Lost Computers - The Acorn Archimedes - Page 5

Charlie · 12 November 2007, 21:40

Quote:

Originally Posted by Bloodwych

...Akira still needs to write his Sharp x68000 review... ...the Arch was so close to being a perfect computer - all it was missing were those dedicated video chips...

Wholly agree

I would love to know more about the x68000 computers - not knowing the lingo is a bit of an impediment. Played a few of the games under emulation & they speak volumes about the underlaying hardware.

Acorn suffered badly from lack of funds & poor management. (Sound familiar?)
The chipset was a wonderful example of thinking on a budget. It was flexible enough to do amazing things with support from the ARM processor...
...but, yes, if there had been time & funding to design it the other way round...

A good example of Acorn's chronic lack of funding for R&D is the RiscPC. Designed as a multi-processor system from the outset. Two processor slots as standard, never mind the Hydra board!

But the OS (hacks aside) was always single-threaded so didn't support this.

Given the OS needed a protracted/expensive rewrite to become MP-aware Acorn planed a simpler strategy:
Use additional ARM processors supported by the hardware to 'improve' the chipset. You re-write software modules for each 'function' so that they either shared the main CPU with the rest of the OS as normal or optionally had a processor to themselves. This would remain transparent to the system but would drastically improve the performance of these functions where extra processors were available.
eg:
ARM#1: CPU
ARM#2: GFX
ARM#3: DSP
ARM#4: I/O
ARM#5: FPU (yes, there is a hardware FPU, but an ARM processor is faster!)
etc, etc...
Piecemeal replacement of some parts of the OS being much easier than a ground-up rewrite. Also for a single-user system this would have a much more obvious effect on performance.

-Sadly Acorn ran out of time even for this.

-

If you're mad enough buy a RiscPC + Hydra board. Add 8, yes EIGHT StongArm 300 processor cards for it & install *nix. Still a pretty quick system by modern standards. I think the last hydra board I saw on eBay went for about £600.00 in the end!

danwood · 12 November 2007, 21:49

of course many divisions of acorn and split off to become independent companies, lots of them very successful for instance ARM holdings was a division of acorn (i think that is what they are called anyway) and there were a few more off shoots too though im too lazy to check which ones. of course apple bought acorn, so i imagine apple swiped all of acorns stuff like RISC though i honestly know nothing about apples so i dont know if they use RISC processors but they would be pretty brain dead if they didnt.

PaulyQ · 12 November 2007, 23:19

Hi all, just noticed this thread and decided to jump in.....

Shockingly I have an Archimede's machine in the loft, was given to me around this time last year as it was "old" school stock(my wife works in a school) SOoooooo the question is this..... do I hold onto it or do I sell, it has a 40 meg hard drive(I think) and has a few odds and sods of educational software installed(for kids). Not sure of the CPU or memory to be fair... tried it out quickly to see if it worked and bunged it and the monitor up in the loft.

Charlie · 13 November 2007, 00:26

@PaulyQ:
If you have room, keep it.
Older Archie: A305->A3020 (RiscOS 2->3.11)- Good retro games machine - esp with HDD.
(you could consider it equivalent to a WHDLoad'ed A1200 with a nice monitor as most of the best Amiga games were ported to it)
Newer Archie: RiscPC & clones (RiscOS 3.6->6) Will do the above, though some older games will need patching. It's also still a 'useful' computer.

But I guess I would say that wouldn't I?

Um, or you could mod it...

s2325 · 13 November 2007, 08:42

some games here: http://acorn.revivalteam.de/?site=Downloads http://acorn.revivalteam.de/?site=Downloads2

Charlie · 13 November 2007, 12:05

thanks for the links.

Hey, Hamsters is there!

killergorilla · 13 November 2007, 14:37

Is it possible to write Archimedes disks back to floppy?

Or is it another Amiga scenario?

rsn8887 · 13 November 2007, 21:17

Quote:

Originally Posted by Charlie

Older Archie: A305->A3020 (RiscOS 2->3.11)- Good retro games machine - esp with HDD.
(you could consider it equivalent to a WHDLoad'ed A1200 with a nice monitor as most of the best Amiga games were ported to it)

Whatever you say

sine · 30 November 2007, 15:20

yep the sharp x68ooo is a sweet machine, and as always i got it running on
the good ol chipped xbox, but i am only posting here due to an AMIGA cracktro Reference and the x68ooo- you want to know the connection between what i always thought was a quality horizon cracktro music tune on the amiga?, well its from nemesis or salamander on the x68ooo.

but horizon's port of the tune to the miggy is superior than konami's
original arcadetune and the sharpx68ooo version. well done horizon! respect is due... awsome tune on amiga! and a superior listening experience allround.

amiga rules rocks and blows yer socks OFF!

kind regards

sine

Fred the Fop · 02 December 2007, 21:04

I am about to try the ArcEm emulator on my GP2X. Wish me luck.

prowler · 15 September 2008, 00:59

@killergorilla:

Yes, it's perfectly possible to write Archimedes disks back to floppy on a PC using a DOS program called 'Arcimage' available from http://knowbody.org.uk/arcimage/

I suggest you grab both versions 1.1 and 1.2

Version 1.2 adds support for 1600k floppies, but support for 800k floppies may be broken. However, 800k floppies are fully supported in version 1.1

An intermediate version 1.1.2 is available from http://bbc.nvg.org/software.php3 in case you find other bugs.

