz4pycufk27kkeev5g0fgm0w0tqexsly674s2uwy0tynk5ymsk5hzwk mos_8502 :verified: But there’s always the option of an external scaler like the retro tink. npub1qnufz4pycufk27kkeev5g0fgm0w0tqexsly674s2uwy0tynk5ymsk5hzwk mos_8502 :verified: An LCD with 1440 lines might work. That’s 3x scaled integer. npub1qnufz4pycufk27kkeev5g0fgm0w0tqexsly674s2uwy0tynk5ymsk5hzwk mos_8502 :verified: The resolution is defined by the VERA bitstream in the FPGA. Changing it has been discussed but doesn’t seem to be practical. However, the raw RGB signals are on the expansion bus, allowing for video adapters to be made. HDMI, for example. npub1qnufz4pycufk27kkeev5g0fgm0w0tqexsly674s2uwy0tynk5ymsk5hzwk mos_8502 :verified: To be fair, at this point it kind of is illegal? npub1qnufz4pycufk27kkeev5g0fgm0w0tqexsly674s2uwy0tynk5ymsk5hzwk mos_8502 :verified: Democracy in the US is Norman Bates' mother. Dead and rotted to a husk, but sometimes the killer will dress up like her and murder someone because it makes his dick hard. npub1qnufz4pycufk27kkeev5g0fgm0w0tqexsly674s2uwy0tynk5ymsk5hzwk mos_8502 :verified: We have SCSI hard drive replacements. This is good. npub1qnufz4pycufk27kkeev5g0fgm0w0tqexsly674s2uwy0tynk5ymsk5hzwk mos_8502 :verified: So out of the box, the system will just boot to the serial port ROM monitor at ~1.8MHz. Not all that useful on its own, but it does allow you to push code into RAM and run it. npub1qnufz4pycufk27kkeev5g0fgm0w0tqexsly674s2uwy0tynk5ymsk5hzwk mos_8502 :verified: How does the clock switching work? npub1qnufz4pycufk27kkeev5g0fgm0w0tqexsly674s2uwy0tynk5ymsk5hzwk mos_8502 :verified: Not until I get a working prototype of this final design -- I only sell what I know works, unless it's being sold *as* broken. npub1qnufz4pycufk27kkeev5g0fgm0w0tqexsly674s2uwy0tynk5ymsk5hzwk mos_8502 :verified: So, why the ~1.8MHz clock? Well, the ROM monitor has a list of frequencies it is programmed to accept, and that's one of them. 8MHz, the rated speed of the CPU[1], is not one of these speeds, so I picked one that was close in performance to an 80s micro in case you want to play with 6502 emulation mode. npub1qnufz4pycufk27kkeev5g0fgm0w0tqexsly674s2uwy0tynk5ymsk5hzwk mos_8502 :verified: The CPU can manually pull CDONE low if needed; this is to enable software-controlled updates to the FPGA's ROM via the hardware-accelerated SPI function. It can also control the FPGA's reset function. npub1qnufz4pycufk27kkeev5g0fgm0w0tqexsly674s2uwy0tynk5ymsk5hzwk mos_8502 :verified: So what happens when you turn on your Sentinel 65X board? npub1qnufz4pycufk27kkeev5g0fgm0w0tqexsly674s2uwy0tynk5ymsk5hzwk mos_8502 :verified: One of the unused pins on the CPU has a function where it changes state based on a timer underrun. So I have wired that (via a 0Ω resistor/jumper) to the NMI input, thus allowing timer 4 to generate an NMI event under program control, giving programmers yet another option for timing. npub1qnufz4pycufk27kkeev5g0fgm0w0tqexsly674s2uwy0tynk5ymsk5hzwk mos_8502 :verified: Magic: The Gathering deep cut hot take: "Innistrad" is just "Homelands" with better cards but the exact same setting. npub1qnufz4pycufk27kkeev5g0fgm0w0tqexsly674s2uwy0tynk5ymsk5hzwk mos_8502 :verified: The price per unit will probably be about $125 USD. npub1qnufz4pycufk27kkeev5g0fgm0w0tqexsly674s2uwy0tynk5ymsk5hzwk mos_8502 :verified: I'm