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Forum Index : Microcontroller and PC projects : Picomite advice... and how about a boot-to-MMBASIC PC?
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| johnaau Newbie  Joined: 05/07/2026 Location: AustraliaPosts: 1 |
I came across the various Maximite and Picomite projects while looking at options for a boot-to-BASIC computer for my son to learn programming. I'm really impressed with what I've seen with the Colour Maximite 2 and it's ability to run BASIC super quick. I could have really done with that back in the 80s. I was wondering how the speed of the Picomite compares to the Maximite and couldn't find much information... Is it very fast for BASIC games like the Maximite 2? Also, the Picomite you can buy from Silicon Chip doesn't look to have any audio output. Am I wrong or can it be added or is there another option? What I would really like, though, is something like these that would run on an old PC. It would be great to take a 10-15 year old PC and be able to convert it to BASIC only computer just like the Maximite. I see there is an alpha Linux version of MM BASIC — maybe that is an option — how is performance of that on a PC running a game with graphics? |
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phil99 Guru  Joined: 11/02/2018 Location: AustraliaPosts: 3306 |
These SC Pico kits have audio. RP2350B (Pico 2) Pico Computer More information available here Download the manuals for a better idea of what the Picos and CMM2 can do. Another option is https://www.rictech.nz/micromite-products (on this site his username is Grogster). Leave a message asking about what kits for MaxiMite and PicoMite he currently has available. Depending on the program and overclocking (can safely go above 378MHz) many games run quite fast. The Pico 1 & 2 chips are a tiny fraction of the price of the STM chip in the CMM2 so have much less memory but creative developers here have done some impressive things with it. MMBasic retains all the commands of the original basic BASIC for beginners but as they progress there are a host of advanced commands and functions to provide enhanced capability and performance. |
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Martin H. Guru Joined: 04/06/2022 Location: GermanyPosts: 1467 |
Hello johnaau, first of all, a warm welcome to the forum. The Picomite is a fantastic project based on the Raspberry Pi Pico that offers you maximum freedom: You can either buy one of the various pre-built boards to get started right away, or build your own mini-computer from scratch using the Pico as the core, tailored exactly to your needs. For videospecs, have a look in the manual from page 36 onwards For audio, from page 49 onwards. As for speed:Unfortunately, I don't have the opportunity to compare both directly. The Picomite is extremely powerful for its size, but I think, it is not intended to be a direct successor to the Color Maximite 2. While the CMM2 offers greater processing power and more RAM, the Picomite stands out for its compact design, easy integration, and enormous flexibility for custom projects. For classic BASIC applications and hardware control, however, it’s absolutely speedy and, in many scenarios, completely... All in all, though, it's significantly faster than the basic computers of the 1980s. To get an idea, check out game ports like "Attack of the Petscii Robots", which was programmed entirely in MMBasic. Greetings from the other side of the planet Cheers Martin Edited 2026-07-06 14:31 by Martin H. 'no comment |
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| Volhout Guru Joined: 05/03/2018 Location: NetherlandsPosts: 5965 |
sorry - off-topic - Hi Martin, Do you happen to have a Protracker sample of crystal "ting" sound (or a sequence of 2 "ting"-s. Something hitting a crystal glass or so. I have tried AI, but result that comes up is garbage. This is for the new "Stoned" game I have almost finished ("Bejeweled"). Regards, Volhout PicomiteVGA PETSCII ROBOTS |
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| matherp Guru Joined: 11/12/2012 Location: United KingdomPosts: 11598 |
The PicoMite overclocked to 378Mhz runs MMbasic at about 65% of the speed of the CMM2 (STM32H7 @ 480MHz) |
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| dddns Guru Joined: 20/09/2024 Location: GermanyPosts: 857 |
Hello johnaau! there are various ports of MMBasic (DOS, Windows, Linux, Web). They all have one problem, they are always behind the latest development and not fully compatible with MMBasic on a Picomite. Especially in the last months so many precious features were added, I would not want to miss them. Take a look at the new developed Pico Computer 3. Your son would also have the chance to get in touch with Python syntax which I think has a brighter future. Ask Australian member @Bryan1 if he has one left, there is a bulk order underway. There are members who developed whole games with but this code does not run unmodified on a real Picomite. |
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Bryan1 Guru Joined: 22/02/2006 Location: AustraliaPosts: 2129 |
Hello johnaau yes I do have one Pico 3 Computer board left to assign to a member and you are more than welcome to this last one  As the boards are currently being made I do expect they should be within 2 weeks so if you do want it just send me a PM and it's yours. Regards Bryan |
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| Volhout Guru Joined: 05/03/2018 Location: NetherlandsPosts: 5965 |
