retro News - Page 2 of 8 - CNX Software

February 9, 2024February 9, 2024 by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - 29 Comments

CERBERUS 2100 is a BASIC-programmable educational board with Z80 and 6502 8-bit CPUs

Olimex has just announced the launch of the CERBERUS 2100 open-source hardware, educational, multi-processor 8-bit computer with both Z80 and 6502 CPUs, as well as a Microchip AVR processor serving as an I/O controller. The CERBERUS 2100 features several CPLD and is fully programmable from the lowest level (individual gates and flip-flops) up to BASIC interpreters running on the Z80 and 6502 CPUs. Olimex did not design this themselves as the hardware design is from Bernardo Kastrup (aka TheByteAttic), while BASIC interpreters were written by Alexander Sharikhin (6502) and Dean Belfield (Z80). CERBERUS 2100 specifications: Processors Zilog Z80 8-bit microprocessor at 4 or 8 MHz (user selectable) Western Design Center W65C02S 8-bit microprocessor at 4 or 8 MHz (user selectable) “FAT-CAT” (Custom ATmega328pb) Microchip 8-bit AVR ATMega328PB microcontroller at 16 MHz CPLDs (ATF1508AS-7AX100) FAT-SCUNK (Scan CoUNter and clocK) and FAT-CAVIA (ChAracter Video Adapter) for video circuit connected to a 25.175 […]

January 3, 2024January 2, 2024 by Debashis Das - 5 Comments

Sipeed Tang Primer 25K board features 23,040 Logic Cells for FPGA prototyping and development

Sipeed Tang Primer 25K Features 23,040 Logic Cells for Efficient FPGA Prototyping and Development

Sipeed has recently introduced the Tang Primer 25K, an FPGA board powered by Gowin Semi GW5A-LV25MG121 chip. This board features 23,040 LUTs, USB Host capability, and an optional SDRAM module that unlocks vintage gaming. We have previously covered many FPGA boards like Sipeed Tang Mega 138K Pro, Fudan Micro JFM7K325T, ILYGO T-FPGA, and many other development boards by Sipeed including the Sipeed Tang Nano 20K with a Gowin GW2A FPGA. You can check those out if interested. The Tang Primer 25K development board is divided into the 25K SoM Board and the 25K Dock Board together they offer a comprehensive set of features: GW5A-LV25MG121 specifications: 23040 LUT4 23040 Registers (FF) 28x 18×18 Multipliers 6x PLLs Memory/Storage: 64Mbit NOR Flash 180K Distributed S-SRAM 1008K B-SRAM (bits) 56 Number of B-SRAM I/O Interfaces: 3x PMOD 40-pin header 2x buttons 8x I/O banks 75x General IO MIPI IO – 4lane Data USB Ports: […]

May 26, 2023July 6, 2023 by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - 11 Comments

Olimex ESP32-SBC-FabGL board runs DOS, offers VGA , PS/2 keyboard and mouse connectors

Olimex ESP32-SBC-FabGL is an ESP32 single board computer that can serve as the brain of a retro computer with a VGA port, a 3.5mm audio jack, and two PS/2 ports for a keyboard and mouse that are handled by the open-source FabGL graphics library. The board also comes with a microSD card slot, a buzzer, and various expansion interfaces, and can be powered via its USB port or a LiPo battery. FabGL implements several emulators including an Intel 8080 CPU emulator that allows the system to run various versions of DOS among other things. ESP32-SBC-FabGL specifications: Wireless module – ESP32-WROVER dual-core WiFi and Bluetooth module with 4MB flash, 8MB PSRAM Storage – MicroSD card slot Display – VGA connector, 12-pin LCD HAT connector to enable handheld designs Audio – 3.5mm audio jack, built-in buzzer USB – 1x USB-C port for power and programming User inputs – PS2 keyboard connector, PS2 […]

March 2, 2023March 2, 2023 by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - No Comments

Floppy thumb drive integrates Adafruit PyPortal display based on Microchip SAMD51 MCU

Anne Barela’s Floppy Thumb Drive project houses the Adafruit PyPortal internet display in a 3D-printed enclosure that looks like a 3.5-inch floppy disk, just a bit thicker. The computer-in-a-floppy-disk project runs CircuitPython code to list the first 12 files stored in the flash and can display photos or animations, play audio, or execute scripts. The project consists of three main parts: The Adafruit PyPortal internet display with Microchip SAMD51 (ATSAMD51J20) Arm Cortex-M4F microcontroller @ up to 120 MHz with 1 MB flash, 256 KB SRAM Display – 3.2-inch 320 x 240 color TFT display with resistive touchscreen Audio – Speaker Storage 8MB flash storage optional microSD card (not used in the project). ESP32 for WiFi and Bluetooth connectivity (not used in the project) Sensors – Light and Temperature sensors Misc – NeoPixel RGB Micro USB to USB cable 3D printed files for the front cover, back door, front door, disk, […]

