[Oberon] oberonstation questions, ps/2?

[jwr at robrts.net]

Lars:
   Yes, your questions have already been answered elsewhere [but  
perhaps not on this list]. A partial list of sites with many further  
details is below.  However, the essence is exactly as you suggest: a  
PS/2 interface was deliberately chosen for Project Oberon 2013 because  
it is a very simple serial interface.  A USB interface would involve  
more code than the entire rest of the system requires (both hardware  
and software), and would therefore compromise the educational goal of  
building a system which can be easily understood as a whole. [Perhaps  
a poor paraphrase on my part, of one of the true goals. See Wirth's  
"Project Oberon" texts.]  For similar reasons, a VGA interface was  
selected rather than HDMI or other more modern video interface.

Regarding your second paragraph concerning USB keyboards/mice with  
converters, people have had mixed results. Some converter/USB  
combinations work, some don't, some can even damage the board. Using a  
"Real" PS/2 mouse is recommended. I saw a thread discussing details  
which I can't find again quickly right now.

Regarding an "OberonStation 2.0" with updated interfaces, we'll see.  
In the meantime note that the Pipistrello supports an HDMI interface.  
Monochrome VGA seems to me a current (and very reasonable) limitation  
of the Project Oberon implementation, which could be changed if an  
individual or team implements and integrates updated VGA or a full  
HDMI interface in Lola2 or Verilog (hardware part) and Oberon  
(software part). The 1Mb memory limitation (for software, data, AND  
video memory) of most current physical implementations of Project  
Oberon 2013 is a significant reason that monochrome VGA was selected.

For the key resources (documentation and code) for Project Oberon 2013, see:
    http://www.projectoberon.com/
    https://www.inf.ethz.ch/personal/wirth/
For details on the OberonStation itself, see:
    http://oberonstation.x10.mx/
    http://oberonstation.x10.mx/smf/index.php
    http://forum.6502.org/viewtopic.php?f=10&t=3496
Of interest, see also the Pipistrello with Oberon Wing, and the Pepino:
    http://www.saanlima.com/store/
    http://saanlima.com/forum/
Chris Burrows has also an "embedded" version targeted by AStrobe for  
RISC5, which can be used in situations which do not necessarily even  
have a keyboard, mouse, or video.
    http://www.astrobe.com/RISC5/default.htm
    http://www.astrobe.com/forum/index.php
I expect other custom implementations will also appear.

For some interesting discussions, see
    https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=10474653  [regarding OberonStation]
    https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=10792046  [regarding OberonStation]
    https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=8620053   [Project Oberon  
2013 edition]
    https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=9847955   [Project Oberon]
    also search google for "project oberon site:news.ycombinator.com"

That's probably much more than you wanted for an answer.  Sorry to ramble.

-- John Roberts