ed@iitmax.iit.edu (Ed Federmeyer) (04/05/91)
Has anyone ever heard of a "SAGE II" computer? It seems to be some kind of 68000 based system, with 2 5.25" floppies in the front. What operating system did it run, who made them, what were they used for, etc. Thanks for any leads! Ed Federmeyer -- //==========================================================================\\ || Ed Federmeyer || Internet: ed@iitMax.iit.edu || || "Unauthorized access is || Bitnet: sysed@iitVax || || strictly unauthorized." || Office: (312) 567-5981 || \\==========================================================================//
tih@barsoom.nhh.no (Tom Ivar Helbekkmo) (04/06/91)
ed@iitmax.iit.edu (Ed Federmeyer) writes: >Has anyone ever heard of a "SAGE II" computer? It seems to be some kind >of 68000 based system, with 2 5.25" floppies in the front. What operating >system did it run, who made them, what were they used for, etc. The following is based on my notes from a short talk given by a company representative in 1988. I'm sure to have some of this wrong, so if anyone can correct me, please do so. Also, if anyone from Stride is listening out there, perhaps you'd care to fill in the picture of the SAGE? It all began in Reno in 1981. Four electronics engineers whose names I don't remember agreed that IBM had chosen the wrong processor for the PC, and figured they could do better. They sat down and designed the SAGE II. At the West Coast Computer Fair in 1982, they launched the computer under the company name of MicroSAGE Computer Systems. It ran the p-System, on which they'd decided because of its simplicity and easy portability. As you say, the II had 2 floppy drives and a 68000. I believe 512Kb was the standard (only?) memory configuration. The next year they had the SAGE IV ready, which had one floppy drive and one hard disk, more memory than the II (if *my* memory serves me right), and the option to run other operating systems -- although p-System was still the default. What these other systems where I can't recall. The big jump (in my opinion) came in September 1984, when MicroSAGE introduced the Stride 400 series. This new computer was still 68000 based, still used the p-System as its preferred OS, but it was much more expandable than the old SAGE machines. It used the industry standard VME bus, and came with a winchester controller that could handle up to four disk drives, in addition to one or two floppy drives and a QIC tape drive. Other options included an NS32081 floating point coprocessor. An important new feature was the built-in Omninet interface, which meant that you could network up to 63 computers. For terminals and modems, you could extend the standard 8 serial ports in 8-port increments to 40. Clock rate was 12MHz, standard memory 2Mb, expandable to 12Mb. I think this was when they changed their name to Stride Micro. Unix wasn't there yet, but among the OSes that could run on the 400-series we find Idris (from Whitesmith), which is sort of a simple Unix lookalike, PDOS (whatever that was), and a real-time OS whose name escapes me... Then they introduced the 68010 processor option and Unix. Using a new processor card that piggybacked into the 68000 socket, you got the 68010 and a proprietary MMU that they'd designed themselves (Motorola didn't have theirs ready yet at that time). The 68020 option came in 1986, shortly followed by the 600-series, which were modern, powerful Unix systems with multiprocessor ability, ethernet, and NCR Tower compatibility. The idea was to try to beat NCR at their own game, selling a (much cheaper) machine that could run all NCR software. Price examples quoted to me in 1988 included a multiprocessor system at $30.000, where the comparable NCR ran to $100.000. What I like best about the 600 is the power supply. Feed that sucker anything between 60 and 400 volts, oscillating at between 30 and 90 hz, and it'll be happy. Need UPS? Hook up a 12 volt car battery or several, and the power supply will charge them when the mains is there, run off them when it isn't. Neat! I hear Stride has gone out of business, which, if true, is kind of sad. Oh yeah, the box sitting here underneath my desk is a 460 with Idris. Anyone got a 68010 MMU card and Unix floppy distribution they'd like to get rid of? :-) -tih -- Tom Ivar Helbekkmo, NHH, Bergen, Norway. Telephone: +47-5-959205 tih@barsoom.nhh.no, thelbekk@norunit.bitnet, edb_tom@debet.nhh.no
news@m2xenix.psg.com (Randy Bush) (04/07/91)
ed@iitmax.iit.edu (Ed Federmeyer) writes: > Has anyone ever heard of a "SAGE II" computer? Yes, I have serial #1 (well, 68001) sitting here. It is rarely used, though, only when I need to read those ooooold floppies. Nice box, even today, a decade later. It runs the UCSD Pascal operating system, and damn well. There are two versions, SofTech's pSystem, and Volition's Pascal and Modula-2 system. Both were eventually bought out by Pecan. -- Randy Bush / news@psg.com / ..!uunet!m2xenix!news
mwm@pa.dec.com (Mike (My Watch Has Windows) Meyer) (04/09/91)
In article <tih.670869555@barsoom> tih@barsoom.nhh.no (Tom Ivar Helbekkmo) writes:
It all began in Reno in 1981. Four electronics engineers whose names I
don't remember agreed that IBM had chosen the wrong processor for the PC,
and figured they could do better. They sat down and designed the SAGE II.
At the West Coast Computer Fair in 1982, they launched the computer under
the company name of MicroSAGE Computer Systems. It ran the p-System,
on which they'd decided because of its simplicity and easy portability.
As you say, the II had 2 floppy drives and a 68000. I believe 512Kb
was the standard (only?) memory configuration.
The next year they had the SAGE IV ready, which had one floppy drive and
one hard disk, more memory than the II (if *my* memory serves me right),
and the option to run other operating systems -- although p-System was
still the default. What these other systems where I can't recall.
I thought about buying one of these two systems, with the alternative
OS. That OS was TriPOS, yet another Unix-like OS. There are
interesting problems running it on a 68000, as it's written in BCPL,
which assumes that an address unit is big enough to hold an address.
When I talked to them, they were willing to sell one of two boxes. The
single-user system, with 512K and one serial port, and the server
system, with multiple megabytes and a dozen serial ports. I wanted the
megabytes, but only one (or maybe 2) serial ports. Since it didn't
exist, I didn't buy one.
Pinnacle systems went into competition with them a few years later,
but didn't offer the platform I wanted either.
<mike
--
Kiss me with your mouth. Mike Meyer
Your love is better than wine. mwm@pa.dec.com
But wine is all I have. decwrl!mwm
Will your love ever be mine?ritchie@hpdmd48.boi.hp.com (David Ritchie) (04/13/91)
>I thought about buying one of these two systems, with the alternative >OS. That OS was TriPOS, yet another Unix-like OS. There are >interesting problems running it on a 68000, as it's written in BCPL, >which assumes that an address unit is big enough to hold an address. > ..which is evidently what AmigaDOS was based on..... -- Dave Ritchie ritchie@hpdmd48.boi.hp.com
peter@ficc.ferranti.com (Peter da Silva) (04/17/91)
In article <15110007@hpdmd48.boi.hp.com> ritchie@hpdmd48.boi.hp.com (David Ritchie) writes: > ..which is evidently what AmigaDOS was based on..... Actually, the file system and program loader part of AmigaDOS is Tripos. It was added to the existing Amiga kernel and libraries when they ran out of time developing their own. It has been completely replaced in AmigaOS 2.0. -- Peter da Silva. `-_-' peter@ferranti.com +1 713 274 5180. 'U` "Have you hugged your wolf today?"