UHS development diary For new users, its important to understand that this diary has the newest letters at the top of the document. :) Older stuff is below. -=- begin -=- Tue Dec 24 19:22:10 CST 2002 Woah. It's christmas. Merry Cristmas guys. I'm alone this year, which is what I wanted for the most part. This year has been a very interesting adventure. I've gone thousands of miles, and made good progress in life and in health. I'm not sure where next year will take things, and I have no intentions on making any sort of plans or resolutions. I decided last summer that I am who I am, and nothing really needs changed. Therefore, a new year's resolution is pointless. See ya soon (or not?). Tue Oct 15 20:04:22 CDT 2002 I woke up this afternoon and found a surprise resting on my keyboard.. a package from my local Atmel distributor. A week ago I had requested samples (as you can read below), and two finally arrived! :) I'm thrilled. I got the variety with 2M flash, 8k ram, 32 I/O, 2 serial, and a 33mhz at91. Schwing. Now all I have to do is manage to figure out how to mount this thing on a pcb here at home. :) http://uhs.c64.org/chips.jpg http://uhs.c64.org/chips-small.jpg http://uhs.c64.org/chip.jpg Sat Oct 5 22:27:15 CDT 2002 Woah.. its like I dropped off the net or something. :) Life sux, but that's just cause its fall and I hate the winter. I requested some microcontroller samples from Amtel. These are nasty bitches.. 33mhz 32bit core and 2MByte flash ;) At $30 each, this single IC can serve as the whole UHS solution, aside from some minor logic glue. Updates will be dang easy too. The uC has flash rom, etc, etc, blah blah. For those in the know, its a 33mhz Arm7TDMI 'thumb' core with 32 I/O lines and a full 16bit data bus and 24bit address bus. I'll glue 64k of that range to the c64 bus so it can arbitrarily store data to the c64 (3microsecond wait state for the first access of course). Hm. I could even add an IEC port with 3 or 4 of those 32 lines. >:-) TED users rejoice! Anyway, I'm out. Hopefully they'll actually SEND me $100 in ic's for free ;) Sun Jun 16 07:33:13 CDT 2002 Life is good. For me anyway. A friend, however, is having less luck. His wife was recently diagnosed with breast cancer, and will soon be going into chemotherapy. Do us all a favor and send your best wishes to her and their family, of which I'm an informally adopted part, so that we can hopefully enjoy some more years with her. Here's thinking about ya, Kay. Sat May 18 06:52:48 CDT 2002 Life is good. Enough said. Mon May 6 23:45:16 CDT 2002 Same ol'. Work is good, life is nice. Finances are starting to straighten out, but won't be balanced until June, and wont be set until August. All things considered, it's great here. :) Sun Apr 14 07:20:19 CDT 2002 I tried to write this note a few days ago but got distracted by a majior server at work needing a rebuild. At any rate. Nate and I are co-existing nicely, and are both happy with our jobs. In fact, we tend to end up staying an hour late without even noticing. We're not online at home yet, and cant IRC directly from work. I can irc, cause I have a shell that allows me to indirectly irc. Nate, however lacks this. At any rate, we're satisfied with how things are going thus far. Keep an eye out on the page, and you might catch more oft updates. Sun Mar 10 20:41:01 CST 2002 Great news! I've been contacted by #c-64 fggh about a potential opportunity to enhance my life. I've inquired about the opportunity, and am now an employee of burst.net. This will mean I must move to Pennsylvania, which is only an issue cause I'm yet again moving away from all my friends. At this point, it seems likely that Nate\DAC will be joining me in the (ad)venture, so DAC will be together yet again. Greg\DAC will be but a few hours away, and he'll soon have a higher class driving license to allow him to drive in the USA. Either way, things are looking up on a global scale for me. I'm trading big to get this opportunity, but I believe it to be in my best interest. For what its worth, life may suck, but now and then it spits unbelievably great stuff at you. Mitch, you are one of the best unseen and unannounced friends to hit this planet. Enjoy having my (our?) company soon. -David Mon Feb 25 03:14:43 CST 2002 I just finished (or am finishing as I type) discussions with Jolse Maginnis concerning details that will shape JOS and UHS alike. While I'm not coding, I am definately feeling good about providing some insight and knowledge about some structures Jolse was asking about. We made it easier to make filesystem drivers, and a touch harder to make block devices. However, it'll make things far faster in the long run, and more effecient too, methinks. I feel good. Things are going the way many have been hoping they would. Of course, having just finished a 2-day vacation with friends from all over helps that a LOT. Read the irclog linked from the main UHS page :) Tue Feb 19 02:31:30 CST 2002 *** S c e n e r n e e d s s u p p o r t *** In my experience with different communities and groups, online and in real life, I've found that among all there are but two that are very tight and