yann64andClaude Opus 5.5
b274874139
1,289 discussions, 9,527 archived comments; pages no longer carry the comments themselves. Co-Authored-By: Claude Opus 5.5 <noreply@anthropic.com> Claude-Session: https://claude.ai/code/session_01YDRjtmAiNpo5mK5N3d7QwZ
180 lines
6.7 KiB
Markdown
180 lines
6.7 KiB
Markdown
---
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title: Sord M223 series
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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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- Japan
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years:
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- '1979'
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cpus:
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- Zilog Z80 A
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params:
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name: M223 series
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image: /media/museum/photos/sord_m223mk6_system_1.jpg
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company: /companies/sord
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company_name: Sord
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specs:
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- label: NAME
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value: M223 series
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- label: MANUFACTURER
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value: Sord
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- label: TYPE
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value: Home Computer
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- label: ORIGIN
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value: Japan
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- label: YEAR
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value: '1979'
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- label: END OF PRODUCTION
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value: Unknown
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- label: BUILT IN LANGUAGE
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value: Unknown
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- label: KEYBOARD
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value: |-
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QWERTY / AZERTY mechanical keyboard\
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15 function keys & numeric keypad
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- label: CPU
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value: Zilog Z80 A
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- label: SPEED
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value: 4 MHz
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- label: CO-PROCESSOR
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value: Unknown
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- label: RAM
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value: 64 kb
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- label: VRAM
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value: 4 kb
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- label: ROM
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value: 512 bytes (for the loader), up to 8 kb
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- label: TEXT MODES
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value: 80 x 24
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- label: GRAPHIC MODES
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value: Unknown
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- label: COLORS
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value: Black & green (built-in monitor)
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- label: SOUND
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value: Unknown
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- label: I/O PORTS
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value: |-
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plug for an additional ROM\
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V24 / RS232c x 2 (from 110 to 9600 bauds)\
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M-223 : 3 x S100 connectors
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- label: BUILT IN MEDIA
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value: From 1 to 4 x 5.25
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- label: OS
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value: Sord DOS, CP/M, UCSD Pascal
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- label: POWER SUPPLY
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value: Built-in Power Supply Unit
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- label: PERIPHERALS
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value: |-
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\- 2 more floppy-drives\
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\- 10 Mb hard-disk\
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M-223 only :\
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\- Graphic card for high resolution and 8 colors\
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\- A/D and D/A convertor
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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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- adverts
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- hardware
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forum_thread: 229
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photos:
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- title: LARGE VIEW
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subtitle: ''
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text: ''
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image: /media/museum/photos/sord_m223mk6_system_2.jpg
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- title: WITH DUAL HD UNITS
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subtitle: ''
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text: ''
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image: /media/museum/photos/sord_m223mk6_withhdunits_1.jpg
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- title: TOP VIEW
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subtitle: ''
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text: ''
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image: /media/museum/photos/sord_m223mk6_topview_1.jpg
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- title: KEYBOARD CLOSE-UP
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subtitle: ''
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text: ''
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image: /media/museum/photos/sord_m223mk6_keyboard_1.jpg
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- title: REAR SIDE
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subtitle: ''
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text: |-
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**(1)** Dual serial ports\
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**(2)** Floppy drive controller extension board\
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**(3)** Four SCSI ports board\
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**(4)** Hard disk controller board
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image: /media/museum/photos/sord_m223mk6_rear_1.jpg
