Making a modern BBC Micro

Making a BBC micro emulator for fun. Using as may original parts as needed to make it look and feel like a real BBC Micro

[@totallybonkers76]

"Because it's fun" - is the *best* excuse for doing these kinds of projects 🙂

[@Ouch.]

When you come to remove hot glue just use isopropyl alcohol. It releases the grip on hot glue in seconds. Good stuff

[@Pugwash.]

A proper bit of nostalgia, as I learned to program on a BBC B. Emulating could also allow you run a few % faster.

[@stevebowden4878]

Hi, great video, can you tell me what raspi image you used. Thanks

[@paulmitchell-gears6765]

Super cool project, love it! And a lot easier to live with than an authentic beeb. I have a couple of questions: What raspberry pi is this? What software is on your SD card? Thanks and great work!

[@trickysoft]

I would agree that some beebs could take a lot of work, but the only one that I've seen as unrepairable was driven over, smashing the case and breaking the circuit board in to multiple pieces. If you don't need serial, the only other custom chip is the Video ULA which can still be found or replace with a Video NULA, which is a great upgrade anyway. Does that PS/2 keyboard support the full 20+ keys that can be pressed and individually tested at once? I don't think that I listened all the way through before and have just got to the reversible bit :) I do my sound out through a jack mods with hot glue, same reason, reversible. I've never found a brittle keyboard cable, but there can sometimes be oxidations on the pins that removing and replacing the cable can fix. A dodgy keyboard connection can stop a beeb from booting.

[@AndrewAHayes]

I still have my old BBC model B and although it worked when I tested it last about six months ago I don't want to use it without changing the caps. Are there any other components that should be replaced? I wont trust the power supply though, can you recommend a modern replacement?

[@trickysoft]

Which emulator are you using? I'm assuming beebjit to be fast enough, but I didn't know that it was on the pi. I have the PIs hanging of my main Beeb, but none inside :)

[@DAVIDGREGORYKERR]

Maybe because you are using a Raspberry Pi that uses an ARM chip maybe Archimedes programs might be better.

[@maxpolaris99]

What!??? It's just in bits, no bobs? that surely is a very sad state of affairs indeed!

[@DAVIDGREGORYKERR]

BBC BASIC includes a 6502 Assembler and Debugger and a ADSF file system, it also needs Tube connection for adding on a second CPU or other piece of hardware and a ECONET adapter and connections for first and second Floppy Drives.

[@another3997]

The emulator provides BBC Basic, complete with 6502 assembler etc. It doesn't NEED a Tube connector, the BBC ran fine without a second CPU. Econet can be emulated and then be connected to a modern network via the Pi. The emulator provides virtual floppy drives, so no need for the real thing.

[@ms-ex8em]

can you type in a menu system for this bbc micro ????? thanks

[@tortysoft]

Nice :-)

[@DAVIDGREGORYKERR]

You will need an UDOO RYZEN BOLT V2000 Maker Board SBC should be able to do everything a IBM compatible can do and more and as it uses a RYZEN APU (combined CPU and Graphics Card) in one chip.

[@kenknight5983]

Eben Upton would approve

[@peteclarke9682]

What software did you use? I've been playing with beebem on the pi and even on a pi4 it runs far too slowly ... I can't imagine how bad it would be on a zero!

[@another3997]

I'd say there was something wrong with your setup or the emulator itself. There is absolutely no way a Pi Zero should struggle emulating a BBC Micro model B, never mind a PI 4. It's been possible to emulate the Beeb at full speed for decades, obviously on much lower spec hardware.

[@peteclarke9682]

@another3997 I agree that it's been possible, looking g at t'internet it's a widely accepted view that the beeb, for whatever reason, has been hard to get running at full speed on a pi .. no idea why, I'm no newbie to emulation and have a breadbin c64 running bcm64 and a speccy too. The bbc hardware runs well under fpga on my next, but never has been running well on any pi I've got (from zero to 4) using any emulator other than the "optimised" one that Graham made to showoff the pico ..

[@DAVIDGREGORYKERR]

You might want to emulate a Archimedes as the Raspberry Pi has an ARM processor then you should be able to run software for the Archimedes.

[@johnm2012]

You don't need to emulate an Archimedes because RISC OS runs natively on a Raspberry Pi. If you look at the SD card creator utility that comes with Raspberry Pi OS, under the "Other Operating Systems" option is RISC OS.

[@peterwood2362]

I still have a working BBC B, beaten up case and stinks to high heaven of a long dead professor's tobacco pipe. I Also have a 10 year old PC that can easily emulate it without breaking a sweat. Should not want to do this, no practicle reason to do so. Yet, I want to...

[@edgarmatzinger9742]

Just a simple BBC micro emulator. Which is *NOT* a modern BBC micro! How would you connect, for instance, a Z80?

[@Re-Tech]

It is exactly as you have said - The point I was trying to make is that people have options. I have a number of BBC micro's and they have all needed work to keep them working correctly. The Media is starting to get bit rot and it is only the hard core enthusiast with dedication to the platform that will keep these machines running for the long term. I have recreated a large number of my vintage micros from the ZX Spectrum through to the BBC micro and they have been so reliable with the advantage that I can also use them as an everyday computer by swapping the SD card. But the big advantage is that I can have all of my software on a single SD card and when I want a 5 minute fix of retro or I need to test out a utility or game, as I know it is going to work every time. They are not replacements for the original hardware, but they are convenient and robust enough for my kids to play on without that twitchy feeling that something is going to break.. This is why I really liked the Recreated 64 from RetroGames. They make a lot of sense to own and use. They are not for everyone... and we need to ask ourselves - What makes a platform - Is it the hardware or the software? - A lot of people including Chris Curry believe the software is more important, because the hardware can be replicated or emulated (as I have done here). I believe original hardware is always the best option for authenticity, but as a preservation tool, recreated machines also have their place because I would much rather loan an emulated look-a-like to a child (or some adults) to play with or try out than a somewhat rare working example of a vintage machine. As for running a Z80 co pro - That can also be emulated in software. - But again if I have the original hardware I would prefer to use that. But not everyone is in the position to own vintage computers that are becoming increasingly more expensive by the month. With the arrival of the C64 Mini and Maxi, we have seen an explosion of new software for these machines because the market expanded almost over night. It is the same for emulators on other platforms as it allows a bigger market for new software. Emulators are becoming the first step into owning a vintage computer so they can be a good thing, Thanks for your comment - It is great to have a discussion.

[@another3997]

Wow, nothing gets past you! Anybody would think he hadn't specifically mentioned pretty much all of that in the video itself, and his reasons... but it turns out he did. Did you actually listen to what he said in the video?

[@johnm2012]

​@@Re-TechAre you prepared to share the SD card image that you created so others can try it too?

[@johnm2012]

You can buy a brand new replica Issue 7 motherboard if you want to build an authentic BBC Micro from scratch. Some of the other parts have to be harvested from donor machines though. The tape filing system relay and some of the DIN connectors are perhaps the more surprising of the difficult to find parts.

[@another3997]

​@@johnm2012No doubt he could, but he didn't want to, and he'd still have to find all the necessary ICs in working condition. As he specifically mentioned in the video, all of this is reversible in case he decides to go that route.