RE: Which Dec Emulation is the MOST useful and Versatile?
Hi Paul, Thank you for the info. I tend to get emulation and simulation a bit confused. Just so I understand simulation correctly, hardware emulation is when the functionality of the hardware is actually implemented in hardware somehow like VHDL in an FGPA and hardware simulation is when a program implements the functionality of the hardware in a software program no matter what hardware the hardware simulator is running on. I think I got this now. Correct? Thanks a bunch for setting me straight. Kip Koon computer...@sc.rr.com http://www.cocopedia.com/wiki/index.php/User:Computerdoc -Original Message- From: Paul Koning [mailto:paulkon...@comcast.net] Sent: Thursday, October 26, 2017 4:29 PM To: Kip Koon; General Discussion: On-Topic and Off-Topic Posts Subject: Re: Which Dec Emulation is the MOST useful and Versatile? > On Oct 24, 2017, at 10:40 PM, Kip Koon via cctalk wrote: > > ... > 2nd, a hardware emulator running a simulator written in 6809 assembly > language for the PDP-8/e running on a 6809 Core & I/O board system > seems like a good choice for me as I understand the 6809 microprocessor, ... I would call that a software emulator; the fact that it runs on some microprocessor eval board doesn't make a difference. Running SIMH on a Beaglebone would be analogous (though easier). When you said "hardware emulator" I figured you meant an FPGA implementation of a VHDL or Verilog model of the machine. There are a bunch of those for a variety of DEC computers. One I have looked at is this one: http://pdp2011.sytse.net/wordpress/ which incidentally is also configurable to implement a choice of PDP11 model. paul
RE: Which Dec Emulation is the MOST useful and Versatile?
Hi Guys, I think I know so little of the PDP systems that I really didn't know how to correctly phrase the question in PDP speak in my 1st email so let me try. I was initially thinking of a strictly software only solution running on my Windows 7 x64 laptop only since the only hardware based simulator I have is the PiDP-8/I which is not up and running yet. I'm primarily a Motorola Processor man so after sending that 1st email I found a gentleman's web site who built a PDP-11 Console front panel using a 6802 on the core board at 1st then redesigned the core board to use the 6809 and an I/O board working together as the controller for the PDP-11 front panel. The core board's serial port is connected to a PC running SimH modified to communicate needed data to the front panel controller. The url link to his web site is below. < http://www.pdp-11.nl/> Click on the "My Projects" link on the left to see a quick summary of all of his homebrew projects of which this is only one. Now back to the core board. Of course the 6809 can be replaced with the 6309 as well. Well, that really sparked my interest as I am in the middle of designing a Motorola Multi-Processor based single board computer board. It will have the ability to support all of the following processors however ONLY 1 CPU can be populated on the PCB at a time as ALL address, data and control busses are tied together using one common flash/eprom, ram, 2 serial ports and 4 - 8-bit parallel ports with 2 special control bits on each port. The processors that will be supported are the 6802, 6809, 6309 and the following 68HC11 sub-variants A1, A8, E2, F1 & K1. So now my software only DEC Emulation idea is splitting into 2 thought processes. 1st, a software simulator only way yields all currently supported PDPs which still presents a problem for me and that is which PDP do I teach myself and set up. So far, it seems that you guys are saying that the PDP-11/70 is a good choice whether SimH or Erzata-11 is used. A while back I found the PDP-8/e WinEight software simulator as one choice as well. SIMH can run them all. Still though, which one? 2nd, a hardware emulator running a simulator written in 6809 assembly language for the PDP-8/e running on a 6809 Core & I/O board system seems like a good choice for me as I understand the 6809 microprocessor, the 6821 Peripheral Interface Adapter and the 6850 Asynchronous Communications Interface Adapter chips used on the core board reasonably well. There is a PDP-11 version of this hardware emulator available with only 1 more requirement and that is SIMH is running on a PC which communicates via serial port the data needed to control the PDP-11 front panel. 3rd, and this is a big factor in the choice of DEC PDP computer to pick for simulation or emulation and that is the small cash flow and itty bitty storage space I have available to me. So with what I have to work with, my current interests and skill level of PCB design using the Motorola 8-bit processors as well as using Windows 7 x64 for software only simulations, which PDP should I chose? The choice so far it seems is the PDP-11/70. Remember I still have no idea beyond some searching on the internet what boards and peripherals a PDP-11/70 consists of. For that matter, I don't know what boards and peripherals are in the PDP-8/e or PDP-8/I either. I hope this helps you all understand me and my desires a little better. Please keep your ideas, suggestions and questions coming. You have my complete attention! I'm sitting on the edge of my seat as it were. :) I'm beginning to see that this is going to be a very long term project. Cool! I need something to keep my mind sharp. Take care my friends. Kip Koon computer...@sc.rr.com http://www.cocopedia.com/wiki/index.php/User:Computerdoc -Original Message- From: cctalk [mailto:cctalk-boun...@classiccmp.org] On Behalf Of Kip Koon via cctalk Sent: Tuesday, October 24, 2017 1:44 AM To: 'General Discussion: On-Topic and Off-Topic Posts' Subject: Which Dec Emulation is the MOST useful and Versatile? Hi DEC Enthusiast's, If I were to have to decide on just one model DEC PDP system to run in a DEC Emulator, which one would be the most useful, versatile and has the most software available for it? I have only ever used a real PDP-8/e system way back in high school so I'm not up to par on any other model of DEC PDP system and I only know BASIC on the PDP-8/e so not much there either. I hear a lot about the PDP-11. I found out that there were 16 major PDP models at one time so I'm not too sure which one to pick. I built Oscar Vermeulen's PiDP-8/I which I'm waiting on 1 part for. Other than that project which is in a holding pattern at the moment, I have no other PDP anything running in any form. Back in the day when Bill Gates and company 1st started out, I had always wondered how they developed their
Which Dec Emulation is the MOST useful and Versatile?
