I bought this awesome homebrew Z80 single-board computer:
https://hackaday.io/project/159973-z80-mbc2-a-4-ics-homebrew-z80-computer
It was mostly an impulse buy but there are other motivations I explained here:
https://journal.paoloamoroso.com/i-bought-a-z80-mbc2-homebrew-computer
The Z80-MBC2 kit I ordered is being assembled. Still a few days until it's shipped, then I should receive it in a week or so.
Can't wait to play with this Z80 homebrew computer.
I finally received the Z80-MBC2 Z80 homebrew computer and connected it via USB serial to my Chromebox (at right in the photo).
So far the Z80 device is not recognized neither under Chrome OS, nor Android, nor Linux. I'm investigating.
It works!
I made chromeOS detect the Z80-MBC2 Z80 computer connected via USB by... re-plugging the board. In the screenshot, see the Z80-MBC2 booting up CP/M 3.0 in a Minicom session under Crostini Linux. More details here:
https://journal.paoloamoroso.com/success-with-connecting-the-z80-mbc2-to-chromeos
Time to play with this awesome little gadget. The "Z80 inside" logo alone is worth the product.
In this Minicom terminal emulation session, an Intel 8080 Assembly hello world demo runs under CP/M on a Z80 homebrew computer.
Nothing fancy, but for me it's an incredible personal achievement. I assembled the demo's 8080 source with an assembler I wrote myself. I posted a bit more about the project here:
https://journal.paoloamoroso.com/a-hello-world-assembly-demo-running-on-the-z80-mbc2
I've been using the Z80-MBC2 Z80 homebrew computer for over a week, so I posted my early impressions about the device, its value and potential, and the issues I'm facing.
I ported to CP/M my Intell 8080 Assembly demo of a twirling bar animation.
Here is the demo running under CP/M 3.0 on the Z80-MBC2 Z80 homebrew computer. The Minicom session controlling the Z80 board is in the Crostini Linux container of chromeOS on my Chromebox.
8bitnews featured my Z80-MBC2 projects in issue 55. This is so cool, many thanks to the editors Jan and Bastian!
8bitnews.io is my favorite retrocomputing newsletter.
I created a YouTube playlist about the Z80-MBC2 Z80 homebrew computer.
The videos are screencasts demonstrating various features of the device and my projects with it, such as feature walkthroughs, running programs, programming sessions, and so on. So far there are only a handful of videos, but I'll publish more.
https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLdrSRFPEwMupuDpNmOkXyObBNtkAb-b2K
I posted some notes on porting to CP/M, building, and running an Intel 8080 Assembly demo on the Z80-MBC2 Z80 homebrew computer. The demo is an ASCII animation of a twirling bar.
https://journal.paoloamoroso.com/porting-a-twirling-bar-demo-to-cp-m
I'm having a lot of fun playing with the Z80-MBC2 Z80 homebrew computer.
To document what I learn, I'm publishing to my blog a series of posts with updates, resources, code, tips, videos, and more on my journey to explore the device. These posts are grouped here, where new ones will show up:
I'm playing with UCSD p-System, one of the operating systems that come with the Z80-MBC2 Z80 homebrew computer. Here's a demo program that plots a sine wave.
The menu system is easy, but I'm not sure I understand how to go back one level. Pressing Q works most of the times but not all. I tried ESC, Backspace and a few more keystrokes without success.
This is pretty cool: the Serial USB Terminal Android app on chromeOS on my ASUS Chromebox 3. The terminal is running a CP/M 3.0 session on a Z80-MBC2 Z80 homebrew computer connected to the Chromebox via serial USB.
I connected to the Z80-MBC2 homebrew Z80 computer from an Android terminal emulator on chromeOS. Here are my early impressions:
https://journal.paoloamoroso.com/controlling-the-z80-mbc2-from-android-on-chromeos
@amoroso That's my kind of computing!
@lopta Vintage FTW!
@amoroso only mildly related, but what font are you using there? it's delightful.
@robdaemon In cool-retro-term, under Settings > General > Profile I select IBM 3278.
@amoroso Thank you!
@amoroso Wow I had no idea MS-DOS was so clearly a CP/M knock-off!
@rimu CP/M was highly influential, e.g. it pretty much invented BIOS.
@amoroso very cool! Do you have any favourite things you like to do on CP/M?
@stevelord Thanks!
I mostly do a couple of things on CP/M. First, I run the Assembly code I write with the development tools I create, e.g. my own Intel 8080 toy assembler. Also, I get to know an operating system I've always been curious about, as back then I never got a chance to own or use CP/M machines.
@amoroso
looks good!
@amoroso Seems like a PWA could be a more portable solution, but I'm not aware of any.
@ScottE There are a number of web terminal emulators based on the Serial Web API, but they're pretty limited and don't support file transfer. Here's an example:
@ScottE I haven't tried any of those web terminals with the Z80-MBC2 though.
Playing with the Z80-MBC2 is a fun retrocomputing project. So here are the obligatory vintage cool-retro-term screenshots of this Z80 homebrew computer running CP/M 3.0 and a couple of games.
#retrocomputing