NABU PC induced some pleasure within the retrocomputing neighborhood some time in the past. In spite of everything, it isn’t unusual for thus many model new computer systems from the Nineteen Eighties to out of the blue seem on the market on eBay. Out of the field, the pc itself is not all that helpful: with no inside storage or any software software program, it will probably actually solely function a easy growth platform. However emulating one should not be too tough, as its {hardware} is fairly just like that of different up to date residence computer systems; [Ted Fried] did: succeeded To convert his NABU into a TRS-80 clone Utilizing the MCLZ8 CPU emulator.
The MCLZ8 is mainly an 800 MHz Teensy CPU with an adapter board that permits it to be plugged right into a Z80 socket. It emulates the Z80 CPU in actual time, but in addition retains the TRS-80 ROM and performs real-time translation between peripherals. On the enter aspect, it reads ASCII characters from NABU’s 8251A UART and shops them within the digital TRS-80’s keyboard buffer. On the output aspect, it transfers the TRS-80’s video information to NABU’s TMS9918 video chip.
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an issue [Ted] We encountered a distinction in display screen decision: NABU has a 40×24 character display screen, whereas TRS-80 produces a 64×16 character picture. [Ted] By conserving the NABU brand on the display screen always, it solved the vertical distinction and determined to disregard the 24 characters falling from the proper aspect – this isn’t a giant drawback for a typical BASIC program anyway.
The redesigned NABU will not be an ideal TRS-80 clone, however that is not the purpose: it reveals how simply NABU {hardware} might be reprogrammed to do different issues. For instance, [Ted] has already began work A new project that does not emulate the Z80, however it runs the code straight on Teensy’s ARM A9 processor. As you may think about, this provides NABU a number of occasions extra processing energy, however its sensible use is proscribed as a result of the CPU nonetheless has to attend for NABU’s gradual bus and show chip. [Ted] He explains the setup and runs just a few spectacular demos within the embedded video beneath.
[Ted]’s NABU experiments are an amazing instance of the pliability of the Teensy board: we have already seen the way it can. emulate a Z80 as well as an 8088. We additionally surprise what others will enhance with. NABU’s hardware – if they can still buyDefinitely.
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