Date: Sun, 6 Dec 1992 12:33:22 +1300 From: banksie Subject: MachineLst (part 1) The Full Acorn Machine List - Last updated 27/11/1992. ====================================================== This list represents some several days of work in researching and obtaining all the data contained within. No guarantess are made to it's accuracy but all efforts have been made to be as factual as possible. Many thanks go to all the people who have contributed towards this list, without their help this list would substantially shorter. Finally this list is copyright 1992 to Philip R. Banks but may be freely copied and distributed as long as it is distributed without modification or change. It may be used in other publications/documents as long as credit is given in the article to Philip R. Banks for the use of the list. ------------------------------List begins----------------------------------- There is a diverse range of Acorn machines basically classifiable into two ranges. Older 8 bit machines and the newer 32 bit machines. Each entry in the list is organised, after the textual blurb, in terms of :- Default memory. Default filing system(s). Default processor. Default RAM speed. Size of OS when first released. Approxiamate performance in MIPS. For a series of models all models are listed in succession after the textual blurb with the first line indicating the model number. Please note all MIPS speeds are estimates, are in terms of the processor's speeds and are *not* converted to Vax MIPS. The list is:- Acorn System 1 - the earliest of the Acorn machines. Powered by a 6502 CPU it had a staggering 1k of memory and a 512 byte monitor program. Described as a `pig to use` it marked the begining of Acorns long association with the 6502 chip. Released in 1979. 1k Memory Cassette interface. 6502 processor 1 MHz RAM (I think). 512 bytes Monitor in ROM. ~0.09 MIPS (at a guess....) Acorn System 2,3,4,5 - A eurocard rack system with a combination of cards including 6502 cpu, 6809 cpu, 32k ram, 32k battery backed cmos ram, disc interface, versitile interface adaptor, lab interface, econt, analogue interface, VDU interface and a 6502 ICE (In Circuit Emulation I am told). 32k Memory. Disc interface. Variable Processor. 1 MHz RAM (I think) Unknown ~0.09 MIPS (at a guess....) Acorn Atom - this was powered by a 6502 chip and had 4k of memory. A bit of a rarity these days to see a working model it had an integer only BASIC supplied in ROM as well as the OS. Via an extension ROM floating point operations could be added to the BASIC. Released early 1980 (I think). 4k Memory. (Expandable to 12k) Unknown. I believe it was tape. 6502 processor. 1 MHz RAM (I think). 8k OS in ROM (I think). ~0.09 MIPS Acorn Proton - early version of the BBC Model A. Capabilities presumably very similar to the Model A. Apparently never commercially released. 16k Memory Tape filing system by default. 6502 processor. 2 MHz RAM. 16k of OS in ROM. ~0.17 MIPS BBC Model A - cut down version of the very popular BBC Model B. Powered by a 6502 chip it featured 16k of memory. Released November 1981. 16k Memory Tape filing system by default. 6502 processor. 2 MHz RAM. 16k of OS in ROM. ~0.17 MIPS BBC Model B - the `full` version of the Model A this machine became one of the most popular eight bit machines in Britain. It also ran on a 6502 chip and had 32k of memory along with a facility to easily include anywhere from 4-16 `sideways` ROM expansions. By default the machine was only capable of taking 4 ROMs with two slots taken by BBC BASIC ( either versions I or II) and the other usually taken up by a Disc Filing System. (The machine was released without the DFS to begin with.) Released November 1981 - early 1982. It appears that there was also released an American/Canadian version of the Model B that had several differences - namely that econet and speech systems were built in and that the machine was set up for American monitors by default requiring a *UK to enable it to run most software. 32k Memory Tape filing system by default. 6502 processor. 2 MHz RAM. 16k of OS in ROM. ~0.17 MIPS BBC Model B+ - this machine was the predeccesor to the BBC Master range of machines and came in two models. The default model was equiped with 64k of memory and a D.F.S. by default. It was the first of the Acorn machines to come with a double density disc system as default. It had alot of the annoying `glitches` of the model B cured and was also powered by a 6502 chip. Released early 1984 it was quickly superceded by the Master range of machines and Acorn drew loud criticisim for releasing the machines so close together. 