reliable. The first is the carefully chosen group of friends I keep dear to my heart. The second is an irc community, known commonly as ircnet #c-64, or the c-64 scene. I've learned that a scener has recently lost his mother, and is quickly approaching dire straits. I've lost both of my parents, one under better conditions than the other. Some of you know what this is like, others can only imagine. Antitrack is learning first hand what this is like, and needs, at least, to know that people care and can relate to such a total upheval in life. Anti, you have my respect and best wishes in life, and in your short and distant futures. You heave a tear in my eye from the pain you experience, and a note in my heart for the friends you will discover soon. Everyone who reads this is requested to send a respectful note to Antitrack's email address at "antitrack at x-mail.net". Do what you can to give him a hand, online, or if possible, in real life. Anti, respekt. -jbev Sat Feb 9 00:23:37 CST 2002 I've awakened to some things that are going on in my life. Things surrounding my psyche, things nobody even imagines possible. I see them echoed in the videos I watch, and hear them as I sleep. My dreams are becoming real again, and I'm starting to remember them. Most people would classify them as nighmares, but I've had them all my life. The death, the lack of escape, the fear. Being involved in things you dont understand and dont want to be a part of. I'm about to go through a majoir change in who I am. I dont know what will happen with who I was, and I have no idea whether or not I'll stay connected with the communities I'm with today. I'll echo the profile I set for myself on The Forever Beyond (telnet://foreverbeyond.org:7000) here to help you understand. *** Jonas claims his rights >:-( *** A man takes in, a man accepts Things are rarely the way we want them to be I claim my rights. I revolt against the powers. Things WILL be my way. I claim my rights. The powers control no more. I will have MY way. I will be who I am, I will claim what I need it is MY time to claim power over myself. I claim my rights. The powers are dead. No one can affect my life now. I claim my rights. Things will never be the same, I'm changing inside. I'm letting go of who I want people to see and letting myself out. Beware of the passion, beware of the hate. Beware of who I will become, since it's too late. Watch close and hope that I become a better one. And Guide carefully if you wish, but keep distance from slashes and resistance. I'm claiming my rights. They are mine now. I am me, and nobody else. Its time for the powers to pay. To pay for what they've done to me. It's the beginning of me, and the end of the person you know. Beware. -David Wood Even though I dream horrificly every night, I'm more afraid now than I've ever been. Who I am will be forgotten and I'll choose another path for myself through the remainder of this month. If you know me in real life, be careful. I'm not dangerous at all, but don't try to directly influence me. Just understand that I need to know that I'm alive, and that I exist. These things are becoming foggy to me more every day, and my life is becoming more surreal every time I wake up. Who you know will soon be gone. Who I am will soon be discovered. Wed Feb 6 02:51:50 CST 2002 Words for tonight: Where does life go what do people see what is so ugly inside of me In a world of billions of people i am left alone friends are always nearby but they only help so much Give me peace Give me, please Give me peace, or just let me fucking die. Why do I have to feel so ugly inside? Why does all this shit happen to me? Why am I not allowed to believe in myself? Why, in all this, does an all powerful, all knowing, and just god not offer an explanation for the punishment delivered steadily over the past 27 years? Why, oh why, cant I just die? Wed Jan 30 11:48:31 CST 2002 I'm very ill. My lungs are full of crap. My sinuses are full of crap. My car died. I cant afford to not work, so I walked to work, sick, in freezing rain. I need the title to my car so I can get Iowa plates for it. Gone. Vapor. Why do I try? Why dont I just concede? Why wont the powers that be just let me die? >:-( ps: fwiw, i'm online now. Fri Jan 11 02:41:13 CST 2002 I hate long periods with no update :( Ok, here goes: Cable internet will be in my home soon. I also have my own place. I've also managed to get a 3p-11a job, which leaves my mind running all night (more evil evil c64 hacking in my mind). I've managed to come up with a 3-4 IC circuit, for example, to 16M my reu and have it auto-flip 512k banks (!). At any rate, I must go. Tue Oct 23 20:53:48 CDT 2001 The job's good. It pays, and I have insurance coverage in 3 ways in 3 months. ;) I've recieved some bad news, however.. Zoli\ENC had a less than favorable turn of events recently, and needs our best wishes. Please find a way to send them to him, as he needs much moral support from everyone around him. For those who dont know, I'm now operating a screen press full-time. This is the type of press that uses metal plates wrapped around a drum and feeds paper