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My Speccy #01
02 февраля 2004 |
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C World thread - Scorpion GMX or unused potentsial.
ScorpionGMX or unused potentsial:
<table border="0" cellpadding="5" cellspacing="5" width="100%" height="100%"> <tr> <td width="50%" valign="top" align="justify"> About myself Scorpion probably many without me heard, because I will talk about the Scorpion Pay-GMX, controllers and PC SMUC Claudia with a mouse. Let's start order. CPU Z80B, normal processor as in any other Speke just a little quicker and smarter.
Turbo mode 7MHz, switching Fast / Normal through software via the system port or through the shadow businesses. If you prefer, you can control the mode manually, the board provided appropriate pins for buttons, which, incidentally, is very convenient. In turbo mode, INT is pulled up to 132,000 cycles.
Memory for simmodulyah to 2 MB. And the extension is split into two ports - # 1FFD and # DFFD. There is a second window projection # 8000 - # C000, port-# 78FD. Each memory bank can be connected in the second page of the visible memory. Thing useful and necessary, a serious contrast to the usual scorpion fish the better.
The main advantage - it is perhaps, FlashROM 512K, which are kept flashing patterns of different components and ROM to them. When started, you can choose from seven options of companies. While there are only four - Scorpion, Pentagon, Composit, and a full set of tests of the system. Put simply, in one board protection - three machines simultaneously. The service monitor has a menu to jump to the desired configuration, it is noteworthy that the menu contains a closed point "ATM". FlashROM contents in any moment you can update, no special programmer is not needed, it is enough have a floppy with the new firmware, and five minutes of time.
Also implemented Multicolor screen 640 * 200 * 16 (80 characters by 25 lines), Hardware interline scroller. It is located in the extended memory and occupies two RAMbanki - # 39 pixels # 79 attributes. Second Buffer screen - # 3A and # 7A, respectively. A single byte attribute must on a strip of eight horizontal pixels, the value of bits is the same as that of a standard screen. Surely somewhere this is already done, but still, the idea for the developers of new machines - much interesting bits of "Flash" to use for combining the extended screen with a standard, ie there where it is enabled to output data from the standard screen.
GMX itself is inserted into the socket of the processor, slots, beta-ROM and other peripherals have vzaimstvuetsya board the carrier. Can theoretically be installed on any Spec.
fee SMUC .
Real Time Clock (RTS) and the memory on the battery (SMOC) - komentirovat probably do not need another thing nonvolatile memory (NVRAM). Capacity of 2 kilobytes, pretty well for Spectrum. In no battery does not require, the information is transferred through the system one bit port relish (# FFBA).
There is slot for all kinds of IBM periphery to its normal operation in socket put to the interrupt controller. And of course the ability to use the hard drive not only the on its own, but together with TR-DOS through functions # 3D13. Support for pseudo-disks sewn into shadow businesses and can simulate a floppy disk in any drive, all loaded almost instantly.
To the control mice and PC-keyboard can be connected to both passive and active mouse, and mouse can simulate pointers. The keyboard works somewhat inhibited, but there are built-in layouts for BASIC, IS-DOS, ZX-Word ... Switches all the shortcuts to the most keyboard. Button magic suspended on Alt + Ctrl + PrintScreen. Pause to pause the machine that it is sometimes useful.
Computer itself can work round the clock without freezes, almost all of the programs are not the one scheme, since the other, to the same additional ports can be quickly disconnected in shadow businesses and change in the Pentagon INT.
And now the bad news.
Heap memory is of course great, but she almost never used, and the shadow businesses above 256K does not see. With the hard drive to work a few awkward, lists are represented as floppy Disk 01; Disk 02, etc. Write on paper yet inconvenient, and dig in search of the entire hard drive required drive at all a nightmare. Tangible benefits from the NVRAM not found to the same work she protocol I2C, but its implementation is rather cumbersome. Something in it is written, but not much the rest seem empty, we hope that someday prove useful. The keyboard controller with the mouse is made thus, mud, messy way - by mikroevmke. Connects over spekovskoy standard keyboard and all. More than forty key still does not assume scancodes is not possible. To install the GMX its fee (NOT Scorpion), second have fairly plow actually made her a Scorpion. The only rulez is that as do this in detail in manuals. No screen is even wider, "Multicolor, as stated Developers - "nothing good will come of it, which is understandable given the full transition the company to trade pisyukami. Before that it was planned to start producing Scorpion'2000, where everything would be on the same board, but further announcements like they did not get. A pity. The machine is really good, the above mentioned shortcomings can be corrected - it would wish.
For those who read to the end, someone like a description or a GMX .
In the first versions of the firmware FlashROM were found glitches in the scheme of "scorpion" - the conflict on the bus when working enlarged screen and mixed bits in the port of the second window projection. After the connection with the person directly prepared the driver circuits, it was quickly corrected, for which him many thanks. Check your version can be sewn through the test (6 circuit) compliance each other projecting windows, should show an error. Pofiksinnuyu firmware we can take <here> .
(C) Trident
trident@front.ru