working on that, of course. npub1qnufz4pycufk27kkeev5g0fgm0w0tqexsly674s2uwy0tynk5ymsk5hzwk mos_8502 :verified: First I get hold of a test unit to make sure the design works, and if not, fix whatever is wrong. Then it's worth talking about a production run of 50 or so units. npub1qnufz4pycufk27kkeev5g0fgm0w0tqexsly674s2uwy0tynk5ymsk5hzwk mos_8502 :verified: Certainly possible if someone wants to write it. npub1qnufz4pycufk27kkeev5g0fgm0w0tqexsly674s2uwy0tynk5ymsk5hzwk mos_8502 :verified: Someone, I don't know who, but someone, is going to have to flee the US to Canada and demand asylum on the grounds of political persecution, to force my country to acknowledge that the US is not a safe country anymore. npub1qnufz4pycufk27kkeev5g0fgm0w0tqexsly674s2uwy0tynk5ymsk5hzwk mos_8502 :verified: I'm not tired exactly. I'm drained. Like, I have poured every ounce of creative energy I have into Sentinel 65X, and now I have nothing left for however long it takes to regenerate. npub1qnufz4pycufk27kkeev5g0fgm0w0tqexsly674s2uwy0tynk5ymsk5hzwk mos_8502 :verified: There is no hope for those people. There never was. They have always been this way. npub1qnufz4pycufk27kkeev5g0fgm0w0tqexsly674s2uwy0tynk5ymsk5hzwk mos_8502 :verified: Here's what I think is going to happen. npub1qnufz4pycufk27kkeev5g0fgm0w0tqexsly674s2uwy0tynk5ymsk5hzwk mos_8502 :verified: Replaced the NRND switching regulator for the FPGA with a small LDO. Sane? npub1qnufz4pycufk27kkeev5g0fgm0w0tqexsly674s2uwy0tynk5ymsk5hzwk mos_8502 :verified: Linux users only: How many monitors does your primary Linux machine have? npub1qnufz4pycufk27kkeev5g0fgm0w0tqexsly674s2uwy0tynk5ymsk5hzwk mos_8502 :verified: Are you actually innovating, or are you just adding needless complexity to an already-solved problem to make yourself feel useful? npub1qnufz4pycufk27kkeev5g0fgm0w0tqexsly674s2uwy0tynk5ymsk5hzwk mos_8502 :verified: It bothers me greatly that it's harder to run 32-bit wine in 2025 than it was in 2005. npub1qnufz4pycufk27kkeev5g0fgm0w0tqexsly674s2uwy0tynk5ymsk5hzwk mos_8502 :verified: One billion dollars in cash is chump change to Apple. They could buy the entire GOP for less than they spend on chips and dip in a year. npub1qnufz4pycufk27kkeev5g0fgm0w0tqexsly674s2uwy0tynk5ymsk5hzwk mos_8502 :verified: If we are going to play by the rules of unfettered capitalism (and I think it's a bad idea!), then why does Apple or Microsoft not simply buy the Trump administration out from under Musk? Unlike the fascists of old, these ones are *openly* for sale. npub1qnufz4pycufk27kkeev5g0fgm0w0tqexsly674s2uwy0tynk5ymsk5hzwk mos_8502 :verified: The fact that AI/LLMs haven't motivated knowledge workers to unionize offends every fibre of my being. npub1qnufz4pycufk27kkeev5g0fgm0w0tqexsly674s2uwy0tynk5ymsk5hzwk mos_8502 :verified: I guess a gemstone is more romantic when a couple of slaves died to dig it up? npub1qnufz4pycufk27kkeev5g0fgm0w0tqexsly674s2uwy0tynk5ymsk5hzwk mos_8502 :verified: Yes -- because each serial port is connected through a MAX3232 four-line transceiver specifically designed for the job. npub1qnufz4pycufk27kkeev5g0fgm0w0tqexsly674s2uwy0tynk5ymsk5hzwk mos_8502 :verified: Here's what it looks like populated: npub1qnufz4pycufk27kkeev5g0fgm0w0tqexsly674s2uwy0tynk5ymsk5hzwk mos_8502 :verified: I use KiCad. This board takes the VersaTerm, a Pi