Aarrrggghhhhh !

What task has taken me the longest in the Challenge so far ?

Is it :

(1) finding the data sheet for the Hughes LCD ?
(2) writing the emulator for the TMS1100 ?
(3) getting the assembler working ?

or is it :

(4) getting code that compiles perfectly under Mac OSX and (probably) Linux, is syntactically correct and uses standard libraries in the proper way to compile in bl**dy Windows.

All answers on a postcard.

I gave up on the command line, I did it in Code:Blocks in the end, following a guide this bloke had written.  Apparently, in s**ding Windows (I'm an MCPD so I'm certified in how bl**dy awful it is) it matters what order you put libraries and command line options. Get it wrong and you get 700 linker errors because it can't find things in a library that you've linked to which is definitely there. Gawd alone knows why.  Why it can't just work like it does on Linux and Mac OSX I do not know.

Anyhow, tomorrow, you will be able to play with the emulator on Windows and MacOSX. It appears to work okay in Windows XP / VirtualBox. The source code will be available for those who think its a virus.

Probably.

Sound and Keyboard now working

I've now got the sound and keyboard working - except for a few tweaks (the emulator still always loads a file called 'test.bin') it is essentially complete.

There will always be a few bugs. I found that (for example) the assembler was compiling TKA as $0B rather than $08 which caused some chaos, as $08 (COMC) is the command to switch to the upper 1k of ROM (sort of).

But hopeful I will release the source later today or early tomorrow - I'll set up XP in a VirtualBox machine and build a DOS version as well, because it's built for a Mac.