through at about 600 feet/minute ;) Overall, lots of fun, lots of business, no internet connection (sigh). Dont forget zoli. Tue Oct 2 19:25:37 CDT 2001 Yesterday I went to Ames for an interview. The end of this interview discussed my start date, which will be the 8th of October - Next Monday. I'll be mostly off IRC except an occasional appearance afterward, but will have almost daily access to my email. Congrats to me, and sorry for not being here in the near future. TGD: thanks for the extra luck Others: thanks if you spent the time to send me luck. -Out- Fri Sep 28 08:03:26 CDT 2001 I figure you guys deserve to know whats going on: Things are moving forward. I've got an interview monday with a prospective employer. Do whatever you do to increase chances, and direct it my way. ;) When I move, I'll drop off IRC (I say this as though I'm there a lot), but will still be available via email (I have a friend with a DHCP friendly NAT firewall and a few extra ports on her hub, so I can check mail). UHS, again, must hold. I hate this, it really irritates me. But, I digress. Getting a new job nearer to my friends will make me happier than I currently am, and will increase the likelyhood of me actually doing stuff other than sit in front of this monitor and thinking about how I'm so lifeless and have nothing to spend my time on with other people. Cross your fingers, pray, whatever. Direct increased luck in my direction, I hope to get this job, as its a nice fulltime any-shift job. Those of you who know my email address, give me a mail some time to let me know you're still alive. Those who dont, ask those who do, and dont hand it out to others. Those who are smart, derive it from the URL in your location bar. Sun Jul 29 17:13:23 CDT 2001 In further correlation to the tue jun 26 posting, I'd like to inform you that I'll be moving shortly after the commodore expo. WHether or not I actually attend the expo is in the air as well, as I should conserve funds for the move. Here's how life is for me: August: The Forever Beyond gathering #2 (in Iowa, close enough that I can pop in and out) and job search while attending my current job. September: Pack my things, organize my things (not necessarily in that order) in order of imporatnce, and reassemble my sx64. In mid-september, I'll be closign house, and likely will drop off the 'net for a fair amount of time. Friends will allow me access to mail and possibly occaisonal access to irc. From there out, I have no idea what's going to happen. Its a big black void. Sadly, my sweet UHS, you are victimized again by my life. :( Wed Jun 27 20:00:06 CDT 2001 The previous post has caused some minor confusion. Someone had asked me if UHS is no more. If it were no more, I'd say so directly. The thing is, at this time, I have greater things to deal with. A lot of you have been where I am, and I appreciate teh notes of understanding I get. UHS will go forward still, but it will do so slowly. With any luck, I'll make another post tonight. Tue Jun 26 16:31:31 CDT 2001 This is offtopic, but can help some of you understand why UHS is constantly being delayed. A couple years ago, my family and I had a disagreement, and I made a secret vow to disappear from their lives. In having done so, I've left all I know, and journeyed to a place I've never been. Nate\DAC and Tesla\DAC turned out to be wonderful, kind, and generous people. They provided me with friendship in a strange place, and encouraged me to do the things I like to do. Having spent 18 months with Nate, and a considerable amount of time with Tesla, I discovered that friends are an invaluable part of any world, especially mine. However, I couldnt feel entirely at home there, so I moved on when opportunity came. Now, I'm in the twin cities with three friends and 5 co-workers. That's the extent of the people I know in this metropolis of nearly 3 million people. I go to work, come home, sit at my computer, and sleep. It's a depressing existence. One I care little to experience for much longer. That said, it's time to move on. In the past few weeks, I've gone to my home town, to visit new friends, and to spend time with friends from long ago. I've discovered everyone I know lives within an hour of home, and every time I stop to visit, it gets more difficult to pry myself away and go back to the cities. Last time I left, i cried all the way to the interstate. Upon watching the final episode of a cartoon most people would deem rather silly, I realized where I really belong. I belong in a simple life, free from most responsibilities. And now, I close the twin cities chapter of my life this october. I'm going home. I'm joining my friends, some of which I'd lost for 10 years, and now have regained. Some I've known for but a few months, but all just as valuable. UHS, my dear project, and those who follow it, I beg patience as I deal with the hard decision to leave another of my best friends upon closing yet another chapter of my life. It's time to go home. -David Tue Mar 20 21:02:43 CST 2001 That would be ^K r !date.. I felt it appropriate that I update the site in the name of not giving anyone the notion