New display-tape interface

[Angelo Papenhoff/aap]

Hi, i just pushed the first version of a combined display and papertape interface to the pidp1 repo. Until now we had a separate program and two windows. now it's one window with a configurable layout so it can be neatly positioned behind the holes of the frame pidp1. could also be useful otherwise though. I plan to add the typewriter as well, and with a graphical way to select/mount/save tapes and even a built-in assembler it would be a nice native version of my web interface :)

[John Kennedy]

Looking forward to trying this! What spec of LCD screen is recommended (size, aspect ratio). I’ve been tinkering with the Pi image and reading the manual and I am excited to build the kit. 

[Bill E]

Just did a pull and a reinstall, don't see anything new, same windows start up.  Am I missing something? Several files related to the panel were updated by the pull.

Bill

[Angelo Papenhoff/aap]

i think oscar is still working on integrating it into the install script and such. it's in the pdp1_periph directory.

[Oscar Vermeulen]

i think oscar is still working on integrating it into the install script and such. it's in the pdp1_periph directory.

Yes! Tomorrow I'll update the scripts to use the new pdp1_periph instead of the separate peripheral programs.

[Angelo Papenhoff/aap]

Just pushed an update which adds the typewriter too. I hope it works well, but please report bugs.

[John Kennedy]

I'm happy to test on my Pi, but need more help when it comes to actually using the PDP-1 after the install. 

For testing, what install options should I select? What tasks would you like me to attempt?

How do I do things like load programs from tape?

[Bill E]

Integrated typewriter passes the DDT test! Very nice.

Bill

[Oscar Vermeulen]

On Sunday, August 17, 2025 at 3:14:18 AM UTC+2 johntk...@gmail.com wrote:

Looking forward to trying this! What spec of LCD screen is recommended (size, aspect ratio). I’ve been tinkering with the Pi image and reading the manual and I am excited to build the kit. 

Apologies for being offline for a few days. Health annoyance.

Any 7" display should fit, I tried about four of them off Aliexpress (7" HDMI display), and the 'official Raspberry Pi 7" display" that Raspberry Pi itself offers.

The upside is, pretty much any display will fit. The downside, the slot into which the display is placed is a bit deeper than necessary. The professional guidance being "put some foam or cardboard behind the display to keep it pressed to the front of the machine".

Kind regards,

Oscar.

[John Kennedy]

The LCD display I bought has the HDMI interface to the side, rather at the bottom / top / middle, so I'm not sure if I can manage to squeeze it in..

[Bill E]

The one I got is also side-fired, but if it's mounted on the rear of the panel, there is enough room (I think) for clearance. I got: https://www.amazon.com/7inch-HDMI-LCD-IPS-Screen/dp/B083V7WK15?s=electronics

It's on the higher-priced end, but the quality looked a lot better than the really cheap ones. One issue, you have to add the HDMI settings to your boot config.txt file on the rPI or it won't work. Minor detail and well documented. This one is also a touch screen. Works fine. I'm thinking I can use the display and touch screen for everything -1 and Linux that I'd need to do for routine operations. I'm also considering printing up a mounting frame and putting it on the front of the -1 panel. Yes, heresy, not round. But, there was never a display on that location on the real -1. Why? So I get the full screen so the desktop can be displayed. However, the side connectors will be a problem for that. I might just commit more heresy and cut a rectangular opening on the panel and back mount it.

Bill

[John Kennedy]

I have some 90' HDMI plug-sockets coming that might make mounting easier. I like the idea of the screen there: makes for an extremely cool piece of wall art!

[Oscar Vermeulen]

John,

On Monday, September 1, 2025 at 4:41:18 AM UTC+2 johntk...@gmail.com wrote:

The LCD display I bought has the HDMI interface to the side, rather at the bottom / top / middle, so I'm not sure if I can manage to squeeze it in..

Yes, you will! My displays all have that too. One of the 8 spacers that hold the Speaker Frame to the Speaker Panel might be in the way. But the idea is, just take that one out (remove the spacer, keep the bolt on the front of the panel for cosmetic reasons though, fix it with the nut instead of the spacer).

I added an excessive 8 spacers to mount the Speaker Frame on the back of the Speaker Panel for exactly this reason. One of the four inner ones might need to be removed, buy which one depends on the exact type of 7" display. So I just added 8 spacers... it's fine to leave one off. And then there is plenty of space.

Kind regards,

Oscar.