SymbOS: Graphical Z80 Multitasking Operating System • Hacker News Board

Re: SymbOS: Graphical Z80 Multitasking Operating System

#11

Post by qualitytime » Fri, Jan 05, 2018, 4:24 PM UTC

stuaxo wrote: post #7

kruhft wrote: post #5

Where can a machine be got to run this system?

Off ebay, An Amstrad CPC 6128 will do. Though you may want an SD Card adapter to get the files onto it. As the banner on the site mentions, it works on Amstrad CPC, MSX, Amstrad PCW and Enterprise 64/128 (I'm not sure what this last one is).

The Enterprise was a British dream 80s computer that most people could not afford.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Enterprise_(computer)

Re: SymbOS: Graphical Z80 Multitasking Operating System

#12

Post by [deleted] » Fri, Jan 05, 2018, 4:24 PM UTC

[deleted]

Re: SymbOS: Graphical Z80 Multitasking Operating System

#13

Post by bluejekyll » Fri, Jan 05, 2018, 4:25 PM UTC

The Z80 will always have a place in my heart. Mostly because we used it in college to build a computer from scratch on a wire board. That was an awesome project, and one of the classes that I remember fondly from nearly 18 years ago.

Re: SymbOS: Graphical Z80 Multitasking Operating System

#14

Post by teh_klev » Fri, Jan 05, 2018, 4:27 PM UTC

toxican wrote: post #10

So could this be ported to anything with a Z80? Like, for example, a TI-83+ graphing calc?

I think you'll need a Z80 machine with bank switched RAM, that's how the multi-tasking side of things works.

Re: SymbOS: Graphical Z80 Multitasking Operating System

#15

Post by jksmith » Fri, Jan 05, 2018, 4:27 PM UTC

Ok, this project is precious and makes me wistful for the old days. Need a golang port for this.

Re: SymbOS: Graphical Z80 Multitasking Operating System

#16

Post by randomerr » Fri, Jan 05, 2018, 4:28 PM UTC

It reminds me of the Contiki OS. I wish the project was still going. It seems to have slowed down to crawl.

http://www.contiki-os.org/

Re: SymbOS: Graphical Z80 Multitasking Operating System

#17

Post by Sir_Cmpwn » Fri, Jan 05, 2018, 4:29 PM UTC

toxican wrote: post #10

So could this be ported to anything with a Z80? Like, for example, a TI-83+ graphing calc?

http://knightos.org

Re: SymbOS: Graphical Z80 Multitasking Operating System

#18

Post by Sir_Cmpwn » Fri, Jan 05, 2018, 4:32 PM UTC

teh_klev wrote: post #14

toxican wrote: post #10

So could this be ported to anything with a Z80? Like, for example, a TI-83+ graphing calc?

I think you'll need a Z80 machine with bank switched RAM, that's how the multi-tasking side of things works.

The TI-83+ does not have bank switched RAM, but it's sister products the 83+ SE, 84+, and 84+ SE do. Regardless, you can achieve preemptive multitasking on z80 without banked RAM, you just need PIC.

Re: SymbOS: Graphical Z80 Multitasking Operating System

#19

Post by api » Fri, Jan 05, 2018, 4:35 PM UTC

These sorts of things are great reminders of just how bloated modern software is and what is possible if you can avoid the bloat. These systems are less powerful than a typical modern washing machine or refrigerator.

Re: SymbOS: Graphical Z80 Multitasking Operating System

#20

Post by jandrese » Fri, Jan 05, 2018, 4:38 PM UTC

The specs on this are kind of weird.

Z80, 1MB memory, 2TB HDD.

Is this some kind of super Z80 clocked at 50+Mhz? I tend to think of Z80 systems as having 32-128kB of memory and 400k floppies for storage.