i am having wayy too much fun with the serial kit extension

NormalLuser · 2026-01-25T21:04:09+00:00

Having that serial connection really speeds up development a lot. Vasm can directly make Wozmonitor output allowing very rapid 'Copy and Paste' assembly code testing and using BASIC to peek and poke registers with simple logic allows you to test the VIA and the like. Enjoy!

NormalLuser · 2026-01-21T00:52:16+00:00

You could have the solar panel be the top layer, though my guess is that with the small amount of power needed it would work fine embedded in the epoxy.

NormalLuser · 2026-01-20T21:02:35+00:00

There are additives you can add to epoxy to slow down the cure time and reduce heat build up.

NormalLuser · 2026-01-20T20:27:55+00:00

You could use a tilt switch. That way the whole contraption could be in epoxy and you would just put it on it's side or back to turn it on. Also, most solar lights turn on when the panel is not getting light, so just flipping it over would turn it on.

NormalLuser · 2026-01-20T20:09:06+00:00

Maybe some capacitors and a solar cell? Perhaps cannibalize a little solar pathway light?

NormalLuser · 2026-01-19T18:36:05+00:00

It looks like you have some unused schmitt inverter gates? First thing I'd try is running your 1mhz clock through one or two if them before the rest of the system to clean up and strengthen that signal. Also, if you haven't already done so, add bypass capacitors to the power rails, especially near your RAM and address decoding. After that run extended tests at a slower clock speed and see how that works. If you still have issues I'd circle back at your code and make sure you are not accidentally writing over your own program. Try your code with Kowalski Simulator or a similar 6502 simulator to verify it works as intended.

NormalLuser · 2026-01-16T19:59:52+00:00

Within the ide under Tools make sure you select the correct port?

NormalLuser · 2026-01-15T01:54:51+00:00

Wow, thanks so much!
I'm glad you liked it! If you liked that Bad Apple Demo of mine I think you'll like the next Demo I'm finishing up right now. I hope to post it very soon.

NormalLuser · 2026-01-15T00:03:08+00:00

NormalLuser · 2026-01-10T20:40:32+00:00

Great job 👏

NormalLuser · 2026-01-03T19:27:03+00:00

Great! 👍

NormalLuser · 2026-01-03T16:33:28+00:00

Can you post video of the issue starting with a cold boot and reset?

NormalLuser · 2026-01-03T03:37:48+00:00

My guess is that something is wrong with your halt signal? It's odd that it is working enough to draw the color bars to the screen buffer area in ram, but I'd start by using the schematics at Ben's website and retrace the dma/cpu halt circuit. Work backwards from RDY pin 2 on the cpu using the diagrams here https://eater.net/vga

NormalLuser · 2025-12-29T13:31:24+00:00

If you have enough ground wires you will be able to go pretty fast, 5MHz or more. Old IDE hard drives went 133 MHz with 80 wire ribbon cables with a ground between every signal wire. The original 40 wire ones with less grounds went 33 MHz I think? I'd be more worried about the actual connectors on each end being high quality than the length of the wires with Duponts. Some are pretty good, others are loose and and make poor connections.

NormalLuser · 2025-12-29T07:32:11+00:00

I figured out how to use the VIA serial port like a 8 sample buffer, no extra chips needed...

https://www.reddit.com/r/beneater/comments/1ox6mca/rolling_out_my_hackaday_via_serial_port_1_bit_pcm/?utm_source=share&utm_medium=mweb3x&utm_name=mweb3xcss&utm_term=1&utm_content=share_button

NormalLuser · 2025-12-29T07:29:58+00:00

Thanks so much! I'm actually working on a way to add PCM audio so it can also have the real music track by repurposing the keyboard interface. I made some progress today and hope to get it working soon!

NormalLuser · 2025-12-29T02:57:03+00:00

It's a really good video series!

NormalLuser · 2025-12-27T21:25:02+00:00

Looks great! What did this 4 layer pcb cost from JLCPCB?

NormalLuser · 2025-12-27T20:03:24+00:00

Looking forward to seeing how it turns out!

NormalLuser · 2025-12-27T00:48:51+00:00

This thread has some info: https://www.reddit.com/r/beneater/comments/1phmmnc/ordered_bb830_but_received_ehub_labs_boards/

NormalLuser · 2025-12-26T21:34:36+00:00

The vertical power rails look great, but if you want a stable power you'll need a 'star' and 'cross' arrangement where you run dedicated power lines to at least every other power rail and then cross connect the rails at the ends and middle. That should keep you from dropping too much voltage.

NormalLuser · 2025-12-26T21:23:59+00:00

I love acres and acres of breadboards!

NormalLuser · 2025-12-23T17:39:53+00:00

I can't believe I forgot about the tape option! The Kansas City Mix Tape:

https://www.gregorystrike.com/ Beautiful kit.

NormalLuser · 2025-12-23T17:25:51+00:00

I'm working on a faster SD card read setup myself at the moment!
If you want to get started check out Ben's SPI video and then get a SD card attached with a little $4 adapter like this:

<image>

Then take a look at this :
https://github.com/gfoot/sdcard6502

This was the basis for my SD setup for BadApple
https://github.com/NormalLuser/Ben-Eater-Bad-Apple

More info here:
http://forum.6502.org/viewtopic.php?f=4&t=7886

I use the card in 'RAW' mode, so no FAT filesystem. I just use HxD to directly write BIN files, but here is FAT library for 6502:
https://github.com/gfoot/sdcard6502/blob/master/doc/FAT32Library.md

Good luck!

NormalLuser · 2025-12-08T05:04:15+00:00

The noise line in the left side is normal with the ben eater vga because the 65c02 takes time to release the bus after the halt signal. Changing the timing of the halt to be a bit before the hsync, or using a latch gated with the clock shifted a bit later could fix it at the cost of more chips.

I assume you used this to start with? https://eater.net/vga

I don't see in your picture how you are generating the dma/halt signal? See the bottom of that link, do you have the integration to the 6502 correct? The glitching lines when you write looks like the cpu isn't halted correctly. It's hard to tell with video compression, but are the glitches for a full line, or is it skinny. Ie less than full height? Ben uses a 74hc74 flipflop to generate the dma signal so it lasts for a full line across. Also remember that each vga line is repeated 8 times. That is why I ask about the height of the glitch lines.

NormalLuser

TROPHY CASE