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Co-Authored-By: Claude Opus 5.5 <noreply@anthropic.com>
Claude-Session: https://claude.ai/code/session_01YDRjtmAiNpo5mK5N3d7QwZ
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---
title: Atari FX-1 Sparrow
categories:
- Computers
types:
- Home Computer
origins:
- U.S.A.
years:
- '1991'
cpus:
- Motorola MC 68030sx
params:
name: FX-1 Sparrow
company: /companies/atari
company_name: Atari
specs:
- label: NAME
value: FX-1 Sparrow
- label: MANUFACTURER
value: Atari
- label: TYPE
value: Home Computer
- label: ORIGIN
value: U.S.A.
- label: YEAR
value: '1991'
- label: END OF PRODUCTION
value: '1992'
- label: KEYBOARD
value: Full-stroke keyboard with numeric and editing keypads
- label: CPU
value: Motorola MC 68030sx + Motorola DSP 56001
- label: SPEED
value: 16 MHz
- label: CO-PROCESSOR
value: Motorola 68882 (FPU)
- label: RAM
value: 14 MB
- label: ROM
value: 512 KB
- label: TEXT MODES
value: 40 x 25 / 80 x 25
- label: GRAPHIC MODES
value: ST Modes, TT Modes, VGA (640 x 480)
- label: COLORS
value: 262144 with paletted mode
- label: SOUND
value: 8 channel 12 bit PCM audio system
- label: I/O PORTS
value: RGB, VGA, PAL, DSP, SCSI, Stereo IN/OUT, Midi (2), LocalTalk, Cardridge, RS232c, Centronics, Joystick (3), Mouse, 68030 Bus
- label: BUILT IN MEDIA
value: 3.5' FDD (1.44 MB) + 40 MB IDE Hard Disk
- label: OS
value: TOS 2.07
tabs:
- photos
- hardware
- emulators
- links
- docs
photos:
- title: MAINBOARD
subtitle: ''
text: |-
**(1)** Analog Joystick ports\
**(2)** 68030 Expansion connector\
**(3)** CPU Motorola MC 68030sx\
**(4)** COMBEL (Atari Custom Chip)\
**(5)** Unknown (maybe a 68000 slot)\
**(6)** TOS 2.07 ROM\
**(7)** FPU Motorola 68882\
**(8)** RAM connector\
**(9)** FDC (Floppy Disk Controler)\
**(10)** Cardridge slot\
**(11)** MIDI IN/OUT\
**(12)** MFP 68HC90\
**(13)** ZILOG SCC (Lan controler)\
**(14)** REALTIME clock\
**(15)** 40 MB IDE HD\
**(16)** SDMA (Atari Custom Chip)\
**(17)** VIDEL (Atari Video Chip)\
**(18)** ACIA\
**(19)** CPU Motorola DSP 56001
image: null
- title: BACK SIDE
subtitle: ''
text: The mouse & digital joystick connectors are located into the hole on the left.
image: null
- title: THE FX1 - OTHER VIEW
subtitle: ''
text: ''
image: null
- title: RIGHT
subtitle: ''
text: The Floppy disk drive is a PC compatible 1.44 MB FDD.
image: null
- title: LEFT
subtitle: ''
text: 'From top to bottom : MIDI IN / MIDI OUT, Cardridge port, Analogic joysticks (x2)'
image: null
- title: IT'S SO DIFFICULT TO FIND A NAME...
subtitle: ''
text: |-
Atari hesitated a lot before finding the right name and the right colors.
First, they wanted to call the computer FX-1, it used then the ST case (light grey). Finally, the FX-1 had a dark grey case, so, they changed the logo.
When they decided to name it "Falcon", they tried to find the right logo (eventually, the "Falcon 030" logo is the last one without any color in the "030").
Notice that Atari planned to use the FX-1 dark grey case for the Falcon but they finally used the old Atari ST cases (maybe they still have lot of ST cases in their stocks).
