apio VS icestudio

apio is a python package you drive from the command line. I didn't know somebody had done an integration with Atom. I've installed and used apio on my phone. I wouldn't really recommend doing that, but it shows what's possible.

I've had good experiences using Upduino 3.0 and 3.1 [0] with the IceStorm tools via apio [1]. I wrote a blog post [2] with some info on getting things set up via Linux. All you need is the Upduino board, which interfaces to your host system via USB (so no special programmer is needed).

[0] https://tinyvision.ai/products/upduino-v3-1

[1] https://github.com/FPGAwars/apio

[2] https://daveho.github.io/2021/02/07/upduino3-getting-started...

if you're more comfortable with the CLI, you should take a look at the apio project (https://github.com/FPGAwars/apio). It neatly bundles all the required tools. Regarding HDLs, I'm still learning so can't offer any good advice on that.

In fact that docs are out of date and even more boards are supported and you can find the list directly in icestudio menu. If you want to check it beforehand, i think it's possible to see the list here in source code:

https://github.com/FPGAwars/icestudio/tree/develop/app/resou...

This is crazy helpful for beginners: https://github.com/FPGAwars/icestudio

They have drag and drop visual gates and cores with very well documented examples.

This is the project: https://github.com/FPGAwars/icestudio

I am slowly moving off my retro computing hobby. The last straw was recent chip shortage and crazy prices. I bought myself a copy of "The 8088 Project Book" and I wanted to build the presented 8088 breadboard computer. Guess what? The only factory that was building compatible 8088/8086 chips caught fire (Renesas factory fire). I had to order 20 year old chips for the price x2 of the new chips. But not only that, some chips are either unavailable or crazy expensive due to a lot of recent interests in retro-comp.

In other way, the hobby became unreasonably expensive for me. So I decided to move my interests into FPGA. The fun is almost the same, but the cost is way lower (you only need to buy a good board and a book, and you are set up). I started with this extremely simple IDE: https://github.com/FPGAwars/icestudio

As for this build, I have mixed feelings about using FPGAs to revive old computers. Can't we create something new out of it? It would be fun to have a _modern_ FPGA based SBC with easy to program graphics (memory mapped) and with simple device interface (I think USB is way too complicated for hobbyists). Just something powerful enough to create games, yet simple enough so that teenager can write a simple OS in his spare time.