Development of this utility is rather patchy, being the result of three programmers' effort - each working independently. Details are provided in the readme files.

For completeness, the original version 1.0 (executable only) is available from http://bbc.nvg.org/util/Arcimg.exe

A combination of these versions of this utility will certainly fulfil all your Archimedes disk imaging/restoring requirements.

Hope this helps!

hit · 23 February 2009, 13:32

found an eBook ( Archimedes Operating System. A Dabhand guide ) http://www.pagetable.com/?p=68

alexh · 23 February 2009, 13:39

I think I had that book many many years ago.

rattus · 24 February 2009, 10:25

Whoa, I remember the Archimedes... My high school had them in the Business Studies department (along with a few Atari ST's in the Music rooms) but these were all replaced with fully-networked Windows machines in the later half of the 1990's.

As for the X68000... Had no idea it existed until recently (!) it has 99% perfect arcade ports for it (additional disk loading screens were added to the games I tried on WinX68k; Bubble Bobble, New Zealand Story, etc) which is pretty impressive considering how cut down the Amiga/ST versions were.

It's interesting to learn about all these unfamiliar 16/32-bit computers that were around before the world went PC/Mac. Thanks

hit · 10 April 2009, 22:57

found an auction with (maybe rare) software which needs a home to get preserved

http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/Acorn-RISCOS-s...1%7C240%3A1318

the seller has many other archimedes related things. just in case you missed it.

Charlie · 11 April 2009, 00:32

Quote:

Originally Posted by hit

found an auction with (maybe rare) software which needs a home to get preserved

http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/Acorn-RISCOS-s...1%7C240%3A1318

the seller has many other archimedes related things. just in case you missed it.

Hmmm, keeping an eye on that auction - could be bonus time for the RiscOS resource site some of us are setting up.

hit · 11 April 2009, 10:35

yep, i second that. didnt digged that much, but i can only find some games (offten demos) but almost no apps for the archimedes. i hope those tools wont get lost

Charlie · 11 April 2009, 10:46

Quote:

Originally Posted by hit

yep, i second that. didnt digged that much, but i can only find some games (offten demos) but almost no apps for the archimedes. i hope those tools wont get lost

That's what the Qube RiscOS Server is all about, preservation.

(early days)

Methanoid · 12 April 2009, 19:05

If someone has a server set up pls give details... I've got a fair few Arch disks I could upload if no-one has yet...

prowler · 12 April 2009, 19:09

Hi Methanoid,

Charlie's Qube RiscOS Server is here:
http://eab.abime.net/showthread.php?t=44011

prowler

30 November 2007, 15:20	#89
sine Registered User Join Date: Nov 2007 Location: diskdrive df0 Posts: 10	horizon crackers on konami yep the sharp x68ooo is a sweet machine, and as always i got it running on the good ol chipped xbox, but i am only posting here due to an AMIGA cracktro Reference and the x68ooo- you want to know the connection between what i always thought was a quality horizon cracktro music tune on the amiga?, well its from nemesis or salamander on the x68ooo. but horizon's port of the tune to the miggy is superior than konami's original arcadetune and the sharpx68ooo version. well done horizon! respect is due... awsome tune on amiga! and a superior listening experience allround. amiga rules rocks and blows yer socks OFF! kind regards sine Last edited by sine; 30 November 2007 at 16:28. Reason: o

15 September 2008, 00:59	#91
prowler Global Moderator Join Date: Aug 2008 Location: Sidcup, England Posts: 10,300	Archimedes disk reading/writing/formatting utility @killergorilla: Yes, it's perfectly possible to write Archimedes disks back to floppy on a PC using a DOS program called 'Arcimage' available from http://knowbody.org.uk/arcimage/ I suggest you grab both versions 1.1 and 1.2 Version 1.2 adds support for 1600k floppies, but support for 800k floppies may be broken. However, 800k floppies are fully supported in version 1.1 An intermediate version 1.1.2 is available from http://bbc.nvg.org/software.php3 in case you find other bugs. Development of this utility is rather patchy, being the result of three programmers' effort - each working independently. Details are provided in the readme files. For completeness, the original version 1.0 (executable only) is available from http://bbc.nvg.org/util/Arcimg.exe A combination of these versions of this utility will certainly fulfil all your Archimedes disk imaging/restoring requirements. Hope this helps! Last edited by prowler; 15 September 2008 at 16:38. Reason: More detail and fixed link.

