Sharp X1 Upgrades
The Sharp X1 Turbo is quite a bit more advanced than the Sharp MZ series (excluding the MZ-2500) and its video functionality etc doesnt really need a boost so wouldnt benefit from the Video module upgrades other than to output true RGB given it uses non-standard 15/24KHz display frequencies.
It most certainly could benefit from the tranZPUter SW v2.2 upgrade to add rapid file load/save to SD card, additional memory and CPU performance.
I thus took to evaluating wether the tranZPUter SW v2.2 board could be fitted and made to work. The following picture shows the main motherboard with an I/O daughter board sat on top providing audio, floppy interface functionality. I'm guessing this additional daughter board was necessary as the logic required for the X1 wouldnt fit on the main board!
The Z80 CPU is socketed and sat just below the daughter board. The tranZPUter SW v2.2 would need to be partly sandwiched between the mainboard and the daughter board and as can be seen, it
should fit except for the I/O expansion connector which juts out a few mm into the tranZPUter board.
I have similar issues with the tranZPUter SW v2.2 board and the Sharp MZ-800 (board fits but SD card/USB connector not accessible), Sharp MZ-80B (Z80 is mounted in the opposite direction and the SD card/USB connector are not accessible)
so a new board needs to be designed, using the same circuit just re-organisation of the PCB.
After evaluating wether the tranZPUter SW v2.2 board would fit, I then set to evaluating it electrically and was pleased (after disabling the K64F startup load as it's firmware only detects MZ-80/700/800 hardware at the moment) that I could connect to the embedded zOS and probe the X1 hardware.
In order to get the tranZPUter SW board working with the Sharp X1 it is just a matter of a new PCB and the firmware adapting to detect and interact with the X1 IPL monitor. WIP!
After evaluating wether the tranZPUter SW v2.2 board would fit, I then set to evaluating it electrically and was pleased (after disabling the K64F startup load as it's firmware only detects MZ-80/700/800 hardware at the moment) that I could connect to the embedded zOS and probe the X1 hardware.
In order to get the tranZPUter SW board working with the Sharp X1 it is just a matter of a new PCB and the firmware adapting to detect and interact with the X1 IPL monitor. WIP!
Credits
Where I have used or based any component on a 3rd parties design I have included the original authors copyright notice within the headers or given due credit. All 3rd party software, to my knowledge and research, is open source and freely useable, if there is found to be any component with licensing restrictions, it will be removed from this repository and a suitable link/config provided.
Licenses
This design, hardware and software, is licensed under the GNU Public Licence v3.
The Gnu Public License v3
The source and binary files in this project marked as GPL v3 are free software: you can redistribute it and-or modify it under the terms of the GNU General Public License as published by the Free Software Foundation, either version 3 of the License, or (at your option) any later version.
The source files are distributed in the hope that it will be useful, but WITHOUT ANY WARRANTY; without even the implied warranty of MERCHANTABILITY or FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE. See the GNU General Public License for more details.
You should have received a copy of the GNU General Public License along with this program. If not, see http://www.gnu.org/licenses/.
The source files are distributed in the hope that it will be useful, but WITHOUT ANY WARRANTY; without even the implied warranty of MERCHANTABILITY or FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE. See the GNU General Public License for more details.
You should have received a copy of the GNU General Public License along with this program. If not, see http://www.gnu.org/licenses/.