website/content/museum/oric-nova-64.md

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

title	categories	types	origins	years	cpus	params
Oric NOVA 64	Computers	Home Computer	Yugoslavia	1984	6502A	name image company company_name specs tabs photos hardware screenshots emulators links docs comments related oc_id source NOVA 64 /media/museum/photos/oric_nova64_1s.jpg /companies/oric Oric label value NAME NOVA 64 label value MANUFACTURER Oric label value TYPE Home Computer label value ORIGIN Yugoslavia label value YEAR ? 1984 label value BUILT IN LANGUAGE Tangerine Basic (in fact unlicensed Microsoft Basic) label value KEYBOARD QWERTY, mechanical keyboard, 58 keys. 4 arrow keys.\ ESC, CTRL, DEL, RETURN, SHIFT (x 2), FUNCT. label value CPU 6502A label value SPEED 1 mHz label value RAM 48 KB label value ROM 16 KB label value TEXT MODES 40 chars x 28 lines label value GRAPHIC MODES 240 x 200 (+ 3 text lines) label value COLORS 8 label value SOUND 3 voices, 8 octaves + white noise label value SIZE / WEIGHT 28 (W) x 17,5 (D) x 5,5 (H) cm / 1.25 kg label value I/O PORTS Power supply, Expansion port, Printer/Centronics port, Tape-recorder DIN plug, RGB video out, RF TV out label value POWER SUPPLY External power supply / IN 220V (+10;-15 %); 50 Hz. / OUT 7V DC label value PRICE Unknown photos hardware software emulators links docs title subtitle text image ORIC NOVA 64 Apparently, only the label "Oric Nova 64" differs from the original Atmos. Thanks to Ranko Vukcevic for this picture /media/museum/photos/oric_nova64_1.jpg title subtitle text image FRONT Thanks to Ranko Vukcevic for this picture /media/museum/photos/oric_nova64_front.jpg title subtitle text image REAR Thanks to Ranko Vukcevic for this picture /media/museum/photos/oric_nova64_rear.jpg title subtitle text image INSIDE This motherboard is slightly different from well known Issue 3 & 4 motherboards of the official Oric-1/Atmos systems, especially RAM chips layout. Thanks to Ranko Vukcevic for this picture /media/museum/photos/oric_nova64_mobo.jpg title subtitle text image JASMIN II F.D. UNIT The Jasmin II was a 3" double-sided floppy drive unit. It was released in 1985, designed by T.R.A.N. and manufactured by Dattel, two french companies. Up to four units could be connected in chain. Each one featured an operating system called T.DOS then FT.DOS. Each diskette had a 357 KB capacity (2 sides x 41 tracks x 17 sectors x 256 bytes) /media/museum/hardware/oric_jasmin2_1.jpg title subtitle text image CUMANA EXPANSION BOX This expansion holds a power supply unit and a dual expansion port allowing the floppy disk unit and another expansion device to be connected simultaneously. /media/museum/hardware/oric_atmos_cumanaexp_s1.jpg title subtitle text image VOCAL SYNTHESIZER /media/museum/hardware/oric_synth_vocal.jpg title subtitle text image LIGHT PEN /media/museum/hardware/oric_lightpen.jpg title subtitle text image 8 IN/OUT BOARD /media/museum/hardware/oric_8_io.jpg title subtitle text image ATMOS MICRODISC The official Oric disk-drive. Soooo beautiful... Disc drive uses 320 Kb. formatted, double side 3'' diskette. In the first versions, operating system only managed sequential files. /media/museum/hardware/oric_atmos_microdsic_1.jpg title subtitle text image ATMOS PLOTTER This is the same as the MCP-40 for the Oric-1. This type of plotter (4 colors) was widely used for the micro-computers... /media/museum/hardware/oric_atmos_mcp40_1.jpg title subtitle text image INSIDE ATMOS PLOTTER The MCP-40 plotter uses a Japanese printing mechanism manufactured by Sharp. It's a little mechanical marvel able to print extremely precise four colour texts and graphics. Text is printed with 40 or 80 characters per line, at 10 characters per second speed. Characters size and printing direction may be modified (horizontal, vertical or diagonal). **(1)** Paper used is a roller of 115 mm width.