February 21, 2023February 21, 2023 by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - 9 Comments

Auspicious Machine modular handheld Linux PC with keyboard takes various Arm-based SoMs

The “Auspicious Machine” may look like a Blackberry phone, but it’s actually a handheld Linux PC with a built-in QWERTY keyboard and a 3.5-inch display that can be powered by a range of system-on-modules (SoM). The computer, whose name can also be translated as the “Auspicious Phone”, can be used as a Linux terminal with GPIO control, and for gaming with Linux distributions such as Batotera or RetroBat with the D-Pad and ABXY buttons found on the device. Auspicious Machine specifications: Supported SoMs Bigtreetech CB1 with Allwinner H616 quad-core Cortex-A53 processor and 1GB DDR4 Raspberry Pi CM4 with Broadcom BCM2711 quad-core Cortex-A72 processor, up to 8GB LPDDR4, up to 32GB eMMC flash Radxa CM3 with Rockchip RK3566 quad-core Cortex-A55 processor, up to 4GB LPDDR4, up to 64GB eMMC flash Banana Pi BPI-CM4 with Amlogic A311D octa-core Cortex-A73/A55 processor with 4GB LPDDR4 and 16GB eMMC flash Storage – MicroSD card socket […]

February 16, 2023 by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - 2 Comments

Raspberry Pi 400 powers dual-display retro-gaming console

“Block after Block” has designed a dual-display tabletop retro-gaming console using plywood edge grain and a Raspberry Pi 400 keyboard PC that allows players to physically face each other during a fight or other gameplay. While there’s a galore of projects based on Raspberry Pi SBCs, the Raspberry Pi 400 keyboard PC is more like a consumer product due to its form factor, but Block after Block integrated the PC into its own retro-gaming console which involved a lot of woodworking skills and installing RetroPie on the Pi 400 device. This DIY project mostly involves spending time in a workshop cutting wood, and once you’re done with this part, it should be pretty straightforward. The following items are required for the project: A Raspberry Pi 400 keyboard PC Two monitors (second-hand monitors will do) An HDMI splitter to mirror the output from the Pi 400 along with a micro HDMI […]

November 25, 2022 by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - 7 Comments

TinyLlama x86 retro computer uses the Raspberry Pi Zero 2 W as a MIDI synthesizer

The TinyLlama x86 retro computer board is designed to run DOS games on a DM&P Vortex86EX 32-bit x86 processor and integrates a MIDI synthesizer based on Raspberry Pi Zero 2 running MT32-Pi firmware. Growing up playing games on 386/486-era computers, Eivind Bohler looked for similar recent hardware to play DOS games and after discovering the 86Duino x86 Arduino-compatible board, he decided to use the SOM-128-EX module powering the board to create the TinyLlama board with a Sound Blaster Pro-compatible Crystal CS4237B sound chip and a MIDI synthesizer. TinyLlama specifications: D&MP SOM-128-EX system-on-module with Processor – DM&P Vortex86EX 32-bit x86 processor @ 60 to 500 MHz System Memory – 128MB DDR3 Storage – 8MB SPI flash Storage – MicroSD card socket Video Output – VGA up to 1024×768 @ 60 Hz using the Vortex86VGA module running off an x1 PCI-e lane Audio Crystal CS4237B all-in-one audio chip MIDI synthesizer with Raspberry Pi […]

October 26, 2022 by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - 5 Comments

uConsole is a modular Arm or RISC-V handheld computer with optional 4G connectivity

Clockwork’s uConsole is a modular handheld computer with a 5-inch display, a built-in keyboard, and based on a carrier board supporting various Arm or RISC-V modules compatible with the Raspberry Pi CM3 or CM4 form factors. The device is offered with a system-on-module with up to 4GB RAM, a WiFi 5 and Bluetooth 5.0 wireless module, features micro HDMI video output, USB ports, and an audio jack, plus expansion connectors for more advanced users, and takes two 18650 batteries for power. The company also offers a 4G LTE module for cellular connectivity. The mainboard, called ClockworkPi v3.14 revision 5, offers the following: System-on-module socket – 200-pin DDR2 SODIMM socket compatible with Raspberry Pi CM3 and, through an adapter, Raspberry Pi CM4 and compatible modules Storage – MicroSD card socket Video Interfaces 40-pin MIPI DSI connector micro HDMI interface for external display Audio – 3.5mm audio jack with headphone and microphone […]