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Re: Z80&68030 (was Color Gameboy Wearable)

From: Lee Adamson <>
Date: Sat, 02 Jan 1999 00:06:12 -0500

I'd been scribbling schematics for a Z80-based wearable for a while at
the nearby diner, but trashed the idea because I didn't want to write
the software...

Basically, it was a Z80 cpu, a couple of PIOs, an 8250, and a sortof-MMU
(address decoder hooked to latches and another address decoder), 1Mb RAM
(32K ROM, 16K non-paged, 16K paged).  My reasoning was that a Z80 could
run for ever on very little battery power, and would be more than enough
for checking email (via amateur packet) and text editing.  With a couple
of nicad AAs backing up the ram.

But a very kind fellow gave me a 486 laptop, which is now my base.

IMHO, the gameboy would be hard to hack, due to lack of hardware docs,
multilayer board, and SMDs.

But if you want my schematics, I shall try to find a scanner...

OT of Z80: I'm looking into getting 68K Linux running on an old Amiga
600 with an 030 accellerator+FPU(sp?).  It seems (to me) that this would
be a really nice wearable machine (though I could be a wierdo), as it
has NTSC output, internal 2.5" IDE, and a VERY small size (think the
QWERTY part of your keyboard).  The CPU+030 costs around $400-500US. 
Plus a PCMCIA socket, yes, though I think it's type 1.  I'd probably rip
out the floppy drive and replace it w/ batteries+regulator.
Moan.

Then there's always my old Mac LC2, but the video for it would be a big
pain.

Kent Lofley wrote:
> Has anyone thought about using a gameboy as the base for a wearable.  I
> know that you couldn't use the latest software and that someone would
> probobly have to write an OS for it and hook up a harddrive and input
> device.  Does anyone have any info on this?

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