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- title: INSIDE
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subtitle: ''
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text: ''
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image: /media/museum/photos/sord_m223mk6_inside_1.jpg
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- title: MAINBOARD
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subtitle: ''
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text: |-
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**(1)** Keyboard connector\
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**(2)** 64 KB RAM chips - 32 x 4116 (16K x 1bit)\
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**(3)** 5 KB video RAM chips - 10 x 4027 chips (4K x 1bit)\
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**(4)** AMD 9511 floating point unit\
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**(5)** SMC 5027 video display controller\
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**(6)** Connector for expansion box\
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**(7)** Z80A processor\
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**(8)** Z80 CTC counter-timer\
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**(9)** Reset switch\
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**(10)** Dual serial port\
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**(11)** Dual 8251 serial controller chips
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image: /media/museum/photos/sord_m223mk6_mainboard_2.jpg
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adverts:
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- title: FRENCH AD (JAN. 1980)
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subtitle: ''
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text: ''
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image: /media/museum/pubs/sord_m-serie_pub_gepsi.jpg
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hardware:
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- title: SORD MARK II SYNOPTIC SKETCH
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subtitle: ''
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text: It shows the internal organisation of the Sord Mark II
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image: /media/museum/hardware/sord_m223_schema.gif
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- title: DF44 8" UNIT
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subtitle: ''
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text: 8" external floppy disk drive unit
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image: /media/museum/hardware/sord_m223mk6_fd8unit_1.jpg
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- title: HARD DISK UNITS
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subtitle: ''
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text: |-
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Dual 8" 10 MB hard disk unit. The top one is the main unit with various control LEDs, the bottom one is the slave unit.\
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Each unit weighs about 50 kg and uses about 500W!
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image: /media/museum/hardware/sord_m223mk6_hdunits_1.jpg
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- title: INSIDE HD UNIT
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subtitle: ''
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text: The 8" hard drive is enclosed into a tinted plastic case
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image: /media/museum/hardware/sord_m223mk6_insidehd_1.jpg
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oc_id: 219
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source:
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url: https://web.archive.org/web/20221205122746/http://www.old-computers.com/museum/computer.asp?c=219
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date: '2022-12-05'
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---
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These computers were generally sold for specific professionnal use along with the appropriate software.
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Two models were launched: the Sord MK II 203 and Sord MK II 223. The difference is that the 223 has 3 x S100 slots for easy expansion. Both have a special DMA channel for the disks (floppy and hard disk).
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Some software was sold with them, which included the MFDOS, several Sord BASIC's, a compiled Basic (C-Basic) and many tools. The Fortran IV and the Cobol were also available.
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For the M-223 and its S100 slots, 2 extensions were sold :
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\- A graphic card with high-resolution and 8 colors\
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\- A/D and D/A convertor (16 x 12 bits channels for input and 2 x 8 bits channels for output)
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---
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**Joe Hernandez** remembers:\
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I remember introducing them in Puerto Rico in 1980 at a great celebration in the Sheraton Hotel in a conference organized by J. R. Hernandez & Associates, Inc (my company at the time), together with the Electronic Information Systems Directors Association (ADSEI in Spanish).\
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I programmed them in a language MicroCobol (a mix of basic and cobol) developed by a London Company of which I don't remember the name at this moment. We were converting their accounting system from the British to the American accounting method since there was no business system in English on those days for the PC. IBM introduced their first PC 5051 in 1981.\
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The retail price without software at that time was $12,800.00 plus another $5,000.00 for the whole integrating accounting system... - I never took off in this venture ;(
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**Harvey Platter** specifies:\
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MicroCobol was the development language for BOS (Business Operating System). It was actually COBOL with the formating requirements stripped out and support for low level and system programming added.\
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MicroCobol compiled to an intermediate code, rather like the, then popular, P-Code or modern Java but altogether more efficient than either. BOS itself was written in MicroCobol and was very quick, even on a 2MHz Z80. The system was amazingly portable, each target system only requiring around 2KB of machine code to bootstrap BOS. Code was 100% cross compatible across hardware, something unheard of at the time.\
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Unfortunately, the marketing of the product was poor and it was swept away by the rise of the PC, which was a pity as some of its nicer features are only now being realised on, for example, Linux.
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<table> <tr> <td></td> <td>We need more info about this computer ! If you designed, used, or have more info about this system, please send us pictures or anything you might find useful.</td> <td></td> </tr> </table>
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