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A few platform suggestions
Since people seem to be leaving suggestions of what platforms they'd like to see this system run on, I thought I'd submit some suggestions of my own.
Commodore 128 Commodore 64 CP/M cartridge Sega SC3000 Nintendo GameBoy Color (the assembler may need to be modified as the z80 clone used in this devices is not 100% binary compatible) Sega Game Gear
Regarding the gameboy: it will be tricky because Collapse OS makes extensive use of the IX and IY registers which are missing from this CPU.
I was thinking something would have to give regarding my suggestions. By the way, what are the minimum requirements for this software in terms of CPU clock/RAM/ROM?
I think I can atleast answer the clock.
The modern versions of the z80 (Don't know for certain about the z180 and ez80) has no minimum clock and if you have an older version it's something like 100kHz.
edit: except if CollapseOS has specific timing routines for something, it will depend on if you have serial/video and at what speed that is running at. For example Grant Searle's z80 computer which is running at 7.3728MHz will have a serial interface of 115200 Baud.
About clock speeds, you may also take into account that (if my measurements in an emulator are not too wrong) reassembling ed takes about 250 million T-cycles and reassembling zasm takes about 4 times as much (yes, I am deliberately trying to avoid writing 1 billion here). Reassembling a new kernel is somewhere in between.
So on a 100kHz machine, reassembling ed would take EDIT about 40 minutes, and zasm about 2 hours and 40 minutes.
@CryptoLover705 You would be very masochistic if you ran CollapseOS on a Raspberry Pi. When you have a Raspberry Pi (and a keyboard and screen attached), you have more convenient alternatives available for all tools that CollapseOS will ever provide. But I am sure there are Z80 emulators for the Pi (maybe you can even use the emulator included in the project).
It would be trivial to emulate collapse on a raspberry pi using a Linux environment.
I was wrong about the clock speed that it needed to be 100kHz, here is someone running an original z80 at 5Hz
spec is 100khz it ran way slower before the dynamic memory use for resistors and the like quit. However if you have a CMOS part then it s DC as its all static.
Silly question why would you want to run so slow? I'd think the goal was fast as practical and memory speed permit. Most Z80s are 4mhz and parts to 20mhz exist.
Allison
FYI the development platform I'd use is North Star Horizon S100. That 1977 tech at a good level maybe near best.
Described: Z80 CPU at 4mhz, 64K ram card, NS* MDS-A FDC with two drives, two serial ports. Terminal, VT320 (compact) or VT100, PC based term programs are poor emulations and the PC keyboard does not match any of the terminals.
OS there are four choices for that at hand. NSdos, basic enough. Lifeboat CP/M-1.4 for NS MDS disk, NS* CP/M 2.22f for MDS disk or UCSD pascal (ca1978).
I'd throuh otu UCSD pascal as its not a good system language. CPM-1.4 was pretty thin but had tools. NSdos was without tools so I'd have to get editor, assembler going for it. NS* CP/M would be a full service system capable of developing anything.
FYI that machine assembling something big like the BDOS takes about 4 minutes across two slow minifloppies. CPU is not the limiting factor is DISK IO. Takes half that on my AmproLB+ with 45mb SCSI disk (still 64K and 4mhz z80).
On the PC under linux and doesemu I can use DDS myAltair emulator are a my favorite MyZ80 (complete z80 CP/M emulation). as it both fast and easy to use with host system files.
ASMZ seems to not totally barf of the sources. ZASM80 (cpm) didn't like it at all and its a full free form assembler. It took a pass using teco to clean up the sources to match existing editors. Teco is my first choice for doing bulk changes (search and replace) when porting code.
Of platforms not PC I have: Northstar Horizon, Two of them Z80 4mhz and the other z80 at 8mhz memory and additions on one Compupro Z80/6MHz with MMU 512KB ram and 512K ramdisk and DMA based floppy and hard disks CCS (california computer systems) anotehr S100 4mhz/z80 64K FDC and lots of IO. My S100, random S100 crate (ATR) with 10mhz z80, 128K ram, FDC and IDE CF. AmproLB+ 4mhz zuo in a small package with 3.5" floppies and SCSI HD 45mb. Kaypro II Kaypro4/84 with handyman and Advent firmware and floppy card has both one two sided 5.25 and three 3.5" disks plus 1mb ramdisk. Commodore C124 with disks (1542 from memory) DEC VT180, a vt100 with a 4mhz z80 and 84K ram and two floppy boxes (4 drives) SB180, Full 256K of ram and 9.6mhz z180 awith SCSI inerface to 20mb hard disk and two 3.5: floppies DEC DECMate with Z80 apu card, runs CP/M. Grant Searle Z80 CP/M with better bios on a custom PC board(not for sale)
If I wish to be primitive: SDK85 8085 with about 1K of ram and 2K rom keypad and 7 segment leds TK80 8080 board with keypad and 7 segment leds, extened with 6k ram and 8k of rom containing LLL basic plus a USART (8251) for terminal IO.
Allison
The Z80-MBC2 kit with uCOM interface looks like a good target. Build instructions are up on hackaday or you can buy kits from various sources. https://shop.mcjohn.it/en/diy-kit/22-32-kit-z80-mbc2.html provides both kits and fully-assembled boards which is nice for the time constrained or those experiencing some loss of precision motor functioning in their hands or who have poor vision.
Grant Searle, minimal z80 with 32K ram.
Problems to solve, getting code in Eprom and maybe a really minimal front panel.
@Allisontheolder
Silly question why would you want to run so slow? I'd think the goal was fast as practical
It's not that you want to run a computer that slowly but that you can. If for example I was to only find a 500KHz crystal oscillator after a collapse, I could hook it up to my machine and it would still atleast function.
Well plan ahead for a more reasonable. Crystals are not semiconductors and are generally EMP proof. If all you can find is 500khz maybe food and water have to be a higher priority. Generally higher frequency crystals are far more common. I am a chronic junk raider and what I find suggests something closer to reality rather than speculation on what if and maybe.
That and 500khz is the old international maritime distress frequency, for telegraphy.
If you had said I want to run really slow and use leds as a dignostic aid I'd have considered that a practical response. I was hoping to hear that.
Well plan ahead for a more reasonable. Crystals are not semiconductors and are generally EMP proof. If all you can find is 500khz maybe food and water have to be a higher priority. Generally higher frequency crystals are far more common.
Great, the faster the better!
That and 500khz is the old international maritime distress frequency, for telegraphy.
Ok?
If you had said I want to run really slow and use leds as a dignostic aid I'd have considered that a practical response. I was hoping to hear that.
I mean that could be helpful.
In a pinch you could recreate the clock circuit from this Pong circuit, 2 MHz with a transistor and some passives: http://www.electronixandmore.com/projects/pongman/index.html
@bastetfurry I don't see a z80 in it. How is that related to Collapse OS?
There was rambling about finding a clock source up there and only being able to find a 0.5MHz crystal and i wanted to give an alternative. :)