Pico-based serial terminal board which mostly implements colour VT100, and a wifi based modem emulator, by stripping away things I don't need and placing them together on a board that reduces costs vs. building separate devices. npub1qnufz4pycufk27kkeev5g0fgm0w0tqexsly674s2uwy0tynk5ymsk5hzwk mos_8502 :verified: I just want an affordable LTO-5 or higher drive. I'm really bloody poor, the cost of those things is more than my car is worth. npub1qnufz4pycufk27kkeev5g0fgm0w0tqexsly674s2uwy0tynk5ymsk5hzwk mos_8502 :verified: A reminder from someone who’s been around the block more than a couple times: when you see a PDF or ePub on the Internet that you think you *might* want to read eventually, go ahead and download it, and squirrel it away for the future. The Internet is not, in fact, forever, and Capitalism will eventually take away anything it can’t rent out to you. npub1qnufz4pycufk27kkeev5g0fgm0w0tqexsly674s2uwy0tynk5ymsk5hzwk mos_8502 :verified: Jesus H. Dogfucker, someone completely fucked up the entire Unix permissions model while I wasn't looking. npub1qnufz4pycufk27kkeev5g0fgm0w0tqexsly674s2uwy0tynk5ymsk5hzwk mos_8502 :verified: WHO DO I HAVE TO FUCK TO GET THIS RAIN TO LET UP npub1qnufz4pycufk27kkeev5g0fgm0w0tqexsly674s2uwy0tynk5ymsk5hzwk mos_8502 :verified: One of these days I'm going to get a wild hair up my arse and set myself up a little Motif-based BSD installation so I can pretend computing is still as cool as it was in the 90s. npub1qnufz4pycufk27kkeev5g0fgm0w0tqexsly674s2uwy0tynk5ymsk5hzwk mos_8502 :verified: Which unix is this? npub1qnufz4pycufk27kkeev5g0fgm0w0tqexsly674s2uwy0tynk5ymsk5hzwk mos_8502 :verified: I think I may have just found a socially productive use for the garbage an LLM spits out. npub1qnufz4pycufk27kkeev5g0fgm0w0tqexsly674s2uwy0tynk5ymsk5hzwk mos_8502 :verified: Every. Goddamned. Time. npub1qnufz4pycufk27kkeev5g0fgm0w0tqexsly674s2uwy0tynk5ymsk5hzwk mos_8502 :verified: *sigh* I feel like the hobby OS space is missing something. I can’t articulate it, but something feels like it’s supposed to be there and isn’t. npub1qnufz4pycufk27kkeev5g0fgm0w0tqexsly674s2uwy0tynk5ymsk5hzwk mos_8502 :verified: Bye, cuntface. npub1qnufz4pycufk27kkeev5g0fgm0w0tqexsly674s2uwy0tynk5ymsk5hzwk mos_8502 :verified: I will say it again. The left abandoning the language of morality to the right is *why* we have right-wing religious zealots claiming the moral high ground -- the moralized perspective, even twisted as theirs is, is more attractive to an average human than a logical one, even when the moralized one is demonstrably false, misleading, and dangerous. npub1qnufz4pycufk27kkeev5g0fgm0w0tqexsly674s2uwy0tynk5ymsk5hzwk mos_8502 :verified: Yeah. I moved to FreeBSD a while ago everywhere but my main MacBook Pro and my retro systems. npub1qnufz4pycufk27kkeev5g0fgm0w0tqexsly674s2uwy0tynk5ymsk5hzwk mos_8502 :verified: Neat. npub1qnufz4pycufk27kkeev5g0fgm0w0tqexsly674s2uwy0tynk5ymsk5hzwk mos_8502 :verified: Help me out: Let's say I wanted to build a desktop that used *only* X11 applications, but still used Wayland to actually talk to the hardware -- a full XWayland setup. I know how to do that, but what I don't know is which compositor is most suited to that use case -- the XWayland server running in a rootful mode, filling the whole screen, with no other Wayland clients running.
