Applix 1616
Encyclopedia
Computer
A computer is a programmable machine designed to sequentially and automatically carry out a sequence of arithmetic or logical operations. The particular sequence of operations can be changed readily, allowing the computer to solve more than one kind of problem...
with a Motorola 68000
Motorola 68000
The Motorola 68000 is a 16/32-bit CISC microprocessor core designed and marketed by Freescale Semiconductor...
CPU
Central processing unit
The central processing unit is the portion of a computer system that carries out the instructions of a computer program, to perform the basic arithmetical, logical, and input/output operations of the system. The CPU plays a role somewhat analogous to the brain in the computer. The term has been in...
, produced by a small company called Applix in Sydney, Australia, from 1986 to the early 1990s. It ran a custom multitasking
Computer multitasking
In computing, multitasking is a method where multiple tasks, also known as processes, share common processing resources such as a CPU. In the case of a computer with a single CPU, only one task is said to be running at any point in time, meaning that the CPU is actively executing instructions for...
multiuser operating system
Operating system
An operating system is a set of programs that manage computer hardware resources and provide common services for application software. The operating system is the most important type of system software in a computer system...
that was resident in ROM
Read-only memory
Read-only memory is a class of storage medium used in computers and other electronic devices. Data stored in ROM cannot be modified, or can be modified only slowly or with difficulty, so it is mainly used to distribute firmware .In its strictest sense, ROM refers only...
. A version of Minix
Minix
MINIX is a Unix-like computer operating system based on a microkernel architecture created by Andrew S. Tanenbaum for educational purposes; MINIX also inspired the creation of the Linux kernel....
was also ported to the 1616, as was the MGR Window System
ManaGeR
ManaGeR or MGR was an early windowing system originally designed and developed for Sun computers in 1984 by Stephen A. Uhler, then at Bellcore....
. Andrew Morton
Andrew Morton (computer programmer)
Andrew Keith Paul Morton is an Australian software engineer, best known as one of the lead developers of the Linux kernel...
, designer of the 1616 and one of the founders of Applix, later became the maintainer of the 2.6 version of the Linux kernel
Linux kernel
The Linux kernel is an operating system kernel used by the Linux family of Unix-like operating systems. It is one of the most prominent examples of free and open source software....
.
History
Paul Berger and Andrew Morton formed the Australian company Applix Pty. Ltd. in approximately 1984 to sell a Z80 card they had developed for the Apple IIcApple IIc
The Apple IIc, the fourth model in the Apple II series of personal computers, was Apple Computer’s first endeavor to produce a portable computer. The end result was a notebook-sized version of the Apple II that could be transported from place to place...
that allowed it to run CP/M
CP/M
CP/M was a mass-market operating system created for Intel 8080/85 based microcomputers by Gary Kildall of Digital Research, Inc...
. This product was not a commercial success, but Paul later proposed they develop a Motorola 68000
Motorola 68000
The Motorola 68000 is a 16/32-bit CISC microprocessor core designed and marketed by Freescale Semiconductor...
-based personal computer for sale in kit form.
The project was presented to Jon Fairall, then editor of the Australia and New Zealand electronics magazine Electronics Today International, and in December 1986, the first of four construction articles was published as "Project 1616", with the series concluding in June 1987. In October and November 1987, a disk controller card was also published as "Project 1617".
Over the next decade, about 400 1616s were sold.
Applix Pty. Ltd., was in no way related to the North American company of the same name that produced Applixware
Applixware
Applixware is a suite of modular applications edited by Vistasource, Inc.Applixware was originally created by Applix, Inc..-Alis:Applix's first office suite, introduced in 1986, was called Alis, and was marketed with Alice in Wonderland themed promotional items...
.
