Global/Allied Signal GNS-X CDU display

This page documents my efforts to reverse-engineer a Global/Allied Signal GNS-X CDU display and make it do something useful…

Remove front panel
- Loosen four Phillips screws (two on the left front, two on the right front) - these are captive
- Remove keyboard and display filter assembly: this is attached by a cable.
- Unplug cable
PCBs
- The PCBs install left to right, in order:
  - Red (CRT deflection)
  - Yellow (CRT controller)
  - Black (Keyboard interface)
  - Blue (CPU)
- PCBs pull out via cable tie, which is screwed onto the PCB and formed into a loop.
Outer chassis
- Remove the ten short black screws around the back edge of the main chassis
- The outer chassis pulls away
CRT high voltage section
- Caution - there may be a large blob of silicone dielectric grease on the back of the module. This is extremely sticky and gets everywhere…
- Left side: two black screws in a line along the left side
- Bottom: two black screws in a line in the centre
- Push the block out of the back

Reassembly is the reverse of disassembly. Remember to get the boards in the right place!

I've dumped the firmware ROM (CPU board U14): cpucard-rom-mbm27c64--816288-02_u-14_c038_9-19-91.bin

I'm currently using Ghidra to reverse-engineer it. The ROM loads at address 0x0000, for 8 kilobytes.

The code makes extensive use of the HL and DE registers for pointers, and inlined text strings after calls. Ghidra scripts are required to add references and fix up code (set fallthrough addresses and define text strings) to make the disassembly more readable. I've written a Ghidra script called the Inline String Processor which fixes up these function calls.

(TBD.)

Start addr	End addr	Device
`0000`	`1FFF`	CPU board - Program EPROM
`2000`	`3FFF`	- Possibly space for larger program EPROM.
`4000`	`5FFF`	CPU board - 8K RAM
`6000`	`67FF`
`6800`		Unknown hardware device. Possibly keyboard. Addresses `6800` and `6808` read-only. Address `6810` and `6818` write-only.
`6900`		Unknown hardware device. Address `6900` write-only.
`6A00`	`6A01`	CRT board - HD6845 CRTC. Address `6A00` is CRTC register address. Address `6A01` is CRTC data.
`6B00`		Unknown hardware device. Possibly CRTC related (attributes?) Address `6B00` write-only. Rest of space unused.
`6C00`		Unknown. Not accessed.
`6D00`	`6D07`	Unknown hardware device. Linked to the `/RSTA` interrupt.
`6E00`	`6E01`	U13 ACIA (HD68A50). Initialised but not used.
`6F00`	`6F01`	U16 ACIA (HD68A50).
`7000`	`97FF`
`9800`	`9FFF`	Filled with FF on startup.
`A000`	`B7FF`
`B800`	`BBFF`	Possibly display memory
`BC00`	`BFFF`	Possibly display memory
`C000`	`DFFF`
`E000`	`FFFF`	Expansion ROM . Checked for a jump instruction on boot. Ignored if this is not present.

Interrupt	Source device	Notes
`/RSTA`	Periodic?	Inverse of U6 (CD4520) Q3b (B counter, value 4) → From U4/HC04 pin 4 (inverter B out) → U4 pin 3 (inverter B in) → U6/CD4520 pin13 (Q3b)
`/RSTB`	U16 UART
`/RSTC`	U13 UART	Interrupt returns immediately.

Pin	Function	Wire colour
A	n.c.	none
B	n.c.	none
C	28V ground	Black
D		Purple
E		Brown
F	n.c.	none
G		White, blue stripe
H	n.c.	none
J		White, yellow stripe
K	5V - Lighting - Backlight (A)	Red (thick) to front panel connector
L	n.c.	none
M		Yellow (thick) to front panel connector
N	Earth	White, clear. Connects to back panel.
P	5V - Lighting - Backlight (B)	Green (thick), to front panel power connector
R		White, orange stripe
S	U16 UART transmit “Y”	White
T	U16 UART receive “+”	Purple
U	U16 UART receive “-”	White
V		White, red stripe
W	+28V DC	White (thick). Diode anode (cathode to `e`).
X	U16 UART transmit “Z”	Green
Y	U13 UART transmit “Y”	White
Z	U13 UART transmit “Z”	Blue
a		Orange
b		Black
c	n.c.	none
d		Diode cathode
e		Blue, plus loop to `f`
f		Blue, plus loop to `e`
g	U13 UART receive +	White
h	U13 UART receive -	Yellow
j	n.c.	none

n.c. indicates no connection inside the CDU (unused pins). A blank column indicates that the function of the pin is unknown.