hi johnaau, From your question it looks like you are looking for a PC based system that starts with the command prompt in MMBasic. MSDOS/PCDOS : MMBasic for DOS exists (on Geoff's website). In AUTOEXEC.BAT you can start MMBasic. It does not support graphics and sound. WINDOWS : There is MMB4W (MMBasic for Windows) it starts in a window, and most likely (did not try) you can make it auto start. Supports graphics and sound. Many on the forum use this to develop before they port to CMM2 or Pico. LINUX : There is MMB4L (MMBasic for Linux) currently at V0.7, but thwill at this forum (author) is close to releasing 0.8. Includes graphics and sound (0.7). Version 0.6 does not include graphics and sound. Proven to work in Ubuntu 20.04 and 24.04. Although I understand the desire to make the PC boot into command prompt in basic, basic is not network agnostic (as Windows and Linux are). So it is better to leave the Windows/Linux environment availble. (So you can browse this forum, and download examples and manuals). Volhout Edited 2026-07-06 17:28 by Volhout PicomiteVGA PETSCII ROBOTS |
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| Martin H. Guru Joined: 04/06/2022 Location: GermanyPosts: 1467 |
- off-topic - Hi Volhout.. For now, just use/export the "Diamnd1" sample (No. &H13) from the Gems"N"Rocks MOD File. This is a single "Bling". If you're looking for more, send me a private message—I can create these here using FL Studio as well. Cheers Martin EDIT: you can find many Sounds here:https://www.soundsnap.com/tags/crystal_hit , just convert it to 8Bit 16KHz Mono Unfortunately, you have to sign up for that, though Edited 2026-07-06 18:15 by Martin H. 'no comment |
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Mixtel90 Guru Joined: 05/10/2019 Location: United KingdomPosts: 8919 |
IMHO a PC version doesn't (and can't ever) work. Something that the CMM2 and PicoMite do very well is interface to the outside world using logic signals. Yes, you can do that on a (very) old PC using either a game port or a Centronics printer interface, but not using MMBasic. Besides, the PicoMite solutions are all cheap and easy to work with from literally nothing - just dangle a Pico (or Chinese clone) on a USB lead connected to your PC while holding down the boot button. Windows will create a drive. Copy the MMBasic file onto it. It loads then reboots. Run Tera Term on the PC and connect it to the new virtual COM port that's appeared. Press Enter a couple of times. That's it, you're in the MMBasic console. No other hardware is essential. The various PCBs are used to support a main display, keyboard and SD card to make up a "stand-alone" computer. Once MMBasic has been installed it will always boot to that when powered up. There is now quite a choice of boards that use either one of the various modules as its controller. Only you can decide which looks better to you. :) You can buy ready-built boards, boards built from modules, scratch build - anything really. The CMM2 Gen 2 is the real bruiser, however it's quite a bit more expensive and may be a considered purchase. It's a lovely machine but is starting to show its age a little now. I'd say that the Pico family are easier for a beginner to work with though - and with a smaller bill if you break them. :) Mick Zilog Inside! nascom.info for Nascom & Gemini Preliminary MMBasic docs & my PCB designs |
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| JohnS Guru Joined: 18/11/2011 Location: United KingdomPosts: 4339 |
If you own an old PC, then using it with Linux and MMB4L is free and could be worth trying. Even an old PC will be fast. It wouldn't boot all the way into MMBasic as fast as a Picomite (but you would get all the other Linux tools and internet etc that you'd ever want). The Picomites are cheap and quite fast. Good place to start. John |
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thwill Guru Joined: 16/09/2019 Location: United KingdomPosts: 4370 |
Hi folks, The nearest thing I've done to a boot to MMBasic PC For a school project my daughter worked on I configured a 2011 Acer Aspire One laptop, came with Windows 7 now running MX-Linux (MX 23.6 Libretto), configured to boot to the Linux console without requiring a login (takes ~2 mins to get there but I haven't tried to optimise this). It is running an alpha build of MMB4L 0.8 which could be configured to automatically start, but I haven't done so; the performance is pretty reasonable. Note that at the console MMB4L doesn't currently have graphics, you need to start a window manager ... I think the SDL2 library that MMB4L uses can render directly without a window manager but I haven't investigated it. Current MMB4L state Due to other commitments (and implementing an Illustrated Adventure that I first started work on in 1987 !) progress with MMB4L 0.8 has stalled, I think it is nearly at a releasable state (and also building for Win64) but I'm struggling to find time and enthusiasm to push it "over the line", also the existence of MMBasic Anywhere muddies the waters ;-) Even if I eventually do get it released it doesn't have most of the features Peter has been adding to the PicoMite over the last 12+ months. Nobody has mentioned "MMBasic Anywhere" A recent entry to the field: https://www.thebackshed.com/forum/ViewTopic.php?TID=18865 by @jvanderberg. I think on Linux it has both a graphics version running using an Electron container* and also an ANSI version, it is more feature comparable with the latest PicoMite MMBasic than MMB4L. * In contrast MMB4L is a native Linux application using SDL2 for graphics. My recommendation for a tool to teach kids programming I started my daughter with MMBasic on Linux (well actually on CMM2, but we soon switched to Linux for the convenience of being able to use a laptop), but no matter how much I wanted to convince myself otherwise I don't think it is the best choice. I shouldn't allow my BASIC eccentricities to get in her way and ultimately she will use Python at school, so I decided to switch her to that and give her a head start. She is using the Pygame Zero library (running Python under Linux/Crostini on her Chromebook) and has worked her way through this book: https://www.amazon.co.uk/Computer-Coding-Python-Games-Kids/dp/0241317797. I'll go back to sleep now ;-) Tom Edited 2026-07-06 21:33 by thwill MMBasic for Linux, Game*Mite, CMM2 Welcome Tape, Creaky old text adventures |
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