Tiki 100
Encyclopedia
Tiki 100 was a desktop home
/personal computer
manufactured by Tiki Data
of Oslo
, Norway
. The computer was launched in the spring of 1984 under the original name Kontiki 100, and was first and foremost intended for the emerging educational sector, especially for primary schools. Due to a dispute with Thor Heyerdahl
, famous for his Kon-Tiki
raft used in his expedition in 1947, the name was later changed to Tiki 100. Early prototypes had 4 KB ROM, and the '100' in the machine's name was based on the total KB amount of memory.
The computer was based on the Zilog Z80
CPU
, and featured:
Software included:
Optional equipment:
The Tiki-100 had 3 different graphics modes, but no text-mode as it used bitmapped graphics only. The modes supported 40, 80 or 160 by 25 characters, respectively, and hardware vertical scroll.
based IBM PC compatible
model running MS-DOS
was made, somewhat confusingly called Tiki 100 Rev.D. In addition to being PC-compatible (including CGA
-compatible graphics), it also contained a Z80 processor so that it could seamlessly run the original Tiki 100 software, although with a slightly reduced graphics specification due to the CGA. The two processors shared the same bus
, and the Z80 programs still ran under the 8088 operating system.
Home computer
Home computers were a class of microcomputers entering the market in 1977, and becoming increasingly common during the 1980s. They were marketed to consumers as affordable and accessible computers that, for the first time, were intended for the use of a single nontechnical user...
/personal computer
Personal computer
A personal computer is any general-purpose computer whose size, capabilities, and original sales price make it useful for individuals, and which is intended to be operated directly by an end-user with no intervening computer operator...
manufactured by Tiki Data
Tiki Data
Tiki Data was a manufacturer of microcomputers, located in Oslo, Norway. The company was founded in 1983 by Lars Monrad Krohn and Gro Jørgensen , and was targeting the then emerging computer market in the educational sector...
of Oslo
Oslo
Oslo is a municipality, as well as the capital and most populous city in Norway. As a municipality , it was established on 1 January 1838. Founded around 1048 by King Harald III of Norway, the city was largely destroyed by fire in 1624. The city was moved under the reign of Denmark–Norway's King...
, Norway
Norway
Norway , officially the Kingdom of Norway, is a Nordic unitary constitutional monarchy whose territory comprises the western portion of the Scandinavian Peninsula, Jan Mayen, and the Arctic archipelago of Svalbard and Bouvet Island. Norway has a total area of and a population of about 4.9 million...
. The computer was launched in the spring of 1984 under the original name Kontiki 100, and was first and foremost intended for the emerging educational sector, especially for primary schools. Due to a dispute with Thor Heyerdahl
Thor Heyerdahl
Thor Heyerdahl was a Norwegian ethnographer and adventurer with a background in zoology and geography. He became notable for his Kon-Tiki expedition, in which he sailed by raft from South America to the Tuamotu Islands...
, famous for his Kon-Tiki
Kon-Tiki
Kon-Tiki was the raft used by Norwegian explorer and writer Thor Heyerdahl in his 1947 expedition across the Pacific Ocean from South America to the Polynesian islands. It was named after the Inca sun god, Viracocha, for whom "Kon-Tiki" was said to be an old name...
raft used in his expedition in 1947, the name was later changed to Tiki 100. Early prototypes had 4 KB ROM, and the '100' in the machine's name was based on the total KB amount of memory.
The computer was based on the Zilog Z80
Zilog Z80
The 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...
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...
, and featured:
- A full-travel keyboardComputer keyboardIn computing, a keyboard is a typewriter-style keyboard, which uses an arrangement of buttons or keys, to act as mechanical levers or electronic switches...
integrated into the computer case - A colour graphics CRTCathode ray tubeThe cathode ray tube is a vacuum tube containing an electron gun and a fluorescent screen used to view images. It has a means to accelerate and deflect the electron beam onto the fluorescent screen to create the images. The image may represent electrical waveforms , pictures , radar targets and...
interface with palettePalette (computing)In computer graphics, a palette is either a given, finite set of colors for the management of digital images , or a small on-screen graphical element for choosing from a limited set of choices, not necessarily colors .Depending on the context In computer graphics, a palette is either a given,...
