The last few days I have been plaing with the Texas Instruments EVM7000 Evaluation Module from 1986. This is a hardware board based on the TMS7000 8-bits microcontroller and a complete tool to develop firmware for this processor. It is probably one of the last of its kind, as newer systems were PC-based and used cross assemblers. The board incorporated:
- Debug Monitor and EPROM Programmer
- Text Editor
- Assembler
Assembly source can be uploaded or composed directly on the board, the assembled code can be executed, debugged and modified via the line assembler. The Reverse Assembler can disassemble code (code transfer is possible from and to a host system). The monitor also has a command to display the assembly line corresponding to a memory address.
It is a fun system (as long as you like the TMS7000 Family), and I run this not on the unobtanium original board, but on a recently completed replica: Yet another computer museum - TMS7000 Evaluation Module*
Greetings,
Fred Jan
*) Not for sale but all data is/will be freely available