\ **(2)** Printer command buttons.\ **(3)** Electromagnet that pushes the pen against paper for writing.\ **(4)** The print head moves laterally right across the paper width and swivels to carry out a pen colour change.\ **(5)** The head is connected through a cable to an engine which ensures its side moving by 0.2 mm steps.\ **(6)** A second engine controls top and bottom paper moving, also by 0.2 mm steps. /media/museum/hardware/oric_atmos_mcp40_2.jpg title subtitle text image L'AIGLE D'OR /media/museum/software/oric_ss_aigledor.gif title subtitle text image CATEGORIC /media/museum/software/oric_ss_categoric.gif title subtitle text image HONEY KONG /media/museum/software/oric_ss_honeykong.gif title subtitle text image HOPPER /media/museum/software/oric_ss_hopper.gif title subtitle text image KRLLYS loading screen /media/museum/software/oric_ss_krillys.gif title subtitle text image MAGNETIX /media/museum/software/oric_ss_magnetix.gif title subtitle text image MR WIMPY /media/museum/software/oric_ss_mrwimpy.gif title subtitle text image RABBIT /media/museum/software/oric_ss_rabbit.gif title subtitle text image SUPER JEEP /media/museum/software/oric_ss_superjeep.gif title subtitle text image TRIATHLON /media/museum/software/oric_ss_triathlon.gif title subtitle text image ZORGON'S REVENGE A legendary game for the Oric ! A must have ! /media/museum/software/oric_ss_zorgons.gif title subtitle text image LE TOMBEAU D'AXAYACATL /media/museum/software/oric_ss_axayacatl.gif title subtitle text image THE HOBBIT /media/museum/software/oric_ss_hobbit.gif title subtitle text image ICE GIANT /media/museum/software/oric_ss_icegiant.gif title subtitle text image KRILLYS /media/museum/software/oric_ss_krillys-2.gif title subtitle text image MANIC MINER /media/museum/software/oric_ss_manicminer.gif title subtitle text image POOPY /media/museum/software/oric_ss_poopy.gif title subtitle text image SKIING /media/museum/software/oric_ss_skiing.gif title subtitle text image TENNIS /media/museum/software/oric_ss_tennis.gif title subtitle text image ZOOLYMPICS /media/museum/software/oric_ss_zoolympics.gif title url platform text Euphoric http://oric.ifrance.com/oric/emulator.html MS DOS The best ORIC emulators title url platform text Oric/MacOS http://www.bannister.org/software/oric.htm Apple Oric/MacOS is an Oric emulator for the Macintosh. title url platform text Xeuphoric http://www.teaser.fr/~amajorel/xeuphoric/ Unix / Linux Oric emulator for X11 platforms title url platform text AmOric http://oric.ifrance.com/oric/EMULATORS/Amoric.lha Amiga OS Oric emulator for the Amiga systems title url platform text ArcOric http://oric.ifrance.com/oric/EMULATORS/ArcOric12 RISC OS Oric emulator for RISC/OS title url platform text AtOric http://oric.ifrance.com/oric/EMULATORS/atoric09.zip Atari works with all Atari & Compatibles (Hades, Milan) title url platform text Oriculator http://code.google.com/p/oriculator/ Multiplatform Oricutron (formerly known as Oriculator) is an emulator for the Oric series of computers. It is written in plain C, and uses SDL. It is designed to be portable. title url text Club Europe Oric Home Page http://ceo.oric.org/ Club Europe Oric (or CEO for short) is an Oric user group title url text Defence Force Oric http://www.defence-force.org/computing/oric/index.htm Some very interesting info here title url text Marc's Oric Page http://mapage.cybercable.fr/marcpage/oric.htm Personal home page with some original programs to download title url text My nostalgia Oric page http://www.geffers.demon.co.uk/oricpage.html From an old Tansoft programmer title url text ORIC International