Main board
The main board contains:- a Motorola 68000Motorola 68000The Motorola 68000 is a 16/32-bit CISC microprocessor core designed and marketed by Freescale Semiconductor...
running at 7.5 MHz, or a 68010 running at 15 MHz. - 512 kibibyteKibibyteThe kibibyte is a multiple of the unit byte for quantities of digital information. The binary prefix kibi means 1024; therefore, 1 kibibyte is . The unit symbol for the kibibyte is KiB. The unit was established by the International Electrotechnical Commission in 1999 and has been accepted for use...
s of Dynamic RAM - between 64 kibibyteKibibyteThe kibibyte is a multiple of the unit byte for quantities of digital information. The binary prefix kibi means 1024; therefore, 1 kibibyte is . The unit symbol for the kibibyte is KiB. The unit was established by the International Electrotechnical Commission in 1999 and has been accepted for use...
s and 256 kibibyteKibibyteThe kibibyte is a multiple of the unit byte for quantities of digital information. The binary prefix kibi means 1024; therefore, 1 kibibyte is . The unit symbol for the kibibyte is KiB. The unit was established by the International Electrotechnical Commission in 1999 and has been accepted for use...
s of ROMRead-only memoryRead-only memory is a class of storage medium used in computers and other electronic devices. Data stored in ROM cannot be modified, or can be modified only slowly or with difficulty, so it is mainly used to distribute firmware .In its strictest sense, ROM refers only... - on board bit mappedRaster graphicsIn computer graphics, a raster graphics image, or bitmap, is a data structure representing a generally rectangular grid of pixels, or points of color, viewable via a monitor, paper, or other display medium...
colour graphics (no "text" mode), with timing provided by a Motorola 6845Motorola 6845The Motorola 6845 is a video address generator first introduced by Motorola and used among others in the Videx VideoTerm display cards for the Apple II computers, the MDA and CGA video adapters for the IBM PC, in the Amstrad CPC and the BBC Micro. Its functionality was duplicated and extended by...
CRT controller. The video could produce 320x200 in 16 colours, or 640x200 in a palette of 4 colours out of 16, with a later modification providing a 960x512 monochrome mode. The frame buffer resided in system memory and video refresh provided DRAM refresh cycles. The video output was able to drive CGA, EGA, MGA and multisync monitors. - dual RS232 serial portsSerial portIn computing, a serial port is a serial communication physical interface through which information transfers in or out one bit at a time...
using a Zilog Z8530. - a parallel portParallel portA parallel port is a type of interface found on computers for connecting various peripherals. In computing, a parallel port is a parallel communication physical interface. It is also known as a printer port or Centronics port...
for Centronics-type printers or general purpose I/O. This was provided by a Rockwell 6522 Versatile Interface Adaptor, which was also the source of timer interrupts. - 4 channel analog/audio output via an 8 bit DAC and multiplexor.
- software audio/analogue input via the DAC and a comparator.
- a PC/XT keyboard interface.
The main board also had four 80-pin expansion slots. The 1616 shared this backplane
Backplane
A backplane is a group of connectors connected in parallel with each other, so that each pin of each connector is linked to the same relative pin of all the other connectors forming a computer bus. It is used as a backbone to connect several printed circuit boards together to make up a complete...
with a platform developed by Andrew Morton for Keno Computer Systems, allowing the 1616 to use expansion boards developed for the Keno Computer Systems platform (primarily the 34010 graphics coprocessor), although the form-factor was different, which left the KCS cards sticking out of the top of the 1616 case!
Disk controller card
The disk controller card contains:- A Zilog Z80Zilog Z80The Zilog Z80 is an 8-bit microprocessor designed by Zilog and sold from July 1976 onwards. It was widely used both in desktop and embedded computer designs as well as for military purposes...
processorMicroprocessorA microprocessor incorporates the functions of a computer's central processing unit on a single integrated circuit, or at most a few integrated circuits. It is a multipurpose, programmable device that accepts digital data as input, processes it according to instructions stored in its memory, and...
running at 6 MHz - 32 kibibyteKibibyteThe kibibyte is a multiple of the unit byte for quantities of digital information. The binary prefix kibi means 1024; therefore, 1 kibibyte is . The unit symbol for the kibibyte is KiB. The unit was established by the International Electrotechnical Commission in 1999 and has been accepted for use...
