Atari TT

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Atari TT030

Atari TT030 ( T hirtytwo / T hirtytwo for the data bus and 030 for the CPU) is the type designation for a series of computers by the manufacturer Atari Corporation , which was manufactured between 1990 and 1994.

Atari's computers are designed for professional use and are equipped with Motorola 68030 processors and Motorola 68882 floating point coprocessors . The CPU clock was originally supposed to be 16 MHz (twice the frequency of the Atari ST computers), but in competition with the Commodore Amiga 3000 (25 MHz) it was increased to 32 MHz - but only on the processor itself. The rest of the system was still clocked at 16 MHz.

random access memory

A special feature of the TT is the division of the main memory into two non-contiguous areas, similar to the Commodore Amiga. This division results from the requirement to make the TT as compatible as possible with its predecessor, the ST; to a certain extent the TT contains an ST subsystem :

  • The ST-RAM is at the same address as in the previous ST model, i.e. within the first 16 Mbytes in the address space. The image memory ( video RAM ) is also located in this memory , so that the CPU is slowed down a little when it is accessed. Some ST-compatible peripheral components, such as the ST-DMA chip, can only access this memory. The TT cannot run without ST-RAM, it was delivered with 2 or 4 Mbytes, which could be expanded up to 10 Mbytes using plug-in cards. There are always 2 Mbytes directly on the motherboard.
  • The TT-RAM , also called Fast-RAM , is available directly to the CPU, which can therefore access it without delay. Access to this memory is therefore usually much faster, depending on the application. Atari usually delivered the TTs with 2 MB ST-RAM and 4 MB TT-RAM; Depending on the card (third party manufacturer), between 4 and 256 MB are possible. The TT can also be run without TT-RAM.

application areas

The software specially programmed for the TT and the hardware offered by Atari or third-party providers (graphics and sound cards, high-resolution large screens) made the TT particularly interesting for desktop publishing , MIDI / music and office applications. An example of this is the DTP software Calamus , which today is mainly used on Windows- based PCs and Apple Macintosh computers with emulators, but can still be used natively on TTs (provided that the current Calamus requirements for screen resolution and color depth are fulfilled by TT).

Revisions

Essentially two revisions of the TT were made:

  • The first models have a sheet metal cage under the plastic housing as a shield. This is so unfavorably designed that retrofitting with a RAM plug-in card requires a sheet metal cutting tool. The processor is not located directly on the motherboard, but on what is known as a daughterboard , where the clock is doubled from 16 to 32 MHz. In isolated cases, pre-production models should also exist without doubling the clock. The first TTs all have a DD floppy disk drive (nominally 720 kB). The computers were delivered with TOS 3.01 in ROM.
  • The newer models have a reddish-brown coating on the inside of the plastic housing as a shield, so there is no sheet metal cage. The CPU is now located directly on the motherboard, and the hard disk cover has also been mechanically changed so that the covers cannot be exchanged between device revisions. The newer TTs have HD floppy drives (nominally 1.44 MB). The newer TTs were shipped with TOS ROMs 3.05 or 3.06.

Mass storage

Old TTs (the so-called daughterboard TTs ) have a DD floppy disk drive, and newer models have an HD floppy disk drive (1.44 MB). In any case, a SCSI hard drive - usually with 48 or 80 MB of storage space ex works. An additional floppy disk drive (SF314, SF354, PCF554 or third-party drives), ACSI hard disks (Ataris Megafile series), SCSI hard and removable disks and also SCSI CD-ROM drives can be connected externally .

operating system

Atari's well-known TOS ( The Operating System ) version 3.01, 3.05 or 3.06 is used at the TT . A TT with a UNIX variant under the name TT / X was also planned. Prototypes of the TT / X were u. a. presented at the ATARI trade fair in Düsseldorf. It was a Unix System V Version 4 compatible system, one of the first SVR4 systems at the time. The final version, available on tape or hard drive, was only delivered to a few developers at the end of 1990, but never to end customers.

connections

Connections of the TT
  • Keyboard: Ataris special keyboards come in here (6-pin Western plug)
  • LAN : previously unused serial interface in mini-DIN format - according to Atari AppleTalk- capable, but this only relates to the electrical specifications, Mac networking software was never available for it.
  • MIDI in / MIDI out: Interface for music devices and sequencers (five-pin DIN connectors each)
  • ROM port: Mainly program modules or scanner interfaces are connected here (40-pin circuit board connector)
  • Audio R / L: This means that the TT connection for amplifiers etc.
  • Serial 1 / Serial 2 / Modem 1 / Modem 2: Four serial interfaces with different transfer rates. All in D-SUB-9 format. The two connections labeled "Serial" are located on the cover panel for the VMEbus , to which, for example, high-resolution graphics cards can be connected.
  • Monitor: Standard VGA output
  • Printer: Standard parallel port (D-SUB 25)
  • DMA (ACSI): Atari-specific interface for connecting hard / removable disks and the special laser printers from Atari's SLM series - D-SUB 19
  • Floppy : Atari-specific interface for external floppy drives (DIN 14-pin)
  • SCSI : Universal SCSI-1 interface (25-pin D-SUB)
  • Mouse / joystick (both on the keyboard): one nine-pin socket each for the controls.

Periphery

The following peripherals were specially developed for the Atari TT and partly also for the Atari PC series.

Screen resolutions and monitors

  • PTM144: 14 inches, 640 × 350, 640 × 400, 640 × 480, grayscale
  • PTM145: 14 inches, 640 × 400, 640 × 480, grayscale
  • PTC1426: 14 inches, 320 × 200, 640 × 200, 640 × 480, color
  • TTM194: 19 inch, 1280 × 960, monochrome, ECL signal
  • TTM195: 19 inches, 1280 × 960, monochrome, ECL signal

Otherwise, most of the ST peripherals can be used with the exception of the monitors.

Web links

Commons : Atari TT  - collection of images, videos and audio files

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ a b The Future Of Atari Computing. Retrieved May 1, 2020 .