I've deserted UHS. _dW and I are talking about enabling cgi for this website, so taht I can get a nicer looking website without doing frames. It'll all be dynamic, generated on the fly as requested for each user. I'm substituting frames with tables, knowing that the Wave will be supporting tables FAR before frames ;) (does it already? I dunno) I've shared info on my plans for a 16M acpable REC and generated interest from #c-64. Maybe, for a practice, I'll develop that in cpld. It should make it easier to make my (more complex) UHS dma controller in the future. FOr those wondering: Yes, 16 megs. 256 64k banks. Form factor is undecided, most likely a little longer than an AR, consisting of the PLD and a 72pin socket. It'll be compatible with any program that can properly deal with a 2M reu. UHS related: More thought on UHS's design. I've decided on a modular structure, as we all know. I'm just trying to figure out the most effecient way I can to switch among modules, since a given file request will go through quite a bit of processing. (note: This will still leave UHS faster than your 1541 ;) Non UHS related: I purchased a scanjet 4SI today. Curious device.. a scanner that fits with a perfectly sized computer. Its to be hooked to the network, has no keyboard or video ports on it. ;) Open it up, there's a 486sx/33 inside (tossed it). The scanner's on my bed now (unused) and the box has a P180 in it, with a tv-out card, network card, sound, and tv in card. ;) We now have a networked livingroom mp3/mpeg/tv-tuner/fmradio/sid/mod/newsviewer/whateverelse machine ;) and, at first glance, it hardly looks like a computer.. no power switch, no lamps, and very quiet thanks to the box's internal acoustic insulation. Ah, the fun of junk peecee hardware. Personal: Life still sucks bad. I hate my job, I hate my lack of money (could barely afford the $40 toy above), I hate my room (looks over shoulder and shudders at the mess).. I dunno.. Hopefully the spring will make me feel better. We'll see. Anyway, you dont care about me.. you just care about UHS so I'll stop the drivel :/ LATER! Sat Mar 3 12:43:56 CST 2001 ^k e !date rules. I read an editorial on freshmeat, and decided it applied to me in some small way, and posted an open letter to the IT community on my website as a reply to it. This is what I've been bashing my head against for years, and is why I dont have all this ability working for some company. Please take the time to read it. And if you would, take the time to reply. 27 feb 2001 UHS takes a closer step toward actual development as I've purchased two nice external (used) mac drivs for $30 each. One's a 42meg mechanism (which I promptly replaced with a 500meg we had spare), and the other turned out to be a 1080meg fast scsi (10meg/sec). Woo.. what a bargain. As soon as I get the mac warez off the drives and into a proper archive, my roomate will use the 1080 for temporary storage on one of his projects, and I'll be using the 500 on my project. ;) Further, I managed to locate my proof-of-concept prototype, in its original proto-board'ed form. I've purchased a breadboard that's designed just like my protoboard, so I can transfer the circuit to that, and have less worry about loose connections, etc getting in my way. More to come soon. I forgot to get a 40pin IC socket, and a 14pin as well. Also, I've decided to use 64hdd as a secondary (backup) storage system. I'll also relocate my SX's internal 1541 to dev 9 for now (since my 1571 is JDOS'ed, but not my sx). My SX64 is 99.9% complete on a 10-amp PSU upgrade project. The new PSU board needs to be trimmed a little, which involves trimming a line with 120V unfused on it. I'll be lifting that trace, and possibly relocating the primary choke as well. I've already removed the largest heatsink and the power components. Those were mounted directly to the sx's heatsink for cooling purposes. The PSU upgrade was to allow me to use my SCPU _and_ REU on my sx64, which is the only machien I have that has a decent-ish display (builtin screen). Since I'm near development time I'd like to have the people that read this give me recommendations on what to use for development software. I previously used ACE and ACEs assembler. I used zed to edit the text, but zed needs feature enhancements to make it a really useful editor. Note, this is ACE's zed, not zed128. About c-128 support: I've decided that I'm going to focus on developing UHS for the c-64. As for C128 compatibility, that'll be a future item. I'm not sure if hte c128 is exactly the same for DMA transfers, but providing it is, the hardware should work fine on the 128 in c64 mode. Last update: I've decided on a different IC for final phase development. Currently I'm using the AM5380 IC, which is AMD's equivalent to the SCSI interface IC used in many older amiga adaptors, the amiganet Spartan interface, Apple macintosh primary scsi from the mac plus to the mac IIcx, quite a few PC sound cards, and even a couple standalone PC scsi cards. The reason I decided on the change, is because the AM5380 _might_ be able to run 1meg/sec on dma. The word of importance is "might". It's not likely