The Atari Falcon has the FX-1 keyboard and the ST case. I suppose Atari produced the dark grey logos before deciding to use the ST case, so the Falcon has a dark grey logo !
image: null
- title: ATARI FX-1 LOGO
subtitle: ''
text: ''
image: null
- title: ATARI "SPARROW" STICKER
subtitle: ''
text: Although it was named "FX-1", everything is related to "Sparrow".
image: null
- title: 14 MB RAM CARD
subtitle: ''
text: The Atari FX-1 used, as the Falcon, a 16 MB RAM card. Only 14 MB can be used (the 2 other MB addresses are shared with peripherals).
image: null
- title: REAR SIDE
subtitle: ''
text: |-
**(1)** DSP\
**(2)** Sound IN\
**(3)** Sound OUT\
**(4)** SCSI 1\
**(5)** Video Connector\
**(6)** TV connector\
**(7)** Parallel\
**(8)** Serial\
**(9)** LAN\
**(10)** Power Supply & reset
image: null
- title: ROMS
subtitle: ''
text: Two 256 KB ROMs, holds the TOS 2.07
image: null
hardware:
- title: SF-354
subtitle: Single density disk-drive
text: ''
image: /media/museum/hardware/atari_st_sf354-diskdrive_1.jpg
- title: SF-314
subtitle: Disk-drive
text: ''
image: /media/museum/hardware/atari_st-disk-drive_sf314.jpg
- title: CUMANA DRIVE
subtitle: ''
text: ''
image: /media/museum/hardware/atari_520_cumanadrive_1.jpg
- title: SUPRADRIVE
subtitle: 20 Mb hard-disk
text: ''
image: /media/museum/hardware/atari_supradrive_20mb.jpg
- title: 170MB QUANTUM HARD-DRIVE
subtitle: ''
text: This unit has an ICD Host Adapter.
image: /media/museum/hardware/atari_st_quamtum_hd170.jpg
- title: ATARI MEGAFILE 30
subtitle: ''
text: This hard-drive has a 30Mb capacity.
image: /media/museum/hardware/atari_st_megafile30_1.jpg
- title: INSIDE THE MEGAFILE 30
subtitle: ''
text: |-
**(1)** Seagate MFM 30 MB hard-disk Type ST-238\
**(2)** Power supply\
**(3)** Logical board\
**(4)** Power and disk access LED's
image: /media/museum/hardware/atari_megast_insidemegafile_1.jpg
- title: ATARI UNIVERSAL MODEM
subtitle: ''
text: |-
The SX212 modem was one of the rare Atari peripherals that could be used with all the Atari computers range, from the 400/800 series up to the Falcon. It had both the Atari I/O ports for the 8-bit systems and a standard RS-232 connector for ST's
It was a 300/1200 baud modem compatible with the well-known Hayes 'AT' commands.\
Cable and software was sold separately, depending of the computer used.
image: /media/museum/hardware/atari_520_modemsx212_1.jpg
- title: SML-804
subtitle: Laser printer
text: |-
The SLM-804 was actually a Kyocera F1000 printer but without neither on-board processor and memory nor buttons other than the on/off switch. It was first delivered with the Mega ST but could be connected on all of the ST series computers through a dedicated interface box.\
The printer used the processing power and the RAM memory of the ST computer for printing at 8 pages per minute and 300 DPI. The paper tray held 250 sheets.
Thanks to **Francois Michaud** who donated us this printer.
image: /media/museum/hardware/atari_megast_slm804printer_s1.jpg
- title: SMLC-804
subtitle: Laser printer interface
text: This interface allowed the SML-804 printer to be connected to any Atari ST holding at least 1 MB RAM.
image: /media/museum/hardware/atari_megast_slmcinterface_s1.jpg
emulators:
- title: Pacifist !
url: http://www.pacifist.fatal-design.com/
platform: MS DOS
text: Pretty good emulator
- title: Gemulator
url: http://www.emulators.com/gemul8r.htm
platform: Windows
text: ''
- title: MagiCPC
url: http://www.application-systems.de/magicpc/index.html
platform: Windows
text: ''
- title: SainT
url: http://saint.atari.org
platform: Windows
text: The best Atari ST Emulator !
