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Ashet Home Computer

ashet.computer

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Re: Ashet Home Computer

#31

Post by lysace »

duskwuff wrote: post #30
lysace wrote: post #20

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The Parallax P8X32A Propeller (2006) did multi-core processing in a very beginner friendly way. It can be done - if you take a holistic approach to hardware + runtime + development environment. The Propeller probably failed because of the custom language, the custom assembly syntax, the custom ISA, the custom IDE font (!) etc. It was a very neat system though.

The Propeller was a commercial failure because it was a one-off part, from a small company, with very little software ecosystem surrounding it, a poor performance to price ratio, and no migration path if you needed more capabilities than it could provide.

Meh. Similar pricing and availability compared to its primary competitor at the time: Arduino.

It was just too unusual in too many ways.

In one way it’s a bit like the Amiga vs the 8088/8086 PC.

Re: Ashet Home Computer

#32

Post by BizarroLand »

mmackh wrote: post #11

There’s something to be said about an independent system you can understand and expand. What I think will be next frontier in home computing is truly understanding and owning the systems that run a smart home and that comes with understanding the environment (sensor data, presence detection, etc.). We live in an interesting time where embedded development has become so accessible and powerful that we can interface wi…

I like the eurorack-esque modular design. Not everyone will want the same base layout, so making it swapable like that is a nice touch.

Re: Ashet Home Computer

#33

Post by duskwuff »

lysace wrote: post #31
duskwuff wrote: post #30

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The Propeller was a commercial failure because it was a one-off part, from a small company, with very little software ecosystem surrounding it, a poor performance to price ratio, and no migration path if you needed more capabilities than it could provide.

Meh. Similar pricing and availability compared to its primary competitor at the time: Arduino. It was just too unusual in too many ways. In one way it’s a bit like the Amiga vs the 8088/8086 PC.

"Arduino" is a brand of development boards. The direct equivalent would be the Atmel* ATmega168, and that was widely available through distributors, less expensive, had extensive manufacturer and community support, and was part of a broad product line.

What makes microcontrollers commercially successful is... commercial use. Hobbyist applications are fun, but they don't pay the bills.

*: Microchip hadn't bought them yet

Re: Ashet Home Computer

#34

Post by lysace »

duskwuff wrote: post #33
lysace wrote: post #31

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Meh. Similar pricing and availability compared to its primary competitor at the time: Arduino. It was just too unusual in too many ways. In one way it’s a bit like the Amiga vs the 8088/8086 PC.

"Arduino" is a brand of development boards. The direct equivalent would be the Atmel* ATmega168, and that was widely available through distributors, less expensive, had extensive manufacturer and community support, and was part of a broad product line. What makes microcontrollers commercially successful is... commercial use. Hobbyist applications are fun, but they don't pay the bills. *: Microchip hadn't bought them…

The context here is decidedly hobbyist/educational.

Re: Ashet Home Computer

#35

Post by anitil »

eikenberry wrote: post #29

Their OS is written in Zig! https://github.com/Ashet-Technologies/Ashet-OS Thought it might be of interest to people learning Zig. I bet there are some interesting examples in there.

I've been following Andrew Kelley's writing and zig is probably next on the list for me (previously would have been rust). The story from C to Zig and the ease of cross compilation makes it really tempting. I haven't looked in to the comptime capabilities much but it looks like it could help with some of the embedded work I do

Re: Ashet Home Computer

#36

Post by raphlinus »

Along similar lines but physically much smaller, there are currently about 3 or 4 boards[1] that have RP2350, DVI, USB host, and SD card, ranging in cost from about $15 to $40.

A particular sweet spot is emulating 8 and 16 bit systems, as latency can be just as good as an FPGA setup. The infoNES emulator has been running on RP2040 for a while, and I see projects for Sega Master System, Genesis, Apple II, and Mac in the works. But you can also write much more powerful software natively.

Likely it will be possible to adapt software between these various RP2350 systems.

[1]: https://github.com/DusterTheFirst/pico-dvi-rs/wiki/RP2350-DV...

Re: Ashet Home Computer

#37

Post by androiddrew »

ikskuh wrote: post #17
nancyminusone wrote: post #13

Not ragging on the author, but I'm always confused whenever I see a "make your own computer" project like this that doesn't start with hardware first. I mean, there's already seems to be a quite advanced OS for it and some detailed docs, but no physical "computer" to speak of, just a lot of mockups. Why a hardware project at that point and not a virtual machine like pico-8? I'm just saying, its kinda the opposite app…

Creator here. Please take a look at the gallery, where there are photos of the actual electronics setups! Also don't the mechanical mockups count as hardware? A pile of jumperwires, breadboards and devices don't make a good hero image, but physical hardware mockups do. Also the electronics design in its current form is actually iteration 5 of the system, while the OS development started with iteration 2. The OS does…

Add email notifications with updates on your progress. I won’t remember to come back and look at this for … maybe ever but I’d open and read a news letter on the progress

Re: Ashet Home Computer

#38

Post by userbinator »

uticus wrote: post #5

> an expandable and hackable computer in the spirit of the 80's home computers cool! > Dual Core CPU hm that will make for some interesting first steps in learning

I believe you can ignore the 2nd core, and it will just stay dormant.

Re: Ashet Home Computer

#39

Post by aidenn0 »

alexisread wrote: post #10
JKCalhoun wrote: post #3

I like that it is using a backplane architecture. The OS made me wonder how far someone could get trying to create a GUI for the 6502. I suppose the Apple II (GS?) headed there before the Mac fully took the reins and the Apple II was left out to pasture.

Well the most well known one is Geos for the C64 https://youtu.be/_4nthOx8sA4?si=AiK9bRxRQwV3MB0f There's also this Atari homebrew https://youtu.be/T14dL9MeMHE?si=cGtsZGWILYi4jcql And yes the IIGS had one https://youtu.be/YvVFTpukAp0?si=UtvV3N_pKhxU-Tyb

One comment on the IIgs vs the C64; the IIgs had a 16-bit CPU and tons of RAM, so GS/OS is not necessarily representative of what is possible on a 6502.

Re: Ashet Home Computer

#40

Post by jhbadger »

"Compiled languages can be used externally"

I realize that 8MB of RAM seems absurdly small to modern audiences, but I can assure you that I ran early versions of Turbo Pascal and compiled fine with 64K.

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