s of ROMRead-only memoryRead-only memory is a class of storage medium used in computers and other electronic devices. Data stored in ROM cannot be modified, or can be modified only slowly or with difficulty, so it is mainly used to distribute firmware .In its strictest sense, ROM refers only... - 64 kibibyteKibibyteThe kibibyte is a multiple of the unit byte for quantities of digital information. The binary prefix kibi means 1024; therefore, 1 kibibyte is . The unit symbol for the kibibyte is KiB. The unit was established by the International Electrotechnical Commission in 1999 and has been accepted for use...
s of Static RAM - a WD1772 floppy diskFloppy diskA floppy disk is a disk storage medium composed of a disk of thin and flexible magnetic storage medium, sealed in a rectangular plastic carrier lined with fabric that removes dust particles...
controller - dual RS232 serial portsSerial portIn computing, a serial port is a serial communication physical interface through which information transfers in or out one bit at a time...
using a Zilog Z8530 - An NCR5380 SCSISCSISmall Computer System Interface is a set of standards for physically connecting and transferring data between computers and peripheral devices. The SCSI standards define commands, protocols, and electrical and optical interfaces. SCSI is most commonly used for hard disks and tape drives, but it...
controller
The coprocessor is able to run ZRDOS (a CP/M
CP/M
CP/M was a mass-market operating system created for Intel 8080/85 based microcomputers by Gary Kildall of Digital Research, Inc...
clone), or can act as a smart disk controller.
Memory expansion card
The memory card:- accepts between 1 and 4 mebibyteMebibyteThe mebibyte is a multiple of the unit byte for digital information. The binary prefix mebi means 220, therefore 1 mebibyte is . The unit symbol for the mebibyte is MiB. The unit was established by the International Electrotechnical Commission in 2000 and has been accepted for use by all major...
s of Dynamic RAM in 1 mebibyte increments, - has an optional memory management unitMemory management unitA memory management unit , sometimes called paged memory management unit , is a computer hardware component responsible for handling accesses to memory requested by the CPU...
implemented in fast Static RAM and PALsProgrammable Array LogicThe term Programmable Array Logic is used to describe a family of programmable logic device semiconductors used to implement logic functions in digital circuits introduced by Monolithic Memories, Inc. in March 1978. MMI obtained a registered trademark on the term PAL for use in "Programmable...
, - Another NCR5380 SCSISCSISmall Computer System Interface is a set of standards for physically connecting and transferring data between computers and peripheral devices. The SCSI standards define commands, protocols, and electrical and optical interfaces. SCSI is most commonly used for hard disks and tape drives, but it...
hard disk interface. This SCSI controller was mapped into the 68000's address space, and was considerably faster than the one on the Z80 coprocessor card.
34010 graphics coprocessor card
The TMS34010TMS34010
The TMS34010 was the first programmable graphics processor integrated circuit . First silicon was working at Texas Instruments in Houston in December 1985, and first shipment was to IBM's workstation facility in Kingston, New York, in January 1986...
card was developed by Andrew Morton for Keno Computer Systems. The 34010 was a bit-addressable graphics processor with instructions for two-dimensional graphics primitives and arbitrary width arithmetic operations on pixel data.
User developed cards
- Graham Redwood developed an EthernetEthernetEthernet is a family of computer networking technologies for local area networks commercially introduced in 1980. Standardized in IEEE 802.3, Ethernet has largely replaced competing wired LAN technologies....
card (wire-wrap or SpeedwireSpeedwireSpeedwire is a solderless prototyping system manufactured by BICC-Vero for constructing electronic circuit boards. The system is based on a circuit board pre-drilled with holes in a regular 0.1-inch square grid. The boards are available in standard sizes such as Eurocard modules...
prototype?). - Philip Hutchison developed a Motorola 68030Motorola 68030The Motorola 68030 is a 32-bit microprocessor in Motorola's 68000 family. It was released in 1987. The 68030 was the successor to the Motorola 68020, and was followed by the Motorola 68040. In keeping with general Motorola naming, this CPU is often referred to as the 030 .The 68030 features on-chip...
coprocessorCoprocessorA coprocessor is a computer processor used to supplement the functions of the primary processor . Operations performed by the coprocessor may be floating point arithmetic, graphics, signal processing, string processing, or encryption. By offloading processor-intensive tasks from the main processor,...
card (small run of working double sided PCBsPrinted circuit boardA printed circuit board, or PCB, is used to mechanically support and electrically connect electronic components using conductive pathways, tracks or signal traces etched from copper sheets laminated onto a non-conductive substrate. It is also referred to as printed wiring board or etched wiring...
