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Electronics Repair (sci.electronics.repair) Discussion of repairing electronic equipment. Topics include requests for assistance, where to obtain servicing information and parts, techniques for diagnosis and repair, and annecdotes about success, failures and problems. |
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Domino 2 BASIC microcontroller
I just obtained a Domino 2 Microcontroller with built in BASIC. I learned
that the company that manufactured these things (Micromint) has some documentation on their website showing schematics for interfacing a MAX232, LCD display, and matrix keyboard, but the programming examples for setting up the I/O are sparce and confusing. Has anyone had experience working with these modules before? How can I program the I/O pins from BASIC. There are some that say they have to be accessed through machine code. Can I just poke the values to a certain memory location? I also want to wire up an 8255A to expand the I/O. What would be the best way to accomplish this? Any information anyone can provide would be appreciated. Thanks! -Phil |
#2
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Domino 2 BASIC microcontroller
Micromint was the product line of neat stuff designed and built by Steve
Ciarcia, who used to have a monthly column in BYTE magazine called "Ciarcia's Circuit Cellar". He wasn't happy with the way BYTE was heading, and when he was able to split off, he did so and started his own magazine "Circuit Cellar". In the beginning, a lot of Micromint products came out of reader feedback and ideas. He sold Micromint a few years ago and the local engineering staff became magazine editors and writers. I have one of these Domino 2 units myself but haven't done anything with it in quite a number of years and I don't remember how to do anything with it now. I'd need to search high and low to find the manual. As I recall, there was a substantial manual that came with the Domino, as well as some application notes and EPROM entry points for firmware that was added just to handle specific I/O devices. I would hope/expect that some or all of this is still available on the Micromint web site. While Steve and his magazine staff don't support the Micromint products, I bet they still know an awful lot about them. The person I'd recommend trying to talk to would be Jeff Bachiochi. He's listed as a contributing editor in the Circuit Cellar magazine and has a monthly column in it, so you should be able to contact him through the magazine at www.circuitcellar.com. He used to work there, and may still, but by now he could have retired or moved on to another engineering job. There's also a private-run news group primarily for Circuit Cellar magazine but I think it still supports Micromint products; you can find out how to access the news group on the web site above. There might even be people more familiar with the current line of Domino products than Jeff is/was. Bob M. ====== "Mr. Phil" wrote in message . .. I just obtained a Domino 2 Microcontroller with built in BASIC. I learned that the company that manufactured these things (Micromint) has some documentation on their website showing schematics for interfacing a MAX232, LCD display, and matrix keyboard, but the programming examples for setting up the I/O are sparce and confusing. Has anyone had experience working with these modules before? How can I program the I/O pins from BASIC. There are some that say they have to be accessed through machine code. Can I just poke the values to a certain memory location? I also want to wire up an 8255A to expand the I/O. What would be the best way to accomplish this? Any information anyone can provide would be appreciated. Thanks! -Phil |
#3
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Domino 2 BASIC microcontroller
Thanks for the tips. I just wired up a MAX232 and hooked the Domino module
up to an old Pentium 90 laptop I had kicking around. I was able to access the module and program some simple things in BASIC, but I have not yet interfaced the Domino to control any real-world applications. It's really neat. I was thinking of possibly installing the entire Domino module inside the chasis of a dumb terminal and effectively make a whole BASIC computer that way. I could have a DB-25 on the back of the terminal with whatever I/O I need so I can interface it to other things that way. -Phil "Bob M." wrote in message ... Micromint was the product line of neat stuff designed and built by Steve Ciarcia, who used to have a monthly column in BYTE magazine called "Ciarcia's Circuit Cellar". He wasn't happy with the way BYTE was heading, and when he was able to split off, he did so and started his own magazine "Circuit Cellar". In the beginning, a lot of Micromint products came out of reader feedback and ideas. He sold Micromint a few years ago and the local engineering staff became magazine editors and writers. I have one of these Domino 2 units myself but haven't done anything with it in quite a number of years and I don't remember how to do anything with it now. I'd need to search high and low to find the manual. As I recall, there was a substantial manual that came with the Domino, as well as some application notes and EPROM entry points for firmware that was added just to handle specific I/O devices. I would hope/expect that some or all of this is still available on the Micromint web site. While Steve and his magazine staff don't support the Micromint products, I bet they still know an awful lot about them. The person I'd recommend trying to talk to would be Jeff Bachiochi. He's listed as a contributing editor in the Circuit Cellar magazine and has a monthly column in it, so you should be able to contact him through the magazine at www.circuitcellar.com. He used to work there, and may still, but by now he could have retired or moved on to another engineering job. There's also a private-run news group primarily for Circuit Cellar magazine but I think it still supports Micromint products; you can find out how to access the news group on the web site above. There might even be people more familiar with the current line of Domino products than Jeff is/was. Bob M. ====== |
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