that I'll get the performance I want from the 5380. Others would argue that 1meg/sec is PLENTY fast for a c64. However, the LESS time you spend talking to the scsi chip, the MORE time you can spend working internally. Thus I want to work with a chip that CAN do 10meg/sec. I've chosen a 53cf94 (or similar) IC for final development. Until I get one of these FAST scsi (10meg/sec) IC's, I'll be using my current prototype. SInce UHS will be modular by design, it'll be a matter of changing the default interface driver for the new IC when I find one. For those who want to help but dont have much time or have no money, do this for me. Look at old ISA scsi cards you find, and see if you can find one based on the 53cf94 IC. 53C94 and 53F94 are likely identical parts. ;) You dont need to purchase the card, you simply need to make a note of the brand and model of the card so that I cna find one myself. I'm imagining I'll be getting a bunch of "screw ISA" letters in my mailbox. Those will be sent to /dev/null, and you wont even get a reply from me. I dont intend on using an ISA card in the final prototype. I just want to use an isa card for development because I need to have a known workign configuration to work with. Also, I'm adding a page tonight, "My hardware list", which is a list of devices I have for, or indirectly for UHS or c64 development. 25 feb 2001 A close friend in the scene experienced a great loss. I feel for anyone who loses someone close, and, Nate, you'll be in my prayers. :( At 6:35 pm, Nate's mother passed away due to cancer. God rest her soul. 17 feb 2001 I spent money I shouldn't have and purchased a scsi debugging tool. This is an inline passive device that simply has LEDs indicating the status of vital control lines on the bus. ;) Quite handy methinks. 15 feb 2001 Further, uhs@c64.org is the place to send questions and comments. :) 15 feb 2001 I died. emotionally. :( Winter seems to be able to take its toll on me every year. Still, it'll get better. you'll see. btw, Here's something for Hoild :) jb: I have just checked your UHS page -- I would have been happier if CoCoS have had been mentioned instead of that selfish, ENC centered comment by me... ;))) Also, uhs.c64.org is up (thanks slaygon) !!!! Hopefully this url will be easier for all to remember than the old one ;) Please use that from now on. I'd like to discourage linking to files other than the mainpage at uhs.c64.org, in case I move the site. :) 31 oct 2000 Yeah yeah, so I said daily updates. Sorry mates, but I think it's best if I dont make this thing too much of a 'job' :) Okay, MASSIVE(!!!) updates to the site. I got some genuine interest from ircnet #c-64, and decided it would be a good time to post the questions I was being asked. Look around on the faq AND goals pages. Quote: jbevren: hmmm.. still a ray of hope regarding ENC on SCSI HD.. No doubt. :) 25 oct 2000 Work sucks. I come home so tired that sometimes I just go to bed. Man, I'm gonna hafta find some drugs or something to keep me alert enough to remember to update this. Sadly, no UHS-related thinking goes on so far this week. :/ 21 oct 2000 Bleah. Lazy saturday. 'nuff said. 20 oct 2000 ACK. I didnt update last night. My knee has been bugging me unbelievably lately Nate and I did some talking about how to virtualize UHS and still have reasonable speed, and discussed an all-out high-speed minimal-compatibility option for programs that are expecting it. Of course, I've already thought of the 'native' API for uhs, that allows access to a 24-bit loader (for >64k binaries), etc. ;) Its in the works guys. Very VLIRish, but VLIR was designed without foresight.. blah blah, bitch moan. :) 18 oct 2000 Inactivity. Lackness. Lameness. Of course, it's volleyball night, so that's normal for wednesdays (sorry! I have to have SOME sort of life!) Happier note: I am now the proud owner of a working Amiga CDTV ;) My next set of actions for it will be determined in the near future. For now, just a cd player since I dont have any form of display here that I can use on it all the time. Sigh. Tired. Zzzz... 17 oct 2000 Nothing extremely active happened today. Work went by so fast and we still left an hour late. :) UHS related: I emailled c64.org's maintainer asking if he would do a free redirect to this site. I'll keep ypu posted here and at ircnet #c-64's topic line for as long as it'll last ;) Tomorrow night's volleyball night, so no development. Once fullstream development starts, that'll be my ONE free night of the week. All 6 others are for c64 ;) Oct 16 2000 Thunderblade and I are discussing plans for the future (soon to be posted here) on UHS's development. I've decided that the goals I have in mind will be feasible at this point. The diary is started, which will allow the curious to track any progress I've made. It'll be updated daily, before I go to bed, as long as I'm at home. Even if it's "nothing related happened today," it'll be here. Later, I discussed with Nate on #c-64 some of the semantics of directory changing and device handling. If anyone logs #c-64 while not listening, have a look at 05:00 or so GMT to see the discussion. ;) >>EOF