• Please review our updated Terms and Rules here

Build your own PDP 8I, Part 2..

...
Keep in mind the first time I looked at a PDP8 print was today. Ditto for the PDP8 instruction set. No NOP instruction. >.<

Perhaps the PDP8 guys can suggest another way to do that.
...

Sure, from the PDP-8 reference card, first line documents NOP. Basically the operate instruction with no function bits enabled.

Code:
GROUP 1 OPERATE MICROINSTRUCTIONS (1.2 usec)

                                                Sequence
[B]NOP      7000  no operation                          -[/B]
CLA      7200  clear AC                              1
CLL      7100  clear link                            1
CMA      7040  complement AC                         2
CML      7020  complement link                       2
RAR      7010  rotate AC and link right one          4
RAL      7004  rotate AC and link left one           4
RTR      7012  rotate AC and link right two          4
RTL      7006  rotate AC and link left two           4
IAC      7001  increment AC                          3
IAC      7002  swap bytes in AC                      4
 
Sure, from the PDP-8 reference card, first line documents NOP. Basically the operate instruction with no function bits enabled.

Code:
GROUP 1 OPERATE MICROINSTRUCTIONS (1.2 usec)

                                                Sequence
[B]NOP      7000  no operation                          -[/B]
CLA      7200  clear AC                              1
CLL      7100  clear link                            1
CMA      7040  complement AC                         2
CML      7020  complement link                       2
RAR      7010  rotate AC and link right one          4
RAL      7004  rotate AC and link left one           4
RTR      7012  rotate AC and link right two          4
RTL      7006  rotate AC and link left two           4
IAC      7001  increment AC                          3
IAC      7002  swap bytes in AC                      4


ROFL!

I was in a rush to get ready for a week long trip and grabbed the first web page I found. It had what I "assumed" was a complete list of PDP8 opcodes. I should have known damn well that no engineer worth his salt would design a machine which couldn't "do nothing very fast".

Then the NOP loop would involve forcing the IR bits to 7000 and single stepping it a bit to make sure it thinks its properly fetching an instruction, doing nothing very fast, incrementing the PC, fetching the next instruction (not really, we're jamming NOP down his throat) and so forth. You could maybe monitor interesting leads with the tool of your choice. If it looks like all is well when single stepped then let it run. It should still be chasing it's tail when you get tired of looking at it.

If it isn't, the list of stuff to look at is small. The basic "puppy dog" fetch & execute cycle involves a minimal subset of your hardware.

If it is, you know the drill. Start expanding the "Known Good" by testing unknown hardware and unknown instructions a little bit at a time. There is no part of this animal you can't access with the analyzer/probe/scope of your choice. It's going to be a matter of troubleshooting one fault at a time. But it is very do-able.
 
Hi All;

Thank You to DDS and to AK6DN for all of the Helpful Hints and Suggestions..

DDS, I left a private message for You a few Days ago, Did You See it..

Also, As I told Jack, If You want to see the Schematic, You need to go back to posting #9, of this Thread, for a Link to finding all of the material that I have including Schematic and some Flow Charts.. I have more stuff/information in my NoteBooks..
I can tell that I will need to Read and Re-read all that You (DDS) has to say for it to sink in..
I have Cleared Memory up to Address '0040 where the program resides, and when I have it in Run mode, and it gets to Address '0041, it will Jump back to Address '0000, and work its way back up to Address '0041.. So, at least from address '0000 thru Address '0037, it is acting like it has NOP's..
So, I will try putting in Locations '0000 thru '0037, a real NOP (7000), and see if it does the same thing, as it does with "Zero's" (0000) there in the Memory Locations..

THANK YOU Marty
 
Hi All;

Thank You to DDS and to AK6DN for all of the Helpful Hints and Suggestions..

DDS, I left a private message for You a few Days ago, Did You See it..

Also, As I told Jack, If You want to see the Schematic, You need to go back to posting #9, of this Thread, for a Link to finding all of the material that I have including Schematic and some Flow Charts.. I have more stuff/information in my NoteBooks..
I can tell that I will need to Read and Re-read all that You (DDS) has to say for it to sink in..
I have Cleared Memory up to Address '0040 where the program resides, and when I have it in Run mode, and it gets to Address '0041, it will Jump back to Address '0000, and work its way back up to Address '0041.. So, at least from address '0000 thru Address '0037, it is acting like it has NOP's..
So, I will try putting in Locations '0000 thru '0037, a real NOP (7000), and see if it does the same thing, as it does with "Zero's" (0000) there in the Memory Locations..

