jhorn Posted November 29, 2011 Share Posted November 29, 2011 Hey everyone! - I'm new to the atariage forums, if you haven't read my post in the introductions: I'm Josh, I'm 25 and I live in Texas. I've done a bit of programming before, mainly BASIC, PERL and x86 Assembly. Seeing as the Atari 2600, is nothing more than a computer, (as is every gaming console really) I thought about something. I've worked with tiny homebrew Assembly operating systems, I've written a few kernels myself too. I wondered, would it be possible to write a tiny OS for the 2600 in DASM? Could you program it to use the keypad controller as a "keyboard" and actually have a working kernel with a tiny tiny command line interface? Well, with the space limitations on the ROM, and limitations of RAM and CPU speed, it's limited, but I have worked with kernels that are only 5kb or so in size. So my idea is, a tiny kernel (os) written in DASM called "ata-OS" ("A Tiny Atari Operating System") Will use: keypad controller as a "keyboard" input device, or the standard joystick for a task "selection" menu CLI or simple menu driven system if space allows (for joystick) Comments, suggestions? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Syntaxerror999 Posted November 29, 2011 Share Posted November 29, 2011 Hey everyone! - I'm new to the atariage forums, if you haven't read my post in the introductions: I'm Josh, I'm 25 and I live in Texas. I've done a bit of programming before, mainly BASIC, PERL and x86 Assembly. Seeing as the Atari 2600, is nothing more than a computer, (as is every gaming console really) I thought about something. I've worked with tiny homebrew Assembly operating systems, I've written a few kernels myself too. I wondered, would it be possible to write a tiny OS for the 2600 in DASM? Could you program it to use the keypad controller as a "keyboard" and actually have a working kernel with a tiny tiny command line interface? Well, with the space limitations on the ROM, and limitations of RAM and CPU speed, it's limited, but I have worked with kernels that are only 5kb or so in size. So my idea is, a tiny kernel (os) written in DASM called "ata-OS" ("A Tiny Atari Operating System") Will use: keypad controller as a "keyboard" input device, or the standard joystick for a task "selection" menu CLI or simple menu driven system if space allows (for joystick) Comments, suggestions? There is a homebrew of an "Atari OS" around. It had a windows like interface... but it wasnt finished. Id be curious to see what you could come up with. Perhaps it could trigger an external device... or even work like the compumate. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jhorn Posted December 3, 2011 Author Share Posted December 3, 2011 Hey! I'm calling my project the VCSKernel. I have DASM, Batari BASIC, Stella and some tutorials / sample code. I'll keep ya'll posted on any progress!! - J Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nateo Posted December 5, 2011 Share Posted December 5, 2011 I, for one, am very interested to see your results with this experiment. The idea of the 2600 functioning as a computer has always fascinated me. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jhorn Posted December 6, 2011 Author Share Posted December 6, 2011 I, for one, am very interested to see your results with this experiment. The idea of the 2600 functioning as a computer has always fascinated me. Thanks! - I'll be sure to keep you posted! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Join the conversation
You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.
Note: Your post will require moderator approval before it will be visible.