For the control matrix of my computer I am using some NVRAM chips to store a 16-bit control word for the various registers and control wires of my CPU. I decided not to use EEPROM as the chips that I bought were all faulty and wouldn’t write (I consulted many people and they agreed). I also decided that moving breadboard wires around was an extremely inefficient way to program 70 control words at 70 addresses. Which is why I decided to create a simple NVRAM (or EEPROM) programmer using the Arduino to send out addresses and data as well as control the write enable pin. My sketch cycles through bytes of data in an array of a specified length. My code is available for anyone who would find it useful, it can be modified quite easily for your programming needs.
The Wiring for My Programmer
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[…] NVRAM Programmer @ 8 Bit Spaghetti. Kyle writes – For the control matrix of my computer I am using some NVRAM chips to store a 16-bit control word for the various registers and control wires of my CPU. I decided not to use EEPROM as the chips that I bought were all faulty and wouldn’t write (I consulted many people and they agreed). I also decided that moving breadboard wires around was an extremely inefficient way to program 70 control words at 70 addresses. Which is why I decided to create a simple NVRAM (or EEPROM) programmer using the Arduino to send out addresses and data as well as control the write enable pin. My sketch cycles through bytes of data in an array of a specified length. My code is available for anyone who would find it useful, it can be modified quite easily for your programming needs. […]
Interesting project! Where/how to get a schematic for this computer?
I based the schematic for this computer off of the one provided in Digital Computer Electronics by Albert Malvino. I made some modifications to add functionality to the design. The block diagram for my design is on Instructables.
Great job! I wonder what EEPROM chip you would recommend, can you give a jameco link? Thanks very much!