I made a Github account, where I will be posting all the schematics and code for the following projects, including for "Algorithm of the week" (which I plan on continuing; I have no idea why I stopped after one post). And to celebrate, I've already uploaded the Java code for Bubble sort. It's made as an Eclipse project, so if you dislike Eclipse, feel free to dig a little bit to get to the source.
Friday, February 22, 2013
Saturday, January 19, 2013
Yet again, (lack of) supplies strike back
My plan about making a computer out of an 8086 has gone down the toilet. No, it isn't the lack of data (I'll link it at the end of the post, it's pretty good) or lack of money, it's the fact that I can't get the most crucial component: the Intel 8086. Seems that you can't get them here in Serbia, unless you salvage them from somewhere, and that is an even worse problem. So, I'm kind of "rerouting" the project to use an ATMEGA16-16PU.
Yes, I know, it's RISC, but it seems much more fun to use. In the end, it will have the same stuff I wanted to implement in the Intel 8086. And the datasheet is amazing (both aesthetically and technically). And the price... the price is something about 4 Euros, when converted from Dinars to Euros.
Thinking of which, how about I make a homebrew ATMEGA16-16PU dev board? With LEDs and other bells and whistles and then build my own operating system for it. I should probably add a few expansion ports for it eg. extra RAM (it's possible; I don't need a gig of RAM, 512kB seems enough).
Can't wait to begin working on this.
8086 links:
http://www.parl.clemson.edu/~wjones/371/gowdy/documents/materials/8086Overview_OLD.pdf
http://www.old-computers.com/history/detail.asp?n=4&t=3
http://howardhuang.us/teaching/cs232/06-Intel-8086-architecture.pdf
http://www.cpu-world.com/CPUs/8086/index.html
http://www.scribd.com/doc/9755070/Microprocessor-8086
http://repository.binus.ac.id/content/H0182/H018279364.pdf
http://www.penguin.cz/~literakl/intel/intel.html
Yes, I know, it's RISC, but it seems much more fun to use. In the end, it will have the same stuff I wanted to implement in the Intel 8086. And the datasheet is amazing (both aesthetically and technically). And the price... the price is something about 4 Euros, when converted from Dinars to Euros.
Thinking of which, how about I make a homebrew ATMEGA16-16PU dev board? With LEDs and other bells and whistles and then build my own operating system for it. I should probably add a few expansion ports for it eg. extra RAM (it's possible; I don't need a gig of RAM, 512kB seems enough).
Can't wait to begin working on this.
8086 links:
http://www.parl.clemson.edu/~wjones/371/gowdy/documents/materials/8086Overview_OLD.pdf
http://www.old-computers.com/history/detail.asp?n=4&t=3
http://howardhuang.us/teaching/cs232/06-Intel-8086-architecture.pdf
http://www.cpu-world.com/CPUs/8086/index.html
http://www.scribd.com/doc/9755070/Microprocessor-8086
http://repository.binus.ac.id/content/H0182/H018279364.pdf
http://www.penguin.cz/~literakl/intel/intel.html
Wednesday, January 16, 2013
Need Photoshop? Illustrator? After Effects? Get them for free without the police knocking at your door
This is old news (in Internet time) because it was first announced/discovered about two weeks ago, but I'm going to share it anyway:
Adobe recently allowed people to download the WHOLE CS2 suite, for free, from their site. Although it is a bit old, it is pretty useful for people like me, who have a computer that hasn't been upgraded (except the graphics curd which burst in flames) for the last 5+ years.
Newer Mac users will be disappointed, since CS2 supports only PowerPC Macs (PowerPC was awesome, too bad they shut it down).
Here's the link if someone wants it:
http://www.adobe.com/downloads/cs2_downloads/index.html
Adobe recently allowed people to download the WHOLE CS2 suite, for free, from their site. Although it is a bit old, it is pretty useful for people like me, who have a computer that hasn't been upgraded (except the graphics curd which burst in flames) for the last 5+ years.
Newer Mac users will be disappointed, since CS2 supports only PowerPC Macs (PowerPC was awesome, too bad they shut it down).
Here's the link if someone wants it:
http://www.adobe.com/downloads/cs2_downloads/index.html
Sunday, January 13, 2013
Back from the dead, it rises again
Sorry for the overly dramatic/poetic title, but I think it's adequate, considering I came back to this blog after over a month.
The thing is, I was busy. A lot. Girlfriend, university, and now the semester finals. No, they aren't over yet, I am writing this in my break between taking tests and sleeping.
I got a crazy idea 15 minutes ago, about making my own retro computer. Nothing fancy, an Intel 8086 and a Zilog Z80 (not on the same board of course). They'll be pretty basic, a few ROM/RAM chips and a serial connection. Maybe I'll add the VGA output later. But the first part in this "plan" is obtaining the datasheets on paper. I'll scour my city library in the following months for them, but in worst case, I'll shell out and print them.
Also, I started messing with my Stellaris Launchpad. Not much, just did a few exercises from the lab workbook and my first impression: wow. It's so simple to use, after you get used to the "want multiple stuff at once? Bitwise AND them". And I barely scratched into it. My ultimate goal is writing an AVR and a PIC programmer (sure beats buying a programmer for 20+ euros). Of course, the source code will be open and put on github.
I'll have time for all this from the middle of January, when I finish most of my university tests. Also, if all goes according to plan, February will be a working month :)
That's all for now, I'll make a new post later in the afternoon about some old news (where old means a week old).
The thing is, I was busy. A lot. Girlfriend, university, and now the semester finals. No, they aren't over yet, I am writing this in my break between taking tests and sleeping.
I got a crazy idea 15 minutes ago, about making my own retro computer. Nothing fancy, an Intel 8086 and a Zilog Z80 (not on the same board of course). They'll be pretty basic, a few ROM/RAM chips and a serial connection. Maybe I'll add the VGA output later. But the first part in this "plan" is obtaining the datasheets on paper. I'll scour my city library in the following months for them, but in worst case, I'll shell out and print them.
Also, I started messing with my Stellaris Launchpad. Not much, just did a few exercises from the lab workbook and my first impression: wow. It's so simple to use, after you get used to the "want multiple stuff at once? Bitwise AND them". And I barely scratched into it. My ultimate goal is writing an AVR and a PIC programmer (sure beats buying a programmer for 20+ euros). Of course, the source code will be open and put on github.
I'll have time for all this from the middle of January, when I finish most of my university tests. Also, if all goes according to plan, February will be a working month :)
That's all for now, I'll make a new post later in the afternoon about some old news (where old means a week old).
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