website/content/museum/acorn-computer-archimedes-a3000.md

title, categories, types, origins, years, cpus, params

title	categories	types	origins	years	cpus	params
Acorn Computer Archimedes A3000	Computers	Professional Computer	United Kingdom	1989	ARM 2 32 bit RISC	name image company company_name specs tabs forum_thread photos hardware emulators links docs related oc_id source Archimedes A3000 /media/museum/photos/acorn_a3000_system_2.jpg /companies/acorn-computer Acorn Computer label value NAME Archimedes A3000 label value MANUFACTURER Acorn Computer label value TYPE Professional Computer label value ORIGIN United Kingdom label value YEAR 1989 label value BUILT IN LANGUAGE BBC BASIC label value KEYBOARD Full-stroke PC-AT style label value CPU ARM 2 32 bit RISC label value SPEED 4 / 8 mHz label value CO-PROCESSOR MEMC (memory), VIDC (Video and Sound), IOC (I/O) label value RAM 1Mb (up to 4Mb possible with slot in card) label value ROM 512 KB (RISC OS 2) 1Mb (RISC OS 3) label value TEXT MODES 132 x 32 maximum label value GRAPHIC MODES 21 label value COLORS 256 maximum label value SOUND 8 voices label value I/O PORTS Centronics, RS423, Video composite (monochrome only), RGB, optional Econet (network 250 KBits). 2 expansion slot (internal 8-bit and external 16-bit) label value BUILT IN MEDIA one 3.5'' 800k disk-drive label value OS RISC OS 2 (3.1 or later models, and most have been upgraded to v3) label value POWER SUPPLY Built-in power supply unit label value PRICE £650 photos hardware emulators links docs 681 title subtitle text image ARCHIMEDES 3000 FAMILY /media/museum/photos/acorn_a3000_family_1.jpg title subtitle text image RIGHT SIDE /media/museum/photos/acorn_a3000_rightside_1.jpg title subtitle text image A3000 LOGO /media/museum/photos/acorn_a3000_keybcloseup_1.jpg title subtitle text image REAR CONNECTORS **(1)** 16-bit bus expansion connector compatible with both earlier and later Archimedes machines\ **(2)** Analogue RGB DB9 connector\ **(3)** Monochrome composite video RCA jack\ **(4)** Stereo headphone jack\ **(5)** Parallel printer DB25 connector\ **(6)** Serial DB9 connector. Two optional serial chips must be added before using this serial port!\ **(7)** Optional Econet network connector\ **(8)** Mouse connector located at the bottom of the case. Not very practical. /media/museum/photos/acorn_a3000_back_1.jpg title subtitle text image UNCOVERED SYSTEM Notice the two loudspeakers (black and white leads), and the poor cardboard power supply protector. /media/museum/photos/acorn_a3000_uncovered_1.jpg title subtitle text image MAIN BOARD **(1)** The switching power supply unit was made in Taiwan. It is normally covered with a cardboard protector\ **(2)** Keyboard connectors\ **(3)** Custom sound chip made by Philips\ **(4)** Desktop preferences backup battery\ **(5)** RISC-OS 3 ROM chips (4 x 128 KB)\ **(6)** I/O custom chip (IOC). All other custom chips were made by VLSI\ **(7)** 1 MB RAM Dip chips\ **(8)** Floppy disk-drive connector\ **(9)** RISC ARM 2 processor\ **(10)** 1 MB RAM expansion module\ **(11)** Memory management custom chip (MEMC)\ **(12)** Video management custom chip (VIDC)\ **(13)** Reset switch /media/museum/photos/acorn_a3000_mainboard_1.jpg title subtitle text image MAINBOARD CLOSE-UP In the foreground, the ARM 2 32 bit RISC processor. /media/museum/photos/acorn_a3000_mboardcloseup_1.jpg title subtitle text image 486 CARD Allowed Archimedes series computers to run 32-bit PC-DOS software. It was delivered with a manual, a driver disk and PC-DOS 6.3 /media/museum/hardware/acorn_a39000_486card_1.jpg title subtitle text image GRAPHICS ACCELERATOR Graphics accelerator card (called "ColourCard") for A3000, Archimedes and A5000.\ Company : Computer Concepts\ Enhanced potential for Archimedes series including 15-bit desktop modes (i.e. 800*600 @ 256 colours). Thanks to **Chris Syntichakis** /media/museum/hardware/acorn_a5000_colorcard_1.jpg title subtitle text image CUMANA SCSI CARD 16-bit SCSI-1 card\ Company: Cumana.\ There are an external port for scanners/CD-ROM etc. and 2 internal ports for SCSI and Floptical drives. Thanks to **Chris Syntichakis** /media/museum/hardware/acorn_a5000_scsicard_1.jpg title subtitle text image SERIAL CARD From Atomwide's site:\ High speed serial card featuring three ports, each in the shape of a standard 9-pin ‘D’ plug. Each port on the card is capable of running at up to 460,800 bits per second, and employs a 16-byte FIFO buffer to reduce loading on the host computer’s processor, so improving communications reliability. All serial cards are standard single-width podules, and are fully compatible with Atomwide 6 and 8-slot RiscPC backplanes. /media/museum/hardware/acorn_a5000_serialcard_1.jpg title subtitle text image MIDI CARD Allowed Archimedes systems to interact with any midi sound device. /media/museum/hardware/acorn_a4000_midicard_s1.jpg title url platform text Arculator http://b-em.bbcmicro.com/arculator/ Windows An excellent Windows-based Archimedes emulator, plays many games and has simple usage. title url platform text Red Squirrel http://www.red-squirrel.org/ Windows An Emulator of Arm based Acorn machines for Windows 98/ME/2000/XP title url platform text Virtual Acorn http://www.virtualacorn.co.uk/ Windows Excellent but commercial software - £30 title url platform text ARCHIE http://www.geocities.com/siliconvalley/campus/5427/ Multiplatform Archie is an emulation of the Acorn Archimedes hardware (A3xx/A4xx/A3xxx) for DOS/Windows title url text Web Wiz CAPTCHA http://www.webwizcaptcha.com title url cover text TOM'S ARCHIMEDES DOCS (INTERNAL HARDWARE) http://b-em.bbcmicro.com/arculator/index.html /media/museum/docs/couvs/vide.gif [**TOM'S ARCHIMEDES DOCS (INTERNAL HARDWARE)**](http://b-em.bbcmicro.com/arculator/index.html)written by Tom Mowalker  compiled/archived by Tom Mowalker\  type of document : HTML\  source : [Arculator](http://b-em.bbcmicro.com/arculator/index.html) /museum/acorn-computer-a4 /museum/acorn-computer-archimedes /museum/acorn-computer-archimedes-a3010 /museum/acorn-computer-archimedes-a3020 /museum/acorn-computer-archimedes-a4000 /museum/acorn-computer-archimedes-a5000 /museum/acorn-computer-archimedes-a7000 697 url date https://web.archive.org/web/20230607194932/http://www.old-computers.com/museum/computer.asp?c=697 2023-06-07

