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ARM CPU that runs BASIC

Back in 2018 the color Maximize computer. This was basically a PIC32 microcontroller with an OS that allowed you to connect up a monitor and keyboard and program it directly in BASIC.

It was actually pretty darned fast, as I made a comparison between drawing lines on a Commodore 8-bit computer versus on the color Maximize. Which I also wrote my very own version of Tetris for it. But now there is a replacement version, called The color Maximize 2. Debug live already did a superb video showcasing what the new one can do. But, I assumed I'd provide you with my impressions also and maybe fill during a number of the gaps. 

First of all, I'd wish to say variety of the upgrades over the last version. First and foremost, let me take this thing apart and I'll show you the board. Gone is that the PIC32 microcontroller and now we've an ARM Cortex M7 running at 480 mhz. This CPU is capable of executing 270,000 lines of BASIC code every second. This thing can literally run interpreted BASIC as fast or faster than a computer from the 80s can run programming language. Another upgrade is that the color ..

The original Maximize was monochrome only, then the color maximize was an upgrade to eight colors. Now we've a full 16-bit color, which is 65,536 different colors. And one other important change is that it not uses a PS / 2 keyboard , but rather a USB, which are more common lately.

The previous version had 5 different video modes. The very best 3 were the same resolution, with the only difference being either 2, 4 or 8 colors. Then there was a coffee resolution mode with 8 colors for games, and last a special mode just for NTSC televisions and monitors that was monochrome. So, let's examine what video modes the new one has. As you will see, the modes are very different with the default mode being 800x600. and each one 5 of these modes have many color depths you 'll define, going all the high to 65,536 colors, so a true 16-bit color display.

The special NTSC mode is gone since this unit doesn't even output NTSC video. And these two resolutions here are kept so on extend compatibility with software written on the older maximize. The color Maximize 2 isn't necessarily meant as a replacement for the This particular board is somewhat of a prototype e design. It's built kilometers a wave share board, which is supposed to make. it easier to prototype with the ARM chip since it's pretty tough to solder one of those chips by hand.

ARM CPU that runs BASIC
However, realistically, there ’s no reason these should cost any more than a comparable Raspberry Pi with production, so cost could come down. Anyway, the aim is it exists alongside the previous models, and for a couple of applications Let's go ahead and connect this thing up. It's powered by USB so I'll just use one of these phone chargers. 


It can display several popular picture formats. Also it can play several kinds of audio formats including MP3 files and Amiga MOD tracker files like this one. The music plays within the background and there is no real indication on screen that anything is happening, though. And actually, if you opt on a BASIC program, it'll automatically run it. I assumed we'd try the Tetris program I wrote a couple of of years ago and see if it'll still work on this one. And well, it doesn't.
Many of the commands have changed to handle screen drawing.

However, all isn't lost. Apparently there's this command you'll increase the start of your BASIC code called “option legacy on” which may cause BASIC to work more almost just like the previous version. So, let's try starting it now. Well let's examine if it plays. And nope. We get another error. So, it seems the MODE command is that the one command which can simply got to be changed manually. So, I'll enter here and alter that to the new graphics mode that the bulk closely matches what this game was designed for. And guess what? Now it works!

The top line of text is partially stop, but otherwise everything else within the sport works. So that's good news, it means you'll write code on the older maximize and it should work on the newer one with little or no modification. Now I'd write something to means off the capabilities of the new one, but there's really no need. There have already been a few of really impressive pieces of code written for this, so I'll start by showing you this spinning ball. 

The actual fact that this is often written in BASIC, which I do not mean compiled BASIC, but interpreted BASIC, running in real-time, during a resolution of 800x600 is kind of amazing. You'll even do a control-C to stop the code then have a look at the code that makes. But, if you discover this within the least amazing, then prepare to possess your mind blown.
ARM CPU that runs BASIC
I'm going to show you a 100% complete game conversion here. This is often often the game mentioned as Gauntlet. Now I'll go ahead and take this moment to apologize that I do not have a VGA capture device that's compatible with But I'm capturing the sound directly from the source. So, this screen is actually a huge disclaimer that this game is trademarked by Atari and Midway then forth and this is often Let's just hope Warner Brothers isn't as evil as Nintendo is and hopefully there won't be any cease and desist letter sent out over this.

Anyway, here it's altogether of its 80s glory. There are several menu options here including the facility to vary controllers. This computer features a Nintendo Wii Nun chuck port on the front, but I do not have one handy at the moment so I'll I feel I actually prefer the melody from the 8-bit era, but since the aim here is to determine what the hardware is capable of, let's And now we get to pick our character, a touch just like the first. Now, on the surface, there should not be anything exciting about seeing this sort of game playing on a 480 Mhz arm cortex. But , what's absolutely amazing is that this is often running as interpreted BASIC code.

