jax@well.sf.ca.us (Jack J. Woehr) (04/29/91)
just bouncing into this newsgroup for the first time. what's
the good word on the MM1, that Philips/Signetics 68070-based OS9
engine that I have heard such nice things about?
--
<jax@well.{UUCP,sf.ca.us} >< Member, > /// ///\\\ \\\ ///
<well!jax@lll-winken.arpa >< X3J14 TC > /// /// \\\ \\\///
<JAX on GEnie >< for ANS > \\\ /// ///====\\\ ///\\\
<SYSOP RCFB (303) 278-0364>< Forth > \\\/// /// \\\ /// \\\knudsen@cbnewsd.att.com (michael.j.knudsen) (04/30/91)
In article <24462@well.sf.ca.us>, jax@well.sf.ca.us (Jack J. Woehr) writes: > just bouncing into this newsgroup for the first time. what's > the good word on the MM1, that Philips/Signetics 68070-based OS9 > engine that I have heard such nice things about? Glad you asked. Just returned from the Chicago RainbowFest, where I saw the latest MM/1 machines and talked with the IMS people. It's in final form and been thru a pilot production run, so about a dozen developers and customers took machines home (in kit form to beat the FCC certification which is still tied up in paperwork). "Kit" means the completely assembled pair of circuits boards, disk drive, all software, and optional case and PS. More kits will be shipped as boards are assembled and tested. The official case is a compact PC box. Fully assembled units will start shipping the day the FCC gets off their butts -- then the Kit offer will no longer be available. If you want one now, by all means get in on the kit deal while you can. It now comes with OSK 2.4 and the complete development software set (C, Make, Umacs), NFM, PC-file-transfer, and OddJob (a combination script Shell and AWK-like interpreter). And some other stuff. Kevin Darling's Windowing system is now running pretty much complete and is included. Besides the usual animation and sound demos, I saw it running preliminary versions of the drawing program (also bundled) and the UltiMusE MIDI music score editor/player (not included, and not ready for release yet). Both circuit boards are slightly bigger than an old IBM punch card, really compact. All CMOS, so only the disk drives need cooling. Palette controller is now standard, 8 bits each RGB for 16 M colors. DMA stereo sound is working. So is MIDI port hardware in prototype form. For more info and constant discussions, get on the Coco Mailing List at pucc.princeton.edu. -- "What America needs is A Thousand Points When Lit..." knudsen@iceland.att.com
jejones@mcrware.UUCP (James Jones) (05/01/91)
In article <24462@well.sf.ca.us> jax@well.sf.ca.us (Jack J. Woehr) writes: > just bouncing into this newsgroup for the first time. what's >the good word on the MM1, that Philips/Signetics 68070-based OS9 >engine that I have heard such nice things about? Well, let's see. I got (most of) mine. (*I* think that's good. :-) The reason for the "most of" qualifier is that the second board (w/SCSI adapter, slots for more RAM, and more I/O ports) got assembled, contrary to instructions, with substitute parts that were not up to snuff. Once those are replaced, it'll be on its way. (That SCSI hard drive and those SIMMs are calling me... :-) Just started running it yesterday, and I'm still going through the disks that come with it, so I can't give a complete inventory of things yet. James Jones
m043210@muvms3.bitnet (B MOORE) (05/01/91)
In article <6283@mcrware.UUCP>, jejones@mcrware.UUCP (James Jones) writes: > In article <24462@well.sf.ca.us> jax@well.sf.ca.us (Jack J. Woehr) writes: >> just bouncing into this newsgroup for the first time. what's >>the good word on the MM1, that Philips/Signetics 68070-based OS9 >>engine that I have heard such nice things about? > > Well, let's see. > >[jej's adventures with his MM1 deleted - but he knows what they are!] > > James Jones OK, so what's the cost of this little beast, and who sells it? B. Moore
knudsen@cbnewsd.att.com (michael.j.knudsen) (05/02/91)
