Re: [stella] Formats (64K Flat Model??)

Subject: Re: [stella] Formats (64K Flat Model??)
From: Chris Wilkson <cwilkson@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>
Date: Tue, 5 May 1998 16:17:32 -0700 (PDT)
> I was toying with the idea of actually building a "souped up" A2600 with a
> 6502 and say 4 or 8 K RAM. I haven;t gone very far with this idea, but it
> shouldn't be too hard to do...

Yeah, that would be pretty easy, in fact.  The thing that makes developing
peripherals so damned hard is the lack of 2 signals:  "r/w" and the "Phi2"
clock.  If these were routed through the cartridge port, there would be few
things indeed that couldn't be done to enhance the 2600.  As it is however,
timing is very worrisome.  The read/write issue can be skirted by dedicating
an address line, but the read and write timings for the 6507 are sketchy at
best when viewed from outside.

As I remember it, the extra signals were omitted from the cartridge port to
save cost...about a dollar.  :) The designers realized in retrospect that they
should've spent the extra money, but oh well...

BTW, anyone thinking about a 2600 with a "turbo switch" :) should consider
using a 65816 processor...much beefier with a 100% 6502 emulation mode and
up to 20MHz (I think) clock. 

(And INC A and DEC A instuctions! :)

-Chris

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