In fact, a touch like everything I've shown so far, I can press control-C, which may stop the game. Then I buy enter the editor and see the actual basic code that makes this game work. It's pages and pages of It's much easier to read than programming language, of course. And, you know, anyone could make changes to this code. So, I even have a few of more little demos for you. This is often often a partially working game. 

I feel This is often often called “Final Fight.” All you'll do is walk around and do some various fight moves, but there aren't any enemies to fight and zip else to truly do. But it does certainly show what's possible. And Thus the last game concept I'll show is Wildenstein 3D. This is often often also not a whole game, a minimum of not yet. It's just a logo of concept. But you will see it works at a playable speed. I never thought I'd see Wildenstein 3D written in BASIC.

I don't have any more games, but I do have another demo to means, and it's just that. A demo. As in demo-scene style demo. This is often written considerably within the type of the demo scene from the 90s And again, the only a neighborhood of this that blows me away is that it's all written in BASIC. 

I feel this is often an outstanding way for somebody to urge an introduction to programming because the barrier to entry here is extremely low compared to learning And clearly there's enough horsepower behind this chip that, despite running interpreted BASIC, it's powerful enough that your imagination is probably the only limit to what you'll create. But what i might wish to attempt to to now's fiddle The 40-pin connection here on the rear is supposed to be the same layout as a Raspberry Pi.
ARM CPU that runs BASIC
And fortunately, a typical old 40-pin IDE cable will squeeze here just fine. I'll stop the other end so I can get easier access to the wires. It does help to separate them out slightly. So, I even have this small infrared sensor I'm going to test out. I'll just connect this up with some alligator clips, but first I would like to bend the pins out slightly. So, I whipped up this small test program here during a while And what it.

 As you will see, the white wire here is that the particular data pin, and red then, if I touch the does is works like an oscilloscope. So, immediately it's showing a high signal, which is that the default state of the pin. white wire to ground, you will see the signal on the screen go low for a flash. Now, I'll connect the white wire to the sensor output. If the sensor detects. Infrared of the proper frequency, it'll pull the road low. you will see there's just a little bit of noise coming in like little blips. I could probably eliminate e this with a sensor or maybe a capacitor.

But it's fine for what I might wish to means. Watch what happens once I press some buttons on the remote. You'll definitely see a digital stream of data flowing there. So, then I assumed, “wouldn't it's interesting to feature some sound to this? ”

So, this one extra line will turn a beep on or off when it hears something from the remote. So, let's test it out. OK, so now let's try it with the remote. Very neat. Each button features a stream of data. Even more interesting is that if I hold a button down, it'll keep repeating a neighborhood of it. I also wanted to undertake controlling something.

The only thing I had laying around was an old floppy drive. I wanted to determine if I could wire it up and write a touch program to maneuver the highest back and forth. Floppy drives are pretty simple to figure, you merely need to send 5 volt pulses to this pin to maneuver the highest in one direction, then send to both of these pins if you'd wish to maneuver the other direction. And let's test it out. As you will see, it works. 

I assumed it would be interesting to hurry this up some, so I changed the keyboard repeat rate right right down to 25 milliseconds to determine how which can affect things. And check it out now. Pretty neat huh?
So, some people might be asking, “Hey David, why are you showing this, doesn’t it directly compete with the Commander X16 that you simply are helping develop?”

Well, yes and no. There is definitely some overlap with the Maximize and thus the Commander X16, also as other products a bit like the Raspberry Pi or Adriano. These are all different products with different goals, but variety of them can certainly do the Same job. Speaking of, we just came the new Commander X16 boards from PCBWay a few of days ago. Haven't had a chance to populate them yet and see if they work, but hopefully they go to. Here's also a couple of of expansion cards designed for hardware development also.

Anyway, more on this later. I definitely think something like this is often often an honest introduction to programming. Granted, BASIC isn't used considerably in commercial environments anymore, but it definitely lowers the barrier to entry. I mean, as an example there is no compilers or development environments to possess to place in or understand how they work. There is no drivers to urge your interface working on your Adriano or anything to urge, you recognize to urge the files transferred over to the Adriano so as that you're going to test them, you'll just program right here on the screen and immediately see the result.

BASIC is one of the only languages ​​?? to master. And clearly the speed isn't much of a priority with the horsepower you've during this thing. Having said that, I feel if I were just wanting to use the micro-controller aspect of this, I'd probably stick with the older version, simply because it's cheaper with the PIC32 and it's probably plenty fast for that. But, I feel that if you were trying to develop games, the new one is that the one you It's got HDMI, Ethernet,  And, if you liked this there are a few of other little computer products I plan to do reviews I'm going to do really soon, like this small all-in-one based android computer. USB on the rear of it.

We're going to have a look at that in a future episode. Also because the small MINI PET, which is actually a Commodore PET made from all fresh off-the-shelf components. That I plan to do a review microcomputer shortly also. So, stick around for those, and as always, thanks for watching!
The first PC portable computer with color screen


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