THANK YOU Marty

There's a bunch of stuff on this site that I haven't figured out yet..... Retrieving private messages is one of them. Not that's it's hard. I just have a bunch of stuff on my plate. Like a garage full of "when I'm retired" projects. At some point down the road when this LDnn project jells out a little better I might pop for a circuit board and build one. That's IFF (math speak for if and only if) I manage to work my way through a 5 foot stack of S100 boxen, mostly Compupro stuff, another stack of hopefully compatible 8" disk drives, 3 pdp11's of varying flavors, and an IMSAI 8080.

Until then I'll cheer you on & chip in when I have something to contribute that won't completely throw you off the track.

Oh ya.... and about 3/4 of a street rod I want to build.

Too damn many hobbies.
 
Hi All;

DDS, Thank You for the Response.. I just suggested where to look for the information, so You could follow along with a Schematic in front of You.. I also have a pile of S-100 Boards, and instead of a Five foot stack of Boards, I think mine is two to three feet.. I have a stack of 8" Floppy Diskettes, that are somewhere in the vicinity of six to eight feet high.. I once had an IMSAI 8080, but I had to sell it.. (Rent).. And as You know I have a few PDP 11xx's around as well..
And since, You are not able to read any private messages, I will also mention my Demostration (not working) Step by Step System and Various Dial phones and my Answering Service Switchboard, to switch to my various Dial Phones.. And then there are my Old 1930's ish Philco Radios to work on.. So, Yes there is plenty to keep me off of the Street..
"" Until then I'll cheer you on & chip in when I have something to contribute that won't completely throw you off the track. "" PLEASE !!!

THANK YOU Marty
 
Marty,

Since you are having 'fun and games' with the wire-wrapping tool - can I make a suggestion that may make your hardware construction life a bit easier?

I have downloaded a tool called logisim (http://www.cburch.com/logisim/) and have entered 80% or so of the main logic path for the LD30 (which is pretty similar to the LD20). This has only took me about 3 days or so (and that includes the learning curve for logisim). Simulating your logic in software first may make your life a bit easier (especially if there looks to be errors in the wiring lists you have). Once you have a working software simulation (based on the physical TTL logic chips you will be using) you can then turn your attention to the hardware itself.

Just a thought.

I have found a Japanese website at "http://blog.goo.ne.jp/k74181/e/ca6b8d04d032797c8cf3f2498be872d7" where this is partially described - although it contains omissions, errors and is incomplete. Interestingly, it cross-references your thread on VCF!

Quite happy to share my circuit in a couple of days.

Dave
 
Hi All;

Dave, Thank You for the information and the encouragement and links..
As I have not seen, except for what is in either book, circuitry for the LD20/LD30, I would be interested in seeing what You have..
I have downloaded the program, Logisim and I have looked at the Japanese site..
"" Interestingly, it cross-references your thread on VCF! "" Somehow I missed that part.. When I get a chance I will look at it further..
But First, I need to see If I can get Logisim to work here for me.. THANK YOU for the suggestion and Link..
"" Quite happy to share my circuit in a couple of days. "" PLEASE !!

THANK YOU Marty
 
Hi All;

Well, I know that it somewhat works.. When I try a ISZ instruction test starting at Address '0041, and it jumps back to Address '0000, when it is in Run mode it works it's way back up to Address '0041.. So it is Incrementing the PC and doing that correctly, since I am using 'no numbers' with that instruction, an AND '0000, I don't know if it is fully working.. Jump and halt work as well.. I need to try some of the other basic Instructions.. Also, I need to look at OPG1 and OPG2 with the Scope, and see what they are doing..
The NOP Instruction is not working correctly.. I need to make a list of instructions from the Reference Card and check off what works and what doesn't work, and see if any pattern emerges..
OPG1 and OPG2 work in both .H and .L.. So nothing is stuck there.. TAD doesn't Increment like AND does.. Since the are Similar, I need to find out why..

THANK YOU Marty
 
Last edited:
Marty,

An upload of my logisim PDP-8 circuit so far (please note that this is a work in progress - much like yours)...

I will post again with some details.

There are a few things that I haven't done yet. These are identified on the 'PDP' drawing under the text heading "BODGES!!!"...

Dave
 

Attachments

  • PDP8-DERTEST2.circ.zip
    19.7 KB · Views: 1
You will need logisim...

You may also need a couple of libraries for some of the 74 series chips:

1. logisim_74v1.zip from "http://74x.weebly.com/blog/library-of-7400-logic-for-logisim" for the 74x->74181->74181.circ library.

