Magic-1 is a homebuilt minicomputer. It doesn't use an off-the-shelf microprocessor, but rather has a custom CPU made out of 74 Series TTL chips. Altogether there are more than 200 chips in Magic-1 connected together with thousands of individually wrapped wires. And, it works. Not only the hardware, but there's also a full ANSI C compiler for Magic-1 (retargeted LCC), and a rudimentary homebrew operating system.

12-6-2001: I begin a running development diary, and start off with an embarrassingly optimistic schedule.

12-18-2001: Do basic design of fault/interrupt mechanism, and make mistake that eventually becomes the last bug to fix before Magic-1 comes alive two-and-a-half years later.

12-29-2001: Complete first rev. of the microcode.

1-6-2002: Magic-1 simulator complete enough to trace call/return sequence.

1-8-2002: Simulate Fibonacci function and flesh out software conventions

1-13-2002: Magic-1 assembler (qas) takes shape

1-18-2002: Big-endian vs. little-endian

2-28-2002: Page fault mechanism works in simulator

3-9-2002: Decide on construction technique: wire-wrap prototype boards

6-3-2002: During LCC retargeting, decide to significantly change Magic instruction set architecture

6-4-2002: Compile Fibonacci program in C to Magic assembly

6-22-2002: Move to split code and data spaces

6-25-2002: Design context switch to work well with Minix operating system

7-12-2002: Complete microcode rewrite

8-13-2002: Drop support for rotate instructions

9-11-2002: Gil Smith give me basic electronics lesson, as well as a wire-wrap gun & supplies

9-22-2002: Buy card cage on eBay and begin construction [pictures]

Fall 2002: During a Vito's lunch, I ask Ken Sumrall how to know what value resistors to use. He introduces me to Ohm's Law.

3-30-2003: Inspired by John Doran's D16/M, complete ALU/Register card schematics

4-13-2003: Complete control card schematics

4-14-2003: Thoughts on front panel

5-3-2003: First rev of schematics complete

5-6-2003: Move build environment from Linux to Windows

5-16-2003: Thoughts on new Magic-1 simulator

5-27-2003: Fibonacci runs on new simulator

6-3-2003: New assembler functional

6-21-2003: Hit 100% coverage on Magic architectural validation test suite

6-23-2003: Alistair Roe emails with thoughts on an enclosure for Magic-1

8-3-2003: Retarget LCC C compiler to Magic & create retargeting notes

8-10-2003: On my birthday, C version of Fibonacci runs in simulator

8-27-2003: David Conroy teaches me about signal integrity

9-18-2003: Decide to use cut-strip-wrap wire-wrapping technique

1-3-2004: Design complete, construction begins

1-18-2004: Magic-1's heart beats for the first time [pictures]

1-26-2004: Front panel logic card complete, [pictures]

2-9-2004: Memory card complete, [pictures]

2-20-2004: EPROM daughter card complete, [pictures]

2-26-2004: Device card complete, [pictures]

3-7-2004: Microcode sequencer comes to life

3-9-2004: First instruction executed

3-19-2004: Control card complete, [pictures]

4-8-2004: Premature bringup attempt

4-12-2004: ALU/Register card complete, [pictures]

4-12-2004: Bring-up attempt - failure!

4-13-2004: Success! Magic-1 runs Fibonacci, [video]

4-25-2004: Dave Conroy debugging session finds ungrounded memory chip

5-3-2005: Magic-1 talks

5-8-2004: Sieve of Erasthones benchmark runs

5-16-2004: IDE interface comes alive; Alistair Roe's enclosure concept

7-23-2004: Basic bringup complete

9-12-2004: User-mode programs work; telnet access to Magic-1

9-15-2004: Dhrystone benchmark runs

9-22-2004: fork() implemented using copy-on-write

10-23-2004: Magic-1's Dhrystone score hits 384 (0.25 MIPS)

10-31-2004: Colossal Cave Adventure runs

4-9-2005: Alistair Roe's enclosure and front panel arrives on doorstep

5-13-2005: Magic-1 is hardware complete.

2001.12.06: Buzbee开始写项目:志，并为自己制定了一张艰难但还算乐观的:程表

2001.12.18: 完成错误处理和中断机制的基本设计

2001.12.29: 完成微代码的第一轮设计

2002.01.06: 完成了Magic-1模拟器，可以对调用/返回指令序列进行跟踪

2002.01.08: 模拟了Fibonacci函数，并丰富了软件接口约定

2002.01.13: Magic-1汇编器（qas）成形

2002.01.18: 决定是选择大尾数法还是小尾数法表示整数的字节顺序，最终选择了大尾数法

2002.02.28: 在模拟器中完成了页面错误机制

2002.03.09: 决定使用普通电线来进行连线

2002.06.03: 对指令集架构进行了意义重大的改变

2002.06.04: 用C语言编写了Fabonacci程序并编译为Magic汇编程序

2002.06.22: 改用分立的数据和代码地址空间

2002.06.25: 设计用于多进程的上下文环境切换

2002.07.12: 完成对微代码的重写工作

2002.08.13: 放弃对rotate指令的支持

2002.09.11: 上了Gil Smith的一堂电子电路课程

2002.09.22: 从eBay上买了板材和外壳

2002 的其他日子 向Ken Sumrall请教如何使用寄存器，从他那里学到了Ohm规则

2003.03.30: 从Jhon Doran的D16/M中得到了灵感，完成了ALU/寄存器板的架构

2003.04.13: 完成控制板的架构

2003.04.14: 思考前面板的架构

2003.05.03: 第一轮架构设计完毕

2003.05.06: 将构建环境从Linux一直到Windows

2003.05.16: 构思新的Magic-1模拟器

2003.05.27: 在新的模拟器上成功运行了Fibonacci程序

2003.06.03: 完成了新的汇编器功能

2003.06.21: Magic架构验证和测试用例达到了100%覆盖率

2003.06.23: Alistair Roe通过email提出了Magic-1外壳的构想

2003.08.03: 将LCC（C编译器）移植到了Magic上

2003.08.10: 在模拟器上成功地实现了Fibonacci程序的C语言版本 （这一天是Buzbee的生日）

2003.08.27: 从David Conroy那里学到了信号完整性

2003.09.18: 决定使用普通的带皮电线进行连接

2004.01.03: 完成了全部的设计工作，开始制作

2004.01.18: Magic-1有了第一次心跳

2004.01.26: 前面板完成

2004.02.09: 内存板完成

2004.02.20: EPROM子板完成

2004.02.26: 设备板完成

2004.03.07: 微代码序列成功运转

2004.03.09: 执行了第一条指令

2004.03.19: 控制板完成

2004.04.08: 尝试发布前期的工作

2004.04.12: ALU/寄存器板完成；同:被告知，发布尝试失败

2004.04.13: Magic-1成功运行了Fibonacci程序！

2004.04.25: Dave Conroy的测试会话发现了不真实的内存碎片

2004.05.03: Magic-1能“说话”了

2004.05.08: 运行“Sieve of Erasthones”基准

2004.05.16: 完成了IDE接口，Alistair Roe完成了外壳设计

2004.07.23: 发布基本架构

2004.09.12: 用户模式程序可以工作

2004.09.15: 运行“Dhrystone”基准

2004.09.22: 使用copy-on-write实现了fork()

2004.10.23: Magic-1的Dhrystone得分达到了384（0.25MIPS）

2004.10.31: 运行Colossal Cave Adventure

2005.04.09: Alistair Roe设计的外壳到货

2005.05.13: Magic-1的硬件设计完毕