website/content/museum/texas-instruments-ds990.md

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

title	categories	types	origins	years	cpus	params
Texas Instruments DS990	Computers	Professional Computer	U.S.A.	1980	TMS-9900	name image company company_name specs tabs photos hardware comments oc_id source DS990 /media/museum/photos/texasinstr_ds990_system_s1.jpg /companies/texas-instruments Texas Instruments label value NAME DS990 label value MANUFACTURER Texas Instruments label value TYPE Professional Computer label value ORIGIN U.S.A. label value YEAR 1980 label value END OF PRODUCTION Unknown label value BUILT IN LANGUAGE None label value KEYBOARD 88 key with numeric and arrow keypads, 10 function keys and 8 state led label value CPU TMS-9900 (16-bit) label value SPEED Unknown label value RAM 64 KB label value ROM 12 KB label value TEXT MODES 80 columns x 24 lines label value GRAPHIC MODES None label value COLORS Monochrome label value SOUND Beeper label value SIZE / WEIGHT 58.5 (W) x 58.5 (D) x 46.5 (H) label value I/O PORTS 3 x serial, 1 FDD port label value BUILT IN MEDIA None label value OS DX10, DNOS label value POWER SUPPLY Built-in modular switching PSU label value PERIPHERALS TI extension cards label value PRICE Unknown photos hardware title subtitle text image LARGER VIEW /media/museum/photos/texasinstr_ds990_system_s2.jpg title subtitle text image TOP VIEW /media/museum/photos/texasinstr_ds990_topview_s1.jpg title subtitle text image SIDE VIEW /media/museum/photos/texasinstr_ds990_rightside_s1.jpg title subtitle text image REAR SIDE Notice the three serial ports and the (blue) floppy disk unit connector. /media/museum/photos/texasinstr_ds990_rearside_s1.jpg title subtitle text image KEYBOARD /media/museum/photos/texasinstr_ds990_keyboard_s1.jpg title subtitle text image KEYBOARD DETAILS Left and right keypads. Notice the 8 status leds. /media/museum/photos/texasinstr_ds990_keyboard_s2.jpg title subtitle text image RUNNING Main menu of the TI utilities disk. /media/museum/photos/texasinstr_ds990_bootscreen_s1.jpg title subtitle text image COMPLETE SYSTEM With a dual 8" floppy disk unit and a serial printer/terminal. /media/museum/photos/texasinstr_ds990_completesystem_s1.jpg title subtitle text image INSIDE #1 /media/museum/photos/texasinstr_ds990_inside_s2.jpg title subtitle text image INSIDE #2 A large cooling fan separates the logic cards and the power supply unit.\ **(1)** Serial cards dedicated to video terminals or printers\ **(2)** CPU card\ **(3)** RAM card\ **(4)** Display card\ **(5)** Floppy disk controller cards\ **(6)** Modular switching PSU cards\ **(7)** The large fan is enclosed between the logic cards and the PSU /media/museum/photos/texasinstr_ds990_inside_s1.jpg title subtitle text image INSIDE #3 A single backplane supports the PSU cards (green slots) and the logic cards ((black slots). /media/museum/photos/texasinstr_ds990_backplane_s1.jpg title subtitle text image INSIDE THE FD UNIT 15 years of advances made in technology have elapsed between this massive dual 8" FD unit (about 30 kg) and a 100-gram 3.5" floppy drive which provides more than twice as much storage capacity. /media/museum/hardware/texasinstr_ds990_fdunit_s1.jpg title subtitle text image FLOPPY DISC DRIVES Both sides of the 8" Qume floppy disk drive.\ Some technical features:\ • 300 rounds per minute\ • 128 bytes per sector\ • 26 sectors per track\ • 77 tracks per diskette\ • 3328 bytes per track\ • 256,256 bytes per diskette /media/museum/hardware/texasinstr_ds990_fddrives_s1.jpg title subtitle text image OMNI 800 TERMINAL/PRINTER Model 820 RO (Read Only) Under the Omni 800 label, T.I. released numerous professional printers and terminals. Most of them acted as a remote input/output unit.