Foenix F256 meets its match - the FNX6809 and a port of NitrOS-9 Level 2

This video provides a first look at the FNX6809 drop-in CPU replacement, which is a FPGA based MC6809 core, designed to replace the stock WDC65C02 CPU in your Foenix F256 Jr. or Foenix F256K.

As we often do on this channel, we begin with some light history and then delve into some noteworthy features of the original Motorola CPU, including famous use cases and the folks behind the scenes that worked tirelessly to envision and see the product brought to market.

We then shift gears and talk about NitrOS-9 via a quick look at Boisy Pitre's book "CoCo: The Colorful History of Tandy's Underdog Computer" which documents numerous aspects of Tandy's CoCo systems including the advent of an operating system developed by Microware, named OS-9.

And finally, we discuss the NitrOS-9 port which has now been extended to support the Foenix F256 system (equipped with the FNX6809).

Have a look below for additional information including the Motorola papers discussed within, and a link to the time-indexed CoCoTALK #18 which includes a live demo of an advanced version of NitrOS-9 on a CoCo 3 system.

At this point in time, NitrOS-9 for the Foenix platform supports Level 1 and Level 2, however in character (terminal) mode only. Note that right out of the gate, a bounty of applications are already available and more are on the way, as is development of Foenix specific graphics.

I anticipate that I will create another one or two videos on this topic as I gain experience with the platform. As mentioned in the video (as disclaimer), I am new to 6809 and OS-9 topics, so please bear with me as I improve my knowledge and experience of this new world. The group of people running the FNX6809 is small but growing. Ultimately, the belief is that robust Foenix support and the benefits of a high performant graphics and sound subsystem embedded within VICKY, combined with a clock speed which is ~3x that of the original 6809, will draw others to the platform. If you've not yet watched this video, you'll be pleased to know that NitrOS-9 is a multi-tasking and multi-user operating systems, quite a different beast from ROM based systems which boot to BASIC or a simple executive shell.

If you are new to this channel, there is plenty to catch up on, and a backlog of great content on software development and demos in the works, so subscribe and stay tuned!!

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** Links and/or references mentioned:

Link to CoCoTALK #18: https://www.youtube.com/live/XP0iDTS0...

Link to the 9 page Motorola document authored by Joel Boney: https://dl.acm.org/doi/pdf/10.1145/15...

Link to the "The 6809 - Design Philosophy Part 1" document by Terry Ritter and Joel Boney of Motorola: http://tlindner.macmess.org/wp-conten...

Link to Terry Ritter's "bio" page, which is within his personal web site; it documents his eventful 4 1/2 years at Motorola following 2 years as a Fixed Ciphony specialist with the U.S. Army serving in Vietnam: http://www.ciphersbyritter.com/AUTHOR...

... and here is Terry Ritter's "main" page with an absolute encyclopedia of information and related work (and very little, if any hint, of his prior work with Motorola !!): http://www.ciphersbyritter.com/

Link to a "Chip Letter" story entitled "Motorola's 6809: The Best 8-Bit?": https://thechipletter.substack.com/p/...

Foenix Retro home page: https://c256foenix.com

Foenix Rising Newsletter: http://apps.emwhite.org/foenixmarketp...