FPGA based CPU designs from the 90s, PART I

This series of videos show some of my own CPU designs based on FPGAs from the 1990s. If you like old PCs and wire wrapping, this video is for you.

[@0xf7c8]

I am a computer engineering student of last year and I have to say, the amount of work you have done here is incredible.

[@joesmith-je3tq]

Thanks. I have always liked playing with digital. Good luck with your career.

[@michaelerbaturakis2435]

I Wana be a computer engineer

[@michaelerbaturakis2435]

I'm 16

[@Rainbow__cookie]

I want to be a electronics engineer

[@rich1051414]

@@michaelerbaturakis2435 Start with a computer science major. You will find out if software or hardware peaks your interest more, then just move to a more appropriate major if necessary :)

[@totoxahc]

Oh man, 3 FPGA's on wire wrap... amazing

[@joesmith-je3tq]

Thanks. Three FPGAs, not too bad. 100MHz clock on a wire-wrap board, that was pushing my luck! lol

[@user-ww2lc1yo9c]

I want to do this type of exciting FPGA and board design, how do I get into this job?

[@joesmith-je3tq]

It's no different than any other job. Just submit your resume to the companies you want to work for.

[@dextertreehorn]

You have my respect!

[@farhanyousaf5616]

"Not doing anything for business, just for my home hobby." Wow.

[@drprofesszor]

This words hit in my brain. :)

[@mirabilis]

He bought a $6000 FPGA for doing his hobby on. :)

[@joolzg]

@@mirabilis but he only paid $2000!!!!

[@mirabilis]

@@joolzg Oh, wow, that's cheap. ;)

[@stevetodd7383]

Two points here: Firstly $2-6000 isn’t beyond hobby money (look at the amounts people will spend on cameras, fishing gear, HiFi etc.). It’s not cheap hobby money, but it’s far from unheard of. Secondly technology moves on. You can get far more capable FPGA boards now for sub $100, and $2000 buys you orders of magnitude more than this on a PCIe card, prebuilt. 90’s level hardware is within reach of even low end hobbyists these days.

[@williamnichols2067]

You pulled out that card on the bottom, turned it over, I saw the wire wrap, you said you did it and my jaw just dropped. That is some fine, detailed, meticulous, work. Great way to spend your time.

[@nicholasmaude6906]

That wire-wrapping must've taken a long time.

[@rex-up9ln]

Yes, that shows what an insane amout of patience he has

[@ferrari2k]

I can't imagine putting this stuff together in the mid-90ies when documentation surely was quite rare, as the internet was only just beginning. Wow. Hats off to you sir :)

[@big0bad0brad]

People starting out in those kind of technical fields today don't understand what it used to be like. You couldn't program microcontrollers without fancy development kits. You probably couldn't afford them even if the companies would sell them to you. Maybe if you knew someone that worked in the industry you might be able to get some useful information to start working with but beside that there was no KZbin or such to watch tutorials - it was all just "magic" and you could only imagine how things worked.

[@DannyWilliamH]

That's literally a work of art. I don't mean that in the slang sense of "I think it's cool". No, it's literally a work of art. I can't imagine what patience and know how it took to do that. That's very neat and I'd watch 1000 more of these videos.

[@kearneyboy]

This build is on a different level. The Wire wrapping is incredible.

[@raven4k998]

yeah, the lack of air flow really speaks to the care of if it gets to hot and burns up who cares attitude back then

[@BlaMurda]

I love videos where I go from arrogantly thinking, "I compile my own Linux OS'.. I know everything about computers!". Then you see this, and it is more like "Wow I know nothing at all, great.."

[@Phoen1x883]

"everything about computers" grew beyond the scope of human knowability some time in the 90's. I find that the more you learn, the more you discover how much you will never have time learn.

[@DD4DA]

Oh yes, i agree in that point. I also need more time than just one life to learn all i want. The things are getting more complex and needs more and more time to learn to use them effective. I ask me, where the advantage of all the new things we developed and will develop in the future, is.

[@pkf4124]

Yes this is one of those videos I will show to all those arrogant student techs we get where I work. "Oh how quaint you made your own PC".......... "Nah you just put it together like a box of Lego, this is making your own computer" .... Drop the Mic.

[@ItsBoyRed]

Donning Kruger Effect

[@maxlee3838]

My father always had computers around when I was growing up (he had a collection of 80’s home computers in the garage)... I’ve recently been on a thought train that’s headed towards building my own computer from the ground up... I’m glad that folks like you, who have the know how, are sharing what they have done. If my younger generation lost the knowledge of these foundations of digital technology, we could easily find ourselves in a Stone Age situation I feel like. So thank you, and please keep sharing when you can.

