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Resurrecting the 8088 Micoprocessor

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Re: Resurrecting the 8088 Micoprocessor

#11

Post by userbinator »

cesarbs wrote: post #3

Where can one still buy an 8088? Are they still being produced?

Apart from the usual sources of old/NOS stock, they are still being produced; a new one is rather expensive though:

http://www.digikey.com/product-detail/en/CP80C88-2Z/CP80C88-...

http://www.digikey.com/product-detail/en/IP80C88/IP80C88-ND/...

There's also a military-rated version (this is probably one of the reasons why they're still in production...) which is in the $500+ range and curently not in stock: http://www.intersil.com/en/products/space-and-harsh-environm...

Re: Resurrecting the 8088 Micoprocessor

#12

Post by drmpeg »

kjs3 wrote: post #4
userbinator wrote: post #2

I guess he's aiming for something like this: http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Breadboard_complex.jp... The 8088/8086 were probably the first - and last - "breadboardable" x86 CPUs as everything after that came in square, non-DIP packages. However, there have been hobbyists making their own electronics for x86-based computers up to the 486: http://dubel.org/computer/ Starting with the Pentium, however, things go…

FWIW...The 80286 came in a 40-pin DIP, and of course lots of non-x86 processors came (still come) in DIP as well. From a hobbyist perspective, PGA packages aren't really alot more difficult to deal with than DIP. Even LCC & PLCC packages have easy through-hole sockets. QFP & PGA are, of course, nightmares. :-) The real problem is it becomes increasingly difficult to breadboard a machine as processor clock goes above…

The 80286 never came in a 40-pin DIP. It's impossible since the 24-bit address bus and 16-bit data bus were not multiplexed and required 40 pins. The PGA, LCC and PLCC versions all had 68 pins.

Re: Resurrecting the 8088 Micoprocessor

#14

Post by gpvos »

sliverstorm wrote: post #13
cesarbs wrote: post #3

Where can one still buy an 8088? Are they still being produced?

I think the Z-80 is the main antique 8-bit that is still around. The 8088 supposedly shows up a lot as an IP core, but not as its own chip.

6502s are also still being made and used in all kinds of stuff.

Re: Resurrecting the 8088 Micoprocessor

#15

Post by jacquesm »

jhallenworld wrote: post #6
kjs3 wrote: post #4

Earlier quoted context omitted.

FWIW...The 80286 came in a 40-pin DIP, and of course lots of non-x86 processors came (still come) in DIP as well. From a hobbyist perspective, PGA packages aren't really alot more difficult to deal with than DIP. Even LCC & PLCC packages have easy through-hole sockets. QFP & PGA are, of course, nightmares. :-) The real problem is it becomes increasingly difficult to breadboard a machine as processor clock goes above…

32-bit ARM Cortex-M0+ CPUs are available in DIPs: 28-pin: http://www.nxp.com/products/microcontrollers/cortex_m0_m0/lp... 4-pin!: http://www.nxp.com/products/microcontrollers/cortex_m0_m0/lp...

4? I think you meant 8!

Re: Resurrecting the 8088 Micoprocessor

#16

Post by jacquesm »

sliverstorm wrote: post #13
cesarbs wrote: post #3

Where can one still buy an 8088? Are they still being produced?

I think the Z-80 is the main antique 8-bit that is still around. The 8088 supposedly shows up a lot as an IP core, but not as its own chip.

8051, 6809, 650x are also still around.

Re: Resurrecting the 8088 Micoprocessor

#17

Post by mindcrime »

This is awesome. I've been wanting to get into 8-bit computing and do a "ground up" build of something using an 8088, Z80, or something of that ilk for a while.

Since we're on the subject... can anybody recommend any good books / websites / magazine articles / etc., that cover this kind of ground? That is, starting from a raw chip (a simple one, like one of these old 8 bit ones, not a 80386 or something) and building a simple computer from scratch? I'd really like to get my hands dirty doing something like this, to get a better feel for the nuts and volts level stuff.

Re: Resurrecting the 8088 Micoprocessor

#18

Post by mindcrime »

jpmattia wrote: post #9

The other news in this article: Jameco is still in business?! Wow. They used to supply geeks throughout the US with their mail order biz; For me, it was late 70s/early 80s.

Yep, they're around and seem to be doing reasonably well. I buy a lot of electronic components from them, and so do a lot of the other folks at Splatspace (the Durham, NC hackerspace).

Re: Resurrecting the 8088 Micoprocessor

#19

Post by rasz_pl »

Author went for USB oscilloscope. Do not follow his recommendation if you like good quality usable tools. Sainsmart dds120:

http://www.eevblog.com/forum/testgear/sainsmart-dds120-usb-o...

"scope is advertised as 50Ms/s while the ADC runs at 40MHz"

40MHz sampling means its usable for signals up to ~10MHz. Its ok'ish for arduino level of tinkering.

If you like this type of old school hardcore hardware hacking check those links:

http://n8vem-sbc.pbworks.com

http://www.s100computers.com

Those guys are actively building 20-30 year old computers from scratch. Most modern (and probably the fastest) is 386DX/486DLC board

http://www.s100computers.com/My%20System%20Pages/80386%20Boa...

On the other end of the spectrum is virtual hardware hacking. MAME project has a less known offshoot branch called MESS. It emulates old computers on a logic level with single clock cycle precision (not instruction, its clock accurate!). To get you idea of what that means imagine sound card emulation. Sane person would map buffers and pump samples to your host sound API. MESS people on the other hand desolder chips from old Sound Blaster 2.0, DECAPSULATE Intel microcontroller responsible for DMA, read its rom content. Emulated sound card runs this rom dump on virtual Intel 8048. Same with Keyboards - they emulate 8048 with its rom content inside keyboard, and 8051 sitting on the motherboard with its individual rom content! :)

This is pretty crazy and inefficient (C++), but extremely accurate. Emulated hardware ranges from 6502 (and all of its individual sub models like 6510, 6509 etc) to 486/586 processors and 3DFX cards (again emulating low level functions, no opengl mapping there).

http://www.mess.org

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