[Coco] FPGA 6809

Mon Aug 31 01:45:50 EDT 2015

It is a Facebook group but, here is the link: https://www.facebook.com/groups/399411586924305/

Bill Nobel

> On Aug 30, 2015, at 11:41 PM, Dave Philipsen <dave at davebiz.com> wrote:
> 
> I have not yet seen Roger's project.  Does he have a website?  I definitely like what Gary has done on the DE1.  To me there is nothing like having a standalone little 6809 computer that can run NitrOS9 at 25 MHz!  Gary just released a new version with support for SD cards and I'm working on getting it to boot OS9 from the SD card with some software that will allow me to create partitions on the SD card.  Drivewire is a nice concept but for some reason I just can't warm up to the idea of having to have a PC running next to my OS9 computer.  It's great for printing or accessing the internet I guess but I really like the fact that we're getting really close to having a relatively fast little computer that boots NitrOS9 on its own, requires very little power, and has plenty of on-board storage capability.
> 
> Dave Philipsen
> 
> 
> On 8/31/2015 12:19 AM, Bill Nobel wrote:
>> That is correct.  I would like to achieve various 6809 systems (the main being a Coco).  Yes Roger & Gary Becker have their projects going (I prefer Gary’s better) I tried taking Grant’s code direct to De0 with pin re-assingment. This didn’t work under newest versions of Quartus, so I have been trying to fix the varieties for my own sentiment.  Once I have them working Everyone gets.
>> 
>> Bill Nobel
>> 
>>> On Aug 30, 2015, at 10:58 PM, Dave Philipsen <dave at davebiz.com> wrote:
>>> 
>>> Interesting.  So when you are speaking in terms of "bdf" does that mean you are actually drawing a schematic for your implementation?
>>> 
>>> Dave
>>> 
>>> 
>>> On 8/30/2015 11:52 PM, Bill Nobel wrote:
>>>> Exactly what I am talking about David.  Grant defines his CS lines in code vs .bdf (or symbols) My knowledge of FPGA’s is in schematic form.
>>>> 
>>>> Bill Nobel
>>>> 
>>>>> On Aug 30, 2015, at 10:46 PM, Dave Philipsen <dave at davebiz.com> wrote:
>>>>> 
>>>>> Actually, I stand corrected.  Grant doesn't actually "marry" the buses in his project and he explains why on his website:
>>>>> 
>>>>> Similarly, all these CPUs have an 8-bit data bus. For the discrete components, the data bus is bidirectional. This could have been implemented in VHDL as bidirectional to match. However, the VHDL components (including RAM and ROM) tend to have separate incoming and outgoing data buses - this makes it easier to interface. Therefore the 8-bit data bus found on a CPU is represented as two separate data buses and are connected to the two data buses on the breadboard.
>>>>> 
>>>>> eg
>>>>> di => cpuDataIn,
>>>>> do => cpuDataOut
>>>>> 
>>>>> 
>>>>> 
>>>>> This code in Multicomp attaches the different peripherals to the CPU read data bus when the respective chip select goes low:
>>>>> 
>>>>> cpuDataIn <=
>>>>> interface1DataOut when n_interface1CS = '0' else
>>>>> interface2DataOut when n_interface2CS = '0' else
>>>>> sdCardDataOut when n_sdCardCS = '0' else
>>>>> basRomData when n_basRomCS = '0' else
>>>>> internalRam1DataOut when n_internalRam1CS= '0' else
>>>>> sramData when n_externalRamCS= '0' else
>>>>> x"FF";
>>>>> 
>>>>> 
>>>>> An example of connecting the CPU write data bus to an external RAM chip is found here:
>>>>> 
>>>>> sramAddress(15 downto 0) <= cpuAddress(15 downto 0);
>>>>> sramData <= cpuDataOut when n_WR='0' else (others => 'Z');
>>>>> n_sRamWE <= n_memWR;
>>>>> n_sRamOE <= n_memRD;
>>>>> n_sRamCS <= n_externalRamCS;
>>>>> 
>>>>> This is the way he keeps it flexible in order to work with both the "internal" VHDL devices which may use separate data buses as well as the real external devices that normally use a single bi-directional bus.  Additionally, there are some physical devices which do not require the chip select to be active in order to perform a write operation.
>>>>> 
>>>>> Dave Philipsen
>>>>> 
>>>>> 
>>>>> 
>>>>> 
>>>>> On 8/30/2015 10:42 PM, Bill Nobel wrote:
>>>>>> I have gone over Grants code extensively and I never found a symbol file for Chip select. I see the CS lines defined, but not such as Roger’s define for a symbol file.
>>>>>> 
>>>>>> Bill Nobel
>>>>>> 
>>>>>>> On Aug 30, 2015, at 9:23 PM, Dave Philipsen <dave at davebiz.com> wrote:
>>>>>>> 
>>>>>>> If you take a look at the VHDL code in Grant Searle's Multicomp project you'll find an example of this too.
>>>>>>> 
>>>>>>> Dave Philipsen
>>>>>>> 
>>>>>>> 
>>>>>>> On 8/30/2015 8:53 PM, Bill Nobel wrote:
>>>>>>>> I have to post this here,  A HUGE shout out to Roger Taylor for directing me in the right direction for the bus marriage on the FPGA versions of the 6809.  I am a noob when it comes to these things and was having trouble marrying the data_in data_out busses together to form a actual bi-directional bus.  I thought I was needing to build a circuit with latches/buffers, and he decides to give me a ~20 line piece of vhdl code that does the whole works based on Chip selects. Woo hoo….
>>>>>>>> 
>>>>>>>> Bill Nobel
>>>>>>>> 
>>>>>>>> 
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