[@CapApollo]

hobby... you get into the hobby real hard..

[@joesmith-je3tq]

I guess it's like anything else.

[@RMCRetro]

I could listen to those drives spinning up all day

[@runouno]

The man, the myth, the legend.

[@ramade9040]

You need to get therapy

[@PeachIceCreamy]

Peter Parker And what makes you say that?

[@GillesVandenoostende]

Sounds like the THX note through tinny speakers

[@JimTheZombieHunter]

Is it just me, or is seeing wire wrap akin to rediscovering that 30 year old stash of Playboy mags in the attic?

[@sortsvane]

Right ! There's something very satisfying seeing a complex circuit connected through wire wrapping...

[@hokuspokus8570]

wiring of this boards is masterpiece

[@joesmith-je3tq]

Thanks.

[@alexandermiller557]

Currently an electrical engineering student and I have much appreciation for this video. This is impressive.

[@ifrashable]

todays computer guy is nothing compared to this man,,,

[@cultofsogga5863]

not needed

[@eksine]

computers have advanced, this stuff is all archaic now

[@eksine]

@timbba woosh yourself idiot

[@morganhv]

@@eksine The way he was designing computer hardware like in verilog/vhdl and testing on FPGA's is mostly the same way it is done now. ARM cores are written and distributed in verilog for example. Testing is done either in simulation or on an FPGA then it goes to silicon fab if everything works. FPGA's and CPU's simply have gotten larger and faster.

[@eksine]

@@morganhv today's cpu uses 7nm, there's no way it's done like this. I don't think people use fpga any more. cpu's are way too advanced to be doing it manually like this

[@flappy7373]

3:37 The ST-251's spool-up time is a freaking lifetime! Man, old tech is so cool to see.. you can almost see the developer's thoughts in those machines, can't you.

[@luisponce3580]

Amazing video! Currently 20 and studying software engineer and i got to say, this is just soo beautiful, i love the engineering on those old technologies and you sharing your passion, its wonderful! Thanks for the video, it really brought up emotions in my head. Here i am making a CPU out of a fpga using Verilog without worrying about cables while you created this beautiful masterpiece!

[@ericmin832]

It's a ritual to come back to this video every once in a while

[@rpeetz]

Incredible work that you made, im amazed.

[@anispinner]

Thank you so much for this showcase dude. This is such a nostalgia...

[@mrcammyp1]

I wish you could show me everything you know. Truly amazing work. I'm late to the video but am going to closely follow any and all information you give to us!

[@billthekid1982]

Check out his DMM reviews, just amazing.

[@jarekjagielski366]

Now that is a piece of some really fascinating hardware, amazing video.

[@ermietanyo7621]

that is "building" computers... Linus!

[@TheChrisey]

Lol Linus is an amateur/hobbyist who got wealthy by other amateurs watching their vids. His videos are entertaining but they are not advanced and often contain wrong info.

[@ct275]

I came to see the wire wrap! Thank you for sharing your hobby sir.

[@JohnDoe-qx3zs]

Beautiful wirewrap. I love how you use a wooden garden table to provide a non-conductive surface that reduces the deceleration G-forces when putting down old drives while also making it easy to slot through cables.

[@1495978707]

Man I gotta say I really respect you for doing that. I’ve been watching Ben Eater’s videos and thinking about how I’d build a computer from scratch, but I haven’t been able to actually work on it. But you’ve actually done it and you did it with far less in the way of resources. I’ve got it easy

[@chrisbishop6928]

"...and then calling that your computer build, that's not what this video is about" chuckles.....sits back, grabs coffee and enjoys. Crazy how the sounds of certain hd motors bring back memories. Awesome video, incredible work, thank you.

[@sanches2]

Joe, i was really humbled by those 2 videos of yours... i just finished a very heavy device with so many ic's and peripherals that i was feeling the king of ee.... you just brought me back to earth, thanks mate. Congratulations on the meticulous work you did back then. I envy you a little but ... in a good way:) I still have a lot to learn despite the fact that i'm already 37. Best wishes from a viewer in Bulgaria. Regards, Ivan

[@ancap1065]

thats an amazing FPGA wire wrap job you got there hats off ive never seen such a professional finish

[@hansoak3664]

Just wow! That is awesome. Excellent work and thanks very much for sharing. You are clearly a talented fellow.

