mel@houxm.UUCP (08/22/83)
The September issue of "Microsystems" has a good review of Micronix, a UNIX
Version 6 varient for the Morrow Decision 1 Z80 micro. It looks like a good
deal, UNIX plus CP/M on a desktop machine with 16M hard disk, 320K ram, 1
floppy, clock, 4 ports, terminal, sh and csh, and lots of regular PC software
for $6,500. The article wasn't very specific, didn't point out any bad
points, and has some differences from the Morrow ad. Does anyone have
experience with this system ? Is the terminal OK? It looks a bit odd. Is
Micronix supplied at the "Chapter 2" (system calls) level? or are you stuck
with just the supplied commands? Can CP/M programs get access to the I/O
ports? (i.e. will MODEM work?) How does this system compare with an IBM XT
with Venix? or other offerings in this price range that have UNIX? Please
answer to the net, as there is probably some interest in this type of micro.
Mel Haas , houxm!melandrew@tekecs.UUCP (Andrew Klossner) (08/24/83)
I once worked at a company that did business with Morrow Designs, and
we looked at the Decision 1. Herewith some impressions, dating from
the initial product introduction (1981).
The hardware is wild. George Morrow has been heard to say that 16-bit
computers are a fad and that the Z80 is here to stay. With this
commitment to the processor, he designed additional hardware to give it
memory management, including instruction restart on fault. Apparently
he had to duplicate half the functionality of the Z80 to get this
add-on circuit.
The software is a true Unix v6 port, initially using the Whitesmiths C
compiler. Thus, you get the commands and the system calls. However,
CP/M is supported by an emulator, so some programs won't work. CP/M
programs tend to run much faster under the emulator than on a bare Z80
running CP/M because Unix handles overlap of I/O and computation.
Don't expect CP/M programs to be able to get at the I/O ports. You can
make MODEM work by teaching it how to call upon Unix I/O services.
One of the important aspects of this system is that each process is
limited to 64k memory, by virtue of the fact that there's a Z80 down
there somewhere. 68000-based systems usually have no such limitation.
But, if you don't need big processes, this is a box to check out, if
only for the novelty value (imagine the bar bets you can win)
-=- Andrew Klossner (decvax!tektronix!tekecs!andrew) [UUCP]
(andrew.tektronix@rand-relay) [ARPA]