Collaborate Disseminate
When homebrewing a CPU, one has to deal with microcode. Microcode is the low-level nuts and bolts of how, precisely, a CPU executes instructions (like opcodes) and performs functions such …read more Continue reading Custom Microcode Compiler, Made in Google Sheets
Back in the last century, Intel saw itself faced with a need to have ‘second source’ suppliers of its 8088 and 8086 processors, which saw NEC being roped in to …read more Continue reading Intel v. NEC : The Case of the V20’s Microcode
The 8086 has been around since 1978, so it’s pretty well understood. As the namesake of the prevalent x86 architecture, it’s often studied by those looking to learn more about …read more Continue reading 8086 Multiply Algorithm Gets Reverse Engineered
The aptly-named [chip-red-pill] team is offering you a chance to go down the Intel rabbit hole. If you learned how to build CPUs back in the 1970s, you would learn …read more Continue reading Down the Intel Microcode Rabbit Hole
Over on Hackaday.io, [Zoltan Pekic] has been busy building a stack of tools for assisting with verifying and debugging retro computing applications. He presents his take on using Intel hex …read more Continue reading Customisable Micro-Coded Controller Helps With In-Circuit Debugging
For an old CPU, finding all the valid instructions wasn’t very hard. You simply tried them all. Sure, really old CPUs might make it hard to tell what the instruction …read more Continue reading Undocumented x86 Instructions Allow Microcode Access
The FPGA revolution that occurred within the past few decades was a boon to many people interested in “antique” electronics. The devices “wire together” logic elements as needed rather than emulating chips completely in a software layer, which makes them uniquely suited for replicating chips that are rare, no longer …read more
‘Foreshadow” and other vulnerabilities in Intel processors can be exploited to steal sensitive information stored inside personal computers or personal clouds. Continue reading Intel CPUs Undermined By Fresh Speculative Execution Flaws
Systems will still need updated firmware to get the latest microcode, however. Continue reading AMD systems gain Spectre protection with latest Windows fixes
Company claims it’s too hard, and few systems have exposure to attack. Continue reading Intel drops plans to develop Spectre microcode for ancient chips