Is the Gigatron TTL an orphaned project?

[WimWalther]

It all seemed so promising - a unique, microprocessor-less neo-vintage hobby computer built from common TTL ics that anyone could reproduce.

Gigatron – TTL microcomputer

gigatron.io

A year or more back, I ran a batch of boards as I became aware that there was interest in the machine. But realizing that there wasn't any software beyond the built-in demos, I thought best to hold off on building one.

But as to the best of my knowledge, the situation hasn't really changed one bit (...). I'd thought that by now we'd at least have some basic software, games like life, snake, a space invaders clone, trek, wumpus.. you know. But the reality is that the project seems orphaned, abandoned, etc.

Any thoughts on this unfortunate situation? I do realize that the head designer passed away, but really, this shouldn't have doomed the whole project.

 

[VERAULT]

I think you are right. I was pretty intrigued by a few videos I have seen of the unit. I know 8 bit guy did one explaining a couple of much needed upgrades,,, but then nothing at all and that was quite a while back. Shame about running the boards.

 

[Chuck(G)]

Problem is that there have been/are a lot of homebrew CPUs. Just search on YT for "Homebrew CPU" and see what comes up.

 

[Eudimorphodon]

I'd thought that by now we'd at least have some basic software, games like life, snake, a space invaders clone, trek, wumpus.. you know. But the reality is that the project seems orphaned, abandoned, etc.

It seems like there's still quite a bit of activity at the Gigatron forums.

I mean, realistically speaking, this is a pretty niche product without a whole lot of "practical" value, I wouldn't really expect there to be a massive binary software base any time soon.

 

[WimWalther]

Shame about running the boards.

Oh its no problem, it was a small batch (6pcs ?) and they all sold rather quickly. I still have my own board set and the knockoff Famicom controller, but that's it. I did build the little 'pluggy' KB interface, though it still lacks the uC.

 

[VERAULT]

If thats the case I see no reason not to build it for the sheer novelty of it. And if you get borred with it, it will still sell enough to make you a profit.

 

[jbialey]

Their are 3rd party contributors still working on things for the Gigatron, however the main architect of the OS/VM/software was Marcel van Kervinck. Mr. Van Kevinck has passed. Before his passing, he created a new development rom (5a), which added a 6502 "core", the ability to access SPI devices, and read a "Fat" file system from SD (ROM 5a). If someone was to add a z80 or this thing could run CPM.

there are others creating new roms, a basic compilers, debuggers, and other items.

Even if nothing new is added, it's a worth and important computer. Being made out of simple TTL chips, and it's fully open source virtual machine makes tor a great learning opportunity for someone who want to understand how a computer really works.