See the new sections at the bottom for details. I don't have the bandwidth or a use case for this now, but based on projects like PiTERM, it looks like it would be pretty easy create a third variation that did just this." Well as part of this update I plan to correct this shortcoming. My very last sentence in this writeup was " The one thing that I didn't do was create an actual RS-232 terminal. Since the RetroPie software for the arcade was running on a Raspberry Pi anyway, and we did have a keyboard as well it's wasn't a big leap to see this VT100 reproduction as a small stand alone desktop machine.
Near the end of this writeup you will see that I created a Mini Arcade version with joystick and buttons in lieu of a keyboard. As the project progressed I realized that there was so much more I could do with this reproduction. May 27, 2021: The previous two paragraphs describe the project as originally conceived. The display will be hooked directly via HDMI to the Raspberry Pi running the PDP software, and the keyboard will be USB connected to the Pi as well. So for instance it will have an LCD screen disguised as a CRT, and the 2:3 scale precludes having a full sized keyboard with number pad like the original. I want to make something that is clearly a VT100 derivative as close as possible in look, but sourced with modern components.
#RETROPIE TERMINAL EMULATOR FROM MAC SERIAL#
The plan in fact is not even to make a real serial terminal.
I will not be making a true replica VT100. Since the DEC VT100 was the gold standard for serial terminals in the early years, that's what I will base my design on, and since it will be a driver for a 2:3 scale PDP-8I I'll scale my design accordingly.