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Forum Index : Microcontroller and PC projects : A History of MMBasic
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Geoffg Guru  Joined: 06/06/2011 Location: AustraliaPosts: 3269 |
Sometime ago a forum member asked "is there a history of MMBasic" and that got me thinking that I should write it down before it slipped my memory. So, if you are interested, I have created a web page describing my recollections: https://geoffg.net/MMBasicHistory.html. This covers MMBasic from its conception in late 2010 through to today and traces the various hardware platforms through the Maximite and Micromite to the PicoMite. Geoff Geoff Graham - http://geoffg.net |
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palcal Guru Joined: 12/10/2011 Location: AustraliaPosts: 1965 |
.. 2020??? Edited 2025-03-07 06:49 by palcal "It is better to be ignorant and ask a stupid question than to be plain Stupid and not ask at all" |
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| hhtg1968 Senior Member  Joined: 25/05/2023 Location: GermanyPosts: 136 |
1. I think Geoff wanted to say "2010"... 2. ist is wonderful article about a wonderful basic. |
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| WhiteWizzard Guru Joined: 05/04/2013 Location: United KingdomPosts: 2927 |
Thanks for this Geoff. Even though I’ve been fortunate enough to be a part of this journey as an end-user, this write-up is a fascinating read and will no doubt be much appreciated by all members here. Will report any errors as I come across anything. First bullet point: “…..could use a lookup a table…..’ Footnote added 2025-03-07 07:13 by WhiteWizzard “Over time I estimate that at least 3,000 to 5,000 Maximites have been build…..” Needs to be replaced with ‘….built’ |
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| Geoffg Guru Joined: 06/06/2011 Location: AustraliaPosts: 3269 |
Thanks guys, fixed both. Geoff Graham - http://geoffg.net |
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| WhiteWizzard Guru Joined: 05/04/2013 Location: United KingdomPosts: 2927 |
“…. Glenn that he start one for the Maximite. This was in June 2011 and it has since grown to be bigger that all his other forums and is still going strong, covering microcontrollers and MMBasic. “ Had to re-read the above several times and think it should be ‘… bigger than…..’? Footnote added 2025-03-07 07:35 by WhiteWizzard “Later there was a succession of releases for these leading to version 5.05.04 in June 2021. These releases incorporated bug fixes and many improvements such support for extra displays…..” I think should be ‘…. such as support….’ |
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| Geoffg Guru Joined: 06/06/2011 Location: AustraliaPosts: 3269 |
Thanks Phil, fixed. Geoff Graham - http://geoffg.net |
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| gadgetjack Senior Member Joined: 15/07/2016 Location: United StatesPosts: 169 |
Great Article. I enjoyed the read , filled in a lot of holes from one device to the next , I had been missing. I came in a couple years after it started. I am still here and still building new devices as they come out. A tip of my hat to you sir!! Jack |
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Mixtel90 Guru Joined: 05/10/2019 Location: United KingdomPosts: 7499 |
How about a mention of "the great chip shortage" of 2020-2023? We were stuck with a shortage of silicon to run MMBasic on. Worldwide supplies of the chip for the CMM2 dried up completely, as did the supply of the Waveshare modules. Even the chip for the Maximite dried up. Peter made a brief attempt at using the "Black Pill" module as the basis for a port but it didn't go well. At that point the Raspberry Pi Pico became the platform of choice. It had the principal advantage that, unlike most microcontrollers at this point, it was actually available and in quantity. Also it was cheap. I think Peter really earned his stripes here, fighting against a new and awkward toolchain for a CPU that was unfamiliar to everyone, not just him. Edit: Incidentally, it couldn't really have happened at a worse time. The CMM2 was now available as both the Waveshare module and the surface mount version. The CMM2 version 2 was only available as surface mount and had only recently been released IIRC. Suddenly all three versions disappeared almost overnight as industry bought up all versions of the chips to stockpile for their production lines. Edited 2025-03-07 18:27 by Mixtel90 Mick Zilog Inside! nascom.info for Nascom & Gemini Preliminary MMBasic docs & my PCB designs |