2. 7400 series Logisim library from Ben Oztalay (ZIP, uncompressed) from "http://www.cburch.com/logisim/links.html".

Unzip and copy the unzipped libraries to your logisim directory (along with my PDP circuit). You may need to use the logisim Project->Load Library->Logisim Library... menu to attach the libraries to my circuit properly?

Drawing 'main' has the front panel and a few buttons for me to test at the moment.

The remainder of the drawings should be obvious from their names...

Select Simulate->Simulation Enabled, Simulate->Ticks Enabled and select the Simulate->Tick Frequency to something sensible like 8 Hz.

Select the 'hand' icon to simulate things (e.g. operate the switch register (one push for ON and a further push for OFF (i.e. a toggle operation)). PCLOAD, MALOAD, MBLOAD, ACLOAD and IRLOAD should load what is in the SWR register into the appropriate register (only the MSB 3 bits of the SWR is loaded into the IR register for the decoded opcode though).

In simulation mode you can double-click on ICs and 'zoom into them' to see what is going on within the circuit. Light green lines are logic '1' with dark green as logic '0'. Clicking on a group of wires will give the binary and octal representation of the signals contained. I have also added monitoring points in HEX, OCTAL and DECIMAL for the key signals.

Switching to the arrow enables you to make changes to the logic circuit. I usually disable the simulation when I do this as I have had some 'odd' effects otherwise.

The EA logic is currently missing - as is the CORE memory and correct handling for the MB register. JAMIR0 is also missing. Next (after fixing these bits) I need to add the microcode sequencer block - which should incorporate all of my 'bodges'. I may have a go at initially incorporating a very simple sequencer to perform a series of microinstructions to test that the architecture implementation logic is as correct as it can be at the moment. 'ROMs' can be loaded from files in the operating system or hand edited - although I have not tried to use this feature yet. RAMS (e.g. the CORE memory) can also be pre-loaded from a file.

If you look at drawing 'main' you will find a simulation of a keyboard and teletype output device - which I will try and hook up to simulate an ASR33...

I was doing a bit of debugging with the AC before I zipped it up and posted the circuit. I had (stupidly) wired the AC bits 'backwards'. A few mouse clicks and everything appears to now be fixed...

Enjoy,

Dave

PS: The link to your thread is in "http://blog.goo.ne.jp/k74181/e/5fa67fac65e657ff821c5b6a10894984/?st=1"
 
Hi All;

Dave, Thank You, Wow, It reads like it is alot of Work..
I will Definitely need to Follow Your Directions to see some results.. And then maybe do my own, once I figure out If Your circuit is same or different than mine.. Let me get things set up and I will let You know what I have running or not running..

I have not figured out 'How' to make it work, but it look Great..

THANK YOU Marty
 
Last edited:
Hi All;

Yesterday, I found and changed one wire of the OPG group, that did not seem to make any difference in the running of the ISZ program..
Today, I have changed out as a group first all of the 7400 Nand Ic's, after changing them out it made no difference.. But I did see a slight difference after changing them Back to the original IC's, (I preserved their order).. I think their was a pin on one of them, that wasn't making good contact.. Also, after that I seem to see a possible heat related problem, after it warms up it runs better..
I have also changed out and back, the 7402's NOR Ic's and the 7410's NAND's as well, so far No other differences, I have the 7404 NOT Ic's and the 7430 NAND's to do.. If nothing else shows up after that, then I can fairly well assume it it not a Mis-behaving Gate, but more than likely a wiring type of problem or an implementing of the Logic problem..
Where LogicSim or something similar would then be needed to ferret out which type of problem is the culprit..

THANK YOU Marty
 
Hi All;

I found something.. It runs the ISZ program NOW !!
One or more of the 7430's is Bad..
One or more of the 7474's is Bad..
I haven't check which one(s) it is, for now i'll leave it, and check some other programs..
Of the toggle in program, that I have for Group 1 instructions, Pass..
Of the toggle in program, that I have for Group 2 instructions, SZL, SNA, SKP and SMA Fail..
Of the toggle in program, that I have for Group 2 instructions, SZA, SNL, and SPA Pass..
I don't know the correlation of these instructions, maybe getting one to work, might get others to work as well..
I am rechecking all of the groups of Ic's again, to see if any of them make a difference with the SZL instruction..

THANK YOU Marty
 
Last edited:
Hi All;

I replaced many/most of the IC's, with very little difference..
When Replacing a couple of the 7402's I did get it to work.. For a little while It worked, later I got it to work replacing a couple of the 7400's with a faster part..
So, it might/maybe be a timing situation, Part of the reason I am just replacing parts, is I don't know where the Logic for the Skips instructions is located.. It isn't pointed out in the Schematic's..

