Building and programming a 16-bit Intel x86 breadboard computer [video] | Hacker News Reader

Building and programming a 16-bit Intel x86 breadboard computer [video]

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62 pointssurprisetalk13 comments

Recently I made C compiler for such old CPUs.

GH: https://github.com/Mati365/ts-c-compiler

Interesting. It would have been nice if it could be used on "80286 (and newer)" :)

Agh yes, but it is quite hard to run node on such old CPUs

I am glad to see that they finally moved the project to PCB, but, man, is breadboard ever a terrible platform for microprocessor development.

Doesn't anybody do wirewrap anymore? I, too, struggled with bad connections and crosstalk in my breadboard projects in my first and second year at university, and then I discovered wirewrap, and never looked back.

Apart from having to think in reverse, wirewrap is almost as easy as breadboarding (arguably easier when things get crowded), and it is robust enough to be used for production projects.

This is nifty. Well done.

There's a book called 'The 8088 Project Book' that takes you step-by-step through building an 8088 breadboard computer starting focusing on a 'get the minimum working, then add to it' approach (I guess we call that MVP now). I enjoyed building/learning that one; it's maybe one of the few Tab books that wasn't rubbish.

There's a similar breadboard computer video that builds on an mc68008.

A very cool series, well presented. Incidentally, a search for 8088 on eBay also turns up curious new laptops with this CPU inside.

LGR reviewed one: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6bODiZ5bP84

This was a well done and engaging series, kudos. I remember creating projects like this - still amazed that you can step a CPU like that one cycle at a time.

Does anyone still produces 8088?

Renesas

53$ - a bit expensive but still cool you can buy 8088 compatable 40 years later.

Didn't realize they still made them. That's a tortured license road: Intel->Intersil->Harris->Intersil part deux->Renesas.

Rochester Electronics (REI) does. They're in the product lifespan extension space and are licensed by the big guys (Intel, AMD, etc) to produce popular products after the OEM has moved on to newer stuff, usually to satisfy contract obligations (e.g. "Must provide 20 years of spare parts", often for military apps). They aren't cheap.

Innovasic used to, but I dunno what they're up to since Analog Devices picked them up. Similar biz plan to REI.

There's probably an embedded ASIC being sold someplace that incorporates an 8086/8088 somewhere deep down. You probably won't find '8086' mentioned in the datasheet, nor will you likely have heard of the company.

These days there are numerous synthesizeable models you can cram into an FPGA. And there's still bins full of NOS chips around.

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