).
Other one-off interface cards were developed for specific projects, including a numerically controlled sheet metal spinning machine controller, a Transputer card, several EEPROM programmers, etc.
1616/OS
1616/OS was initially little more than a powerful monitor, with commands for dumping and modifying memory, loading and saving to tape, and a built in macro assembler and full screen editor. Over time, the operating system gained a hierarchical file systemFile system
A file system is a means to organize data expected to be retained after a program terminates by providing procedures to store, retrieve and update data, as well as manage the available space on the device which contain it. A file system organizes data in an efficient manner and is tuned to the...
, preemptive multitasking, support for multiple users with access controls (although no memory protection), lightweight threads, message passing primitives and pipes. Ultimately, the operating system had around 250 system calls, and 78 commands built into the shell. The operating system had enough similarity to Unix
Unix
Unix is a multitasking, multi-user computer operating system originally developed in 1969 by a group of AT&T employees at Bell Labs, including Ken Thompson, Dennis Ritchie, Brian Kernighan, Douglas McIlroy, and Joe Ossanna...
that porting Unix source to the 1616/OS was relatively painless.
Minix
Colin McCormack ported MinixMinix
MINIX is a Unix-like computer operating system based on a microkernel architecture created by Andrew S. Tanenbaum for educational purposes; MINIX also inspired the creation of the Linux kernel....
to the 1616. He worked around the lack of a memory management unit
Memory management unit
A memory management unit , sometimes called paged memory management unit , is a computer hardware component responsible for handling accesses to memory requested by the CPU...
when forking by copying BSS, heap and stack of the child and parent processes before scheduling each one. The MMU on the RAM expansion card was developed to support Colin's Minix port, although it's unclear if it was ever used for this purpose.
ZRDOS
Conal Walsh ported the CP/MCP/M
CP/M was a mass-market operating system created for Intel 8080/85 based microcomputers by Gary Kildall of Digital Research, Inc...
clone ZRDOS to the Z80-based disk controller card. When operating in this mode, the 68000 acted as a console for ZRDOS, although it was still possible to suspend the connection to ZRDOS, and run 1616 programs, provided they didn't need disk I/O.
MGR
Not strictly an operating system, the MGR windowing system run under 1616/OS, but usurped the console video and keyboard, and added virtual tty devices for each window. The MGR port required a video hack to add a higher resolution but monochrome video mode; this was done by replacing a PALProgrammable Array Logic
The term Programmable Array Logic is used to describe a family of programmable logic device semiconductors used to implement logic functions in digital circuits introduced by Monolithic Memories, Inc. in March 1978. MMI obtained a registered trademark on the term PAL for use in "Programmable...
in the video circuit.
Applications
Most Unix and Minix programs were able to be ported to 1616/OS. Ports included:- advent, ar, arc, at, cal, cat, chess (gnu), cmp, comm, compress, conquest, cron, dd, diff, ed, eroff, grep, head, indent, make, MicroEMACSMicroEMACSMicroEMACS is a small, portable Emacs-like text editor originally written by Dave Conroy in 1985, and further developed and maintained by Daniel M. Lawrence...
, more, nroff, roff, sc, sed, sort, split, STEVIE, strings, sum, tail, tar, tee, ularn, uniq, vi, wanderer, wc, xmodem, ymodem, zmodem, zoo
Several messaging or bulletin board
Bulletin board
A bulletin board is a surface intended for the posting of public messages, for example, to advertise things to buy or sell, announce events, or provide information...
systems were written, including Usenet
Usenet
Usenet is a worldwide distributed Internet discussion system. It developed from the general purpose UUCP architecture of the same name.Duke University graduate students Tom Truscott and Jim Ellis conceived the idea in 1979 and it was established in 1980...
and Fidonet
FidoNet
FidoNet is a worldwide computer network that is used for communication between bulletin board systems. It was most popular in the early to mid 1990s, prior to the introduction of easy and affordable access to the Internet...
gateways, and many utilities to allow safe shell-level dial-up access.