THANK YOU Marty
 
Hi All;

By looking in the Book, for the skip instructions, I found where the instructions are implemented in my schematic's, as they are both the same..
I am going to move one gate from another 7400 to the one for the the skip instructions, that way all four of the NAND gates are on the same chip.. I can then see if changing its speed helps..
I found that there are two sets of gates, the first has been moved, now for the second gate..
My second gate has been moved just fine..
I have tried a couple of experiments, and the sum of them makes No sense..
I can pass the following two sets of codes separately, but together they fail..
First program, Passes
Address 0200 Data 7300 CLA,CLL
Address 0201 Data 7440 SZA
Address 0202 Data 7402 HLT
Address 0203 Data 5200 JMP to 0200
Second program. Passes
Address 0200 Data 7300 CLA,CLL
Address 0201 Data 7430 SZL
Address 0202 Data 7402 HLT
Address 0203 Data 5200 JMP to 0200
Third program, Fails
Address 0200 Data 7300 CLA,CLL
Address 0201 Data 7440 SZA
Address 0202 Data 7402 HLT
Address 0203 Data 7430 SZL
Address 0204 Data 7402 HLT
Address 0205 Data 5200 JMP to 0200
Fourth program, Passes
Address 0200 Data 7300 CLA,CLL
Address 0201 Data 7440 SZA
Address 0202 Data 7402 HLT
Address 0203 Data 7300 CLA,CLL
Address 0204 Data 7430 SZL
Address 0205 Data 7402 HLT
Address 0206 Data 5200 JMP to 0200

THANK YOU Marty
 
Last edited:
I have the first major 'cut' of my LD30 (microcoded PDP-8i) running inside of LOGISIM.

I have just finished a RIM/BIN converter for converting paper tape images to a format that can be directly loaded into the RAM module of LOGISIM - so I am able to load in MAINDEC-8i Instruction Test #1. I am currently debugging my processor and have so far fixed a few silly errors (like holding the LINK flip-flop in reset!).

Currently baulking at 'TAD TEST 13' where it doesn't seem capable of executing TAD K4000 followed by TAD K4000 to give an AC of 0000 and a LINK of '1'. I shall debug that tomorrow evening...

I will get MAINDEC-8i Instruction test #1 running properly and then post my logic diagram and microcode whilst I move on to test #2.

The major things not implemented at the moment is the IOT instruction in general and the ability to HALT the processor execution and single-cycle it - but Rome wasn't built in a day! Learning an awful lot about the PDP-8 instruction set though!

Dave
 
Marty,

Just been thinking about your 'random' problems.

What are you doing with the unused inputs of the ICs? Are you tying them high or low to prevent random noise from affecting the logic? Tying them low works (but has the side effect of drawing ten times or so more current than pulling them high). Depending on the IC family you are using (I see you are using 7400 series ICs) you shouldn't directly tie unused pins to the VCC rail - but pull them high via a 10 kOhm resistor.

Are you using adequate decoupling capacitors in your build? It is generally recommended to use one 0.1 uF decoupling capacitor per IC fitted as close to the VCC and GND pins as possible.

Dave
 
Hi All;
Dave, Congratulations on Your progress.. I didn't/don't know how to make it work..
"" What are you doing with the unused inputs of the ICs? "" For now they are Floating, but as I determine that it is not needed, then I will tie it to it's neighbor..
"" Are you using adequate decoupling capacitors in your build? It is generally recommended to use one 0.1 uF decoupling capacitor per IC fitted as close to the VCC and GND pins as possible. "" For now I don't have any at all, since I am running a very low frequency, about 340HZ.. I have generally not had a problem with doing this..
I am also, at this point tying the Button/switches to an R-S Flip-flop, which before yesterday the Buttons/switches were just pulled Low to ground when the switch was pressed.. And this is causing some new problems, so I might need to make the R-S flip-flop into a clocked flip-flop to make it only one clock cycle per button push.. I will need to experiment with some circuits and see how to implement it..

THANK YOU Marty
 
Marty,

It isn't necessarily the processor clock rate, but the rise and fall times of the signals that causes problems. You should follow daver2's recommendation and add 0.1 uF bypass caps to each IC, and pull the unused inputs high.
 
Hi All;

I have started to put in some Caps, it will probably be about every other Ic, as many of the wire-wrap pins are already fully wrapped.. And the couple of unused pins, I can tie to their neighboring pins..

THANK YOU Marty
 
Back
Top