BASIC Engine for OLPX XO

Hawk

Here's a real big "pie in the sky" idea. How difficult would it be to get the OLPC XO laptops to boot straight into BASIC Engine?

OLPC XO laptops are now coming out of service from schools and are being sold off cheaply, or junked due to obsolete technology. They are a known standard platform, with know hardware, much like the H3 SBCs that BASIC Engine has been running on.

It would add a new lease of life to these little laptops if they could run a Boot-to-BASIC OS that allowed them to be easily programmed in a modern BASIC dialect.

Dmian

The first models used x86 compatible SoCs (AMD Geode LX-700 and VIA C7). Unless somebody is eager to write everything from scratch, they're not viable options. Later models used Marvell Armada 610, that are ARMv7 compatible, same ISA as the H3, but I guess their architecture may be very different, and not a trivial amount of work may be necessary to adapt BASIC Engine to run on them. So, while technically possible, who would do that?

But I understand where you come from. There's an emotional connection with technology, specially with objects that's sometimes overlooked. Computers are more than just ideas, circuits or features. We connect with computers in different ways, and some of these ways are pure emotion (nostalgia), while others are tactile (the feel of the object as we interact with it), visual (the way the object looks, or how we remember it looked) or auditory (the clicks and noises).

That's why it's as important to create a tangible product as it is for it to be a good, functional product.

I think (and forgive me if I'm wrong) that you're looking to connect in a tangible way with this project. If that's the case, I totally understand you. I too wanted to connect in that same way with it, and did for a while (after I assembled a batch of the initial boards and put them in cases).

Sadly, I think Uli lost his motivation, and I don't see anybody picking up the baton from where he stopped. I hope I'm wrong.

Hawk

i think you hit the nail on the head, so to speak. I have tried to connect to various modern Boot-to-BASIC machines, and each time there has been something that halted progress. Maybe the common factor is me. I certainly have limitations when it comes to software development, even though I used to be employed as a software developer.

I'm probably trying to re-create that first experience when you got your shiny new computer and you needed to learn how to use it. I certainly enjoy that aspect of retro-computing.

Partly, I was always anticipating that if the computer hardware was simple enough, then "kids" could build their own computer...I could run a holiday program or something, and kids could go home with their own Boot-to-BASIC computer.

I am currently messing with the PicoMite VGA. The software looks very solid, and the hardware is affordable, but it is flexible to the point of useless. Unless they standardize on some of the interfaces a bit more, no one will want to develop hardware or software for it because it keeps changing. At the moment they are discussing what type of joysticks to support.

I'm trying to make the Tauon PC-1/Raspberry Pi 400 version of the PicoMite VGA, which is not as easy as it sounds. It uses a PS/2 keyboard, and they are not so easy to buy new anymore, specially ones that are small enough to go into a 3D printed case.

Anyway, I keep ticking away at it. I haven't given up on the idea of implementing the same for the BASIC Engine. The latest V88 tv box I bought showed me that you can get a working platform very cheaply. The all-in-one BASIC Engine PC is planned to be build around a commonly available cheap mechanical keyboard. Something like an AJAZZ AK33. The problem is, with BASIC Engine supporting USB, you are better to mount the main board on the monitor and use a wireless USB keyboard. There's not a lot of point in making an all-in-one keyboard computer like the old days.

Anyway...still tinkering.

Dmian

I totally get your idea. And like it really much.

I stubbornly believe that, in the current environment, just giving the user a BASIC prompt is not enough to spark creativity. One of the latest developments that I find most fascinating are the fantasy consoles. It is to today what BASIC was to us in the past. Just a coding language is not enough to create games. You need graphics. You need sounds. You need music. Fantasy consoles give you tools to create that. And any modern "retro inspired" computer that aspires to be a channel for kids to funnel their creativity should also provide that, in my opinion.

If there was something similar to Pico-8 or BASIC8 you could burn in a EEPROM, on a computer that can run that instantly after turning it on, that would be what I always wanted 😃

I feel so dumb for not having the knowledge to create something like that.

Hawk

I love the idea of Fantasy consoles. It's the limitations that bring out people's creativity. It's possible for a developer to understand the whole console and has access the the tools to make development easier. That can also be possible in a Boot-to_BASIC platform. Already we expect them to provide a full screen editor to allow us to enter BASIC programs without program numbers. Adding a graphical editor, ala PICO-8 should also be possible, and should be able to run on the same platform, so you don't need to do cross platform development.