Uzebox - open source 8 bit console

[BruceRMcF]

... Those wanting to get into retro games development and want real hardware to run their games on are going to struggle more and more with each passing year to buy retro hardware as more retro consoles and computers die, requiring custom chips to repair that are no longer available and the hardware becomes increasingly expensive. I hope the Commander X16 doesn't get thwarted by chip shortage problems.

The chip most likely to be an issue over the medium term horizon would be the FM chip, and if it looks like there is going to be so much demand for both the Phase 1 and Phase 2 boards to create a problem, they do have the option of using the jt51 software compatible FPGA core -- in particular, if the cost reduced board doesn't use a real FM2151, that would help preserve the supply available for the Phase 1 boards. That would also help reduce the footprint for the Phase2 board, since a small FPGA (it would be smaller than the one used for Vera) would be one surface mount part replacing two through hole parts.

[danboid]

Good to know there is already FPGA replacement for the FM2151 but I think there are many like me who want to avoid FPGAs as much as possible on what is trying to be a retro computer.

I was looking into how open source the Spectrum Next is a few days ago and it seems the answer is not very. I'd like to think the X16 will be more open source friendly but I realise its costing David and the team a lot of money to put together and I understand they need to make that money back however possible and that may mean the X16 cannot be open source hardware like the Uzebox.

What I found interesting was that if you have the Pi expansion for the Next, it can act as a SID chip. There isn't currently a SID player for the Uzebox but it should be possible its just above my paygrade to write such a thing.

Uze has written a java app to convert xm files into a format playable on the Uzebox but there isn't a general purpose mod/xm player for the Uzebox yet. That should be a bit easier to write than a sid player.

[BruceRMcF]

Good to know there is already FPGA replacement for the FM2151 but I think there are many like me who want to avoid FPGAs as much as possible on what is trying to be a retro computer.

The Gen1 design is presently using the YM2151 chip and its dedicated DAC partner chip, and the Gen3 board would certainly use an FPGA core.

What I am saying is, regarding the Gen2 board design, that if there enough demand for the Gen1 board that the supply of the YM2151's for the Gen2 is in doubt, there is a fallback possible. Or if it turns out that the cost of soldering the YM2151 and its DAC to the board by hand make a noticeable impact on the price or delays the delivery of the board in the volumes people want, its possible to do a "Gen2 v2" board that bundles the YM2151 into a small FPGA.

To a certain extent, higher cost of the Gen1 board makes it a lower risk that demand for those boards will out-run available supply of "New Old Stock" chips.

[danboid]

Its great to see the first batch of Gen1 boards getting built! Reading the comments on FB, there were a lot of people bemoaning the lack of a kit to build one themselves. To those I say "Why not build a Uzebox?". You still get the same satisfaction of building a retro computer from components and this is fully open source.

To make it more tempting, one Uzeboxer has recently release a olde MacOS alike GUI for the Uzebox called UzeboxUI and Uze himself is about to release his attempt at an OS for the Uzebox so you will be able to do basic computing tasks on the Uzebox soon, other than its main purpose of playing games. I recently discovered TinyBasic Plus for the AVR, that should be possible to port to the Uzebox.

I have got two sets of Uzebox PCB's and SD card sockets that I can send for free to anyone who is serious about building a Uzebox and will post to the Uzebox forum to let us know when you have built your Uzebox. Ideally you'll also be a C programmer who wants to develop (games) for the Uzebox too.

DM me your address if this sounds good to you!

[danboid]

One of my spare Uzebox PCB's & SD sockets has been claimed already. One set remains up for grabs.

[martinot]

A key difference between the two projects is that the Uzebox is and always was fully free and open source in its design and code. I hope that the X16 can become a fully free and open platform too as its notably more capable than the Uzebox and already has a larger community, even before its proper launch.

EDIT

There is also the Spectrum Next but that's FPGA too, which is what I don't like about the current X16.

Is the Next fully open source? I suspect it might depend on non free roms like the X16 does right? That would probably be the next nearest thing to the Uzebox. As an ex C64 and Amiga user, I'm much more interesed in the X16 than the Next. I wouldn't pay the asking price for a Next or one of its clones.

Here is an open source retro inspired computer without FPGA (just posted a video in another post):

[ link deleted by me as I was messaged by site admins that this is a censored and forbidden topic and now allowed to link to this alternative retro machine on these forums - I do think this should be in the rules as it was impossible for me to know ]

[danboid]

Hi Martinot

I know exactly which computer you were linking me to and I think its a shame there is such hostility from its creator against the X16. It reminds me of the Linux users who make fun of FreeBSD, Amiga vs Atari ST etc.

What I actually returned to the forum for was to let you know that Uze has implemented The Retro Desks fractal drawing program / benchmark for the Uzebox and it came out 3.5X faster than the X16.

https://uzebox.org/forums/viewtopic.php ... 375#p34375

[BruceRMcF]

Here is an open source retro inspired computer without FPGA (just posted a video in another post):

One thing that is cool about the Uzebox is that it is based on an actual 8bit microcontroller.

Trolling David Murray in a video about Vera being on a FPGA while you generate VGA output with a 32bit 100MHz+ MCU, and bragging about having the fastest 8bit retro board when you use a 24bit CPU featuring an 8bit backward compatibility mode is one approach to take, but IMV, taken on top of posts insulting the work of the X16 design team, the designer of that board can't then expect his work to be publicized on sites focused on the X16. In my view, that's a consequence of adopting the "picking fights" approach.

But for the Uzebox, while the RAM may be a touch limited, it seems like it has taken the retro Mandelbrot crown in a fair fight.

[danboid]

The Uzebox is definitely a touch limited on RAM. There is the SPI RAM upgrade which adds 128 Kb but its much slower and thus not as useful as the regular bandwidth RAM.

There is a Super Bomberman 5 remake called Mega Bomber in dev now that should demonstrate how SPI RAM can be used to provide (more) PCM music and SFX for Uzebox games.

I think these crazy RAM limitations of the Uzebox will only increase in popularity as mainstream hardware gets more gigs. Who wants more memory? That's not cool!

[Daedalus]

I'm trying to find a "happy place" where you have to stretch to do more with what you have, but don't have so much that you start thinking thoughts like "I have so much RAM, I can use more digital sound!" or "I have so much CPU that I can program it in Node JS!"

But at the same time, the system as delivered should be so simple and minimal that if you have a basic understanding of how 8 bit CPUs work, you can look at a few pages of documentation and understand everything about it's hardware and software on an entry level. For example, you would know how it starts at the reset vector and which routines it calls to get it to the shell, how executables are run, and the basics of the graphics solution's API.

From there, tutorials can guide you through installing a BASIC environment and creating simple programs, and eventually setting up a cross development platform and developing programs in assembly and C.

I believe the starting point for all of this is the VERA and a simple CPU like the 6502 or an FPGA implemented ISA of something very similar.