\ This version has a covered operator control keypad, but other models featured a complete typewriter keyboard. /media/museum/hardware/texasinstr_ds990_printer_s1.jpg title subtitle text image OMNI 800 TERMINAL/PRINTER Model KSR Thanks to its typewriter keyboard, this version was a true interactive terminal. /media/museum/hardware/texasinstr_ds990_printer_s2.jpg title subtitle text image CPU CARD #1 Notice the beeper and the keyboard connector on the right-hand side. /media/museum/hardware/texasinstr_ds990_cpucard_s1.jpg title subtitle text image TMS-9900 PROCESSOR A nice ceramic version of the 16-bit TMS-9900 CPU. /media/museum/hardware/texasinstr_ds990_processor_s1.jpg title subtitle text image RAM CARD #1 64 KB RAM card populated with 32 x 4116 RAM chips (16K x 1 bit). /media/museum/hardware/texasinstr_ds990_ramcard_s1.jpg title subtitle text image RAM CARD #2 /media/museum/hardware/texasinstr_ds990_ramchips_s1.jpg author date text John Sambrook (Kirkland, Washington, USA) Monday 1st June 2020 I have wonderful memories of working with TI DS/900 systems, including the /10 and the /12. Someone asked about where to find materials. Here is one location$ I believe bitsavers.org has both manuals and binaries. http://www.bitsavers.org/pdf/ti/990/dx10/ Hit me up if you''d like to discuss anything DS/990 related. I''d love to be able to buy some old TI gear. author date text Jeffrey Brace (USA) Wednesday 27th May 2020 I am looking for the TX5 operating system for this machine for a fellow member who lives in Italia. Specifically TI DS990 Model 1. author date text John (Australia) Monday 29th January 2018 I have obtained a DS990 Model 1 and FD1000 dual disk drive assembly and currently restoring it as best as I can, after it sat in someones shed for many many years. I do not have any original disks, nor any physical documentation. Seems like this machine is overshadowed by the other 990/* systems, along with the 99/4A. I can hardly find software specifically for this machine. Even then, I''m not 100$ sure how to get the disk images onto the 8" floppy disks this machine reads. I am hoping that once I finish cleaning the dual Qume drives, I''ll be able to build up a PC interface and use some fancy utility to read and write disk images accordingly. Who knows if that is even possible... author date text Ross Milbourne (England) Thursday 4th January 2018 Please can anyone help me to locate any of the software for this machine? I have a DS990 Model 1 with FD1000. author date text Keith Winterburn (USA) Monday 24th September 2007 I used to look after our own and our customers systems which were DS 990 12 and so on multiple terminals mostly with 96 meg phoenix drives some with remote clusters supporting 911vdt terminals largest system was 30 terminals on three sites mostly business systems with the occasional one used for a library or similar they wern't much bother except for disk crashes and the ksr printers which lost sync pulses and jammed whilst printing 1025 url date https://web.archive.org/web/20230330025208/http://www.old-computers.com/museum/computer.asp?c=1025 2023-03-30

This DS990/1 system was the basic model of the DS990 series which was also comprised of the 990/2, 990/4, 990/10 and 990/12 models. They were targeted as multi-user business systems, and ran the DX10 then the DNOS (Distributed Network Operating System) OS's.

The 990/1 was the only version including its own video display, although up to three serial dumb video terminals could be connected as well. Other versions had a separate main unit managing several terminals, mass storage and printers.

The core of the system was a true 16-bit microprocessor, the TMS-9900, also made by T.I., and mounted later in the first 16-bit home computer, the TI-99/4. Apart from the dumb terminals, interface cards allowed to connect a serial printer and a single or dual 8" floppy disk unit.