3 ms·
> I have been reverse-engineering the Z-80 processor using images and data from the Visual 6502 team. Many moons ago, I heard a seventh-hand rumor that the guy
by ableal 12y ago
> I have been reverse-engineering the Z-80 processor using images and data from the Visual 6502 team.
Many moons ago, I heard a seventh-hand rumor that the guy doing the layout of the Z-80 chip had a nervous breakdown, because of the difficulty of the work.
I have no idea if there was any truth whatsoever to that, but I'm glad to find it's not a Langford Blit thing which maddens those who see it ;-)
- kens 12y agoThe Computer History Museum's oral history of the Z-80 has some interesting stories about the layout (but doesn't mention any nervous breakdown). The Z-80 project hired some layout draftsmen, but they were slow and the chip was running behind schedule. So CEO Federico Faggin starts helping with the layout and ends up doing 3/4 of the chip layout himself after 3 1/2 months of 80-hour weeks. "You know, a CEO doing layout draftsman job was not something that would be normal, but that’s what I had to do, and I did it." By comparison, the simpler 8080 took six months of layout. http://archive.computerhistory.org/resources/text/Oral_History/Zilog_Z80/102658073.05.01.pdf http://archive.computerhistory.org/resources/text/Oral_Histo...
- ctdonath 12y agoHaving laid out a chip by hand, I can see that happening.