64k Memory Double Density Filing system by default. (included tape as well) 6502 processor. 2 MHz RAM. 16k of OS in ROM. ~0.17 MIPS Reuters board - Effectivley a BBC Model B+ on a big eurocard for rack mounting. 64k Memory Unknown 6502 processor. 2 MHz RAM. 16k of OS in ROM. ~0.17 MIPS Acorn Business Computer- Acorns first attempt at entering the business market and it was not a great success. It consisted of a BBC Model B+ with a variety of second processors all packaged in a new case with an integral monitor and seperate keyboard. Second processors included a 32016 running Panos, 80186 running DOS & a Z80 running CPM. These machines were and are very rare, indeed I have yet to hear from someone who has actually used one of these machines. They consisted of eight models and were released late 1984. Acorn Business Computer Model PA (Personal Assistant) 64k Memory Disc Filing System by default. 6502 processor. 2 MHz RAM. 32k of OS in ROM with ViewSheet. ~0.17 MIPS Acorn Business Computer Model Terminal. 64k Memory No filing system by default. 6502 processor. 2 MHz RAM. 32k of OS in ROM with a VT100 emulator in ROM. ~0.17 MIPS Acorn Business Computer Model 100. 64k Memory Disc Filing system by default. Z80 processor. (6502 processor acting as host for parasite Z80) Unknown 32k of OS in ROM. Largely unused being replaced with CP\M. ~0.17 MIPS Acorn Business Computer Model 110. 64k Memory Disc Filing system by default. (10 Megabyte hard drive) Z80 processor. (6502 processor acting as host for parasite Z80) Unknown 32k of OS in ROM. Largely unused being replaced with CP\M. ~0.17 MIPS Acorn Business Computer Model 200. 512k Memory (Unknown exactly) Disc Filing system by default. 32016 processor. (6502 processor acting as host for parasite 32016) Unknown 32k of OS in ROM. Largely unused being replaced with Xenix. ~0.17 MIPS Acorn Business Computer Model 210. (Later known as the Cambridge Workstation) 512k Memory (Unknown exactly) Disc Filing system by default. (10 Megabyte Hard Drive) 32016 processor. (6502 processor acting as host for parasite 32016) Unknown. 32k of OS in ROM (PANOS). Largely unused being replaced with Xenix. ~0.17 MIPS Acorn Business Computer Model 300. 1024k Memory Disc Filing system by default. 80286 processor. (6502 processor acting as host for parasite 80286) Unknown. 32k of OS in ROM. Largely unused being replaced with CP/M,MS-DOS or PC-DOS. ~0.17 MIPS Acorn Business Computer Model 310. 1024k Memory Disc Filing system by default. (10 Megabyte Hard Drive) 80286 processor. (6502 processor acting as host for parasite 80286) Unknown. 32k of OS in ROM. Largely unused being replaced with CP/M,MS-DOS or PC-DOS. ~0.17 MIPS Acorn Electron - this was Acorns `cut down` BBC Model B machine. Designed to be a cheap alternative to the model B it had alot of design trade offs in order to keep it cheap. A feature of it was its series of expansion options that offered people the ability to upgrade it to almost the same specs as a Model B. It was slower than the Model B even though it was clocked at the same speed due to the fact that its screen refresh demands were not done asycronously to the CPU resulting in cycle stealing from the CPU especially in the higher resolution screen modes. 32k Memory Tape filing system by default. 6502 processor. 2 MHz RAM. 16k of OS in ROM. ~0.25 MIPS British Telecom M2105 - An Electron with an expansion box containg a speech synthesier and modem. Designed as a `smart` comms terminal. 32k Memory Tape filing system by default. 6502 processor. 2 MHz RAM. 16k of OS in ROM. ~0.14 MIPS Communicator - A comms machine based on a 65816 processor with an on board modem, comms software and featured 32k of CMOS RAM. 512k (32k battery backed CMOS ram extra) Memory. (Expandable to 1024k) CMOS RAM and NET filing systems by default. 65816 processor. 