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Amd adrenalin xp hack 32 bit hack9/23/2023 ![]() Bottom of the prototype C128 Three months until CES and it takes lots of jumpers and chips stuck to the bottom to make it work. Home monitors didn’t really exist yet, we were kind of counting on having that done in time also, along with a new hard drive. Along the way it turned into a dual processor system 6502/Z80, and simultaneous 40 column TV display and 80 column monitor. So here is where the need for some serious hacking comes in we needed to start writing software (a whole new Rom Kernel and Monitor and a brand new version of Basic featuring structured commands), we needed to start the process of making PCB’s and we needed to start debugging the hardware and understanding the implications of trying to use 128k of DRAM (yes “k”, not m,g or t) which was a first, as well as the first MMU in a home computer. Five custom chips have yet to be completed, in the mean time “chip emulators” kept it running enough that the system software could be written. (But that’s a different story) The initial Commodore C128 with three months to go until CES. ![]() We also had the chip guys bond up a very special 48 pin version of the 6502 microprocessor and we decided to use Commodore’s newest 80 column chip which by itself almost caused us to miss CES. The C128 would require two brand new 40 pin custom chips a Memory Management Unit (MMU), a Master Programmable Logic Array (PLA), and the venerable but scary VICII video core chip needed to be re-tooled. We also joked about turning out the lights on our way out the door as we knew that the 8-bit era was coming to a close. ![]() We started referring to the C128 as 9 pounds of poop in a 5 pound bag, we couldn’t quite get 10 pounds to fit. ![]() Before we were done we would have a dual processor, triple OS, dual monitor (40 and 80 column simultaneously) with the first home computer to break the 64k barrier. We began shoving in as many features as could fit in a 5 month time frame. We debated asking them how they (the Marketing Department) were going to accomplish such a lofty goal but instead settled for getting down to work ourselves.Īs the project progressed we realized that this most likely was going to be the final 8 bit system to come out of Commodore. To add to the fun, a couple of weeks later the marketing department in a state of delusional denial put out a press release guaranteeing 100% compatibility with the C64. Commodore C-128, the last mass production 8 bit computer and first home computer with 40 and 80 column displays, dual processors, three operating systems, 128k memory via MMU and one heck of a door stop. And by Hack I mean we had to create emulator boards out of LS-TTL chips that could act like the big 48 pin custom VLSI chips that Commodore/MOS was known for. This strength would result in a powerful computer but at a cost the custom IC’s for the C-128 would not be ready for at least 3 of the 5 months, and in the case of one IC, it would actually be tricked into working in spite of itself.īefore the CES show, before production, before the custom IC’s became available, there was no choice but to Hack in order to make the deadlines. We (Commodore) could do what no other computer company of the day could easily do we made our own Integrated Circuits (ICs) and we owned the two powerhouse ICs of the day the 6502 microprocessor and the VIC Video Display IC. ![]() The team I worked with had an opportunity to slam out one last 8 bit computer, providing we accepted the fact that whatever we did had to be completed in 5 months… in time for the 1985 Consumer Electronics Show (CES) in Las Vegas. My name is Bil Herd and I was that long-haired, self-educated kid who lived and dreamed electronics and, with the passion of youth, found himself designing the Commodore C-128, the last of the 8-bit computers which somehow was able to include many firsts for home computing. Little is left to show of those times, the 8-bit “retro” years when a young long-haired self-taught engineer could, through sheer chance and a fair amount of determination, sit down and design a computer from scratch using a mechanical pencil, a pile of data books, and a lot of paper. The most popular computer ever sold to-date, the Commodore C-64, sold 27 Million units total back in the 1980’s. ![]()
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