Hacker News: nanochess

New comment by nanochess in "Making portable my unportable transputer C compiler"

nanochess — Thu, 24 Sep 2026 05:20:05 +0000

It is a simple debugger log in the transputer emulator (enabled by compilation option) which outputs each instruction executed so far, around 70 bytes per line displaying the 3 registers, the stack pointer, the instruction pointer, and the disassembled instruction.

The emulated C compiler processed a whole file ccvars.c before getting stuck in ccinter.c (this is the 5gb mark, approximately 78 millions of instructions executed). I stopped the process as soon as I saw it was stuck, but the emulator is fast, and I got extra 3 gb in the log. All this happened in less than two minutes.

Making portable my unportable transputer C compiler

nanochess — Tue, 22 Sep 2026 01:07:46 +0000

Article URL: https://nanochess.org/transputer_c_compiler.html

Comments URL: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49795600

Points: 60

# Comments: 9

How I developed an Am29000 C compiler and web browser

nanochess — Sun, 16 Aug 2026 20:41:57 +0000

Article URL: https://nanochess.org/am29000_c_compiler_web_browser.html

Comments URL: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49323474

Points: 92

# Comments: 22

Now Am29000 emulator in JavaScript with machine code windowed OS from 1996

nanochess — Sat, 08 Aug 2026 01:20:18 +0000

Article URL: https://nanochess.org/am29000_emulator.html

Comments URL: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49218039

Points: 4

# Comments: 1

New comment by nanochess in "Unearthing my 1996 windowed OS in machine code for Am29000 homebrew computer"

nanochess — Thu, 06 Aug 2026 20:07:42 +0000

Amazing! I didn't knew about the gr2 and gr3 register. I just searched for these in the user's manual, very sparse documentation. Thank you!

New comment by nanochess in "Unearthing my 1996 windowed OS in machine code for Am29000 homebrew computer"

nanochess — Thu, 06 Aug 2026 18:09:19 +0000

The article ended so big for my own measures, but I'm glad to know you want more of my wall of text. Thank you!

New comment by nanochess in "Unearthing my 1996 windowed OS in machine code for Am29000 homebrew computer"

nanochess — Thu, 06 Aug 2026 18:06:53 +0000

There was so much stuff to cover but there's a slight mention saying " had to add the LOADM and STOREM instructions as these handle the spilling of local registers to memory when the register stack is full" I can add an extra explanation there.

New comment by nanochess in "Unearthing my 1996 windowed OS in machine code for Am29000 homebrew computer"

nanochess — Thu, 06 Aug 2026 18:05:33 +0000

Wow! Thank you! The floating-point implementation in the Am29050 is really great as it ran in parallel with the integer unit. Sorry, I need to ask, maybe you don't remember. What happens if you write into gr2-gr63? Not really needed to know, but I've been curious the last 30 years.

New comment by nanochess in "Unearthing my 1996 windowed OS in machine code for Am29000 homebrew computer"

nanochess — Sat, 01 Aug 2026 05:07:49 +0000

I'm glad you enjoyed it. It is my longest article so far and it took a lot of effort. Thank you!

Unearthing my 1996 windowed OS in machine code for Am29000 homebrew computer

nanochess — Fri, 31 Jul 2026 21:57:03 +0000

Article URL: https://nanochess.org/the_am29000_computer.html

Comments URL: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49129008

Points: 190

# Comments: 34

Am29000 emulator for windowed OS in machine code (1996)

nanochess — Fri, 31 Jul 2026 13:30:42 +0000

Article URL: https://github.com/nanochess/Am29000

Comments URL: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49122914

Points: 2

# Comments: 0

Klondike Solitaire game for curses in 5k of C

nanochess — Mon, 08 Jun 2026 19:08:12 +0000

Article URL: https://nanochess.org/klondike_in_c.html

Comments URL: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48450024

Points: 102

# Comments: 17

New comment by nanochess in "Elon Musk's X down for users"

nanochess — Fri, 16 Jan 2026 17:59:31 +0000

I don't publish anymore in X, so I don't mind it. And by the number of points, I can see it is pretty obvious no one cares anymore. The owner is giving a great lesson on how to destroy a social network, while alienating the remaining users.

PC-Man and the spark of childhood wonder

nanochess — Tue, 02 Dec 2025 17:09:44 +0000

Article URL: https://intotheverticalblank.com/2025/12/02/interview-greg-kuperberg/

Comments URL: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46123518

Points: 30

# Comments: 19

New comment by nanochess in "Completing a BASIC language interpreter in 2025"

nanochess — Mon, 13 Oct 2025 16:48:40 +0000

First time I heard of it. I should know better as the TI-99/4A forum is just one click away from the Intellivision forum. Thanks for the heads up!

Completing a BASIC language interpreter in 2025

nanochess — Sun, 12 Oct 2025 19:19:38 +0000

Article URL: https://nanochess.org/ecs_basic_2.html

Comments URL: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=45560974

Points: 101

# Comments: 21

Coding a new BASIC interpreter in 2025 to replace a slow one

nanochess — Sun, 28 Sep 2025 18:28:14 +0000

Article URL: https://nanochess.org/ecs_basic.html

Comments URL: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=45406645

Points: 87

# Comments: 18

CVBasic v0.9.0 now supports targetting NES/Famicom (14th platform supported)

nanochess — Fri, 29 Aug 2025 17:47:28 +0000

Article URL: https://forums.atariage.com/topic/384096-colecovision-fantalicious-basic-compiler-cvbasic-v090-now-with-nesfamicom-support/

Comments URL: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=45067226

Points: 3

# Comments: 0

New comment by nanochess in "Development of a transputer ISA board"

nanochess — Sun, 06 Jul 2025 18:11:05 +0000

The practical advantage is that the 74LS chips are available in several corner stores at 25 or 35 cents each one, and I preferred the logic to be the same family.

You cannot choose the source, these come mixed from ST, TI, and other manufacturers. I preferred the laser-engraved ones instead of the white ink ones just to have an uniform look.

The crystal oscillator needs something faster so it requires 74F04, and the link communication buffer requires 74F244 or 74AS244. These are more expensive, the 74F are 2 dollars each chip, and the 74AS are 4 dollars each chip.

Development of a transputer ISA board

nanochess — Thu, 03 Jul 2025 19:43:59 +0000

Article URL: https://nanochess.org/transputer_board.html

Comments URL: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=44458532

Points: 78

# Comments: 14