Where the project stands
Eliott65 moves forward in small versions, each measured on the board before being delivered. Here is what works, what is under construction and what is waiting.
On this page
What works, validated on the board
| Area | Status |
|---|---|
| 6502 bus | served by PIO and DMA, with no ARM core; TURBO mode by default; at 270 MHz, 7.707 MHz measured by the 6502 with video on (v0.59.1) |
| System calls | 2-byte gate, ≈ 5 µs per call; 7 services, 47 functions |
| Video | HDMI 720 × 480 at 60 Hz, one signal for every mode (the default since v0.52; stable picture on the screen with v0.58); 40 × 30 text in 16 colours, read directly from the 6502’s memory |
| Keyboard | USB, read by an in-house driver, delivered to the 6502 without a system call; US and FR layouts |
| USB stick | reading and writing, multi-block commands |
| Files | FAT12, FAT16, FAT32, long names; launching a program from the stick |
| Multitasking | up to 8 programs, cooperative and pre-emptive; shell with background tasks and Ctrl+Tab, commands in English (HELP, PS, KILL) |
| Hibernation | the whole machine in a .HIB file, exact resumption |
| Graphics | 320 × 240, two tile or bitmap layers, 128 sprites, 256-colour palette; core 0 draws, core 1 encodes; 13 measurement scenarios out of 16 fit in the time allowed |
| Sound | the board’s speaker: notes and melodies without blocking the program (SON service) |
| Emulator | the same kernel on the PC, with test benches for the bus, video and USB; matches the board on screens and memory; debugger (trace, breakpoints, watches) |
Under construction
- The Hercules mode (720 × 350 monochrome, 80 × 25 text): the 720 × 480 signal became the default (v0.52), the graphics part exists (v0.53), so does the 80 × 25 text (v0.54), with a 9 × 14 font drawn for the project (v0.58), and the shell can switch to 80 columns (v0.57). Exact on the bench, but too slow on the board: measured in v0.59, they overrun the time to prepare a line. v0.60 speeds them up, not yet checked on the board. See Video.
- An open problem on the board: at 270 MHz, the GRAPHE demo stops calling the kernel after a few minutes. The bus model points to a plausible cause; the fix has been on the board since v0.59 (7.707 MHz measured), and a long watch by the wireless probe is under way. See The bus.
- Sound over the HDMI socket: a test tone travels in the data islands and the bench decodes it correctly, but it has not yet been confirmed by ear; set aside at the user’s request. See Sound.
Waiting
- USB floppy drive: the FAT12 format is ready and tested on 1.44 MB floppy disk images. A real drive still has to be plugged in to find out whether it speaks the Bulk-Only protocol (like sticks) or UFI/CBI, common among floppy drives.
Under study or in the backlog
- a Forth ported to the Eliott65 interface;
- on-demand virtual memory, so that a program can exceed 64 KiB;
- the mouse: it is already recognised on the hub, but not yet used.
Timeline
The project started on 13 October 2026 with a feasibility study. The main milestones:
| Version | Milestone |
|---|---|
| 0.1 | Feasibility study |
| 0.2 | The 6502 runs for the first time on the Eliott65 bus — first time round |
| 0.3 | Bus served by PIO + DMA; both ARM cores are freed |
| 0.4 | In-house DVI video driver, text screen |
| 0.5 – 0.6 | In-house USB driver: keyboard, then USB stick |
| 0.7 – 0.11 | FAT32, launching programs, long names, writing, FAT12 and FAT16 |
| 0.12 | Hibernation |
| 0.13 – 0.18 | Multitasking: two spaces, pre-emption by NMI, shell, 8 processes, sleep |
| 0.19 – 0.26 | Host emulator, test benches for the bus, video and USB, SDL window |
| 0.27 – 0.42 | Graphics: engine, services, display on the board, collaboration between the two cores, sprites in assembler |
| 0.43 – 0.47 | Real HDMI, redesigned video DMA, test tone over HDMI; EDID turns out to be impossible on this board |
| 0.48 | The board’s speaker plays: SON service |
| 0.49 – 0.50 | Faster sprites (13 scenarios out of 16); 720 × 480 signal at 270 MHz as an option, first step of the Hercules mode |
| 0.51 – 0.52 | HDMI in 720 × 480, then this signal as the default for every mode; candidate bus fix at 270 MHz |
| 0.53 | Hercules mode, graphics part; the whole project under the EUPL 1.2 |
| 0.54 | Hercules mode, 80 × 25 text (provisional font) |
| 0.55 – 0.56 | 4 KiB given back to the firmware (page of zeros in the pool); emulator debugger |
| 0.57 – 0.58 | Shell in 80 × 25 and commands in English; Eliott65’s 9 × 14 font |
| 0.59 – 0.60 | Tools through the wireless probe; v0.58 seen on screen, stable picture; 7.707 MHz measured; faster Hercules modes |
The details of each version are recorded in the repository’s development log; this wiki covers the essentials by topic.