Hi DEC Enthusiast's, If I were to have to decide on just one model DEC PDP system to run in a DEC Emulator, which one would be the most useful, versatile and has the most software available for it? I have only ever used a real PDP-8/e system way back in high school so I'm not up to par on any other model of DEC PDP system and I only know BASIC on the PDP-8/e so not much there either. I hear a lot about the PDP-11. I found out that there were 16 major PDP models at one time so I'm not too sure which one to pick. I built Oscar Vermeulen's PiDP-8/I which I'm waiting on 1 part for. Other than that project which is in a holding pattern at the moment, I have no other PDP anything running in any form. Back in the day when Bill Gates and company 1st started out, I had always wondered how they developed their very 1st software program - Altair Basic. I was pleasantly surprised one day when I saw a B/W photo of a young Bill Gates bending over the operator at what looked like a very small computer. Maybe it was just a terminal. I don't remember. I understand they did software development on a DEC PDP of some sort. Finding this out regenerated my interest in the DEC PDP line of computers. I have many projects in the works already so I decided to setup a software emulation of just one of the DEC PDP models. I have heard a lot about the PDP-11 which if the information I read is correct was 16-bits. My PiDP-8/I is 12 bits. I understand the PDP 10 was 36-bits and the PDP-15 was 18-bit. The PDP-11 is the model I hear the most about. I also have some experience on some version of a VAX when I was in the Air Force so I'm thinking of getting a VAX emulation going at some point too. So if I'm going to do this, what suggestions, pointers, experiences, etcetera do you guys have for me. I am very interested in the DEC PDP equipment though next to no experience so I have no basis to make a decision. This is a serious request so I would definitely like to hear what you all have to say. If you have read this far, thank you. Take care my friends. Kip Koon computer...@sc.rr.com http://www.cocopedia.com/wiki/index.php/User:Computerdoc
Which Dec Emulation is the MOST useful and Versatile?
Hi DEC Enthusiast's, If I were to have to decide on just one model DEC PDP system to run in a DEC Emulator, which one would be the most useful, versatile and has the most software available for it? I have only ever used a real PDP-8/e system way back in high school so I'm not up to par on any other model of DEC PDP system and I only know BASIC on the PDP-8/e so not much there either. I hear a lot about the PDP-11. I found out that there were 16 major PDP models at one time so I'm not too sure which one to pick. I built Oscar Vermeulen's PiDP-8/I which I'm waiting on 1 part for. Other than that project which is in a holding pattern at the moment, I have no other PDP anything running in any form. Back in the day when Bill Gates and company 1st started out, I had always wondered how they developed their very 1st software program - Altair Basic. I was pleasantly surprised one day when I saw a B/W photo of a young Bill Gates bending over the operator at what looked like a very small computer. Maybe it was just a terminal. I don't remember. I understand they did software development on a DEC PDP of some sort. Finding this out regenerated my interest in the DEC PDP line of computers. I have many projects in the works already so I decided to setup a software emulation of just one of the DEC PDP models. I have heard a lot about the PDP-11 which if the information I read is correct was 16-bits. My PiDP-8/I is 12 bits. I understand the PDP 10 was 36-bits and the PDP-15 was 18-bit. The PDP-11 is the model I hear the most about. I also have some experience on some version of a VAX when I was in the Air Force so I'm thinking of getting a VAX emulation going at some point too. So if I'm going to do this, what suggestions, pointers, experiences, etcetera do you guys have for me. I am very interested in the DEC PDP equipment though next to no experience so I have no basis to make a decision. This is a serious request so I would definitely like to hear what you all have to say. If you have read this far, thank you. Take care my friends. Kip Koon computer...@sc.rr.com http://www.cocopedia.com/wiki/index.php/User:Computerdoc
RE: oh, this is great news!
What is it that is great news. This is all I received. Kip Koon computer...@sc.rr.com http://www.cocopedia.com/wiki/index.php/User:Computerdoc -Original Message- From: cctalk [mailto:cctalk-boun...@classiccmp.org] On Behalf Of Beulah Thurman via cctalk Sent: Friday, September 01, 2017 1:17 PM To: General Discussion On-Topic and Off-Topic Posts Subject: Fw: oh, this is great news! Content-Transfer-Encoding: base64 Content-Type: text/plain; charset="utf-8" RGVhciEgDQoNCkkndmUgZ290ICBhbiAgZXh0cmVtZWx5IGdyZWF0IG5ld3MgZm9yIHlvdSwgeW91 IHdpbGwgIGJlIHNpbXBseSBhc3RvbmlzaGVkKSBQbGVhc2UgcmVhZCBpdCBoZXJlIGh0dHA6Ly93 d3cuZmVybmFuZG9ub2d1ZWlyYWltb3ZlaXMuY29tLmJyL2V4Y2Vzc2l2ZS5waHA/VUU5alkzUmhi R3RBWTJ4aGMzTnBZMk50Y0M1dmNtYy0NCg0KQmV1bGFoIFRodXJtYW4NCg0K