Commander X16

A what kind of simulator?

Yes, an obscure...they didn't even call it a CPU, but an ICU, probably because it only had a logic unit...no arithmetic! Anyway, this system is the subject of a series of videos on the Usagi Electric Youtube channel, on it's own and as the basis for his Vacuum Tube computer. I found it interesting and decided to model it. Try it now doesn't work....I don't know why?





Try It Now!

OMG! This is AWESOME!

What really punched it to the moon was the use of the mouse. Well Done! My only nits... and I'm reaching here... is the mouse doesn't have a "mouse over" mode to show it's over a control and the speed knob just cycles between 4 positions instead of rotating.

Is there a single step mode? Inquiring minds want it to single step!

Daedalus wrote: ↑Tue Aug 08, 2023 3:25 pm OMG! This is AWESOME!

What really punched it to the moon was the use of the mouse. Well Done! My only nits... and I'm reaching here... is the mouse doesn't have a "mouse over" mode to show it's over a control and the speed knob just cycles between 4 positions instead of rotating.

Is there a single step mode? Inquiring minds want it to single step!

Ah, thanks for that, it brought a smile to my face!

There is a readme file that talks about the controls, but yes, click on the run/halt switch to halt the clock and then click on the green button to single step. I originally was going to make the pot spin, but there really isn't enough oomph in this simulation to have a meaningful range of speeds, it's a matter of slow and slower.

I have uploaded a new zip file, containing a new executable, an updated Readme and a changelog, which reads:

1) Deleted read/write switch.
2) Added Input/Output Enable indicator LEDs, red=disabled, green=enabled
3) Replaced display of RAM contents, from simple byte value, to a disassembly of that byte.
4) Changed behavior of single step mode to more closely model the rising/falling edge of the system clock. Rising edge reads memory, falling edge executes instruction.
5) Write flag now follows the rising/falling edge concept and stays lit appropriately, to make it easier to follow what is going on.
6) Slowed execution of the 'slow' settting
7) Additional program optimization.
8) Added hook to run Stefan Jakobsson's X16Edit text editor, HIRAM version, if loaded, to create or edit a source file, when clicking on the filename to load a new program. Currently this must already have been loaded into memory by the user.

As for the last item, X16edit. I just added this functionality today, using version 0.6.0. This worked well and if you have that version...great! However, Stefan as also released an update today, version 0.7.0, which at the current time, crashes my emulator (R43). Perhaps it works correctly on actual hardware...I might find out someday....anyway, be advised that as of 8/21/23, the 0.7.0 version of X16edit HIRAM, will not work. Hopefully it will be resolved soon. Additionally, he's thinking about dropping the HIRAM version. If that happens, I will look into getting the ROM version working. Adding support for the editor makes for a nice development system for this....extremely niche program!

After a bit of poking about and then reading the x16edit manual... ...if x16edit is loaded correctly from the x16emu command line and the Cyclops is loaded from the emulator, it works fine.

New version uploaded.

Version 1.2

1) Now supports both X16edit HIRAM and ROM versions.
2) additional optimizations, fastest speed is now nearly 2.5x faster than version 1.
3) various fixes.