Re: C-128 and Jeri board

From: Professor Dredd (profdredd_at_yahoo.com)
Date: 2001-05-01 16:35:51

Hiya Jeri,

--- Jeri Ellsworth <cm_easy@yahoo.com> wrote:

<snip>

> I'm curious how many people would be interested in
> an
> entire motherboard replacement instead?  Maybe with
> the option to plug original chips into it?

I like that idea. All the C-64 motherboards (20 +
million or so) will eventually be dead anyway. We
might as well replace them if we have the opportunity.

Here are some things to consider when designing a the
mobo.

If I'm replacing the mobo, I think I'll just setup my
Super-64 in a PC tower case. The new board ought to be
designed with this in mind. Also, there should be a
connector for a PC keyboard and included logic to
decode PC keypresses as equivalent C-64 keys. Might be
a good idea to allow people to customize the decoding
matrix too, perhaps by writing the new matrix into a
PRAM-type area? 

Make the KERNAL customizeable. Maybe have it copied to
RAM on power-up. Then implement KERNAL patches by
loading them from the PRAM-type area. Now I can
customize my KERNAL without loading from disk or
burning EPROMs  :)

The cassette port can definitely be ditched. Same
thing with the RF output.

The User port is not essential, but would be nice for
connecting audio/video digitizers and printer devices
which already exist and require it.

Slots are very desireable. They ought to mimic the
Expansion buss and be switchable as in the multi-cart
expansion boards. Each slot should be fully
enable/disable controlled by both hardware AND
software switching. It should be possible to enable
multiple slots when carts are compatible (of course
only the user can determine this.) There should be
nothing stopping me from using my SuperSnapshot and
SidSynphony simultaneously.

65816 socket is a MUST so we can write sophisticated
new apps to take advantage of the new hardware. It
would also ease the burden of developers who are
willing to port their SuperCPU apps.

Other desireable features include ETHERNET, IDE, USB,
SCSI and true RS-232.

I won't be satisfied until I can connect my
cable-modem to my Super-64 and browse the web with
full graphics  :)

=====
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