Free archive for all the single board computers I have worked on over the years

[robertcx]

I now have a FREE archive for all of the single board computers I have worked with here:
https://drive.google.com/drive/folde...989yOOjjNMUcUR

This contains monitor ROM and other firmware images, documentation including user manuals, data sheets, etc. Much of this info is available elsewhere on the web, but often not as well organised, and some is only available here, for example monitor ROM images extracted from certain boards in my possession, disassembly listings of certain monitor ROMs, and documentation I have written myself.

If you desire access to things I have developed myself, such as utility ROMs, RAM images and loader programs, there is an additional paid archive available. Details are included in the enclosed README file. The boards I have worked on include:

* Intel SDK-80
* Intel SDK-85
* Intel SDK-86
* Intel SDK-51
* Intel SBC-80-10
* Motorola MEK6802D5 (or Elenco XK-300)
* Motorola MEK6802D5 with Elenco 6809 upgrade
* Synertek SYM-1
* Rockwell AIM-65
* Micro Professor
* E&L Fox MT-80AZ
* SD Systems Z80 Starter Kit
* Texas Instruments TM990/189 (TM990/U89)
* CAMI research micro-trainer
* SEL Z80
* Profi-5E
* SGS Nanocomputer
* Intersil Concept-48
* Intersil Intercept Jr
* Sinclair MK14 (complete replacement monitor available, allowing serial upload of MK14 programs)
* Hampden MCB-1A
* ASCI u68 SystemX ***NEW***

All utility ROM and RAM images are provided in Intel Hex format, along with full source code and all required utilities to assemble, upload and execute on the respective boards.

 

[waltermixxx]

Thank you

 

[hjohnson]

Robertcx, it happens that your Google drive has content that is my work. In the COSMAC 1802 folder, there's a 2018 copy of my work on A18, a cross assembler in C for the 1802 which I distribute at this link:

https://www.retrotechnology.com/memship/a18.html

As the Web page describes, the cross-assembler was a product of William C Colley III, which he released "to the public domain" decades ago. About a decade ago, I revived that and other cross assemblers of his, and have supported them on my Web site. I provide my version of those C sources with my own refinements and changes. I even created assemblers for additional processors with that code. I reference them on my Web page, and I note how the C code can be compiled and used, and bug fixes, and features added. I'm about to add another feature in days.

BUT: since all that code is derived from Colley's now-public-domain sources, I don't think it's reasonable for me to put formal restrictions and claim any "copyright", establish any "license". The original works predate all that 21st century stuff.

THAT SAID: I don't think it's UNreasonable, for me to ask persons to *not distribute the ZIPped files* as you have. That's my job, thank you. If you wish people to make use of my version of A18, you can certainly provide a Web link to my Web page, as part of your "free archive". Then they will have access to a current version with whatever features and bug-fixes are current, and information about use as I've described; and a means to report problems or suggest changes. That's the value I add to my version of that code.

This business of simply grabbing my code, or grabbing Colley's original code, is not new. There's *two* versions of A18 on github now. When I refused to put it there myself, someone else simply grabbed Colley's code and put it there themselves. And when that person apparently refused to update their spin of it, someone *else* did the same and added their desired fixes (which I chose not to add to my version).

I'm pleased in a way, I was able to make this 1802 cross assembler so useful and available, others were compelled to make their own copies for their preferred distributions. I think it's reasonable that I benefit from my efforts from my Web site, by at least requesting that literal copies of my works not be distributed without my permission. You do not have my permission.

Regards, Herb Johnson
retrotechnology.com

 

[robertcx]

Hi Herb,

Offending content removed. I do think you are making a bit of a fuss about this issue, but if that's what you want, so be it. I haven't included any links or other info to your site - people will have to fend for themselves if they want to assemble 1802 code.

Regards,

Robert

 

[Lutiana]

I do think you are making a bit of a fuss about this issue, but if that's what you want, so be it. I haven't included any links or other info to your site - people will have to fend for themselves if they want to assemble 1802 code.

First and foremost, let's keep it civil and leave the passive aggression at the door.

That said, Herb's request is more than reasonable, it's his code, he gets to decide how it is distributed. If you liked it so much as to go through the work to add it to your list, then I don't see why removing it and pointing to the originator is an issue for you, especially since linking to him would give the user the latest version.

 

[robertcx]

I used to sell the whole archive as a complete entity on eBay before they recently altered their selling policies (i.e. very slow managed payments instead of instant PayPal). I then decided to split it into a free and paid archive, so people could access documentation, monitor listings, etc. for free, and only pay if they wanted software I had developed myself, such as utility ROMs, etc. Some of the free stuff is not available elsewhere on the web, such as ROM images I have dumped from my own boards, description documents I have written myself, monitor ROM disassemblies, certain scanned documents, etc. However, most of it can be found elsewhere on the web, so the archive is intended as a "one stop shop" for people to access all the useful information for these boards in one place.

It turns out that I included the a18 assembler in the free archive by mistake, as there is nothing in there that actually uses it! The paid archive contained my own software, which makes use of the a18 assembler to generate a hex file for upload to the CDP18S020 board - there was a README that contained a link to Herb's site for the latest version - exact text: "a18_assembler - the excellent 1802 assembler, used to generate ROM and RAM images in this archive. This is 3rd party software, and the latest version can be downloaded here: http://www.retrotechnology.com/memship/a18.html" However, this README was missing from the free archive, because it references some of the paid content, hence the confusion.

Anyway, to comply with Herb's request (and then some), I have removed all of the 1802 stuff from both the free and paid archives, as it is not worth going to the effort to untangle the a18 assembler from the rest of it, and would also means that the paid stuff would be effectively broken, because without the a18 assembler, it would not work "out of the box". All of the free stuff is available on Herb's website, anyway, and it isn't going to have a great deal of impact on the world if a very small number of people can't use my own test software for the 18s020 board. But the net result is that the community has lost out due to this restriction, albeit to an infinitesimal degree.

Personally, I feel that this is a bit of a "storm in a teacup", and Herb himself said "I'm pleased in a way, I was able to make this 1802 cross assembler so useful and available, others were compelled to make their own copies for their preferred distributions" in his own post. I'm not overly sure why he is so concerned with this issue, as he is not losing out financially, and nobody else is attempting to profit from his work or claim it for themselves. This is why I am quite relaxed about people redistributing any software I write, as I get a good feeling from it being popular - a case in point is the Hexen game ACS script decompiler DESCRIPT, which I wrote in the 1990s and was amazingly still being used as late as 2013, if the Doom forums are anything to go by (and this was a raw DOS program, that had to perform multiple file scans because there was not enough memory to hold all the data at once). If I had placed restrictions on its distribution, it may never have become as popular as this.