Running MSBASIC on my breadboard 6502 computer

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0:00 The MSBASIC code
1:42 Creating our own version of MSBASIC
4:53 Zero-page configuration
9:32 Configuring our version
13:08 Adding our BIOS code and Wozmon
14:15 Linker configuration
18:50 Pointing BASIC to our BIOS
23:09 Running BASIC!
26:32 Bugfixes and making control-C work
32:30 Everything is working
34:16 Not everything is working
35:29 Everything is actually working now

[PC_YouTube_Channel]

I saw the title in my notifications and said out loud "no way".

I never thought I'd learn so much about the absolute lowest level parts of computing. But you have singlehandedly made it accessible, entertaining, and interesting for me.

[carldaniel]

Ah, the memories. My friends and I played with this stuff back when we wre in high school and the 6502 was new. There was no open source of MSBASIC back then, so we wrote our own disassembler (in FORTRAN!), went through the MSBASIC code and figured out what everything did and produced an buildable source, which we could then modify and assemble with our own assembler (also written in FORTRAN). OSI Superboard was our breadboard. Good times.

[Manabender]

4:39 Ah, the tried and true method of "just keep hacking away until the compiler stops yelling at you" method. My favorite.

[Darkstar]

SCRTCH ("scratch") clears the memory, it's basically the same as the "NEW" statement. No idea why different implementations call it at different times during init, but I agree with you that it does not really matter at all as long as it is called *somewhere* ...

[GeeTheBuilder]

On my Uni course in 92 we made single board 68000 computers using wire wrap etc

Then wrote assembler. So I got an understanding of how computers work from this basic level.

I since had 30y as a Software engineer and knowing how the low level worked was invaluable

Most modern software engineers haven’t a clue about this stuff 🤷‍♂️

Great videos, Ben. 🎉

[bsvenss]

Unbelievable incredible videos with the best teacher on the internet. Thanks!

[MotoRideswJohn]

Amazing where this series started and where you are now. I've been considered a computer professional my entire life. How much I didn't know until following along with you....

[micha-]

Fabulous work. I've been directing my college students to your videos for years (and I know and appreciate your feelings about higher ed), keep up the amazing work.

[DanielCharry]

That little software product started a revolution. Nice seeing you bring it to your setup. Cheers!

[markjones]

4:27 "i will be equal to eater". You ARE Eater!!

[mrbrianparker]

Fantastic! This whole 6502 breadboard project never ceases to amaze.

[amconners]

I don't have a 6502 or the ability to justify buying a whole bunch of parts right now, but I do have an 8085, enough parts already lying around that I'm able to make something work most of the time, and the stubbornness to try following along at home even with the intermediate step of translating the entire thing to this different architecture before getting to the part where I add it to the 8085 breadboard computer

and honestly? I think it's taught me even more this way! just watching these videos is educational enough, and you make the content so accessible and easy to understand, building something from them definitely gives me more of an idea of how things work and why, but taking it that one step further and getting a version of what you were showing to work with my computer? it's like I'm testing my knowledge of what I just learned, by taking what I learned and doing something with it, asking myself questions like do I understand it well enough that I can recreate it on my own 8085 computer? when I'm using different parts that have different datasheets, do I know where to start looking in mine for the closest thing to an analogue of what you showed from yours? do I understand what this code does and how it does it well enough that I can write my own version of it in 8085 assembly code?

and the answer is usually yes, because your videos do an excellent job of teaching a wider concept by narrowing down on one specific instance. It doesn't HAVE to be a 6502, that's just the specific part you used, and the actual concepts are so much more applicable. since I'm on an 8085, I also won't have wozmon*, but that's okay because it doesn't HAVE to be wozmon, it just needed to be a simpler starting point than MS-BASIC, etc., etc.

*I might try to port wozmon over anyway just for the practice. and to make sure everything so far is working. and also because that'd be fun, I think


I guess what I'm trying to say is thank you, I'm learning so much more from these videos than I ever thought I could, and I'm enjoying every minute of it. and with these past few videos it's looking more and more like my end goal of running CP/M 80 on this breadboard thing I built myself is also possibly achievable for me someday

[shanee]

Absolutely incredible how you are able to make every topic you share so understandable and absolutely a joy to watch and learn. One of my absolute favorite content creators to view on YT and I cannot wait to se what you share next.

[cheeseparis]

I had a great day, an amazing concert, late dinner, a few videos, now let's go to bed.
_Ben Eater video pops up_
- LIKE
- Play
- Notice the "cmp 3" at 30:35 and yell "#3 !!", glad to still be able to notice it
- Read comments and enjoy this moment back in time
Thank you, this was great!

[Scriabin_fan]

I always feel like a kid on Christmas morning every time Ben uploads.

[AlanCanon]

The memory map of the C64 treated zero page addresses $00 and $01 differently one was the data direction for the other, which was used for bank switching and cassette hardware control.

[chillyvanilly]

you Sir are an ABSOLUTE legend! I adore your vids!
Rarely are there vids that are that excellent and educational and just extremely entertaining as well!
It just sparks so much interest and brings out the passion to just go and build/code/learn stuff!
THANK YOU!

[bliksemdonder]

Very cool! The 6502 and Z80 were our go-to micros 40+ years ago. These units allowed the creation of many new career paths for many people as well.

[Eliasdbr]

Amazing! I got into computer science thanks to you. You are so good at explaining these concepts!

[thavith]

Thank you, love this. Helps demystify what was incomprehensible to me those many years ago.