Hacker News Board Hacker News, browsed like a classic message board
Live data from Hacker News

S80186: 16-bit 80186 compatible IP core

jamieiles.com

Post reply on HN
Print view View original

41–50 of 64 posts

Re: S80186: 16-bit 80186 compatible IP core

#41

Post by Posibyte »

So neat. I was working on this exact thing at this exact time too. The massive draw for me was working with some companies that have a reliance on PC and PC/XT workstations with tight hardware resources and needing a simple way to swap out machines. Things like KM4821U memory (and several compatibles) are becoming harder to come by.

I'd love to merge some of my work in if I can find some spots. I truly believe that simply getting a new piece of compatible hardware is just as good as the option of upgrading your software and hardware. Just because we're all on 64-bit platforms doesn't mean that the shop down the street using needs to use it for their POS' either.

Also of tangential relation to this, but my old IBM PC with a 80186 a few years ago finally lost its 6V Lithium battery. I called IBM at that time, referenced 8286121 as the IBM replacement number on the front, and for a bit of money, they sent me a new-old-stock one. I was really blown away.

Re: S80186: 16-bit 80186 compatible IP core

#42

Post by Posibyte »

gbraad wrote: post #40

Have a look at: http://zet.aluzina.org/index.php/Zet_processor which can actually run Dune 2: http://zet.aluzina.org/images/b/bd/Vga-4.jpg and more http://zet.aluzina.org/index.php/Pictures like MS Windows 3.0, MS DOS 6.22 etc. This runs on an older Altera DE1 (Cyclone III-based) board

The draw that this one gives me over the Zet processor (which btw is great and I've used it here and there in the past), is that Zet is not really maintained anymore. It's not a moving target, that's completely true, but S80x86 has the potential to hopefully do some neat things with 286's and 386's as well.

But for anybody looking for a quick-n-dirty deploy to a board solution, the Zet is fantastic and solid.

Re: S80186: 16-bit 80186 compatible IP core

#44

Post by dragonwriter »

0xcde4c3db wrote: post #2

This is pretty cool. A PC with an 80186 CPU is a little weird, though; I don't think many of those actually existed. It seems like virtually everybody went straight from 8086 to 80286

> A PC with an 80186 CPU is a little weird, though; I don't think many of those actually existed. It seems like virtually everybody went straight from 8086 to 80286

In the late 1980s, the network server on my high school computer classroom’s LAN was a ’186; the actual PCs were either 8086 or 8088 machines.

Re: S80186: 16-bit 80186 compatible IP core

#45

Post by katastic »

Posibyte wrote: post #42
gbraad wrote: post #40

Have a look at: http://zet.aluzina.org/index.php/Zet_processor which can actually run Dune 2: http://zet.aluzina.org/images/b/bd/Vga-4.jpg and more http://zet.aluzina.org/index.php/Pictures like MS Windows 3.0, MS DOS 6.22 etc. This runs on an older Altera DE1 (Cyclone III-based) board

The draw that this one gives me over the Zet processor (which btw is great and I've used it here and there in the past), is that Zet is not really maintained anymore. It's not a moving target, that's completely true, but S80x86 has the potential to hopefully do some neat things with 286's and 386's as well. But for anybody looking for a quick-n-dirty deploy to a board solution, the Zet is fantastic and solid.

It should be noted that 186's aren't even remotely compatible with 286's and 386's. And implementing a 286/386/486 is actually much harder and more complex than say, an 8086. That's why most people stop their hobby project at 8086 or 286. Because it becomes much more work to accomplish and the fun/novelty dries up.

Re: S80186: 16-bit 80186 compatible IP core

#46

Post by burfog »

anyfoo wrote: post #21
TickleSteve wrote: post #15

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The 80186 won't be able to play many games that you remember... it wasn't really PC compatible.

The 80186 was completely compatible to its predecessor. It's just that there weren't many IBM-compatible PCs which featured an 80186.

The core was compatible, but it came with built-in non-standard peripherals. It had a DMA controller, interrupt controller, and timer. None of these were PC compatible.

Re: S80186: 16-bit 80186 compatible IP core

#47

Post by exikyut »

ChuckMcM wrote: post #36

Wow, trip down memory lane. My "starter" project when I joined Intel out of college was to be the Systems Validation engineer for the 80186. Unlike the 8086 it was this new fangled thing called a "system on chip" (SoC) which of course is what nearly everything is these days. And because Intel chose the peripherals to put "on chip" as it were they picked the ones they liked, and Microsoft obligingly wrote a version of…

I've heard that the 8086/8088 were used in warheads as the guide computers from the radar and other bits. I'm curious how on-point this is.

Now I'm reminded of the story of the engineer who had to face a very tricky debugging scenario when dealing with the sensing/optics assembly for a missile... it didn't use heatsinks, because the production lifetime of the system was just enough seconds shorter than the overheating point that none were needed.

(Pretty sure I stumbled on that from here but I cannot possibly remember exactly where, sorry.)

Re: S80186: 16-bit 80186 compatible IP core

#48

Post by exikyut »

drmpeg wrote: post #39
ChuckMcM wrote: post #36

Wow, trip down memory lane. My "starter" project when I joined Intel out of college was to be the Systems Validation engineer for the 80186. Unlike the 8086 it was this new fangled thing called a "system on chip" (SoC) which of course is what nearly everything is these days. And because Intel chose the peripherals to put "on chip" as it were they picked the ones they liked, and Microsoft obligingly wrote a version of…

It did however have a pretty strong military presence... The ground communications network for the Air Force DSP satellite program (boost phase missile warning) was built with 80186 processors. The hub routers were multi-processor systems with six 80186's or five 80186's and a 80386. These systems were used to provide early warning of SCUD missile attacks during the first Gulf War. They were installed in 1988 and dec…

Less amazing, but: some recent-model (non-current) ATMs used 80386s to control the hydraulics and motors for the cash dispenser. My guess is these ATMs were manufactured sometime starting around 2004 at the earliest.

(ATMs use a complex system of pressurized tubes to extract and move notes out of the bins. I think the idea is that the extra complexity fails more easily as a kind of canary, but I'm not sure.)

Re: S80186: 16-bit 80186 compatible IP core

#49

Post by exikyut »

petercooper wrote: post #34
pm215 wrote: post #7

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The RM Nimbus was 186-based ( https://www.thenimbus.co.uk/range-of-nimbus-computers/PC-186 ) -- UK people might remember it as it was pretty popular in schools in the late 80s/early 90s. It wasn't fully PC compatible though.

Prior to their purchase, I recall my dad spending some time trying to persuade my headmistress that the RM Nimbus was a bad choice and we should have "real PCs" in school instead. Unfortunately it turned out the powers that be had a contract with RM and the choice of machine was basically forced upon schools. With that said, beyond the odd software incompatibilities, I found it an interesting system. Its BASIC was pr…

Wow, that's a really cool game. A very imaginative use of limited video bandwidth.

Very interesting BIOSes, too.

Re: S80186: 16-bit 80186 compatible IP core

#50

Post by int_19h »

burfog wrote: post #46
anyfoo wrote: post #21

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The 80186 was completely compatible to its predecessor. It's just that there weren't many IBM-compatible PCs which featured an 80186.

The core was compatible, but it came with built-in non-standard peripherals. It had a DMA controller, interrupt controller, and timer. None of these were PC compatible.

This particular one sounds like it has all of these, seeing how the webpage shows it running a bunch of DOS games.
Post reply on HN