- title: Steem
url: http://steem.atari.st/
platform: Windows
text: Excellent emulator for 1040/520 STE !
- title: Tos2Win
url: http://www.aixit.com/tos2win/
platform: Windows
text: A good Atari GEM Emulator !
- title: MagiCMac
url: http://www.application-systems.de/magicmac/index.html
platform: Apple
text: ''
- title: NoSTalgia & PowerST
url: http://users.skynet.be/sky39147/
platform: Apple
text: ''
- title: STonX Homepage
url: http://www.complang.tuwien.ac.at/nino/stonx.html
platform: Unix / Linux
text: ''
- title: Atari ST Emulator
url: http://www.atari-st.lovely.net/
platform: Other platform
text: Written in Java !
- title: ARAnyM
url: HTTP://ARANYM.ATARI.ORG
platform: Multiplatform
text: Multiplatform project
- title: Hatari
url: http://hatari.sourceforge.net/
platform: Multiplatform
text: Hatari is an Atari ST emulator for Linux, BSD, BeOS, Mac OS X and other systems that are supported by the SDL library. More precisely, Hatari is an adaption of the WinSTon source code to the SDL library.
links:
- title: Atari & Commodore Home Computer Museum
url: http://www.best.com/~hmk/
text: ''
- title: Atari Music Network
url: http://www.atarimusic.net/
text: Atari Music Network welcomes and celebrates all vintage digital musicians no matter what their computer
- title: Atari Sparrow
url: http://users.qnet.com/~dons/Sparrow.htm
text: ''
- title: Atari ST Demo History
url: http://wwwbrauer.in.tum.de/~brandtf/ataridemos.html
text: ''
- title: Atari ST Download Area
url: http://www.chebucto.ns.ca/Services/PDA/atari.shtml
text: Atari 400/800/XL/XE & ST/TT/Falcon Software download page
- title: ATARI.ORG
url: http://www.atari.org/
text: Looking for something on any Atari machine ? Follow the links !
- title: Dead Hackers Society
url: http://www.dhs.nu/
text: Atari demo scene
- title: Little Green Desktop
url: http://www.atari.st/
text: Largest Atari ST ressource!
- title: Medusa computer
url: http://www.kingx.com/kingx/medusa/thes.html
text: You can still buy an Atari ST family clone computer
- title: MiNTOS Distribution
url: http://www.earth.ox.ac.uk/~steve/mintos.html
text: ''
- title: Musique.Atari.Org
url: HTTP://MUSIQUE.ATARI.ORG
text: Web site dedicated to the ATARI and the Music...
- title: PLOPBOX - Atari music archive and jukebox
url: http://www.plopbox.net/
text: listen to atari tunes directly from your browser
- title: Polish Atari Wikipedia
url: http://atariki.krap.pl
text: A lot of info about Atari (in polish)
- title: ST Anwender Bern
url: http://my.blackpoint.ch/stab/
text: Atari ST Usergroup Bern (Swiss)
- title: The Atari Historical Society
url: http://www.atarimuseum.com/
text: The complete history of Atari Arcade and Home games and computers. Complete site with pictures, commercials (streaming), and full text articles. Amazing site !
- title: The Atari ST Quick FAQ
url: http://www.megacom.net/~q-funk/ST/
text: ''
- title: The Atari WebRing Homepage
url: http://b.webring.com/hub?ring=atari
text: Useful !
