Alex Freed wrote:
> mdj wrote:
>>
>> I love this idea too. The only thing 'better' would be a CarteBlanche
>> motherboard, which replaces an existing IIe board. In this case, the
>> slots that it implements can be dedicated purely to supporting
>> original hardware, and all new "CarteBlanche" cards can
be implemented
>> virtually.
> 
> This describes perfectly the NanoBoard with PB10 - plug-in board with 
> Apple slot connectors. The "motherboard" is my FPGApple
implemented on 
> NB. There are 2 issues:
> 1. Cost. NB is rather expensive but this might change.
> 2. Several 6502 cores exist but not a single (free) core is accurate 
> enough to boot ProDOS without errors. One implementation uses a real 
> 65C02 and the Xilinx FPGA is almost empty.

Interesting--since the original 6502 had only about 4300 transistors!

> It would not be difficult to create a motherboard with a real 65C02,
> 128K of a (static) memory and logic to connect a PS2 keyboard plus a
> smallest and cheapest FPGA for glue logic, say S3AN - 50. Plus the most 
> expensive part - the slot connectors.
> 
> One reason not to do it is the fact that A2e is worth about $20 on e-bay 
> and there is no shortage yet.

Exactly.

>> I admit though, that the cost of this project makes it somewhat
>> prohibitive compared to the card.
> 
> IMHO the great thing about the card is the possibility to implement 
> things that either do not exist or are very rare. Like a VGA interface. 
> Re-implementing the standard Apple 2 is definitely fun - I did it 3 
> times now - but doesn't look like a "product" to me.

That's what I like about the CarteBlanche idea--a taste of the new
in the original environment.  Having it be reconfigurable *by the
Apple II it's installed in* really appeals to me.

-michael

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