http://www.oric.org I think this is where you must go first. There is among other things, a huge software database title url text Oric WebRing http://v.webring.com/hub?ring=oric Everything for the Oric title url text Oric World http://oric.iFrance.com/oric/index_french.html The site of the famous Fabrice Frances (includes the Oric Story book) title url text Pascal's Oric Page http://pleclerc.free.fr/Oric/OricPage.html in french, with ROM file to make your Oric Euro-Compatible ! title url text Rhetoric http://www.rhetoric.8k.com/ The last remaining British Oric magazine. title url text Swedish Oric Homepage http://come.to/oric Home of the Swedish software archive title url text The Reluctant Dragon http://freespace.virgin.net/james.groom/index.htm Home of the Oric FAQ, the Oric Cheats Directory and more title url text TheSpider's Oric Web http://oricspider.home.insightbb.com/ Personal site dedicated to the Oric Atmos title url text Twilighte http://twilighte.oric.org Site of the excellent Oric programmer of Magnetix. Many useful info and impressive works ! title url text Web Wiz CAPTCHA http://www.webwizcaptcha.com Discussion about Oric computers title url cover text ORIC-1 BASIC PROGRAMMING MANUAL http://www.defence-force.org/computing/oric/library/lib_manual_oric/index.htm /media/museum/docs/couvs/oric-1_basic-programming-manual.jpg [**ORIC-1 BASIC PROGRAMMING MANUAL**](http://www.defence-force.org/computing/oric/library/lib_manual_oric/index.htm)written by John SCRIVEN  compiled/archived by Unknown\  type of document : PDF\  source : [Defence Force](http://www.defence-force.org/) title url cover text MANUEL DE L'ATMOS (FRENCH MANUAL) http://www.defence-force.org/computing/oric/library/lib_manual_oric/index.htm /media/museum/docs/couvs/oric-atmos_manuel.jpg [**MANUEL DE L'ATMOS (FRENCH MANUAL)**](http://www.defence-force.org/computing/oric/library/lib_manual_oric/index.htm)written by Ian Adamson / Oric International  compiled/archived by William Saint-Cricq\  type of document : PDF\  source : [Defence Force](http://www.defence-force.org) title url cover text ORIC ATMOS & ORIC-1 - GRAPHICS AND MACHINE CODE TECHNIQUES http://www.1000bit.net/support/manuali/manuali.asp /media/museum/docs/couvs/oric-1-atmos_geoff-philips_1.jpg [**ORIC ATMOS & ORIC-1 - GRAPHICS AND MACHINE CODE TECHNIQUES**](http://www.1000bit.net/support/manuali/manuali.asp)written by Geoff Phillips  compiled/archived by Geoff Phillips\  type of document : PDF\  source : [1000Bit](http://www.1000bit.net/) title url cover text MANUEL D'UTILISATION DU SEDORIC (FRENCH) http://www.defence-force.org/computing/oric/library/lib_dos/manuel_microdisc_et_sedoric/index.htm /media/museum/docs/couvs/oric_microdsic-manuel.jpg [**MANUEL D'UTILISATION DU SEDORIC (FRENCH)**](http://www.defence-force.org/computing/oric/library/lib_dos/manuel_microdisc_et_sedoric/index.htm)written by Fabrice BROCHE & Denis SEBBAG  type of document : HTML\  source : [Defence Force](http://www.defence-force.org) title url cover text MICODISC MANUAL http://www.defence-force.org/computing/oric/library/lib_dos/index.htm /media/museum/docs/couvs/oric_microdisc_manual.jpg [**MICODISC MANUAL**](http://www.defence-force.org/computing/oric/library/lib_dos/index.htm)written by Oric Products International Limited  type of document : PDF\  source : [Defence Force](http://www.defence-force.org) title url cover text ORIC MCP-40 COLOUR PRINTER OPERATION MANUAL /media/museum/docs/oric_printer-mcp40_manual.pdf /media/museum/docs/couvs/oric_mcp40_manual.jpg [**ORIC MCP-40 COLOUR PRINTER OPERATION MANUAL**](/media/museum/docs/oric_printer-mcp40_manual.pdf)written by Oric Products International Limited  type of document : PDF\  source : [Defence Force](http://www.defence-force.org) author date text Ivan (Serbia) Wednesday 2nd April 2014 Still have functional ORIC NOVA 64. greaqt machine for that time. author date text Miroslav (Serbia) Wednesday 8th February 2012 I''ve used this machine ..unbelievable experience for that time author date text Misha (Yugoslavia/Serbia/USA) Monday 30th January 2012 We used to have few of them back in late ''80s, in my elementary school. It was a fun machine, it had internal speaker and great built-in basic for that time. Probably one of the best looking 8-bit computers at that time too.... author date text drvmandic Thursday 26th January 2012 As a matter of fact, the "Oric Nova 64" was officialy adopted by the federal government in Yugoslavia as the main educational-purpose computer in schools (both primary and secondary) in 1986., after several years of heavy discussions about which computer should be the most appropriate one for that use.\ It was assembled in Yugoslavia, by "Avtotehna" - Ljubljana, out of parts imported from Oric directly, under exclusive licence (only the label "Oric Nova 64" was printed in Yugoslavia). Each and every school had to have "Nova 64" for educational purposes, but almost noone has ever really worked on them. In 1988. most of the schools have acquired more powerful computers for computer science education (some of them even purchased PC clones) independently from the government regulations, so "Nova 64" was slowly but surely pushed away. To say nothing about strangeness of such computer in the country where "Commodore 64"s and "Spectrum 48"s ruled for years then...\ All these informations can be checked out in Yugoslav computer magazines of that time, primarily in "Moj Mikro" (published in Slovenia). I myself have graduated from the computer science high school in 1989., but never put my hands on "Nova 64"''s keyboard - those computers were kept in locked clasroom, in order to prevent anyone touching that expensive, but completely useless machine in time when my school has already purchased 32 PC clones and installed them in a classroom with unrestricted access (unlike the classroom equipped with "Nova 64"s)... Only once have I seen a couple of first-year students working on "Nova"s, but under strict supervision of three (!) teachers, while my (senior) class was making programs in Fortran 77 on those PCs next door completely unsupervised... /museum/oric-1 /museum/oric-atmos 1186 url date https://web.archive.org/web/20230529181737/http://www.old-computers.com/museum/computer.asp?c=1186 2023-05-29

The NOVA 64 seems to be a legal copy of the Oric Atmos for the Yugoslavian market.

Here is what the Oric FAQ by Jim Groom says :

"A Yugoslavian company (believed to be Avtotehna, based in Ljubljana) obtained a licence to make 5000 machines. Machines were made, but whether they were under license or not is not known in any detail. It is thought that they assembled parts shipped from the UK. I have a contact in Yugoslavia who says there were several in his village and about 30 in a school in the next village. This may suggest that more than 5000 were made. They were known as the Oric Nova 64 and were Atmos based."

Thus, the NOVA 64 seems to be an exact Atmos machine, only the "NOVA 64" label being different. But we hadn't the chance to test one yet to confirm this statement. The motherboard however seems a bit different from well known Issue 3 & 4 ones used in most official Oric machines (RAM chips layout is different).

The 64 in "Nova 64" comes from the fact the Atmos has really 64 KB RAM, but 16 KB are masked by the ROM at startup, thus leaving "only" 48 KB to work with the Basic language.

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Thanks to Ranko Vukcevic for the pictures.

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.