MOnSter 6502 - a 6502 built entirely from discrete components!

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Mike
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MOnSter 6502 - a 6502 built entirely from discrete components!

Post by Mike »

http://monster6502.com/

:shock:

Just so cute! One can even recognise the PLA in the upper fourth and the ALU in the lower half of the PCB. The level of important signals is shown with LEDs.

It just doesn't quite reach the speed of the original. ;)


P.S. Intel did a similar feat with a discrete 4004 replica.
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eslapion
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Re: MOnSter 6502 - a 6502 built entirely from discrete components!

Post by eslapion »

I love it!

I want one when it's ready!!

Nearly a decade ago, I installed a counter chip that divides by 16 the CPU clock on the VIC-20.

If I ever get a gizmo like that, since it supposedly can't run at 1 MHz, I want to run it on my "experiments" VIC-20.
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Re: MOnSter 6502 - a 6502 built entirely from discrete components!

Post by eslapion »

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Re: MOnSter 6502 - a 6502 built entirely from discrete components!

Post by eslapion »

Is there somewhere a complete schematics of the MOS 6502 ?
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groepaz
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Re: MOnSter 6502 - a 6502 built entirely from discrete components!

Post by groepaz »

there is a leaked one circulating (supposedly the "real" schematic).... you could ask some guys from visual6502. the one i have seen contained errors though, so you'll have to take it with a grain of salt.
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Re: MOnSter 6502 - a 6502 built entirely from discrete components!

Post by eslapion »

groepaz wrote:there is a leaked one circulating (supposedly the "real" schematic).... you could ask some guys from visual6502. the one i have seen contained errors though, so you'll have to take it with a grain of salt.
Why would there be any reason to hide it?

... leaked ???
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groepaz
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Re: MOnSter 6502 - a 6502 built entirely from discrete components!

Post by groepaz »

it was shared by one of the original developers iirc. i dont know why it wasnt uploaded to some public place.
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Re: MOnSter 6502 - a 6502 built entirely from discrete components!

Post by eslapion »

groepaz wrote:it was shared by one of the original developers iirc. i dont know why it wasnt uploaded to some public place.
What amazes me is that both 6502.org and http://www.visual6502.org/ are about the 6502 and the latter even has a detailed simulator yet none have a public complete schematic.

Go figure...
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groepaz
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Re: MOnSter 6502 - a 6502 built entirely from discrete components!

Post by groepaz »

there is a LOT of stuff that those people "have" but what isnt spread publicly for one reason or another - as said, talk to them.
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Re: MOnSter 6502 - a 6502 built entirely from discrete components!

Post by Boray »

Seems like a total waste of time this. Does this mean I'm not a nerd? :lol:
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Re: MOnSter 6502 - a 6502 built entirely from discrete components!

Post by eslapion »

Boray wrote:Seems like a total waste of time this. Does this mean I'm not a nerd? :lol:
If what you call this is the MOnSter 6502 then I disagree that it is a waste of time.

My gut feeling is this represent a very powerful detail study tool of one of the most popular 8 bit CPU of all time.

If I was tasked with building a medical device that uses that processor, I would want something like that as I can effectively inspect the electrical behavior of all sections and connection lines at every instruction step and even individual clock pulses.

If you want super rugged code and make it ultra compact, this seems like a powerful asset. Also incredibly useful to develop specialized external components.

Possibly also useful for "digital archaeology" such as studying early arcade machines that used the 6502.
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Re: MOnSter 6502 - a 6502 built entirely from discrete components!

Post by lance.ewing »

Boray wrote:Seems like a total waste of time this. Does this mean I'm not a nerd? :lol:
Well I guess I'd call myself a nerd, and I think this thing is so cool. Looks like a motherboard, but the whole thing is a CPU!
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Re: MOnSter 6502 - a 6502 built entirely from discrete components!

Post by groepaz »

its a similar waste of time as toying around with vic20 in 2016 =)
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Re: MOnSter 6502 - a 6502 built entirely from discrete components!

Post by eslapion »

groepaz wrote:its a similar waste of time as toying around with vic20 in 2016 =)
Something a few of the people who come to the Denial forum do from time to time.

Makes me realize I've been using this thing for 35 years now... the only other electrical apparatus I've been using for a similar amount of time is my microwave oven. It was made in 1982.

Wrong... my mother's lamp dates back to the 1970s. It's still useful too.
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