David Shadoff
@dshadoff.bsky.social
Mostly PC Engine and PC-FX reverse-engineering and development. I also contribute to MiSTer FPGA cores and a Mednafen fork. (hobby).
It's apple season, so I made an apple galette.
Much faster/easier to make than a proper apple pie.
Much faster/easier to make than a proper apple pie.
November 3, 2025 at 1:25 AM
It's apple season, so I made an apple galette.
Much faster/easier to make than a proper apple pie.
Much faster/easier to make than a proper apple pie.
Up in the Great White North, it's peach season so I made a peach galette...
September 14, 2025 at 10:08 PM
Up in the Great White North, it's peach season so I made a peach galette...
WHAT HAVE I DONE !?!?
I may have gone a bit overboard...
I may have gone a bit overboard...
August 31, 2025 at 11:50 PM
WHAT HAVE I DONE !?!?
I may have gone a bit overboard...
I may have gone a bit overboard...
I've moved on to reading the XE-1AP to confirm some things, and needed to go to C/C++ to get the required speed.
My XE-1AP needs some maintenance; the calibration is bad, and there are lots of read timeouts, but I have clear results.
My XE-1AP needs some maintenance; the calibration is bad, and there are lots of read timeouts, but I have clear results.
August 17, 2025 at 5:48 PM
I've moved on to reading the XE-1AP to confirm some things, and needed to go to C/C++ to get the required speed.
My XE-1AP needs some maintenance; the calibration is bad, and there are lots of read timeouts, but I have clear results.
My XE-1AP needs some maintenance; the calibration is bad, and there are lots of read timeouts, but I have clear results.
So I decided to use a spare microcontroller to check it out instead. Using CircuitPython for fast iterations.
Don't worry, it's 5V-tolerant and I'm only using it for a short time like this.
Don't worry, it's 5V-tolerant and I'm only using it for a short time like this.
August 16, 2025 at 3:34 PM
So I decided to use a spare microcontroller to check it out instead. Using CircuitPython for fast iterations.
Don't worry, it's 5V-tolerant and I'm only using it for a short time like this.
Don't worry, it's 5V-tolerant and I'm only using it for a short time like this.
I'm trying to improve the controller support in the X68000 MiSTer core, so I bought this controller included with Fatal Fury software.
But there are no screws... it's GLUED together !?
But there are no screws... it's GLUED together !?
August 16, 2025 at 3:34 PM
I'm trying to improve the controller support in the X68000 MiSTer core, so I bought this controller included with Fatal Fury software.
But there are no screws... it's GLUED together !?
But there are no screws... it's GLUED together !?
I also had some sour cherries left over left over after making the pie, so I made a cake with them today.
July 27, 2025 at 9:37 PM
I also had some sour cherries left over left over after making the pie, so I made a cake with them today.
"That's a damn fine slice of pie!"
- Agent Cooper, Twin Peaks
- Agent Cooper, Twin Peaks
July 21, 2025 at 2:07 AM
"That's a damn fine slice of pie!"
- Agent Cooper, Twin Peaks
- Agent Cooper, Twin Peaks
The worst thing about sour cherry pie is waiting for it to cool down when it comes out of the oven...
July 20, 2025 at 10:55 PM
The worst thing about sour cherry pie is waiting for it to cool down when it comes out of the oven...
The initial test is just several 'mov' statements and a loop of 21 million iterations (clock speed = 21MHz, so each second measured represents a clock cycle on an instruction).
Mednafen doesn't implement pipeline stalls, refills, or cache misses, so it's faster than the real CPU.
Mednafen doesn't implement pipeline stalls, refills, or cache misses, so it's faster than the real CPU.
July 6, 2025 at 12:55 AM
The initial test is just several 'mov' statements and a loop of 21 million iterations (clock speed = 21MHz, so each second measured represents a clock cycle on an instruction).
Mednafen doesn't implement pipeline stalls, refills, or cache misses, so it's faster than the real CPU.
Mednafen doesn't implement pipeline stalls, refills, or cache misses, so it's faster than the real CPU.
Next cool thing I received today... Jumperless v5, the, uh, jumper-less breadboard that creates connections through software-defined analog switches.
June 5, 2025 at 1:02 AM
Next cool thing I received today... Jumperless v5, the, uh, jumper-less breadboard that creates connections through software-defined analog switches.
Today's pretty busy - but mostly in a good way.
For one, I received this:
For one, I received this:
June 4, 2025 at 5:23 PM
Today's pretty busy - but mostly in a good way.
For one, I received this:
For one, I received this:
The PC-FX has a 5V, 40mA output supply on the rear panel, along with the A/V outputs. It seems to be a TRS connector, but it's too small for 1/8" (maybe 3/32" ?)
I wonder what kind of hardware it was intended for ?
I wonder what kind of hardware it was intended for ?
April 24, 2025 at 1:44 AM
The PC-FX has a 5V, 40mA output supply on the rear panel, along with the A/V outputs. It seems to be a TRS connector, but it's too small for 1/8" (maybe 3/32" ?)
I wonder what kind of hardware it was intended for ?
I wonder what kind of hardware it was intended for ?
Easter-coloured cake.
Vanilla chiffon cake with red raspberry glaze. No food colouring (luckily, no stains on me while I separated the seeds !)
Vanilla chiffon cake with red raspberry glaze. No food colouring (luckily, no stains on me while I separated the seeds !)
April 20, 2025 at 7:12 PM
Easter-coloured cake.
Vanilla chiffon cake with red raspberry glaze. No food colouring (luckily, no stains on me while I separated the seeds !)
Vanilla chiffon cake with red raspberry glaze. No food colouring (luckily, no stains on me while I separated the seeds !)