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| ManiB Senior Member Joined: 12/10/2019 Location: GermanyPosts: 106 |
Hi Geoff, thanks for taking the time to write down the history of MMBasic – I just checked out your page at https://geoffg.net/MMBasicHistory.html, and it’s fascinating to see how it all started back in 2010 and evolved over the years. Tracing the journey from the Maximite to the Micromite and now the PicoMite really puts into perspective how much work and passion went into this. I’m actually using some of these myself: the MMBasic Port on the STM32F746-Disco, the CMM2 G2 V2 (Colour Maximite 2 Generation 2 Version 2), the Duino Mite from Olimex, and the PicoMiteHDMIUSB on the RP2040-PICO-PC from Olimex. I can’t wait to order Peter’s brand-new PicoMiteHDMIUSB motherboard, too! It’s really cool to tinker with these and now see their roots in your write-up. It’s awesome to have that documented before it fades from memory, and I’m sure a lot of people in the community will appreciate it too. Great stuff! Cheers, Manfred |
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thwill Guru Joined: 16/09/2019 Location: United KingdomPosts: 4249 |
Hi Geoff, Thank you for your write up that fills in some of the missing earlier history. Best wishes, Tom MMBasic for Linux, Game*Mite, CMM2 Welcome Tape, Creaky old text adventures |
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| Volhout Guru Joined: 05/03/2018 Location: NetherlandsPosts: 4851 |
Geoff, Correct me if I am wrong, but picomite mouse support is PS2 and USB. I am not aware of serial mouse support. Volhout PicomiteVGA PETSCII ROBOTS |
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PeteCotton Guru Joined: 13/08/2020 Location: CanadaPosts: 527 |
Brilliant article. It's very interesting to see the humble beginnings of the project, and read about the huge amount of effort you and others have invested to bring it up to what it is today. Thank you. |
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| Volhout Guru Joined: 05/03/2018 Location: NetherlandsPosts: 4851 |
Yes, the STM32 shortage came at the worst moment. The CMM2 was gaining momentum, several youtube video's brought it to the publics attention, and then the units could not be delivered. Most CMM2 vendors disappeared. Edited 2025-03-08 04:40 by Volhout PicomiteVGA PETSCII ROBOTS |
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jwettroth Regular Member  Joined: 02/08/2011 Location: United StatesPosts: 75 |
Geoff, I enjoyed your history and have thoroughly enjoyed the whole 'mite journey, thanks to you. I think I have an example of most versions including the first Alltronics monochrome unit. I have settled on the MX170 version of the micromite as a work horse for my quick turn "consulting" projects. I put consulting in quotes because these are minimally funded, low, low volume (half dozen max) gadgets that ecologists and wildlife people need. Your basic ecosystem is just about perfect for this purpose. I can take a micromite chip, a couple of chinese modules for RTC, audio player and a mono or color LCD for user interface. I usually have a tick timer interrupt that reads keys, maintains timers and sets flags. The micromite turned down to an F clock of 5 Mhz will run on about 1 mA with an lcd module and rtc. The rich set of peripherals built in are much better than libraries for my simple needs. Wonderful stuff that has saved me a lot of time and enabled a lot of special projects. Thanks John Edited 2025-03-09 01:25 by jwettroth John Wettroth |
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| lizby Guru Joined: 17/05/2016 Location: United StatesPosts: 3309 |
Have you produced PCBs for this configuration? If so, would you mind sharing? The ultra-low current usage looks interesting. PicoMite, Armmite F4, SensorKits, MMBasic Hardware, Games, etc. on fruitoftheshed |
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| jwettroth Regular Member Joined: 02/08/2011 Location: United StatesPosts: 75 |
I've never done a generic version but let me look around. They're generally built for some special purpose. The "backpack" are equivalent really. The low power stuff is just turning down the clock and using a 3v LCD module. You can get fancier by having the RTC generate alarms and sleep the processor. With a 1 minute alarm tick and a keyboard interrupt, you can update the display time and handle keys at low power. The generic LCD modules draw a half a milliamp. John Wettroth |
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