, supporting 3 different graphics modes with 256, 512 or 1024 by 256 pixels with 16, 4, or 2 simultaneous colours respectively in 32 KB of dual ported memory. - A TVTelevisionTelevision is a telecommunication medium for transmitting and receiving moving images that can be monochrome or colored, with accompanying sound...
interface - An AY-3-8912General Instrument AY-3-8910The AY-3-8910 is a 3-voice Programmable Sound Generator designed by General Instrument, initially for use with their 16-bit CP1610 or one of the PIC1650 series of 8-bit microcomputers...
polyphonic sound generatorProgrammable sound generatorA Programmable Sound Generator is a sound chip that generates sound waves by synthesizing multiple basic waveforms, and often some kind of noise generator, and combining and mixing these waveforms into a complex waveform, then shaping the amplitude of the resulting waveform using... - One or two integrated 5¼ inch 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...
drives - Two RS-232RS-232In telecommunications, RS-232 is the traditional name for a series of standards for serial binary single-ended data and control signals connecting between a DTE and a DCE . It is commonly used in computer serial ports...
serial ports - One CentronicsCentronicsCentronics Data Computer Corporation was a pioneering American manufacturer of computer printers, now remembered primarily for the parallel interface that bears its name.-The beginning:Centronics began as a division of Wang Laboratories...
printer port - 64 KB of RAMRandom-access memoryRandom access memory is a form of computer data storage. Today, it takes the form of integrated circuits that allow stored data to be accessed in any order with a worst case performance of constant time. Strictly speaking, modern types of DRAM are therefore not random access, as data is read in...
(main memory) - 32 KB of graphical memory
- 8 KB of ROM
Software included:
- TIKO, a CP/MCP/MCP/M was a mass-market operating system created for Intel 8080/85 based microcomputers by Gary Kildall of Digital Research, Inc...
-compatible operating systemOperating systemAn 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... - A version of the BBC BASIC programming language interpreterInterpreter (computing)In computer science, an interpreter normally means a computer program that executes, i.e. performs, instructions written in a programming language...
- A COMAL interpreter
Optional equipment:
- Harddisk controller, replacing one of the floppy disk stations with a harddisk.
- A bespoke network-hub that allowed up to 16 computers to connect in a network, sharing disks and printers. The server was a Tiki-100 with harddisk, running the MP/MMP/MMP/M was a multi-user version of the CP/M operating system, created by Digital Research developer Tom Rolander in 1979. It allowed multiple users to connect to a single computer, each using a separate terminal....
operating system, serving up to 3 different printers simultaneously. - A second CPU cardCPU cardA CPU card is a printed circuit board that contains the central processing unit of a computer. CPU cards are specified by CPU clock frequency and bus type as well as other features and applications built in to the card....
, with an 8088 processor running MS-DOSMS-DOSMS-DOS is an operating system for x86-based personal computers. It was the most commonly used member of the DOS family of operating systems, and was the main operating system for IBM PC compatible personal computers during the 1980s to the mid 1990s, until it was gradually superseded by operating...
(but not PC-compatible). In this mode, the Z80 CPU is serving as an I/O processor, handling disk I/O, graphics etc.
The Tiki-100 had 3 different graphics modes, but no text-mode as it used bitmapped graphics only. The modes supported 40, 80 or 160 by 25 characters, respectively, and hardware vertical scroll.
The rev.D
Later, an Intel 8088Intel 8088
The Intel 8088 microprocessor was a variant of the Intel 8086 and was introduced on July 1, 1979. It had an 8-bit external data bus instead of the 16-bit bus of the 8086. The 16-bit registers and the one megabyte address range were unchanged, however...
based IBM PC compatible
IBM PC compatible
IBM PC compatible computers are those generally similar to the original IBM PC, XT, and AT. Such computers used to be referred to as PC clones, or IBM clones since they almost exactly duplicated all the significant features of the PC architecture, facilitated by various manufacturers' ability to...
model running MS-DOS
MS-DOS
MS-DOS is an operating system for x86-based personal computers. It was the most commonly used member of the DOS family of operating systems, and was the main operating system for IBM PC compatible personal computers during the 1980s to the mid 1990s, until it was gradually superseded by operating...
was made, somewhat confusingly called Tiki 100 Rev.D. In addition to being PC-compatible (including CGA
Color Graphics Adapter
The Color Graphics Adapter , originally also called the Color/Graphics Adapter or IBM Color/Graphics Monitor Adapter, introduced in 1981, was IBM's first color graphics card, and the first color computer display standard for the IBM PC....
-compatible graphics), it also contained a Z80 processor so that it could seamlessly run the original Tiki 100 software, although with a slightly reduced graphics specification due to the CGA. The two processors shared the same bus
Computer bus
In computer architecture, a bus is a subsystem that transfers data between components inside a computer, or between computers.Early computer buses were literally parallel electrical wires with multiple connections, but the term is now used for any physical arrangement that provides the same...
, and the Z80 programs still ran under the 8088 operating system.