Looking into PC Engine SCSI today, trying to understand behaviour for MiSTer, Mednafen, and Mesen.
The SCSI on the PCE CDROM is quite a bit different from that used in the PC-FX... not standard.
Since the PC-8801MC uses the same unit, this is also useful knowledge for that machine...
The SCSI on the PCE CDROM is quite a bit different from that used in the PC-FX... not standard.
Since the PC-8801MC uses the same unit, this is also useful knowledge for that machine...
April 12, 2025 at 12:09 AM
Looking into PC Engine SCSI today, trying to understand behaviour for MiSTer, Mednafen, and Mesen.
The SCSI on the PCE CDROM is quite a bit different from that used in the PC-FX... not standard.
Since the PC-8801MC uses the same unit, this is also useful knowledge for that machine...
The SCSI on the PCE CDROM is quite a bit different from that used in the PC-FX... not standard.
Since the PC-8801MC uses the same unit, this is also useful knowledge for that machine...
Windows 10 still has a huge lead on Windows 11, despite end of support in about 6 months.
And Microsoft's "roadmap" only gives visibility about 1 month into the future. (see link)
...So, why is Windows 11 such a dumpster fire ?
www.theregister.com/2025/03/28/m...
And Microsoft's "roadmap" only gives visibility about 1 month into the future. (see link)
...So, why is Windows 11 such a dumpster fire ?
www.theregister.com/2025/03/28/m...
March 29, 2025 at 9:29 PM
Windows 10 still has a huge lead on Windows 11, despite end of support in about 6 months.
And Microsoft's "roadmap" only gives visibility about 1 month into the future. (see link)
...So, why is Windows 11 such a dumpster fire ?
www.theregister.com/2025/03/28/m...
And Microsoft's "roadmap" only gives visibility about 1 month into the future. (see link)
...So, why is Windows 11 such a dumpster fire ?
www.theregister.com/2025/03/28/m...
Recently I learned that "Tekipaki Working Love" on the PC Engine has a debug code to unlock a menu item which lets you see ending animations:
At the starting menu, hold the left direction key, press Select and Run.
On the PC-FX version, this goes straight to ending credits.
At the starting menu, hold the left direction key, press Select and Run.
On the PC-FX version, this goes straight to ending credits.
March 23, 2025 at 5:50 AM
Recently I learned that "Tekipaki Working Love" on the PC Engine has a debug code to unlock a menu item which lets you see ending animations:
At the starting menu, hold the left direction key, press Select and Run.
On the PC-FX version, this goes straight to ending credits.
At the starting menu, hold the left direction key, press Select and Run.
On the PC-FX version, this goes straight to ending credits.
For MiSTer developers looking to update an old computer to get faster compiles, here are my old/new benchmarks, compiling the TurboGrafx16_MiSTer core.
Quite a bit faster, but not as much as I had hoped.
LEFT i7700K (2017) vs. RIGHT 9800X3D (2025).
Quite a bit faster, but not as much as I had hoped.
LEFT i7700K (2017) vs. RIGHT 9800X3D (2025).
March 23, 2025 at 12:05 AM
For MiSTer developers looking to update an old computer to get faster compiles, here are my old/new benchmarks, compiling the TurboGrafx16_MiSTer core.
Quite a bit faster, but not as much as I had hoped.
LEFT i7700K (2017) vs. RIGHT 9800X3D (2025).
Quite a bit faster, but not as much as I had hoped.
LEFT i7700K (2017) vs. RIGHT 9800X3D (2025).
Yeah, that's pretty cool.
For crystal radios, I had one of these (in a different set of colours - red top and black bottom) when I was a kid, and I thought that was also a pretty cool design...
For crystal radios, I had one of these (in a different set of colours - red top and black bottom) when I was a kid, and I thought that was also a pretty cool design...
March 17, 2025 at 1:08 PM
Yeah, that's pretty cool.
For crystal radios, I had one of these (in a different set of colours - red top and black bottom) when I was a kid, and I thought that was also a pretty cool design...
For crystal radios, I had one of these (in a different set of colours - red top and black bottom) when I was a kid, and I thought that was also a pretty cool design...
Ok, while this was a pretty good donut, I think for 500 yen, it should be bespoke and custom made.
…Maybe there’s a business plan somewhere in that statement (for custom-made donuts).
…Maybe there’s a business plan somewhere in that statement (for custom-made donuts).
March 2, 2025 at 10:10 AM
Ok, while this was a pretty good donut, I think for 500 yen, it should be bespoke and custom made.
…Maybe there’s a business plan somewhere in that statement (for custom-made donuts).
…Maybe there’s a business plan somewhere in that statement (for custom-made donuts).
Japan train food (ekiben) is so much better than airplane food.
February 28, 2025 at 2:52 AM
Japan train food (ekiben) is so much better than airplane food.
Favourite lunch in Kyoto, at Breizh Cafe. Sarrasin (buckwheat) galette and crepes suzettes for dessert. A little bit out of the way, but worth it. Definitely go for the crepes suzettes !
February 25, 2025 at 4:51 AM
Favourite lunch in Kyoto, at Breizh Cafe. Sarrasin (buckwheat) galette and crepes suzettes for dessert. A little bit out of the way, but worth it. Definitely go for the crepes suzettes !
Coolish of the day. I think I’ve run out of flavours I haven’t tried before. This one is reasonably common.
February 23, 2025 at 8:02 AM
Coolish of the day. I think I’ve run out of flavours I haven’t tried before. This one is reasonably common.
Coolish of the day.
February 22, 2025 at 10:23 AM
Coolish of the day.
Coolish of the day.
February 21, 2025 at 10:48 AM
Coolish of the day.