Connector: MIL-DTL-26482 series I style connector with MIL-STD-1560 "22-32" contact arrangement.

The connector on the CDU is the panel-mounting receptacle version, with male pins, ITT part number KPT02E22-32P.

The mating cable-mount connector should be the “plug” version, with socket contacts. A suitable plug would be e.g. the Amphenol PT06A-22-32S.

U13 UART
- Rx Data (2) → U17 SNK75182 “2OUT” (8)
  - U17 2IN- (13) → Back panel h
  - U17 2IN+ (11) → Back panel g
- Tx Data (6) → U18 SNJ75183 “1D” (4)
  - 1A,1B,1C tied high
  - 1Y (5) → Back panel Y
  - 1Z (6) → Back panel Z
- IRQ (7) → NSC800 “RSTC” (24)
U16 UART
- Rx Data (2) → U17 SNK75182 “1OUT” (6)
  - U17 1IN- (1) → Back panel U
  - U17 1IN+ (3) → Back panel T
- Tx Data (6) → U18 SNJ75183 “2A” (10)
  - 2B,2C,2D tied high
  - 2Y (9) → Back panel S
  - 2Z (8) → Back panel X
- IRQ (7) → NSC800 “RSTB” (23)

MSylvain59's videos:
- Powering up the GNS-X CDU
- AlliedSignal GNS-X teardown
Z80 tools and references:
- Sydney Smith's Z80 emulator – useful for trying out chunks of code to check e.g. loop conditions.
- Z80 instruction set description
- Z80 opcode table

Deflection board
- Motorola 54LS377 octal D-type flip-flop with enable
- NatSemi DAC0808LCN 8-bit DAC
  - This may be for display brightness. Holding the BRT button increases or decreases brightness.
- TI TL084MJ quad op-amp (x2)
- 74HC123 dual retriggerable monostable
- Harris HI3-201-5 analog switch
- NatSemi LM1880J "No-Holds" vertical/horizontal processing system
- Five adjustment pots: top to bottom, R1, R2, R56, R3, R4.
CRT controller board
- The CRTC is similar to that on the Ferguson Big Board II, except the Big Board has two 2K-byte SRAMs while the CDU has a single 8K-byte SRAM.
- CRTC section
  - Motorola MC68B45P CRT Controller
  - SMC CRT8002 Video Attribute Controller
  - Fujitsu MB8464A-10 8K-word, 8-bit wide RAM
  - Motorola MC74HC541 Octal 3-State Noninverting Buffer (x4)
  - Motorola MC54HC245 Octal 3-State Noninverting Bus Transceiver
  - Harris CD54HC109 Dual J-K flip-flop with set and reset (x2)
  - Motorola 54HC157 Quad 2-input multiplexer
- PLL section
  - 31.5kHz TTL oscillator (clocks CD4060 pin 11, CD4520 pin 1)
  - Exar XR210CN PLL
  - CD4060 binary counter with built-in oscillator
  - CD4520 dual binary up-counter
- Misc
  - MC54HC32
  - MC54HC138
  - CD54HC160
  - MC54HC04 x2
  - CD54HC153
  - CD54HC109 (x2)
  - CD54HC299 (x3)
  - MC54HC08
  - LM160H high-speed comparator
Keyboard interface board
- Harris CDP1871A keyboard encoder
- 54LS377 x2
- 54HC541
- DAC0808
- 54HC139
- MC14584B
- MC14027B
- MC14538B
- CD4011B
- LM140LAH-12 LDO regulator, mil-spec
CPU board
- National Semiconductor NSC800 CPU. Z80 with 8048-style pinout.
- 36-pin (2×18) turned-pin connector
- Fujitsu MB8464A-10 8K-word, 8-bit wide RAM
- Fujitsu MBM27C64-25 8K-word, 8-bit wide EPROM
- Hitachi HD63A50P ACIA (x2)
- SNJ55182 differential line receiver
- SNJ55183 differential line driver/transmitter
- 4MHz TTL oscillator (likely CPU clock)
- 2.88MHz TTL oscillator (likely baud rate clock)
- MC54HC74
- MC54HC32
- MC54HC04
- MC54HC08
- CD4520B
- MC54HC4040
- MC54HC138 (x2)
- 54HC373
- 54HC245
- 54HC541
- 8464 RAM

These can be added to Ghidra with the Script Manager: in the Code Browser, Window → Script Manager.

