I created a new firmware for our beloved PicoCalc with pico2 board : PicoCalcTRS, a TRS-80 Model 3 Emulator.
It is based on the amazing work of @BlairLeduc for the Hardware Abstraction Layer.
It also use the core TRS-80 emulator SDLTRS.
Current firmware status and functionality:
Model III ROM boot works from SD and embedded fallback.
Disk drives :0 and :1 are integrated.
LDOS/TRSDOS/BASIC core workflows are working in current on-device tests.
The firmware artifact is PicoCalcTRS.uf2.
SD-card ROM lookup uses /TRS80/ROMS.
SD-card disk lookup uses /TRS80/DISKS.
Startup includes a disk file picker for attaching images to D0 and D1, including none.
Disk image filenames are not special-cased; the picker attaches whichever listed image the user selects.
PicoCalc Esc maps to TRS BREAK; PicoCalc BRK (Shift+Esc) maps to the TRS reset button.
The SDL timing shim uses Pico SDK time so the Z80 throttle path can target real Model III speed.
Standard Model III cassette-port game sound is wired to the PicoCalc PWM audio driver, with rate-limited updates for timing-heavy games such as SCARFMAN.
Optional PCM-backed disk motor/track SFX is available with F4; F5 mutes audio.
I’d love to use this, but I have only a Pico 1. (Though I am starting to consider buying a Pico 2W to replace it, given the number of projects here that seem to need it.)
That said, I also have an actual TRS-80 Model III motherboard (and working Model I), so there’s no huge hurry on this.
Back in the mid '80s, I had a Model I with two disk drives and an LP IV (Centronics 737) printer. I took this to a school that I went to at Fort Gordon, GA, in 1986. We had a deadly heat wave go through the region, and my wife was pregnant - so she went to her mother’s place half way through my schooling. I had my computer set up in the third bedroom (tiny mobile home, so tiny bedroom.)
I was using my computer for typing letters, short stories and other things. The word processor that I used was Michael Shrayer’s Electric Pencil. Well, I found it again:
