New Oric Phoenix or Pravetz 9D

[jorodr]

Hello,
After my success with building microdisc-compatible controller
http://forum.defence-force.org/viewtopi ... 8577#p8577
I have started another crazy project - building a whole new Oric. I wish to have more colors, more memory, and I dream to have second hires-page too. I think to use 65816 CPU, so it may be real 16-byte computer. I have captured a part of our Pravetz 8D schematics, but will be happy of other ideas from the community. With your help maybe we could create a real Oric Phoenix
Best regards,
George

[Dbug]

Good luck

I would say that one important parameter should be: By default it should be 100% compatible with the Original machines so you can run Oric 1, Atmos and Pravetz Software - and who knows, Telestrat as well.

That means you should have a 1mhz mode

[jorodr]

I mean the same - 100% compatibility is the most important. Adding the second palette will be easy. I thing to change the RGB-output, so to separate the sinc to sincX and sincY (for easy connection to a different RGB-monitors like CGA and EGA) and to connect PB5 to intensity (this is suggestion from a friend of mine for the second palette) . The CPU may be (optional) 65816, but running at 1 MHz. I don't know the Telestrat, so I can't say if we can make compatible system. One of my friends just finished the USB-keyboard support, so I hope he will join to this new project. I thing to replace the EPROM 27128 with bigger and put there the Oric and the Pravetz Bios.

[ibisum]

Exciting!!

[jorodr]

I think not to build cassette interface. What do you thing?

[peacer]

Excellent !

Do you plan to include disc emulator with SD card reader with it?

[jorodr]

It depends. If I integrate microdisc disc-controller will loose Pravetz 8D disc-drive compatibility. So one solution is to stay the expansion port as is. The other reason is that if we integrate SD-card support on the box we may loose the spirit of 8-byte computers. I still prefer the noise of disc drives. How do you think?

[jorodr]

Just to see work in progress at the attached file. The first stage will be with 6502 and if I have some success will migrate to 65816.

[Symoon]

Not intergrating the tape interface would mean no 100% compatibility...
Being a huge tape user, I would be disappointed - but can't tell if I'd be the only one or not.

I always find this "new Oric" a complicated thing. Having easier graphics and more memory is exciting, but what makes many of us love the Oric? Isn't it its limits, and trying to push them back? A new machine would not be a "real" Oric anymore. The "Super Oric" already exists, how many people actually used it and made software for it? I'd say 4, maybe 5? It had a new graphic mode, more memory, a new Basic and so on. But it wasn't spread as the existing machines, and certainly wasn't in our hearts as the old ones were.
Even the Telestrat itself, almost nobody uses it anymore because it's too hard to find.
Interesting but tough project IMO!

[jorodr]

Thanks Simon. It's just a discussion, so everybody could say what you think. Super Oric is not regular computer. I want to create a real one with new design, with integrated peripherial. If Oric community want cassette interface I will save it, but I thought to use PB4 for something else. But if the Oric community don't want this project I will continue just like Pravetz 9D

[Symoon]

I didn't mean to discourage you
A 100% compatible computer with modern ways to plug to screens or modern devices, serial interface and so on, I'd buy it for sure. That would be great. If there's an enhanced new Oric inside, it's even better, and I'd remain anyway free to use it or not
Keep up with this project, it's a nice idea!

About tapes: IMHO they remain a universal and (more or less) easy way to exchange datas. Anyone finding an old Oric tape will be curious to load it... Just my two cents, but to my eyes the tape interface is important.

Oh BTW, somehting I'd love to have, is a small box where you plug the Oric, and that holds different controller cards and, with a switch, allows one to choose between Microdisc or Jasmin, or other disk systems. I guess this would actually require a whole PC tower (rather than a box !), and complicated wiring, as well as controllers cards of each different type. Ideally that would also be great to be able to choose with switchs different disk drives in the tower (for instance two 3", two 3,5", 5"1/4, HxC, ...) and set them as drive A, B, C or D.
But I'm off topic there, sorry

[ibisum]

I like the sounds of this project, but it seems like it would be quite a lot of work. When I think about what I'd like to have for the Oric way of life, if I were given the chance to have a talented hardware guy such as yourself working on stuff, it'd be more something like - give me an expansion device that adds micro-SD (disk emulation), an LCD screen, speakers, a micro-joystick, and maybe some way of getting the Oric online so that it can access .DSK/.TAP files remotely from a server .. Nothing would make me happier than to be able to use my Oric collection to set up an "Oric Sub-net" or BBS kind of thing that would make it possible for us Oric owners to have direct contact with each other over the 'net ..

But! This is not discouragement. Perhaps you can integrate these features into your requirements, and .. if you go ahead with the hardware, think about ways that you can take this advancement in technology and apply it to the old machines, as well - like, maybe the Super Oric can have a separate expansion accessory that would be compatible with the Oric/Atmos/Telestrat machines as well .. modular, somehow.

[Godzil]

I know that the Oric don't have a lots of memory, but:

http://forum.defence-force.org/viewtopic.php?f=23&t=937

:p

[jorodr]

Here you are Symoon,
Will have cassette interface. But I hope nobody will be unhappy by removing the relay to start the tape-player. PB6 may be used for more useful tasks Must change the cassette routines, but it will be no problem I hope. Now I'm thinking - to save the RGB output and add extra rgb with separated synchronizations and +12V (for easy connection with LCD-TV set Scarts) or integrate just the new output. The PAL encoder will be removed too. There will not be discussion for that, sorry The reset switch (nmi actually) will be replaced with real reset switch, connected to reset pin of the 6502, so the computer will not need to be restarted if the program freeze.
Thanks ibisum, but I have no talent, I'm just love my 8D-s very much!!! The idea of micro-joystick remember me to try to set programmable joystick interface.
About the time: We have not a dead-line. I will be happy to review the complete computer for 30 birthday of Pravetz 8D - 2015 But until then I will try to make temporary prototypes, first just a new working Pravetz 8D-board, and then will add new extras.
Thanks for the ideas again! I'm waiting more

[Dbug]

For the name, you could just follow the existing names
http://csep10.phys.utk.edu/astr161/lect ... phere.html

What about 'Oric Ionos' or 'Oric Mesos' or 'Oric Tropos'?