Raspberry Pi: 68k Hardware Emulator | Hacker News Reader

Raspberry Pi: 68k Hardware Emulator

github.com

40 pointsdoener17 comments

Older Sega arcades used encrypted 68k processors. Would be interesting if this emulator could emulate the encryption, allowing CPU replacement. Probably no longer required, as all games have ultimately been decrypted, but should still be cool.

can someone ELI5 what this does?

Check the video at https://mobile.twitter.com/Claude1079/status/132076737285319...

It seems that the PI is plugged into the CPU socket of the Amiga. The software in the repository should be the emulator for the 68k CPU.

Yeah the readme could certainly do a better job of saying:

    Drop in replacement of a 68000 cpu using a raspberry pi and software emulation.

Many accelerators add faster CPU, Extra memory and IDE using original Motorola cpus and FPGA/CPLDs - what's cool about this is that it does all of that mostly in software (there's a CPLD to get the 68000 bus timing perfect) in real time without missing a beat.

System emulators like WinUAE don't have to be perfectly accurate with their timing, you can frame skip and do other tricks to catch up lost time but you can't do that when interfacing with real hardware like this. If you don't get the timing right it will crash

What would be the advantage of this as opposed to, say, a Sega Genesis emulator?

It plug replaces a 68k CPU, so it's not in the same category.

So this runs under Linux and not as bare metal? That's pretty impressive!

He says he will be mad if someone sells his “open source” product lol. Someone get him a box of tissues.

Where does anything imply it's open source? As far as I see, it has no explicit license terms other than the prohibition on commercial use, so it's pretty clearly _not_ open source by any reasonable standard.

He linked it with a GPL IDE disk emulator. That may limit the options.

Edit: Also a fair amount of code from https://github.com/h5n1xp/Omega which is MPL licensed.

In which case the author is likely already not complying with the requirements of both of those licenses by not properly relicensing the derivative work... so it's at best questionably legal to do anything with the result, commercial or otherwise.

People down mod you because they miss context.

Amiga scene is super toxic in this regard, with people rage quitting over someone making any money manufacturing open sourced projects. Amiga was always Apple like when it came to addons, everyone charged money and expected money to be paid.

More here https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=25683894

Except for games and software, those you obviously copied off your friends for free, duh.

Super toxic is amiga grifters resell open source hardware for massive markups, never contribute back & direct all support requests to the original author.

Pretty understandable why people quit when all they get is abuse and stress from a toxic community

Providing service for money is not grifting.

I understand why the grifters are frustrating. You make something, you don't have the means to invest in fabrication, so you give it away for free. Someone with deep pockets or connections to cheap manufacturing sweeps in and starts selling your design.

Or worse, you manage to manufacture a few units and someone buys them all, and tries to flip them on eBay for double the price. You can only make N at a time, so you feel bad for your customers because this middleman has inserted themself into the process.

That said, the stance of some hardware designers is too extreme in my opinion:

> Even selling blank PCBs at eBay or so without my approval might makes me pretty mad and probably leads to the forthcomming related projects to be closed source. You have been warned :)

This kind of attitude is understandable, but a downside is it serves to gatekeep who has access to an open hardware design. Those who can solder? You're good. Can't build a PCB? You can't have this.

Someone with "deep pockets" is usually from a poorer country and willing to do the actual leg work of boot strapping. Manage ordering pcbs, parts and sitting 8 hours a day soldering SMD for below western EE salary rates. Often below US mcdonalds hourly rate for that matter.

>you manage to manufacture a few units and someone buys them all

Great success, you manufacture more, whats the problem? The problem is usually unwillingness to do the physical work and superiority complex. Soldering is for children in Asia. Im a big time Engineer, you arent allowed to have my great designs, you can only read about them like in the "good old days" of gawking at ads in Amiga Format!!1 Thats the attitude here :/

>This kind of attitude is understandable

only for Amiga scene insiders, to anyone else its elitist toxic bullshit

>, but a downside is it serves to gatekeep who has access to an open hardware design.

up to maybe 10 years ago there were no Amiga open hardware designs at all, everything was kept secret, and everyone counted on the day coming when they would finally hit big and make a bank on 30 year old nostalgia.

> Those who can solder? You're good. Can't build a PCB? You can't have this.

did I mention elitist toxic bullshit? :(

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