[@unomasenelmar]

Oh!, I have wired 6502 boards but this is already at another level, to think that now they worry about putting short cables. My sincerest congratulations, I know how hard work is here.

[@rex-up9ln]

Excellent work. You're truly an inspiration

[@typedeaf]

Super interesting. I didn't think that wire wrap could handle such fast bus speeds. Definitely bragging rights. And that serial a/b box looks fantastic.

[@kentvandervelden]

In 1994 I had a Micropolis 1.8 GB SCSI drive and friends came over to pop the case cover off to see the drive. Similar I guess to popping the car hood and staring at the engine, for those so inclined. :) Love this old hardware, stuff that a person could actually understand and modify. I had no idea about the p55t2p4d-200 and dual Pentiums was possible. I had a dual slotted Celeron (Slot 1?) system, but the Celeron boards had to be modified with a drill and wire-wrap wire. Awesome video! The wire-wrapped FPGA based board is amazing! No idea what you do for a profession, but if this is what you do for a hobby...

[@deepstonecrypt]

This is out of this world... And I thought I knew about computers... You are on a whole other level.

[@0youwannagethigh0]

Again, impressive!

[@JackPassmore]

Joe, you're king nerd, taking me back down memory lane. Thank you for making this video!

[@hedleyfurio]

Awesome . Takes me back to my days at Burroughs when all backplanes were wirewrapped on the mainframes . The 6800 and Z80 were still years away . Now we have movidius neural compute sticks with 10nm parts . Great info and thanks for sharing .

[@dwagner6]

So epic. Even now I can only aspire to building anything like those boards, let alone for my home hobby use. Thank you for sharing!

[@Haruki_Aikawa]

Your wraps are absolutely beautiful!

[@AllRepairDIY]

I like the arrangement of the cables, so pretty

[@tunicana]

Big respect to you.Amazing work.I bet no engineers nowadays can build a board like this.

[@alex_inside]

What point is there to study Electronics when there are people like these on the world... This is incredible and brilliant, if I could just reach 10% of your knowledge I would be happy with my life.

[@therealchayd]

Sir, I tip my hat to you. These days we're spoiled for choice when it comes to off the shelf dev boards, actually wire wrapping your own; wow!

[@tinygriffy]

Wow.. the wire wrapping , incredible Job ..

[@wickedprotos1937]

That wire-wrapped board is a work of art: well done!

[@campbellmorrison8540]

I still really like wire wrap, you made a lovely job of yours.

[@dlaxciebie]

so cool old parts. great video

[@ShivaramKR]

I had built a 8-bit mini computer on FPGA when I was in Engineering reading computer architecture book. Most of the design was my own. I had used Xilinx board and used VHDL for coding, 14 years back.

[@TheComputadude]

These look absolutely amazing! Very cool stuff. Great job on the wire wrap.

[@joesmith-je3tq]

+TheComputadude Thanks. Glad you enjoyed them.

[@zapador]

Wow!! Truly impressive and very interesting to watch as well. Thank you!

[@LordDecapo]

these boards... are amazing. very, very well done work.

[@ThexBorg]

Amazing stuff. Well done!

[@BenWard29]

Awesome video- great work Joe!

[@JohnVance]

Ah man, the sound of the old drives was great.

[@dwagner6]

Just found your channel and subbed. I know the video has been up for a while but I am thoroughly enjoying it. Thank you for sharing!

[@movax20h]

Nice. Awesome dedication.

[@andycristea]

Wow! Very impressive! Thanks for sharing!

[@monad_tcp]

2:28 the botch wires, I love it

[@mohitmishramoit95]

Wow, I can not imagine how much work it has been to solder all component, kudos man.

[@joesmoe71]

Back in high school someone donated a bunch of old computer equipment to the electronics class including a 1mb HDD that had platters about a foot or so wide and had an AC motor, we tore it apart but in hindsight it would have been an interesting thing to have tried to get working.

[@invisiblekincajou]

Great scotts!! This is perfect example of contemporary art in its true form!

[@pkf4124]

You are a star for sharing this. your work reminds me of my days making looms for military equipment. I have some of those Fujitsu drives in my stash. I remember when I got them everyone was all "what on earth do you need 2Gb storage for, mind you theysaid the same when i bought my first drive and it was a wopping 48mb formatted. We have it so easy now with Chinese PCB fab shops online tools and Raspberry Pi boards.