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12 November 2007, 21:49	#82
danwood Registered User Join Date: Aug 2007 Location: oldham/england Posts: 75	of course many divisions of acorn and split off to become independent companies, lots of them very successful for instance ARM holdings was a division of acorn (i think that is what they are called anyway) and there were a few more off shoots too though im too lazy to check which ones. of course apple bought acorn, so i imagine apple swiped all of acorns stuff like RISC though i honestly know nothing about apples so i dont know if they use RISC processors but they would be pretty brain dead if they didnt.

12 November 2007, 23:19	#83
PaulyQ Registered User Join Date: May 2006 Location: Hartlepool, UK Age: 53 Posts: 237	Hi all, just noticed this thread and decided to jump in..... Shockingly I have an Archimede's machine in the loft, was given to me around this time last year as it was "old" school stock(my wife works in a school) SOoooooo the question is this..... do I hold onto it or do I sell, it has a 40 meg hard drive(I think) and has a few odds and sods of educational software installed(for kids). Not sure of the CPU or memory to be fair... tried it out quickly to see if it worked and bunged it and the monitor up in the loft.

13 November 2007, 00:26	#84
Charlie . . Mouse . . Join Date: Jun 2005 Location: Nowhere Age: 55 Posts: 1,792	@PaulyQ: If you have room, keep it. Older Archie: A305->A3020 (RiscOS 2->3.11)- Good retro games machine - esp with HDD. (you could consider it equivalent to a WHDLoad'ed A1200 with a nice monitor as most of the best Amiga games were ported to it) Newer Archie: RiscPC & clones (RiscOS 3.6->6) Will do the above, though some older games will need patching. It's also still a 'useful' computer. But I guess I would say that wouldn't I? Um, or you could mod it...

13 November 2007, 08:42	#85
s2325 Zone Friend Join Date: Jun 2006 Location: Gargore Age: 44 Posts: 17,789	some games here: http://acorn.revivalteam.de/?site=Downloads http://acorn.revivalteam.de/?site=Downloads2

13 November 2007, 12:05	#86
Charlie . . Mouse . . Join Date: Jun 2005 Location: Nowhere Age: 55 Posts: 1,792	thanks for the links. Hey, Hamsters is there!

13 November 2007, 14:37	#87
killergorilla Lesser Talent Join Date: Jan 2003 Location: UK Age: 42 Posts: 7,957	Is it possible to write Archimedes disks back to floppy? Or is it another Amiga scenario?

02 December 2007, 21:04	#90
Fred the Fop flaming faggot Join Date: Apr 2001 Location: Versailles Age: 56 Posts: 2,808	I am about to try the ArcEm emulator on my GP2X. Wish me luck.

23 February 2009, 13:32	#92
hit Registered User Join Date: Jun 2008 Location: planet earth Posts: 1,115	found an eBook ( Archimedes Operating System. A Dabhand guide ) http://www.pagetable.com/?p=68

23 February 2009, 13:39	#93
alexh Thalion Webshrine Join Date: Jan 2004 Location: Oxford Posts: 14,467	I think I had that book many many years ago.

24 February 2009, 10:25	#94
rattus Registered User Join Date: Jul 2002 Location: Australia Posts: 328	Whoa, I remember the Archimedes... My high school had them in the Business Studies department (along with a few Atari ST's in the Music rooms) but these were all replaced with fully-networked Windows machines in the later half of the 1990's. As for the X68000... Had no idea it existed until recently (!) it has 99% perfect arcade ports for it (additional disk loading screens were added to the games I tried on WinX68k; Bubble Bobble, New Zealand Story, etc) which is pretty impressive considering how cut down the Amiga/ST versions were. It's interesting to learn about all these unfamiliar 16/32-bit computers that were around before the world went PC/Mac. Thanks

10 April 2009, 22:57	#95
hit Registered User Join Date: Jun 2008 Location: planet earth Posts: 1,115	found an auction with (maybe rare) software which needs a home to get preserved http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/Acorn-RISCOS-s...1%7C240%3A1318 the seller has many other archimedes related things. just in case you missed it.

11 April 2009, 10:35	#97
hit Registered User Join Date: Jun 2008 Location: planet earth Posts: 1,115	yep, i second that. didnt digged that much, but i can only find some games (offten demos) but almost no apps for the archimedes. i hope those tools wont get lost

12 April 2009, 19:05	#99
Methanoid Retired Quartex Sysop Join Date: Sep 2001 Location: Roman Verulamium Age: 58 Posts: 1,874	If someone has a server set up pls give details... I've got a fair few Arch disks I could upload if no-one has yet...

12 April 2009, 19:09	#100
prowler Global Moderator Join Date: Aug 2008 Location: Sidcup, England Posts: 10,300	Hi Methanoid, Charlie's Qube RiscOS Server is here: http://eab.abime.net/showthread.php?t=44011 prowler

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