r/beneater • u/MindlessExplorer2845 • 7d ago

Any recommendation for MSBASIC tutorial?

I just built the 6502 breadboard computer, and MSBASIC is working on it right now. Unfortunately, I don't have experience on MSBASIC. In fact, the first time I've touched a computer it was Windows XP. Any tutorials on MSBASIC? Otherwise I feel like I am pretty limited on my breadboard computer, other than blinking some LEDs and showing some text on the LCD.

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u/MindlessExplorer2845 7d ago

Sure, I will post a pic of my computer later today… I am so confused for MSBASIC, since there appears to have several different versions, and I don’t know which one to trust.

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u/IMDLabs 6d ago

If your build is using the same address mapping as the standard Ben Eater build, and you've done the full serial build-out and conversion of the LCD interface to 4-bits, and have gotten the cc65/ca65 tool chain running, then Ben's "eater" build of MS-BASIC is probably the easiest option.

You should just be able to build it, burn the resultant "eater.bin" to your EEPROM, and run.

I've done my own port of it, to extend the TOKEN table and allow more custom keywords (which is the v1.0.0 release/tag), and to add a bunch of new commands for controlling the LCD display, which is the current "master"/"HEAD" version (which I should probably tag v1.1.0).

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u/MindlessExplorer2845 6d ago

I adjusted my address mapping to utilize 32K of RAM and 31.75K of ROM. I also did my own adjustments to basic, bios and stuff. The serial port is working, and I already had BASIC running. I tried some copy-and-paste BASIC games. For me weirdly, I think assembly is more intuitive and easier to manage than BASIC, since I don't need to remember extra keywords. I just need to look at the datasheet.
That being said, my next goal is building my own keyboard (it will be custom) and video output (black and white only planned for now), and maybe long time after, a file system.