Color Computer 3 CPU upgrade / Replacing a Motorola 6809 with a Hitachi 6309
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- Опубліковано 4 жов 2024
- Richard Lorbieski of Boyson Technologies shows us how to upgrade the CPU in a Tandy Color Computer 3. The CoCo was built around the Motorola 6809 Microprocessor. It was discovered that the Hitachi 6309 was a pin compatible processor that did everything the 6809 did and then some. A native mode would let stock 6809 code run faster, and a ton of extra instructions were added that, when properly utilized could allow software to run much, much faster.
The 6309 CPU and it's added ability was the original inspiration for the NitrOS9 project, and still offer benefits to Color Computers today.
They are more available than the Motorola chip, they are less expensive to purchase, and they run cooler and require less energy. And, with the proper software, can run a lot faster.
The Color Computer 3's CPU was hard soldered to the system board, so the upgrade process requires the desoldering of the original CPU, adding a CPU socket, then adding the new one.
Richard applies painstaking attention to detail to provide the highest quality workmanship, I hope you enjoy this video.
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When desoldering the chip, after sucking the solder up, I do one additional step. I'll take fine needle nose pliers, and on the bottom of the board, I'll wiggle the tip of each pin. If they don't move freely, I can pop them loose that way. Often the chip will then just fall off the board under gravity. No prying with a screwdriver required. (Prying with a screw driver is an easy way to accidentally cut through traces that might be under the chip. I learned that lesson the hard way.)
My 1st computer was a 4k coco, i had it upgraded to 16k, then when i was 16 i finally got a coco 3, the quad expansion module and a floppy drive. Watching this video brought back so many memories! That computer was my best friend. I miss OS9!
My 1st CoCo was also a 4K CoCo that I upgraded to 32K using 'piggy backed' 16K RAM's before I later had an Extended Basic ROM added and I also had an Exitron single sided single density floppy drive that plugged in to the expansion port and that was before Radio Shack even announced that the CoCo was able to support 32K RAM and/or floppy drive.
CoCo3 is quite a machine, perhaps the best example of 8-bit computing.
Too bad there was so much background noise and music - made it hard to hear what these two were saying at times. Otherwise, top-notch stuff.
Yeah the music made it worse!
I got the Hakko 301. Been soldering for 40 years and for the first time I enjoy de-soldering!
No more swearing and getting angry. It just makes a funny sound and removes the solder.
Richard is a soldering legend! :)
Aye laddie, that he is!
This CPU was amazing. Take a look at the 3D Atari Game made in 1983, "I, Robot" made with that. We just had those 3D graphics by the end of the 90's in games, it was beyond its time.
I'd say 6809 was the most beautiful 8-bit CPU. Very rewarding to program. Perhaps not the best because I regard the 8086 as an 8-bit CPU boosted so it addresses a lot more RAM. Horrible by comparison but it moved the industry forward.
Don't forget the HD6309 was the main CPU in the Yamaha DX-7 and its derivatives, including the multitimbral DX7-II.
This is great! I was just coincidentally wondering about finding a vid showing desoldering techniques as I am going to have to recap a CoCo floppy. And here it is unexpectedly.in this interesting vid on upgrades. This demonstration of skill and technique and explanation was really appreciated. Thanks!
Wow great technic. I see the pro makes this looks easy. Unfortunately, I am learning for the first time about de-soldering and soldering. While attempting to replace some corroded chips on a vintage commodore B-128, I discovered the shielding on the mother board was soldered and not screwed together like this Coca mother board. Then while using de-soldering gun, couldn't seem to remove all solder in wells. Then had flip over board, had to briefly use a hot air gun before attempting pry off the old chip. So, I realize, this why many computer repair avoid replacing ic chips.
Solder wick is good and plenty of flux. A powerful soldering iron so you don't have to heat it for too long. Long heating can cause the tracks to lift off the board.
Alternate sides when soldering and desoldering, it reduces heat build up in the PCB, less chance of lifting traces or delamination of the board.
A great transplant indeed - thank you for sharing this and for sharing knowledge
Worth noting that the temperature quoted is 725 degrees Farenheit = 385 Celsius.
On a second view, I'm surprised Stevie didn't do a 512k upgrade at the same time while the computer was open. (There were no 2mb upgrades at the time.)
We still make MC6809. If fact, they are molded on the same Motorola equipment.
