Old Barcode Scanner Motherboards Live Again

In some cases, hacking is just for the pleasure of diving into the secrets of previous components. That was very substantially the situation when [glitch] and a buddy started off hacking on some aged Intel 8080 boards that experienced been dwelling in the junk pile for way too extensive.

The boards in concern have been motherboards from Identicon barcode scanners, functioning the Intel 8080 CPU. Hacking on the 8080 is a tiny distinct, with the ancient CPU requiring three individual voltages to run. Having said that, with the ability rails figured out and electricity utilized, it was achievable to get the aged boards up and operating.

The boards were initial operate with examination ROMs which confirmed the 8080 CPU to be functional. The ROMs hosted a straightforward system which obtained the 8080 to spit out the term “HELO” on to an HP HDSP-2416 ASCII character display screen. From there, the barcode scanner boards have been installed in a chassis and hooked up to a greater Siemens character exhibit, and the memory was mapped out.

The consequence was that [glitch] and co had been able to mainly reverse engineer the Identicon components, studying it was relatively comparable to the Intel MCS-80 reference layout of the era. They had been capable to get code running on the platform, access the RAM, and fit a greater 8-character show. On the other hand, devoid of the unique barcode scanner attachment, the boards weren’t equipped to return to their initial obligation.

As much as hacks go, it’s pretty aged school. The boards don’t discuss to Twitter, nor run the lights or help with the dishes. On the other hand, lots of pleasurable was experienced viewing if this old steel could be made to follow guidance the moment a lot more. Hacking for the enjoyment of it is constantly a great issue by our reserve!