This searches for inline strings placed after write-to-screen calls, and converts them to offset-string-terminator blocks. Fallthroughs are added to the CALL instruction to tell the Ghidra decompiler to ignore the string data when looking for the next instruction.

Click to view code

GNSX_InlineStringProcessor.py

#Global / AlliedSignal GNS-X CDU - Inline string processor
#@author Phil Pemberton
#@category 00-Projects.GNS-X
#@keybinding 
#@menupath 
#@toolbar 
 
from ghidra.program.model.listing import CodeUnit
from ghidra.program.model.symbol  import FlowType
 
###############
 
# helper function to get a Ghidra Address type
def getAddress(offset):
    return currentProgram.getAddressFactory().getDefaultAddressSpace().getAddress(offset)
 
###############
 
# setup
fm = currentProgram.getFunctionManager()
mem = currentProgram.getMemory()
 
# Find methods which call inline print functions
xrefs = []
funcs = fm.getFunctions(True)
for func in funcs:
  if func.getName().startswith('DisplayScreenAfterCall'):
    print("Found inline print function {} @ 0x{}".format(func.getName(), func.getEntryPoint()))
    entry_point = func.getEntryPoint()
    references = getReferencesTo(entry_point)
    for xref in references:
      xrefs.append(xref)
 
# Work on each xref...
 
fixlist = []
for xref in xrefs:
  if xref.getReferenceType() != FlowType.UNCONDITIONAL_CALL:
    print("*** Warning, requires manual fixup: " + str(xref))
    createBookmark(xref.getFromAddress(), "InlineStringError", "Manual fixup required, xref source is not a CALL")
    continue
 
  # Start from the xref address. Seek past the CALL instruction.
  # Convert byte to data. (charactor position byte)
  # Scan bytes until 0xFF (terminator)
  # Convert text to string
 
  # Get the xref's from address (the call)
  addr = xref.getFromAddress()
 
  # Get an Instruction to the call instruction
  callIns = getInstructionAt(addr)   # the call address
 
  # DEBUG
  print("xref - {} => {}".format(str(xref), callIns.getMnemonicString()))
  # DEBUG
 
  # First byte after the call is the Offset Address. Mark it as data.
  offsetByteAddr = addr.add(callIns.getLength())
  clearListing(offsetByteAddr)
  offsetByteData = createByte(offsetByteAddr)
  offsetByteData.setComment(CodeUnit.EOL_COMMENT, "Byte offset from start of VRAM")
 
  # Advance past the offset byte
  stringStartAddr = offsetByteAddr.next()
 
  # Scan the input string
  stringEndAddr = stringStartAddr
  sbyte = getByte(stringEndAddr) & 0xFF    # AND 0xFF is to force the byte to be unsigned
  text = ""
  while sbyte != 0xFF:
    text += chr(sbyte)
    stringEndAddr = stringEndAddr.next()
    sbyte = getByte(stringEndAddr) & 0xFF    # AND 0xFF is to force the byte to be unsigned
 
  # calculate string length
  stringLen = stringEndAddr.getOffset() - stringStartAddr.getOffset()
 
  print("  String starts at: {}, ends at {}, text '{}' ({} characters)".format(stringStartAddr, stringEndAddr, text, stringLen))
 
  # String start and end address got - end address points at the terminator.
 
  # Wipe out anything already there and replace it with a string
  clearListing(stringStartAddr, stringEndAddr)
  createAsciiString(stringStartAddr, stringLen)
 
  # Turn the terminator into a byte
  strTermData = createByte(stringEndAddr)
  strTermData.setComment(CodeUnit.EOL_COMMENT, "Terminator")
 
  # Set a fallthrough on the call instruction
  callIns.setFallThrough(stringEndAddr.next())
 
  # Set a bookmark on the end of the string (in case manual cleanup is needed)
  createBookmark(stringEndAddr.next(), "InlineString", "End of inline string, disassembly cleanup may be required")
 
  # Start disassembly at end of string
  disassemble(stringEndAddr.next())

Global/Allied Signal GNS-X CDU display

Disassembly

Firmware

Hardware overview

Memory map

Interrupt map

Connector

CPU board interconnects

References

Appendix: parts list by board

Appendix: Ghidra scripts

Inline String Processor

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