6,654 pages: 1,289 machines, 702 software, 460 companies, 64 history, 17 articles, 59 fun. 4,336 media files so far; references to files not downloaded yet are left out. Co-Authored-By: Claude Opus 5.5 <noreply@anthropic.com> Claude-Session: https://claude.ai/code/session_01YDRjtmAiNpo5mK5N3d7QwZ
102 lines
3.4 KiB
Markdown
102 lines
3.4 KiB
Markdown
---
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title: ASCI SystemX
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categories:
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- Computers
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types:
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- Home Computer
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origins:
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- U.S.A.
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years:
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- '1979'
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cpus:
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- Motorola 6800
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params:
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name: SystemX
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company: /companies/asci
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company_name: ASCI
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specs:
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- label: NAME
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value: SystemX
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- label: MANUFACTURER
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value: ASCI
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- label: TYPE
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value: Home Computer
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- label: ORIGIN
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value: U.S.A.
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- label: YEAR
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value: '1979'
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- label: BUILT IN LANGUAGE
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value: Monitor
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- label: KEYBOARD
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value: Hexadecimal 16 keys keypad + NMI and RESET pushbuttons
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- label: CPU
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value: Motorola 6800
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- label: SPEED
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value: 1 MHz, 1.5 MHz with a Fairchild version of the 6800 CPU
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- label: RAM
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value: Unknown
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- label: TEXT MODES
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value: Hexadecimal 7 digit display
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- label: SIZE / WEIGHT
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value: 30(W) x 25(D) x 5(H) cm.
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- label: I/O PORTS
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value: Exorciser bus, I/O, Serial
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- label: BUILT IN MEDIA
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value: Additional tape recorder card
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- label: OS
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value: Hexadecimal monitor
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- label: POWER SUPPLY
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value: External power supply unit
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- label: PERIPHERALS
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value: Several I/O cards
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- label: PRICE
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value: Unknown
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tabs:
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- photos
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photos:
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- title: COVERED SYSTEM
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subtitle: ''
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text: ''
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image: null
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- title: KEYBOARD
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subtitle: ''
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text: 'A strip along the frond edge, lists all the commands that the keyboard permits: set a breakpoint, jump to a memory location, examine and modify memory content, etc.'
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image: null
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- title: MAIN BOARD
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subtitle: ''
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text: ''
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image: null
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- title: TAPE RECORDER
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subtitle: ''
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text: ''
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image: null
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comments:
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- author: Michael (USA)
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date: Wednesday 4th December 2013
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text: Was lucky enough to find four of these that were being thrown out by a school.
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- author: TC (US)
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date: Saturday 31st December 2011
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text: |-
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The ASCI System X also had an RS-232 port and an available expansion board with BASIC on ROM. IIRC BASIC was launched from the monitor by:
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G\
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F836\
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D
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The BASIC board could eat itself if a user POKEd at the wrong addresses.
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ASCI''s marketing catchphrase for the System X was "a system so updated, it can''t be outdated". I''m not gonna hold my breath waiting for a USB 3.0 interface though. :)
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oc_id: 758
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source:
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url: https://web.archive.org/web/20230210082457/http://www.old-computers.com/museum/computer.asp?c=758
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date: '2023-02-10'
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---
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The ASCI SystemX, also called **U68** was a single board training system that was used in an educational environment during the early 1980s.
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It was mounted in a wooden box and covered with a smoke colored plastic lid. When it was closed, all the electronic part was covered, except the 16 key hexadecimal keypad and a seven digit LED display.
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The main board featured a Motorola 6800 processor and an Exorciser bus connector. Several I/O boards could be connected to the system allowing microprocessor based experiments.
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Motorola 6800 is a 8-bit microprocessor which was released at about the same time as Intel 8080. The 6800 had 16-bit address bus and could address up to 64 KB of memory. From common registers the CPU had only two accumulators and one index register. The 6800 didn't have I/O instructions and therefore 6800-based systems had to use memory-mapped I/O for input/output capabilities. Motorola 6800 started the big family of 680x microcontrolers and microprocessors, some of which are still produced today.
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