3 ms·

i have been thinking about how to build a machine that is smaller and easier to understand and looking for an OS that is smaller and easier to understand to go

by joshu 2y ago

i have been thinking about how to build a machine that is smaller and easier to understand and looking for an OS that is smaller and easier to understand to go with it. yours is probably one of the closest i’ve looked at…

vdupras 2y ago
Let me know when you find the matching hardware! I'll make it my official "canonical Dusk machine" :) Most modern hardware is way too complex. Dusk uses a fraction of it, but still has to deal with spurious complexity. Personally, my favorite 32-bit SBC so far is PC Engine's Alix board[1]. Sure, it has the ugly BIOS legacy, but is otherwise a very nice no-frills SBC. I just wish I bought one with a VGA adapter before it closed shop. [1]: https://pcengines.ch/alix.htm https://pcengines.ch/alix.htm
- joshu 2y ago
  conveniently i have several alixes but none with video output. I am actually thinking about custom hardware at the moment. Or maybe FPGA emulation of custom hardware. I actually would prefer a smaller machine but most of them are too impaired (eg 6502 is just a bit too weird) so probably 68k-based. which you support! (is there a boot image somewhere? i wonder if it would run in an emulator) right now my thought is an FPGA board is probably for the best...
  - vdupras 2y ago
    m68k is nice to work with. I've never tried Dusk OS m68k port in emulation because of the "dogfooding doctrine" I began enforcing with that port: no other tools than Dusk's. So it only ever ran on a Powerbook 520 (unless people have tried it elsewhere without telling me). I don't know if it runs on the basilisk emulator. I suspect it's likely that it doesn't because my booting method is highly unorthodox. I don't push the same "buttons" as system7 at all, so it would probably confuse the emulator. That being said, if the I/Os of your machine are simple, porting to it should be easy. Reach to me if you need help, I'd love to have a second m68k machine to run on.
    - joshu 2y ago
      i wonder if there is an easily available 68k board. not a lot out there that i could easily find. the fpga board that MiSTeR seems like a good candidate though
      - vdupras 2y ago
        Before I began the m68k port, I was eyeing the rosco_m68k[1] as an initial m68k port, which would have been easier than going straight for the Powerbook 520. But after a vintage buying spree a few years ago, I told myself that I wouldn't buy hardware anymore (unless it was really really cool or really really needed), so I'm on a strict "make do with what you have on hand" discipline :) But that SBC looks nice. Oh, I see that they don't sell kits anymore, you have to do the sourcing yourself. Maybe it's a bit more complicated. [1]: https://rosco-m68k.com/ https://rosco-m68k.com/
        joshu 2y ago
        yeah, unfortunately. i've been on a hunt to design a sort of video terminal system (local machine speaks VT100 or NAPLPS or some other videotext plus a way to run bits of code) and i was looking at the rosco + xosera video card as a way to build it, but discovered it's no longer made. i saw somewhere that people were able to emulate a 68k mac just barely on an esp32 so maybe that's the way to go. it's cheap and sorta connected, at least.

by joshu 2y ago

vdupras 2y ago

Let me know when you find the matching hardware! I'll make it my official "canonical Dusk machine" :) Most modern hardware is way too complex. Dusk uses a fraction of it, but still has to deal with spurious complexity. Personally, my favorite 32-bit SBC so far is PC Engine's Alix board[1]. Sure, it has the ugly BIOS legacy, but is otherwise a very nice no-frills SBC. I just wish I bought one with a VGA adapter before it closed shop. [1]: https://pcengines.ch/alix.htm https://pcengines.ch/alix.htm

joshu 2y ago
conveniently i have several alixes but none with video output. I am actually thinking about custom hardware at the moment. Or maybe FPGA emulation of custom hardware. I actually would prefer a smaller machine but most of them are too impaired (eg 6502 is just a bit too weird) so probably 68k-based. which you support! (is there a boot image somewhere? i wonder if it would run in an emulator) right now my thought is an FPGA board is probably for the best...
- vdupras 2y ago
  m68k is nice to work with. I've never tried Dusk OS m68k port in emulation because of the "dogfooding doctrine" I began enforcing with that port: no other tools than Dusk's. So it only ever ran on a Powerbook 520 (unless people have tried it elsewhere without telling me). I don't know if it runs on the basilisk emulator. I suspect it's likely that it doesn't because my booting method is highly unorthodox. I don't push the same "buttons" as system7 at all, so it would probably confuse the emulator. That being said, if the I/Os of your machine are simple, porting to it should be easy. Reach to me if you need help, I'd love to have a second m68k machine to run on.
  - joshu 2y ago
    i wonder if there is an easily available 68k board. not a lot out there that i could easily find. the fpga board that MiSTeR seems like a good candidate though
    - vdupras 2y ago
      Before I began the m68k port, I was eyeing the rosco_m68k[1] as an initial m68k port, which would have been easier than going straight for the Powerbook 520. But after a vintage buying spree a few years ago, I told myself that I wouldn't buy hardware anymore (unless it was really really cool or really really needed), so I'm on a strict "make do with what you have on hand" discipline :) But that SBC looks nice. Oh, I see that they don't sell kits anymore, you have to do the sourcing yourself. Maybe it's a bit more complicated. [1]: https://rosco-m68k.com/ https://rosco-m68k.com/
      - joshu 2y ago
        yeah, unfortunately. i've been on a hunt to design a sort of video terminal system (local machine speaks VT100 or NAPLPS or some other videotext plus a way to run bits of code) and i was looking at the rosco + xosera video card as a way to build it, but discovered it's no longer made. i saw somewhere that people were able to emulate a 68k mac just barely on an esp32 so maybe that's the way to go. it's cheap and sorta connected, at least.