Several computer languages were supported, including:
- BASICBASICBASIC is a family of general-purpose, high-level programming languages whose design philosophy emphasizes ease of use - the name is an acronym from Beginner's All-purpose Symbolic Instruction Code....
- Tiny BASICTiny BASICTiny BASIC is a dialect of the BASIC programming language that can fit into as little as 2 or 3 KB of memory. This small size made it invaluable in the early days of microcomputers , when typical memory size was only 4–8 KB.- History :...
- Tiny BASIC
- CC (programming language)C is a general-purpose computer programming language developed between 1969 and 1973 by Dennis Ritchie at the Bell Telephone Laboratories for use with the Unix operating system....
(HiTech C, and later gccGNU Compiler CollectionThe GNU Compiler Collection is a compiler system produced by the GNU Project supporting various programming languages. GCC is a key component of the GNU toolchain...
) - Forth
- Lisp
- MUMPSMUMPSMUMPS , or alternatively M, is a programming language created in the late 1960s, originally for use in the healthcare industry. It was designed for the production of multi-user database-driven applications...
- 68000 assembly languageAssembly languageAn assembly language is a low-level programming language for computers, microprocessors, microcontrollers, and other programmable devices. It implements a symbolic representation of the machine codes and other constants needed to program a given CPU architecture...
The collection of 1616/OS shareware eventually grew to seventeen 800kB floppies. Included were innumerable small utilities and ported applications from other environments.
The 1616 users group
Applix Pty Ltd started holding informal user group meetings in their SydneySydney
Sydney is the most populous city in Australia and the state capital of New South Wales. Sydney is located on Australia's south-east coast of the Tasman Sea. As of June 2010, the greater metropolitan area had an approximate population of 4.6 million people...
store in 1987. The meetings were held on the second Saturday of the month, and often finished well after midnight after consumption of much pizza
Pizza
Pizza is an oven-baked, flat, disc-shaped bread typically topped with a tomato sauce, cheese and various toppings.Originating in Italy, from the Neapolitan cuisine, the dish has become popular in many parts of the world. An establishment that makes and sells pizzas is called a "pizzeria"...
. Users brought their latest 1616-related creations to demonstrate and share, and discussion ranged from hardware design, operating system theory, language design, to politics and philosophy.
When the Mortons sold the shop in 199?, the meetings moved to their house at Yerrinbool
Yerrinbool, New South Wales
Yerrinbool is a Northern Village of the Southern Highlands of New South Wales, Australia, in the Wingecarribee Shire, and is accessible from the Hume Highway and is about 12 km drive from nearby Mittagong. It is 6–8 km by foot to Hill Top as the crow flies. It was previously officially...
, in the Southern Highlands, NSW
New South Wales
New South Wales is a state of :Australia, located in the east of the country. It is bordered by Queensland, Victoria and South Australia to the north, south and west respectively. To the east, the state is bordered by the Tasman Sea, which forms part of the Pacific Ocean. New South Wales...
. When the Mortons again moved to Wollongong
Wollongong, New South Wales
Wollongong is a seaside city located in the Illawarra region of New South Wales, Australia. It lies on the narrow coastal strip between the Illawarra Escarpment and the Pacific Ocean, 82 kilometres south of Sydney...
, the meetings moved with them. Not able to escape the User Group by moving around NSW, the Mortons moved to Palo Alto, California
Palo Alto, California
Palo Alto is a California charter city located in the northwest corner of Santa Clara County, in the San Francisco Bay Area of California, United States. The city shares its borders with East Palo Alto, Mountain View, Los Altos, Los Altos Hills, Stanford, Portola Valley, and Menlo Park. It is...
in 2001.
The user group still meets on the second Saturday of every month, although it has been many years since an Applix 1616 has been booted at one, and, everyone being older, the meetings tend to end somewhat before midnight, and pizza is consumed in moderation.
External links
- The Applix 1616 Project Andrew Morton's pages on the 1616
- Applix 1616 manuals