The acetone I use is from Sally Beauty Supply; it is very pure acetone which comes in a quart bottle for just over $4.
As i understand it all that shielding is needed because the TV is connected with an RF modulator. If you use the composite output which the CoCo3 has then you don't need it. The TV picture will be fine.
Très bonne vidéo!!
merci
I've never owned a CoCo but I used to mess around with the one at my local Radio Shack (until the manager would come over and say, "Are you going to buy anything, kid?"). One thing I remember that was kind of weird about it was the fact that when you booted up the computer, a picture of an "alien" would appear on screen and you were supposed to hit the reset switch until his "lips were red and his eyes were blue" or something like that. What's up with that? Why was that necessary?
The red and blue colors were known as "artifact" colors, they were a by-product of alternating black and white vertical lines on a high resolution screen, they gave the illusion of colors that were visible on an NTSC analog TV screen but not actually generated by the computer itself. This is also how the Apple II computer generated it's 6 colors. For some strange reason, the CoCo 1&2 were inconsistent as to if the colors would be red/blue, or blue/red, and you often has to reset the computer several times to get the colors the way the game designer intended them. The CoCo 3 "fixed" this problem, so the artifact colors would always be the same, however, since not all games defaulted to the CoCo 3's default, you could hold down I think F1, and then press reset, and it would flip the red/blue. This is just one of the "many things" us Coco folks got used to. Thanks for visiting and commenting. Check out our weekly live talk show right here on this channel, and on the web and podcasts cocotalk.live
@@Ogsteviestrow I tried searching on Google many times for a screen shot of the blue/red alien screen and couldn't find it. For a while there I thought maybe I imagined the whole thing! Thanks for the explanation, ogStevieStrow.
be careful when you plug the cpu in the socket. Sometimes the pins fold under the cpu instead of the ic socket.
I always call them "legs" back in the day and was usually careful to not bend a leg. I'm OK with changing things that are already in a socket, but I don't have any solder skills, so removing chips and adding sockets was a I job I elected to have done by a professional.
Richard is a professional repair technician. He is aware of that, and checks very carefully all his work.
@@alhartman66 Except for a total lack of ESD protection... doh.... Otherwise great work.
oh i get it now, "I'm a CoCo Nut" its like "I'm a Cocoanut". Like a cocoanut the big nut fruit on certain palm trees. Thats pretty funny, I laughed from it.
i have a small flat head screwdriver that i bent the end on, works good for that.
Steve, it also might be a good idea to have the gimme chip socketed also. awhile I had my rgb go bad and the video was all bad. luckily I had an old coco 2 that was a parts computer that I used in my coco 3
The GIME chip is in a socket, but there are no current replacements for the GIME as it was a Radio Shack custom design, although Ed Snider aka The Zippster, is working on a modern plug-in replacement called the GIME-X
Do you have a copy of this video without the music?
This video is recorded at an event so ambient noise are part of the recording.
27:13, a 20261058 Board from a 26-3134B.
Richard does not look anythink like his voice alone would make you believe. He sounds like a young, brown haired 20 year old.
you can tell by their voices if people are blond, brown or red? :'-)
The problem with "upgrading" an 8-bit computer is it will break almost all of the available software by running it too fast.
Po' folk like me used solder wick and a squeezey sucky bulb back in the day...
We really dont need an explanation on what de soldering is
We, or You? I'm sure some people do appreciate the info.
6809 is a higher number. 6309 is a downgrade
Wim Hamhuis yeah that’s what I thought too. It’s like getting a brain transplant to lower you IQ. 😶
The 6809 was made by Motorola. The 6309 is a clone of the 6809 made by Hitachi. When Hitachi made the 6309 they discovered they had a lot of room in the die to add in some other stuff. So they made the chip run with two modes. 6309 native mode and 6809 compatible mode. Due to licensing agreements with Motorola, Hitachi couldn't advertise the native mode stuff. The 6309 native mode is able to run instructions with fewer clock cycles making it run software faster than the 6809. Hitachi also took the 6809's two 8 bit registers that could be combined to make a single 16 bit register and extended it to 4 8 bit registers. That then could make two 16 bit registers or a single 32 bit register. There were also added instructions to handle the registers and some other enhancements. The 6809 compatible mode didn't have any of these enhancements and was the mode that came up by default. So yes the 6309 is an upgrade to the 6809.