With the recent, and not so recent discussions on hardware vs emulators, I
decided to update everyone on the status of GoldFire. Especially since my
name was pointedly called :-) and I've gotten a few personal mails about it
too.
Well, folks (yeah, right, now I'm converting into a redneck) the news is
that there's really not that much news.
Problem 1:
Time is short, and money is even shorter (make that VERY short). In fact, I
am selling some of my stuff to be able to afford the parts I still need for
GoldFire. At this point, I feel I need to get one thing clear - I will not
accept any money donations (and I'm saying this because there have been
offers). What I will accept is hep at getting some parts, or even the parts
themselves. I am still looking for a few samples of the 91C94 or 96, a
144-pin SDRAM SODIMM, M4A3-256/128 CPLDs, and MCF5102PV40 (I only have the
33MHz version), or help at getting them. Also, let me give a small
contribution to the developing hardware vs developing software debate:
people who have never tried jumping through hoops while bending backwards
in order to get the parts they need, at reasonable quantity and reasonable
price, will only understand the nerve-wrecking nature of that persuit, when
they try it themselves.
Problem 2:
There is simply no way I can do the work on the initialization software and
QDOS/SMSQ modifications involved in getting the GoldFire to work. You see,
even when hardware is developed, notning happens if software dose not
folow, ar even gets developed side by side, with the hardware. Most of the
time spent in designing GoldFire is spent in developing and simulating the
programming of the logic chip(s), and even when the simulations run through
perfectly, there is no warranty it will work for real. If I have to do the
initialization software and the other mods, I might as well forget about
the whole project. I would gretly apreciate any help with this.
Problem 3:
As you can see, it takes years to get something like the GoldFire done
because of the above two problems. This of course makes everything much
worse - things are not standing still, and everyone has some input on what
else should be integrated into a new hardware product. I have gone to great
pains to make the design as flexible as possible, to introduce new features
(otherwise what would be the point?), but still as compatible with old
hardware - all while trying to keep the cost at basically the cost of the
parts. This is NOT easy. Unfortunately, this also means that the design
itself is really obsolete when it's finished. The MCF 5102 has already been
superceeded by two newer CPUs and we can't use it because it's such a
problem writing and modifying the necessary software - in fact, it's
unlikely that most of the features I've lost a whole lot of time thinking
out and designing will ever be used. Yet, on the other hand, people
complain about not having the features on the QL they have on the PC. This
attitude makes things even more complicated for the developers, as if they
were not complicated enough. Contrary to what you may think, no I will not
go into the 'why do we need filenames longer than 36 characters'
discussion, at this point. But I will be blunt: you can't hold it in and
fart at the same time, please excuse my language.
Nasta