2 MHz RAM. 256k of OS and bundled software in ROM. Unknown. Briefcase Communicator - Basically the same hardware as the communicator repackaged in a breifcase with an added ramcard interface. See Acorn Communicator - hardware functionally identical. BBC Master range - this was the successor to the Model B range and came out as three close but different machines. Powered by a 65C02 chip it was slightly faster and had alot of software improvements as well as hardware improvements that made it a large step foward. It came by default with a new and greatly improved Disc Filing System called ADFS (Advanced Disc Filing System) as well as 128k of memory as standard. Released late 1984- 1985. 128k Memory ADFS filing system by default. (Also came with DFS and tape) 65C02 processor. 2 MHz RAM. 16k of OS in ROM. (bundled with 48k more other ROM material) ~0.18-0.19 MIPS Acorn M19 - Re-badged Olivetti M19 PC-clone. Based on an 8088 processor it also came with it's own monitor. (Indeed that's what powered it...) 256k Memory. DOS filing system. 8088 processor. Unknown. Unknown. Unknown. A500 - never sold commercially this machine will be a little hard to find. It was the development machine for the A300/A400 series of machines. One of its major `idiosyncracies` is that it uses the older VIDC1 chip which used different logic for sound output than all commercialy released Arcs and thus most sound modules sound very odd on it... 4096k Memory. Advanced Disc Filing System by default. ARM 2 processor. 8 MHz RAM. (Ocassional unit with 12MHz RAM.) 512k OS in ROM. ~4 MIPS A3xx - the first of the Archimedes range of computers it was powered by a custom designed chip set based around the ARM a 32 bit RISC chip. The range started with half a Meg of memory up ran up to 1 Meg of memory. They came out with the Arthur Operating system that while it was more advanced than the 8 bit machines OS' it was not an OS doing justice to the hardware it was running on. Released around late 1987 they heralded the start of new shift in Acorn machines away from their previous 6502 only base. A305 512k Memory. Advanced Disc Filing System by default. ARM 2 processor. 8 MHz RAM. 512k OS in ROM. ~4 MIPS A310 1024k Memory Advanced Disc Filing System by default. ARM 2 processor. 8 MHz RAM. 512k OS in ROM. ~4 MIPS A4xx - released at the same time as the 300 series of machines the 400 series features an in built st506 hard drive controller and some models came equiped with hard drives built in as standard and the series also, by default, was capable of handling 4 expansion cards including a co-processor card unlike the 300 series. A410 1024k Memory Advanced Disc Filing System by default. St506 Hard Drive interface by default. ARM 2 processor. 8 MHz RAM. 512k OS in ROM. ~4 MIPS A420 2048k Memory Advanced Disc Filing System by default. St506 Hard Drive interface by default. ARM 2 processor. 8 MHz RAM. 512k OS in ROM. ~4 MIPS A440 4096k Memory Advanced Disc Filing System by default. St506 Hard Drive interface by default with Hard Drive. (43 Meg) ARM 2 processor. 8 MHz RAM. 512k OS in ROM. ~4 MIPS A680 - development machine for RISCiX. This is another development machine and again was never sold commercialy, thus it is somewhat rare. It was different from most Arcs in the respect that it does not have RiscOS in ROM at all and can only use a high resolution monochrome monitor for display. It came with a 67 Meg SCSI drive by default. 8192k Memory. SCSI by default. (67 Meg drive) ARM 2 processor. 8 MHz RAM. Unknown. (Runs RISCiX...) ~4 MIPS R140 - Acorn's entry machine into the Unix market, it suffered problems due to the Archimedes chip set not being optimal for running Unix on. Functionally identical to an A440 machine it had 4 Meg of memory and was provided with an 52 Meg st506 drive with RISCiX (Acorns brand of Unix) on it. Due to memory contraints and a large page size it did not fair terribly well as a Unix workstation. 4096k Memory Advanced Disc Filing System by default. St506 Hard Drive interface by default with Hard Drive. (53 Meg) ARM 2 processor. 8 MHz RAM. 512k OS in ROM. RISCiX OS supplied on Hard Drive. ~4 MIPS A3000 - this is the low end Arc. It was the first machine to be released with the newer and faster MEMC1a built in as standard as well as the newer Risc OS by default. Designed to be a cost effective cheap Arc it features only one full expansion port with a single internal `mini` expansion card slot limiting expansion somewhat. It also came by default without a serial port. This machine has proved very popular with schools as a cheap entry into the new Archimedes machines. 1024k Memory Advanced Disc Filing System by default. ARM 2 processor. 