In article <46237@muvms3.bitnet>, m043210@muvms3.bitnet (B MOORE) writes: > OK, so what's the cost of this little beast [MM/1], and who sells it? Well, James may have to fill in some details, but right now you can get the "kit" for $870 plus shipping from IMS Inc (Interactive Media Systems, in N. Carolina). Don't have exact address and phone handy. I do have a prototype loaner, and it's a beautiful design job and very compact. Kit includes both boards, one 1.44 MB 3.5" floppy drive, and a bundle (!) of OSK 2.4 software worth more than the price. You supply a case, PS, PC-XT keyboard, and monitor (RGB analog is best). And maybe some cables and mounting hardware. And a little handiwork with screwdriver and pliers, no soldering. Case and PS is $100 extra. So under $1000 for the whole thing. Once the Class B FCC certification comes thru, you'll have to buy the assembled system with case and PS for $1125, or same thing minus the second board for $850 or so. I'd recommend that 2nd board, but ask if you want to know what you'll lose. -- "What America needs is A Thousand Points When Lit..." knudsen@iceland.att.com
kdarling@hobbes.catt.ncsu.edu (Kevin Darling) (05/03/91)
> what's the good word on the MM1, that Philips/Signetics 68070-based OS9 > engine that I have heard such nice things about? I think the factory is finally gearing up for a large run of them. A few were delivered at the fest last weekend in Chicago. The first MIDI I/O board was given to Mike K there, to begin debugging etc. The Tomcat stuff is also close to delivery, and of course the PT (DelMar) computer has been available for some time now. I got my MM/1 case backplate there... wow! Finally I can hook up all my cables <g>. Pretty cool to look at the back and see all those ports. best - kevin <kdarling@catt.ncsu.edu>
Paulfitch@emtwo.UUCP (05/09/91)
I spoke to Mary K. of IMS today, and heres what she had to say.
The initial run of machines had two problems, that were not discovered
until the 'fest. #1, the manufactures made a chip substitution, with an
inferior part. This caused some problems that Mark Griffith is even now
fixing. #2, there is some sort of soft/hardware problem that has the
MM/1 operating erractlly if it only has 1meg of memory onboard. The 3 meg
versions seem to be behaveing fine.
--- Kevin, whats the backplate look like? I didn't pay the extra money
for it, so it looks like I'll have to construct my own. How about a
description.
--
/ Applied OS9 BBS [1:363/18.6](407)677-8865 \ UUCP & FIDO
Paul Fitch | ...!Tarpit!bilver!emtwo!paulfitch | on a $99.00
\ bilver!emtwo!paulfitch@aii.com / Color Computerkdarling@hobbes.catt.ncsu.edu (Kevin Darling) (05/10/91)
>The initial run of machines had two problems, that were not discovered >until the 'fest. #1, the manufactures made a chip substitution, with an >inferior part. Yah, that seems to be an industry-wide problem unless you watch over them ;-). >#2, there is some sort of soft/hardware problem that has the >MM/1 operating erractlly if it only has 1meg of memory onboard. I wonder if I found that one. People with MM/1s right now should make sure their Init module (use moded to change) has 512 instead of 256 set as the default system interrupt stack size. No wait, I think I was told last night that the problem was another wrong chip substitution. AH! It was a wrong type of resistor pack installed on the SCSI, I think. > --- Kevin, whats the backplate look like? ______________________________________________________ | _ __ __ ______ ______ ______ | | | | (__) (__) \____/ \____/ \____/ | | | | __________ ______ __ __ | | | | |__________| \____/ (__) (__) | | | | __________ ______ ______ __ | | |_| |__________| \____/ \____/ (__) | |______________________________________________________| Ext MIDI I/O RS232 RS232 RS232 SCSI/ Parallel RS232 Joystk Stereo I/O floppy Parallel Monitor RS232 Keybd The external scsi/floppy is up to you. MIDI is optional, of course. And the keyboard is usually connected internally to a header instead (inside from the front of the case), so that particular external plug isn't installed on consumer units. - Kevin <kdarling@catt.ncsu.edu>