Sharp X1 for sale

[pmack]

hello all
I know this is not exactly a x68k topic but it is related since the x1 was the predecessor for the x68k. I am selling mine, which is working perfectly. It includes 2 games (The Castle and Front Line) and a RF converter which as far as I know is pretty rare.

http://www.ebay.com/itm/321138271009?ssPageName=STRK:MESELX:IT&_trksid=p3984.m1586.l2649

[ApolloBoy]

Seems a bit much for an original X1, if it was an X1 Turbo Z III with a few goodies perhaps it'd be worth it.

[Opethian]

if be interested in the disk game if you would split

[pmack]

For those of you still interested, I have changed this to a no reserve 7 day auction starting at 99 cents :-) Go there and make a bid, you might end up getting this cool computer on the cheap!

http://www.ebay.com/itm/321165277497?ssPageName=STRK:MESELX:IT&_trksid=p3984.m1586.l2649

[famiac]

Just paid you! Hope it works when it gets here.

[lydux]

Ha ! One day, I will have one... 

[caius]

Ha ! One day, I will have one... 

Oh, my God..Master, don't tell me that you want to reverse engineering also this??? 

[famiac]

I wonder if there's a way to play backups

What is the scan rate on the rgb signal? Can i get it working on a pvm?

[lydux]

Oh, my God..Master, don't tell me that you want to reverse engineering also this??? 

I don't have only X68000 in my head ! The X1 is a funny piece of hardware and I just love tape based computers... :p
And btw, there is an mcu inside for which the mask rom had never been dumped.

I wonder if there's a way to play roms downloaded from the internet on it.

Remember this : if there is a way to dump a rom, reversing it to it's original state is also possible.
It just depends on how complicated it could be... In your case, I guess the simpliest way is to record the dump back to a tape using an old tape recorder wired to your pc output line.

What is the scan rate on the rgb signal? Can i get it working on a pvm?

Should be 15khz. If your pvm support this frequency, that good.

[caius]

I don't have only X68000 in my head ! The X1 is a funny piece of hardware and I just love tape based computers... :p
And btw, there is an mcu inside for which the mask rom had never been dumped.

Ah!I didn't know this.What kind of device is?Is it a Sharp ASIC?

Remember this : if there is a way to dump a rom, reversing it to it's original state is also possible.
It just depends on how complicated it could be... In your case, I guess the simpliest way is to record the dump back to a tape using an old tape recorder wired to your pc output line.

Yes, just like  I do with my old Commodore 64 and datassette tape recorder connected to parallel port of a pc.Is it possibile also to record the .wav file (extracted from a .tap file) to a tape using the output line of the pc like you said but the first method give better results.

[lydux]

I don't have only X68000 in my head ! The X1 is a funny piece of hardware and I just love tape based computers... :p
And btw, there is an mcu inside for which the mask rom had never been dumped.

Ah!I didn't know this.What kind of device is?Is it a Sharp ASIC?

No ! An old intel 80C49 (predecessor of the well known 80C51) ! Handle various stuffs, but a vital component for the X1.

[caius]

No ! An old intel 80C49 (predecessor of the well known 80C51) ! Handle various stuffs, but a vital component for the X1.

Interesting.This CPU is still available:

http://www.ebay.com/sch/i.html?_trksid=p2050601.m570.l1313&_nkw=80C49&_sacat=0&_from=R40

Looking at its datasheet, it has ports instead of address lines:

http://www.mediafire.com/?8d1q2fx8ecsg6gj

Could you explain, Master,  how does it work?

[lydux]

That's off topic but well...

It's not a "CPU", but "MCU" (microcontroller) !

A CPU is just an addressing and logic capable core : in a design, you have to provide it your own addressing map, memories and peripherals externally.

A MCU already contains all this into a single chip (CPU, ram, rom, peripherals). That's why you don't see an address bus : it's used internally on a fixed memory map. Instead, you have peripherals I/O lines.

You might have heard about PIC or AVR (arduino) ? They are MCU.

[caius]

That's off topic but well...

It's not a "CPU", but "MCU" (microcontroller) !

A CPU is just an addressing and logic capable core : in a design, you have to provide it your own addressing map, memories and peripherals externally.

A MCU already contains all this into a single chip (CPU, ram, rom, peripherals). That's why you don't see an address bus : it's used internally on a fixed memory map. Instead, you have peripherals I/O lines.

You might have heard about PIC or AVR (arduino) ? They are MCU.

Yes, pardon, I knew MCU architecture, just some day ago I was working on a World Rally arcade PCB with a Dallas DS5002 MCU which contains code into his battery backed SRAM .Thay are quite often used as protection device on arcade PCBs.

[famiac]

I wonder if there's a way to play roms downloaded from the internet on it.

Remember this : if there is a way to dump a rom, reversing it to it's original state is also possible.
It just depends on how complicated it could be... In your case, I guess the simpliest way is to record the dump back to a tape using an old tape recorder wired to your pc output line.

What is the scan rate on the rgb signal? Can i get it working on a pvm?

Should be 15khz. If your pvm support this frequency, that good.

I have a 3.5 mm to tape adapter. I can play the dump straight to the machine, but how do i convert a dumped x1 rom to a wav file that i can play back by tape?


I read somewhere that the x1 uses digital RGB, and that converting it to analog requires you to simply add 150 ohms of resistance to the color signals. Is this information correct? Will this enable me to play it on an rgb CRT? (my pvm supports 15khz)

Thanks!

[BlueBMW]

Lydux, if you are interested I have a Sharp X1 Twin Im wanting to sell off.  Might not serve your purposes since it doesnt have a tape drive just one floppy drive.  Unique hardware though.

[lydux]

I have a 3.5 mm to tape adapter. I can play the dump straight to the machine, but how do i convert a dumped x1 rom to a wav file that i can play back by tape?

I've found documentations and older tools source code for this and I've just been able to convert a .tap file to a 8khz .wav.
But I'm not sure if the result is correct though...
Let me some times to create a good convertion tool. We'll see !

I read somewhere that the x1 uses digital RGB, and that converting it to analog requires you to simply add 150 ohms of resistance to the color signals. Is this information correct? Will this enable me to play it on an rgb CRT? (my pvm supports 15khz)

Haven't figure this out ! What you read is right : the X1 RGB output comes directly from a TTL chip... So, to meet the 75 ohm impedance of your monitor, you need a 150 ohm resistor on each color line.
That's not really digital (but that's not wrong to say this !)... It's just that the X1 outputs a so terrible low color depth (RGB111 = 8 colors max) that it does not need a digital to analog converter.

Lydux, if you are interested I have a Sharp X1 Twin Im wanting to sell off.  Might not serve your purposes since it doesnt have a tape drive just one floppy drive.  Unique hardware though.

One day, one day... Actually I have other plans, like saving and studying an X68030 !