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2020-05-17: If a page gives you an error about some revision not being found, just EDIT the page and the old page should appear in the editor. If it does, just SAVE that and the page should be restored. OS-9 Al (talk) 12:22, 17 May 2020 (CDT)
GIME
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This page was last updated on 12/3/2021. Total Pages: 729. Total Files: 993.
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MISSING PHOTO | |
| Name | GIME |
|---|---|
| Year | 1986 |
| Interface | INTERFACE NEEDED |
| Notes | NOTES NEEDED |
| Info Source | INFO SOURCE NEEDED |
| About the Hardware Info Box | |
GIME is/was a custom ASIC chip used in the Color Computer 3. It was designed by VLSI.
Design
The GIME was designed by VLSI. Images of the GIME circuitry reveal the names J. L. Bruister (VLSI) and J. M. Prickett (Tandy). The book CoCo: The Colorful History of Tandy’s Underdog Computer provides some details on the design of the chip (starting at page 109 in the 1st edition printing).
Known Versions
- PCB Prototypes - Implemented in discreet logic on the large PCB prototype units. Microware was known to have had at least two of these units, which today are in the collection of User:AllenHuffman.
- Pre-Production - Launch-title developers received early production run CoCo 3s that had pre-production GIME chips. At least two variations are known to exist. We need to catalog and document them here.
- 1986 - Code named "Tequila". This was the original production GIME. It contained some bugs that were fixed in a second revision.
- 1987 - Code named "Tortilla".
Emulations
- Software - The GIME is emulated in software in the various CoCo 3 emulators.
- FPGA - The GIME is recreated in virtual hardware in the FPGA systems.
Expansions
- GIME-X
Rumored 256 Color Mode
Early system specifications mentioned a 256-color mode, but there is no evidence this ever made it in to production. It may have been present in the early PCB prototypes, and a project is underway to see if this was true.
- Nick Marentes researched and documented the efforts to determine if a 256-color mode existed in the production GIME chips.
- Roger Taylor began his Project 256 in November 2021. He sent off several GIME chips to be decapped and imaged so they could be studied to see how they worked.
Photos
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Photo of the 1986 GIME chip code name. From the collection of Roger Taylor.
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Photo of the 1987 GIME chip code name. From the collection of Roger Taylor.
External Links
- https://www.patreon.com/posts/project-256-58792912 - Roger Taylor's 2021 project to reverse engineer the GIME.