(fwd) 65816 computer (fwd)

From: Sam Ismail <dastar_at_crl.com>
Date: Thu Jun 26 20:21:37 1997

This is a message by John Harris I pulled off of the Atari 8bit
newsgroup. John Harris, if you've ever read _Hackers_ by Steven Levy,
wrote pretty awesome games for ther Atari 800. He later when on to start
his own company which used Atari 8-bit computers as displays in airports
and in the hotel industry for the guests services menu on the TV (read
about it in a soft-book called _Halcyon Days_). Anyway, the system he
describes here sounds pretty neat.

Sam
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Computer Historian, Programmer, Musician, Philosopher, Athlete, Writer, Jackass

---------- Forwarded message ----------
From: jharris_at_poboxes.com (John Harris)
Newsgroups: comp.sys.atari.8bit
Subject: 65816 computer
Date: Thu, 26 Jun 1997 18:01:39 GMT

Some of you may remember an anouncement I tried to make a few years back,
but later had to keep quiet. It concerned a new atari-compatible computer
made with a 65816 processor and some other cool stuff. It was being
manufactured for a dedicated application that I actually never found out
what it really was. I found out about it at a time when I was selling
character generator software on the Atari8, and having immense difficulty
obtaining Atari hardware. It was a great connection to make, and we are
still selling these new systems with my CG software installed.

The big project never materialized, since the company making the systems
and Atari could never reach an agreement for large supply of Atari custom
chips. It seemed like a no-brainer--Atari had chips, these guys had money,
it should have been a simple exchange. It's no wonder Atari doesn't have
any feet left. They keep shooting themselves there.

Anyway, the bottom line is that Atari negotiations were the reason behind
my silence at the time, and now that the project is completely dead I can
make public the details of the machine for all those that are curious.

It is based on a 5.37MHz 65816 processor, although it still runs 1.79MHz
when accessing the base 64K of address space for compatibilty with the
custom chips. It is in a nice case with internal 3.5 high density floppy
and hard drive, parallel and serial, expansion slots, fully static memory
(turn the power off and on, and everything is still there!), mouse support,
and separate IBM-style keyboard. It has its own Sparta-like DOS, and with
65816 optimizations the memlo gets down to $FA3. I've found the
compatibility to be extremely good, with two main problems. Some european
programs, especially demos, use the undocumented 6502 extra instructions,
and these don't work on the 65816 CPU. The other issue, is that there is
no cartridge slot. Technically, it is feasible to add a slot using a plug
in board, and run a connector out the back. It would probably depend on
the number of interested parties for whether it was financially affordable
to get the thing made. One nice thing about the slots though, they are
physically the same as IBM 16-bit ISA cards. (but not electronically
compatible of course). You can get experimenter boards for IBMs that just
run power and have all other connections open. The do-it-yourself'er can
do pretty much anything from here.

Because of being a very low-production item, it is really expensive by
8-bit standards. Retail is $1800 with all options and the CG software.
Obviously, it's only being sold to commercial applications like hotels and
cable TV at that price. It is possible to make some deals if anyone is
interested, especially for systems without the CG software. Obviously, I
need to be fair to the people who are still buying the system for
commercial use. I don't have any prices for you, but if anyone is
interested at all, please let me know and I'll see what we can work out.
If you're just curious for info, let me know that too.

John Harris Japanese translation of Microsoft slogan:
jharris_at_poboxes.com "If you don't know where you want to go,
                         we'll make sure you get taken."
Received on Thu Jun 26 1997 - 20:21:37 BST