8 MHz RAM. 512k OS in ROM. ~4.7 MIPS A4xx/I - this series was functionally identical to the 400 series but featured a newer memory controller the MEMC1a that gave it a slightly faster speed. It also came with a 53 Megabyte hard drive in the higher end models that came with HD's rather than the 400 series's 20 Meg one. A420/I 2048k Memory Advanced Disc Filing System by default. St506 Hard Drive interface by default. ARM 2 processor. 8 MHz RAM. 512k OS in ROM. ~4.7 MIPS A440/I 4096k Memory Advanced Disc Filing System by default. St506 Hard Drive interface by default with Hard Drive. (53 Meg) ARM 2 processor. 8 MHz RAM. 512k OS in ROM. ~4.7 MIPS A540 - the current high end Archimedes machine this machine comes with 4 Meg of memory by default and an ARM 3 processor running at 26 MHz. It comes with a 100 Meg SCSI drive by default and a slightly newer version of Risc OS updated to cope with up to 16 Meg of memory and features for handling the ARM 3 processor. 4096k Memory Advanced Disc Filing System by default. SCSI Hard Drive interface by default with Hard Drive. (100 Meg) ARM 3 processor. 12 MHz RAM. 512k OS in ROM. ~13.5 MIPS (I am guessing here...) R260 - functionally identical to the A540 the R260 comes with Unix (well RISCiX ) by default and due to the increased power of the hardware runs it much better. 8192k Memory Advanced Disc Filing System by default. SCSI Hard Drive interface by default with Hard Drive. (100 Meg) ARM 3 processor. 12 MHz RAM. 512k OS in ROM. RISCiX OS supplied on Hard Drive. ~13.5 MIPS R225 - A diskless version of the R260 it was designed to be a cheap networked Unix station. Released at the same time as the R260. 4096k Memory Advanced Disc Filing System by default. ARM 3 processor. 12 MHz RAM. 512k OS in ROM. RISCiX OS booted off from Network connections. ~13.5 MIPS A5000 - the A5000 is the first machine to feature high density (quad - 1.6 Meg formated) drives by default as well as the latest (at the time) version of Risc OS - version 3. It also features an inbuilt IDE hard drive (40 Meg) on it's higher end model. With the re-release of the series the basic hard drive size has been upgraded to 80 Meg. Released late 1991. 1024k Memory Advanced Disc Filing System by default with High Density drives. IDE interface by default. ARM 3 processor 12 MHz RAM. 2048k OS in ROM. ~13.5 MIPS. A4 - Acorns first portable machine. The A4 is functionally an A5000 in portable form. Featuring power save modes, an LCD screen and software configuration of the power saving features it was released July 1992. It is called the A4 because it's footprint on a desk is apparently that of an A4 piece of paper. It is interesting to note that the A4 is *not* an A5000 squeezed into portable form but rather the A5000 is the A4 in desktop form, whereby the A5000 design was largely a spin off from the design of the A4. 2048k Memory Advanced Disc Filing System by default with High Density drives. ARM 3 processor (6 MHz in power save mode.) 12 MHz RAM. (3 MHz in power save mode.) 2048k OS in ROM. ~12.81 MIPS. A30x0 - Two models of this machine exist the A3010 and the A3020. Both are designed as low end 'family solution' machines. They are also among the first machines to feature the ARM250 processor offering improved performance over an ARM2 (but less than an ARM3) and are designed to supplement the A3000 machine as a low cost entry machine into the Acorn world. Its other main claim to fame is it is the first Archimedes series machine that features joystick ports. Launched August 27th 1992. 1024k Memory Advanced Disc Filing System by default with High Density drives. IDE 60 Mb Hard Drive (only in A3020). ARM 250 processor 12 MHz RAM. 2048k OS in ROM. ~7.2 MIPS A4000 - This is a higher end more expandable version of the A30x0 series machines and is in a three box format similar to the A5000. It also is driven by an ARM 250 processor however it features over the A30x0 machines optional Ethernet & Econet ports, a high density floppy drive and an 80Mb IDE drive by default. The aim of this machine is strongly towards the home office and more 'serious' applications than the A300x0 series. Launched August 27th 1992. 2048k Memory Advanced Disc Filing System by default with High Density drives. IDE 80 Mb Hard Drive by default. ARM 250 processor 12 MHz RAM. 2048k OS in ROM. ~7.2 MIPS