CoCoFPGA Features

The CoCoFPGA Features List

The CoCoFPGA has most, if not all, of the features of a real Color Computer 3. Probably the most obvious "missed" feature is the cartridge port, but Gary Becker (CocoFPGA creator) has covered that pretty well as you will see. Along with the standard Coco 3 features, Gary has also introduced some enhancements to the Coco 3's capabilities. On this page I hope to detail some of these enhancements and their usage.

The CoCoFPGA Hardware:

  • Standard Terrasic DE-1
    • Altera 90nm Cyclone II FPGA w/20k LEs
    • 8 MB SDRAM
    • 512 KB SRAM
    • 4 MB Flash Memory
    • 7 Volt DC Power Supply
    • USB Blaster Port (for programming the board from you PC)
    • Microphone Input
    • Stereo Line Input
    • Stereo Line Ouput
    • VGA Video Port
    • RS-232 Port
    • PS/2 Keyboard Port
    • Dual 40 Pin Expansion Headers
    • 4x 7-Segment Display
    • 10 Red LEDs
    • 10 Green LEDs
    • 10 Toggle Switches
    • 4 Push Button Switches
  • Optional Analog Board Designed by Gary Becker and Built by Ed Snider
    • 4 MB SRAM
    • Dual Analog Coco Joystick Ports
    • WiFi Module
    • Battery Backed RTC (Real Time Clock)
    • 2nd RS-232 Port

The CoCoFPGA Firmware/Software

  • Complete Coco 3 Operating System
    • Color Basic (in ROM)
    • Extended Color Basic (in ROM)
    • Super Extended Color Basic (in ROM)
    • Disk Extended Color Basic (in ROM)
  • Orchestra90cc (otional)
    • Standard Orchestra90cc ROM
    • Standard 8-bit Stereo DAC ouput through the CocoFPGA Line Output
    • Extended 16-bit Stereo DAC output through the CocoFPGA Line Output
  • Joystick/Mouse Support (w/Analog Board ONLY)
    • Standard Color Computer Joystick/Mouse with 6-bit resolution
    • Extended Color Computer Joystick/Mouse with 12-bit resolution
  • Extended Memory beyond 512k (w/Analog Board ONLY)
    • 2 MB memory via "Disto 2 Meg Upgrade" style. Recognized by NitrOS9 transparently
    • 2 MB memory via special "Paul Barton CocoZilla" style.
    • Many new memory commands directly accessable from BASIC or OS9
      • Direct upper memory access up to 4 MB. The memory does not need to be mapped into the 64k workspace
      • Block memory copies. Single command copying of up to 64k of memory from anywhere in the the 4 MB RAM to anywhere else in the 4 MB RAM