collapseos/doc/hw/z80/sms/ps2.txt

# PS/2 keyboard on the SMS

Using the shell with a D-pad on the SMS is doable, but not fun
at all! We're going to build an adapter for a PS/2 keyboard to
plug as a SMS controller.

The PS/2 logic will be the same as the regular PS/2 adapter (see
doc/hw/ps2.txt) but instead of interfacing directly with the
bus, we interface with the SMS' controller subsystem (that is,
what we poke on ports 0x3f and 0xdc).

How will we achieve that? A naive approach would be "let's limit
ourselves to 7bit ASCII and put TH, TR and TL as inputs". That
could work, except that the SMS will have no way reliable way
(except timers) of knowing whether polling two identical values
is the result of a repeat character or because there is no new
value yet.

On the AVR side, there's not way to know whether the value has
been read, so we can't to like on the RC2014 and reset the value
to zero when a RO request is made.

We need communication between the SMS and the PS/2 adapter to be
bi-directional.  That bring the number of usable pins down to 6,
a bit low for a proper character range. So we'll fetch each
character in two 4bit nibbles. TH is used to select which nibble
we want.

TH going up also tells the AVR MCU that we're done reading the
character and that the next one can come up.

As always, the main problem is that the AVR MCU is too slow to
keep up with the rapid z80 polling pace. In the regular adapter,
I hooked CE directly on the AVR, but that was a bit tight
because the MCU is barely fast enough to handle this signal
properly. I did that because I had no proper IC on hand to build
a SR latch.

In this recipe, I do have a SR latch on hand, so I'll use it. TH
triggering will also trigger that latch, indicating to the MCU
that it can load the next character in the '164. When it's done,
we signal the SMS that the next char is ready by resetting the
latch. That means that we have to hook the latch's output to TR.

Nibble selection on TH doesn't involve the AVR at all. All 8
bits are pre-loaded on the '164. We use a 4-channel multiplexer
to make TH select either the low or high bits.

# Gathering parts

* A SMS that can run Collapse OS
* A PS/2 keyboard. A USB keyboard + PS/2 adapter should work,
  but I haven't tried it yet.
* A PS/2 female connector.
* A SMS controller you can cannibalize for the DB-9 connection.
  A stock DB-9 connector isn't deep enough.
* ATtiny85/45/25 (main MCU for the device)
* 74xx164 (shift register)
* 74xx157 (multiplexer)
* A NOR SR-latch. I used a 4043.
* Proto board, wires, IC sockets, etc.

# Historical note

As I was building this prototype, I was wondering how I would
debug it. I could obviously not hope for it to work as a
keyboard adapter on the first time, right on port A, driving the
shell. I braced myself mentally for a logic analyzer session and
some kind of arduino-based probe to test bit banging results.

And then I thought "why not use the genesis?". Sure, driving the
shell with the D-pad isn't fun at all, but it's possible. So I
hacked myself a temporary debug kernel with a "a" command doing
a probe on port B. It worked really well!

It was a bit less precise than logic analyzers and a bit of
poking-around and crossing-fingers was involved, but overall, I
think it was much less effort than creating a full test setup.

There's a certain satisfaction to debug a device entirely on
your target machine...

# Building the PS/2 interface

See schematic at img/ps2-to-sms.png. The PS/2-to-AVR part is
identical to doc/hw/ps2.txt.

We control the '164 from the AVR in a similar way to what we did
in rc2014/ps2, that is, sharing the DATA line with PS/2 (PB1).
We clock the '164 with PB3.  Because the '164, unlike the '595,
is unbuffered, no need for special RCLK provisions.

Most of the wiring is between the '164 and the '157. Place them
close. The 4 outputs on the '157 are hooked to the first 4 lines
on the DB-9 (Up, Down, Left, Right).

In my prototype, I placed a 1uf decoupling cap next to the AVR.
I used a 10K resistor as a pull-down for the TH line (it's not
always driven).

If you use a 4043, don't forget to wire EN. On the '157, don't
forget to wire ~G.

The code expects a SR-latch that works like a 4043, that is, S
and R are triggered high, S makes Q high, R makes Q low. R is
hooked to PB4. S is hooked to TH (and also the A/B on the '157).
Q is hooked to PB0 and TL.

The code for the ATtiny is in code/smsps2ctl.fs. You can build
it with /cvm/avra.sh.

# Building the binary

We start with the base SMS xcomp and add a few things:

1. at the top: "SYSVARS 0xa2 + CONSTANT PS2_MEM"
2. After VDP load: "621 LOAD : (ps2kc) (ps2kcB) ;" (that binds
   us to port B)
3. Right after: "411 414 LOADR" (that gives us "(key)")
4. After "VDP$": "PS2$".

Rebuild, send to SMS, then run with your keyboard interface
plugged to PortB.  It should mostly work. There are still a few
glitches to iron out...