Apple I ARM emulator

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Apple I ARM emulator

Hi to all, I am a retrocomputer fan and I discovered the Apple I very in late. I was watching the movie "Jobs" and when Woz showed the Apple1 to Jobs, I literally fel in love with it.

I know it's impossible to find and buy one, so since I have written several emulators I decided to write one based on a Arm Cortex microcontroller board. I know it's nothing compared to have a real one in my hands but I would like to see how far I can go with it.

I wanted to thank you all for the information I have found in this website. Very precious, especially the full document about the Replica 1.

What I did so far is the skeleton of the emulator, the 6502, the PIA and the video section. I developed a TV composite video driver that handles progressive and interlaced modes on both PAL and NTSC. There is a lot still to do, but I like this system very much Smile

IMAGE(http://www.applefritter.com/files/FB_IMG_1472134243232.jpg)
IMAGE(http://www.applefritter.com/files/FB_IMG_1472134337625.jpg)

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Re: Apple I ARM emulator

Sounds like a great project.

Can't wait to see your finished project.

Cheers,
Corey

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Re: Apple I ARM emulator

Thanks, as soon as possible I will share more details about this project. Probably I will design a custom board also and a special ASCII keyboard, but anyway I will keep you informed Smile

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Re: Apple I ARM emulator

Would almost be cool to have a single board machine with a keyboard built in so all you do is add cherry switches to the PCB. Don't forget to make a built in cassette interface. Then you'd have a nice single board machine.

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Re: Apple I ARM emulator

The Cherry buttons are awesome and give you the feeling of the retro keyboard. The All-in-one design is cool, but actually my idea was a bit different about the size and layout. I would like to design a compact size, for both MoBo, Keyboard and monitor, something I can always keep on my desk Wink Probably I will design a "unusual" keyboard. But other than that, I would like to implement the cassette interface. This won't be that easy but that is the fun part Smile

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Re: Apple I ARM emulator

I would like to build something similar to this, but smaller for my desk Smile Of course the parts will be a bit different, and modern, but the look and feel is this one Smile

IMAGE(http://media.tumblr.com/tumblr_lqhxfbPBmy1qbitl6.jpg)
IMAGE(https://c1.staticflickr.com/1/218/473352231_8213d3bb6f.jpg)

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Re: Apple I ARM emulator

Ha-Ha!

Steve sitting there smiling while his bosses look at his work
and tell him why it will never sell. Beautiful.

Oh Yes. I watch "Pirates" at least every other month or so.

Ya gotta love it!

Steven Smile

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Re: Apple I ARM emulator

Love is not the right verb, I adore it Smile I also watch it very often, together with "Jobs" with Ashton Kutcher. Sometimes I have a full marathon with the three movies "Pirates of Silicon Valley", "Jobs" and "Steve Jobs".

I still am amazed by how things were done...

Anyway, I just added a serial input method as a temporary keyboard to test better the emulator and things are working and the small TV LCD display hooks the signal. I am very excited.

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Re: Apple I ARM emulator

Almost there... Ready to mount the M0110 keyboard and the rest Smile

IMAGE(http://www.applefritter.com/files/WoodenCase-01.jpg)
IMAGE(http://www.applefritter.com/files/WoodenCase-02.jpg)
IMAGE(http://www.applefritter.com/files/WoodenCase-03.jpg)
IMAGE(http://www.applefritter.com/files/WoodenCase-04.jpg)
IMAGE(http://www.applefritter.com/files/WoodenCase-05.jpg)

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Re: Apple I ARM emulator

Here it is the STM32 Apple I (Mark I), a bit rough, and the monitor still under construction, but it works for now Smile Nothing compared to the real one of course, may Woz forgive me for this "Frankenstein" project, but it's a lot of fun to build something like this.

MoBo: STM32F4 discovery board by ST
Keyboard interface: Arduino mini compatible (AtMega 328)
Keyboard: Apple Macintosh 128K M0110

soon more images and possibly a video.

IMAGE(http://www.applefritter.com/files/Apple_STM32_MarkI_001.jpg)
IMAGE(http://www.applefritter.com/files/Apple_STM32_MarkI_002.jpg)

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Re: Apple I ARM emulator

While not the original stuff. This is still pretty cool. Perhaps even better because it isn't something thing that'll have to be coddled and kept in a glass case where no one enjoys it. Plus, it's built from modern components which are lower power and infinitely more reliable. And unlike a display queen, it doesn't need its own insurance policy. But best of all it is realistic and usable and upgradable.

Even the fun of building it up is pioneering in a sense. These advantages also apply to other replicas.

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Re: Apple I ARM emulator

While not the original stuff. This is still pretty cool. Perhaps even better because it isn't something thing that'll have to be coddled and kept in a glass case where no one enjoys it. Plus, it's built from modern components which are lower power and infinitely more reliable. And unlike a display queen, it doesn't need its own insurance policy. But best of all it is realistic and usable and upgradable.

Even the fun of building it up is pioneering in a sense. These advantages also apply to other replicas.

Coddled and kept in a glass case... except for a couple in some museums, the real ones are either used or kept in a 10x5 Bank Vault deposit box.

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Re: Apple I ARM emulator

Digi,

Very Cool.

Steven Smile

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Re: Apple I ARM emulator

Thank you all,

here there are more photos, I just finished the video monitor. I could call this model "Mark1" since the keyboard is not the definitive, but for now I am happy Smile

IMAGE(http://www.applefritter.com/files/Emulatore_Apple1_CortexM4_002.jpg)
IMAGE(http://www.applefritter.com/files/Emulatore_Apple1_CortexM4_004.jpg)
IMAGE(http://www.applefritter.com/files/Emulatore_Apple1_CortexM4_005.jpg)

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Re: Apple I ARM emulator

Very Cool!

Steven Smile

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Re: Apple I ARM emulator

Some pictures of the "Making of the monitor" Smile

IMAGE(http://www.applefritter.com/files/Monitor_002.jpg)
IMAGE(http://www.applefritter.com/files/Monitor_003.jpg)
IMAGE(http://www.applefritter.com/files/Monitor_004.jpg)

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Re: Apple I ARM emulator

I know that board, that was radio shack monitor wasn't it.

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Re: Apple I ARM emulator

Maybe, I got this from an old portable TV set here in Italy Smile But you know all of these boards came from the same place Smile Probably this TV was from late 80s...

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Re: Apple I ARM emulator

nice and eccenelnt works!
i made an Apple //e Raspberry pi in a paper case running at bootup a true Apple //e emulator and an Apple iigs emulator from command line at startup.
more info here: Apple //e Raspberry pi in paper case CLICK HERE!

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