This sounds like a really cool project, and I hope you report to the list as you make progress. Have you looked at Jecel Assumpcao's SiliconSqueak? An awful lot can be done on the cheap with modern FPGAs, so long as you don't stray *too* far from the conventional CPU design space... (For an example of what I mean by too far, check out http://cellmatrix.com or http://greenarraychips.com). I really wish more people designed *whole* systems, both hardware and software, these days.
-- Max On Wed, May 25, 2011 at 2:44 PM, Casey Ransberger <[email protected]>wrote: > > Hello all, > > I've found myself with the first sizable chunk of free time I've had in > years. I've been having so much fun! But I must admit, after a bunch of > hustle-your-butt software work, the software part isn't completely > satisfying me. > > I miss taking apart computers. It's wonderful that they've gotten so small, > but it comes at a price, I think. No one's really figured out a way to make > something that small which leaves room for serviceability. When I was a kid, > I learned _so much_ with the case open. > > Somewhere I read about an XO installation where they found a little girl > who'd set up an assembly line and was doing her own repairs on other kids > laptops. No one asked her to, she just decided to do it. It really warmed my > heart:) and I couldn't help feeling some nostalgia, because I was *totally* > that kid. > > And when you add free time to life long love, well, hah! I'm gonna build a > computer this year. I was thinking it would be fun to throw out the Intel > architecture and look at alternatives. I know nothing of silicon, not > really, and so I'm liable to grab parts off of the shelf, though that > visual-6502 simulator I found on the web has me tempted all the same. > > For a CPU, I thought it might be interesting, and temporarily future-proof, > to go with something ARM. I know people have had the Squeak VM running on > ARM chips, which is sort of my only req'ment anymore, outside of the web > browser which lets me live in the modern world. But then I stopped. > > What about Frank? > > I have a feeling Frank should work anywhere, but since I've only seen > things Ian is doing, I thought I'd stop to ask. If I wanted to be able to > run VPRI's bits (if and) when they become generally available, is there a > particular chip architecture I should go with? > > Okay that's the first question. The other question is, was there anything > in particular about the Alto that folks on this list miss? Would the Alto > make an interesting case study for me to explore, or have modern computers > imitated it to the point where it isn't the thing to examine? I'm picking my > way through the wikipedia article, but it occurs to me that not having used > the thing, it might be hard for the details on the wiki to jump out at me in > any sort of "aha" moment. > > Not sure that the tech is at the point where I can hope to construct > something Dynabook-shaped, but I know that I can make one improvement to the > interim desktop design just by using a flat panel that will swivel into a > portrait orientation:) > _______________________________________________ > fonc mailing list > [email protected] > http://vpri.org/mailman/listinfo/fonc >
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