The Acorn Archimedes A3000 was based on the Archimedes A410 but in an 1040ST/Amiga A500-style wedge unit. Designed for the home market, it was intended as a replacement for the BBC Micro and like the earlier Archimedes models it was only really used in British schools up until very recently.

Acorn started to phase out the Archimedes name and the machine was now simply badged Acorn A3000. Rumours have it that some of the Acorn A410 models had serious reliability problems and had to be recalled, so the Archimedes name was dropped to boost the machine's reputation.

Like the Atari and Amiga computers it had a built-in keyboard and disk drive located on the right-hand side, but unusually it also had two stereo speakers on either side of the unit. This form factor is ideal for a school environment as it doesn’t take up too much space and was often used with a metal plinth allowing a monitor to stand on top, usually an Acorn-badged Phillips 8853 (AKF12) or 8833 MK11 (AKF17).

The A3000 had two expansion ports. The internal one was a cut down 8-bit version of the type found on the earlier Archimedes machines. The second one, on the rear of the case, was a 16-bit version fully compatible with both earlier and later machines.

The operating system could read PC 720K disks and provided improved facilities for hard disk and networking, as well as some apps included in ROM which would appear on the task bar, such as Paint, Edit, and other useful programs.

The A3000 was replaced by the A3010 and A3020 models in 1992.

Thanks to Jonathan Hayward for his help.