[@Get_Technical]

Stumbled across your video 6 years later and all I can say is "WOW"

[@zoxwolf2133]

This altera board and that wire art oh man looks beautiful :)

[@KAOPro]

Hello Sir, I stumbled into this video and it reminded me as to when I started building PC's ( meaning buying a motherboard, adding a video card, sound card, 56k modem, etc -Nothing like you.) I remember being so excited about adding a 512 SDRAM! I am hooked and I subscribed. Thank you for sharing this and I look forward to seeing all you're videos. I wish I had a1/4 of your knowledge, your knowledge is like 1000x mine. Hopefully you keep adding videos and I could learn a little more from you. Thank you again and have a great day!

[@marviosantos]

Sir! You are THE master geek! That is quite simply impressive! You were wiring wrapping boards into the 90's!? Holy crap, and I thought I was a geek :)

[@Machin396]

Amazing work man, thanks for the books suggestions.

[@murrayedington]

I never used wire wrap because I knew it would never work if I did. Amazing what you achieved here!

[@leyasep5919]

I just found this video and I want to see all your adventures :-D Damn, 22V10 on ISA16 was such an era... The nostalgia is strong in this one :-D

[@patriciocohen8081]

Amazing! Especially the use of coax for high freq clocks. I have never seen a wire wrapped board for high speed digital stuff.

[@joesmith-je3tq]

I'm glad you enjoyed it.

[@TidBitOf]

You sound like a guy that I would enjoy hanging out with and talking too. I also study CPU architecture for fun. Love the videos!

[@helipilot727]

Beautiful work!

[@joesmith-je3tq]

Thanks

[@adrianjohnson555]

When you flipped the board over I let out a 'wow....'

[@meteor8076]

Very very interesting and incredible !

[@arthurjohnson3438]

great work

[@marcus4909]

hearing them drives really took me back!!! my board was like yours with the 2 processors but mine looked like Nintendo cartridges lol

[@TradingFuturo]

this guy is a master, quite awesome stuff he builds

[@DJacKnifeAlpha]

It's 3AM and I got here from 3D modeling tutorials... I.. guess... those are related? I honestly have 0 clue what's going on, but I'm absolutely FLABBERGASTED that you built your own boards!!! Simply amazing work.

[@notsuoh16Bit]

Amazing dude, just amazing.

[@ZeroControl]

When even some who do not do it, say wow. It is precious.

[@GR8TM4N]

Absolutely incredible

[@FlyByPC]

2:27 WOW, that's a lot of hotfixes. I remember seeing three or four on the 486 motherboard I bought back in '91. Cool video.

[@douro20]

I've never seen one of those which would display POST codes on the LED display before... Apparently the Creative Video Spigot was originally a SuperMac product. They developed both a PC and NuBus Macintosh version but only marketed the NuBus card, instead selling the design for the PC version to Creative. The Philips CDD2000 was a very good drive. It was actually the first drive on the market that I know of which would supported CD-RW media. I had the HP version of that drive.

[@joesmith-je3tq]

My old VTECH PC had the post codes. So did the Everex PCs. I'm sure there were others.

[@gerardzi7930]

Wrapping boards are Amazing 😮

[@brucetungsten5714]

Very interesting - props!

[@hardergamer]

Really cool joe!

[@PhdHung]

Amazing 8:54

[@DaruoshAghajaney]

Super impressive man!

[@ianhanschen]

I wish I could like this more times. I've done my PCIe experiments, but am putting together a board for doing experiments on the ISA and PCI buses.

[@ovalwingnut]

Stopped by for FPGA insights and was treated to your magnificent "hand made" boards :) Those my friend are a labor of love and work's of art. I'm so impressed I'm not sure the're not Alien technologies from the future?... Thank you for sharing them.. heading off to Part-ii. p.s. Those old-school drive "sounds" take me back. They also reminded me why I'm broke.... being on the bleeding edge can do that ;) Cheers!

[@Blight-fp3vt]

Great video. I love your old designs, and the wirewrapping really puts me to shame.

[@ReedHarston]

Those hard drive sounds bring back some memories...

[@HDestroyer787]

I sneezed from the virtual dust feeling I had in my nose

[@vladnickul]

that board is superb!

[@964tractorboy]

I love wire-wrap. Good to see it in colours other than pink!

[@metallitech]

Thank you for sharing all this. I was just going to ask for book recommendations learning this type of thing, but then I got to them at 13:55

[@xxxratixxx]

I my self have done some boards but like this omg thats god level the ones i have done are nothing compaird with yours you are a master

[@rsmrsm2000]

Amazing !

[@ri-gor]

"Here's what this hard drive sounds like..." *heavenly noises* This whole video is just computer engineering porn. XD