- title: The Ultimate ATARI Resource
url: http://www.atari.org
text: ''
- title: The very first sparrow prototype board
url: http://www.mindrup.de/atos/online/9604/sparrow.htm
text: (in german)
- title: What is TOS
url: http://www.vanc.igs.net/~roughley/tos_main.htm
text: ''
- title: Index of -~archive-atari-
url: http://www.umich.edu/~archive/atari/
text: ''
- title: Web Wiz CAPTCHA
url: http://www.webwizcaptcha.com
text: French forum
docs:
- title: ATARI 520 ST OWNER'S MANUAL
url: http://www.classiccmp.org/dunfield/atarist/index.htm
cover: /media/museum/docs/couvs/atari_520st_user_doc.jpg
text: |-
[**ATARI 520 ST OWNER'S MANUAL**](http://www.classiccmp.org/dunfield/atarist/index.htm)written by Atari
 compiled/archived by Daves Old Computers\
 type of document : PDF\
 size : 5 Mb\
 source : [Daves Old Computers](http://www.classiccmp.org/dunfield)
**... READ THE ONLINE VERSION BY CLICKING BELOW :**
comments:
- author: Malcolm Ramage (Huddersfield, England)
date: Friday 6th August 2004
text: |-
Just a small correction to the comments on the name badge page. The eventual Falcon case was a lighter colour than the ST, and though the keyboard looks the same as the FX-1, the key lettering is different.
On the FX-1, the key lettering is yellow, with red lettering on the function keys, but the Falcon has white lettering. The Falcon on the Falcon030 page here is in ST colours, only a few of these exist and were shown at trade shows just before the Falcons launch.
related:
- /museum/atari-130-st-260-st
- /museum/atari-4160-ste
- /museum/atari-520-1040-ste
- /museum/atari-520-1040-stf-stfm
- /museum/atari-520-st-st-stm
- /museum/atari-falcon-030
- /museum/atari-falcon-030-microbox
- /museum/atari-mega-st
- /museum/atari-mega-ste
- /museum/atari-st-book
- /museum/atari-stacy
- /museum/atari-stylus-st-pad
- /museum/atari-tt-030
oc_id: 635
source:
url: https://web.archive.org/web/20230608224112/http://www.old-computers.com/museum/computer.asp?c=635
date: '2023-06-08'
---
In 1991, Atari planned to replace the old [STe](/museum/atari-520-1040-ste/) computers.\
They realized then the "Sparrow Card", which was a development card plugged into the 68000 slot of an [Atari 1040 STe](/museum/atari-520-1040-ste/).\
The "Sparrow Card" had one of the main feature of the future FX-1 / [Falcon 030](/museum/atari-falcon-030/) computers : it was a dual CPU board. It used a Motorola MC68030 and a Motorola DSP 56K.\
The "Sparrow Card" used a 16 MHz 68030, a 16 MHz 68882 (arithmetic coprocessor) and a 32 MHz DSP 56K with 24 KB of static RAM.\
Later, when Atari made the first fully functionnal computer from this prototype board, they planned to name it "FX-1", they eventually name it "Falcon".\
The Atari FX-1, or "Sparrow", is also a prototype machine. Actually, it is almost a Falcon030. It has all its features except its true color mode (not fully implemented in the FX-1) and the PCM sound channels (12 bit instead of 16 in the Falcon).\
These computers used the [Atari Mega STe](/museum/atari-mega-ste/) TOS (2.06) slightly modified to cope with the new graphic modes. This TOS version had the number 2.07 and was replaced in the last Sparrow models with the TOS 4.0 (The Falcon used TOS 4.01 in the earlier models, then the 4.04 and finally the 4.92 (never released)).\
Atari produced less than 100 of these machines. They were built with sample spare parts and were used by developpers to write software for the future Atari Falcon.
**Curl Vendel** says :\
Originally, the Sparrow/FX-1 had a better graphics processor, but it was incompatible with most software. A newer processor was built that was more compatible (yet slightly crippled) with ST/e software.