The powerful, flexible, hacker-friendly 16/32-bit Retro Computer!
What is this?
The rosco_m68k is a self-build Motorola 68k computer designed for experimentation, education and hacking.
Featuring a 68010 16/32-bit processor running at 10MHz, 1MB RAM, 1MB ROM (Flas…
The rosco_m68k is a self-build Motorola 68k computer designed for experimentation, education and hacking.
Featuring a 68010 16/32-bit processor running at 10MHz, 1MB RAM, 1MB ROM (Flash, with in-system programming capability) and advanced IO capabilities thanks to the on-board XR68C681 dual UART, the rosco_m68k is easy to build and lots of fun to hack on.
And with our open-source serial firmware, Easy68K-compatible IO and simple starter projects for your own code, the rosco_m68k is ready to run your programs just as soon as you've soldered it up!
Note actual PCB colour may vary.
Now shipping with Firmware 2.4 and SD Card support
Features
MC68010 16/32-bit CPU
1MB RAM
1MB Flash ROM
On-board UART (115200 BPS as standard)
SD Card support (requires Arduino SD adapter, not supplied)
Expansion connector with support for both new and legacy (MC6800) peripherals
Serial bootloader firmware loads programs via Kermit protocol
Easy68K IO Compatibility Layer in the firmware
Various example programs and quick-start code for your own!
Built-in support for Xosera retro video adapter (additional hardware required, coming soon!)
Supports IDE adapter, and legacy V9958 video (via community projects, all require additional hardware, not supplied).
Order the parts, grab your soldering iron, and join in the fun of putting your own computer together!
Who can build this?
The rosco_m68k is designed to be easy to solder, and no special skills or equipment are needed! Simply grab a regular (ideally temperature-controlled) soldering iron, some solder (we like lead-free 0.6mm diameter) and have at it!
All-through-hole design, only basic soldering skills required
4-layer PCB so there's plenty of space around components, no fiddly bits
High-quality solder mask and tented vias reduce the risk of hard-to-spot bridges
Where supplied, all new components are the very highest-quality we can get our hands on. Some components are (by virtue of their not being produced any more!) pre-owned, surplus or new-old-stock, but we carefully recondition and test every component before it leaves our workshop to ensure that you won't be disappointed by non-functional parts.
What else do I need?
In addition to the base PCB and components and soldering gear, we recommend the following:
Serial to USB (FTDI) converter to connect your rosco_m68k to your PC
USB to Dupont power lead (can be easily made at home from any USB cable)
Multimeter for debugging
When working with the rosco_m68k, we find the following useful:
Logic analyser for testing and development
Solderless breadboards and jumper wires
Arduino, or other MCU
EEPROM programmer (Required only if you want to reprogram the ROMs or glue logic)
What about software?
Just like the hardware, the firmware and software for the rosco_m68k are open source, and we're constantly improving and adding new features to it. You'll find everything you need at https://github.com/rosco-m68k including the standard firmware, example projects in both assembly and C, and a bunch of standard libraries you can use in your own projects to do things like serial output and GPIOs.
Getting started with writing your own code is easy thanks to our comprehensive instructions on building a GCC toolchain for m68k, and if you use Home-brew (https://brew.sh) you can simply install the toolchain with a couple of commands! (Note that Mac or Linux is recommended for development. A VM can be used when working under Windows).
Programs are loaded to the board via serial link using the Kermit protocol, and all support code is provided by the firmware and standard libraries to make writing these programs as easy as writing programs for your PC.
The standard firmware additionally provides an Easy68K-compatible IO layer, meaning that your existing Easy68k simulator code can probably be run on the real hardware with minimal changes (if any). (See http://www.easy68k.com for more about Easy68K).
And of course, if you're so inclined, you can completely replace the standard firmware with your own code, giving you total control :)
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The Really Old-School Company Ltd Shipping Policy:
We are unable to ship Tindie orders to the UK as this makes it impossible for us to comply with UK VAT regulations. If you are in the UK, please order from us directly at https://store.rosco-m68k.com
Please note that owing to recent changes in the way VAT is collected and processed within the EU, European (non-UK) customers will NOT be charged VAT at checkout and will instead be required to pay import duties and possibly processing fees to the carrier before their package is delivered. Due to Tindie being based in the US, there is nothing we can do about those charges.
Review Breakdown
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Average Ratings
Product:
(5.00)
Documentation:
(5.00)
Shipping:
(5.00)
Communication:
(5.00)
David |
Nov. 19, 2024
Freedom of computing exemplified.
This is one of my favorite retro-computer designs I've used, and I've used many. The coding ecosystem is well designed and easy to use. The code examples are easy to understand, follow, and modify. The team is very available via discord chat and the documentation is complete and clearly written.
It's exceedingly easy to get started using this device effectively, and there are a number of software and hardware expansion projects for it that are worth exploring for both fun and education.
From the ground up, this is an open source project, to include the GALs required to program the PLD devices. The use of PLD devices keeps the IC footprint small, allowing for the system to be pretty compact. The bus pinout is great and easy to use, making it easily extensible, and the system is quite snappy, given the 10MHz clock.
I highly recommend this kit for those interested in the m68k architecture, even a little bit. The built-in FTDI chip is a major convenience, providing USB access to both UARTs, and the ability to bypass it using a standard FTDI interface makes it compatible with all my existing tools, as well.
I am extremely happy with this board and I will be investing in at least one more in the future for networking experimentation.
The product, simply, exceeded my expectations; and I was expecting a lot from it.
Cory |
Jan. 27, 2023
Great 68k Kit
I had a blast building this- the kit is through hole so assembly went by very quickly what ended up taking more time was the getting a pretty enclosure and spending time actually working on writing code for this- I made a video about this if you want to check out how assembly went for me. https://youtu.be/QzF8xTOwsJM
Its a shame this has been out of stock for some time- it was a darn good kit with very nice assembly instructions!
Response from The Really Old-School Company Ltd | Aug. 22, 2023
Hi Cory!
I don't know how but I somehow missed this until now! Sorry about that!
Thank you so much for your order and for leaving this review, and thanks for your (awesome by the way!) YouTube video too! Really glad you enjoyed building the kit and it was amazing to see the build 😃
It's been a long road with the semiconductor shortage but stock is gradually becoming available again, it's selling out as fast as we can put kits together and I bet your video is helping with that, so thanks again 😊
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