IBM RT

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The IBM RT (IBM 6150/6151/6152) was a first-generation Unix microcomputer from IBM . RT stands for RISC Technology . It was the successor to the experimental IBM 801 and the predecessor of the successful RS / 6000 series from IBM. It was first introduced in 1986 as RT PC , but due to name confusion like PC RT, it was finally renamed to its final name.

It was introduced to the German market at CeBIT 1986 and was available in either a tower (IBM 6150) or desktop housing (IBM 6151). It had a 32-bit ROMP processor with 5.88 MHz in the basic configuration, which developed roughly the same performance as the 80286 at 12 MHz, which was current at the time . Advanced 10 or 12 MHz processor cards with a Motorola 68881 floating point processor were also available. The main memory ranged from 4 MB in the basic configuration to 16 MB in the maximum configuration. The device used the AIX operating system (up to version 2.2.1), Academic Operating System (AOS) or the Pick Operating System. As the IBM 6152, a normal PS / 2 Model 60 with an additional processor card was later available, which the AOS could load from an RT located in the network.

As on later IBM Unix machines, there was also a two-digit seven-segment display on the IBM RT, which displayed the POST code when starting, since the video adapter had not yet been initialized at the time of booting. B. to be able to make error outputs. Up to eight ISA plug-in cards were used to expand the system. A DC600 ¼ inch tape drive could be used for data backup. The disk system consisted of up to 3 full-size 5¼-inch ESDI hard disks of 40 to 300 MB each. The operating system was installed from 5¼-inch floppy disks (approx. 32 for AIX). The system had up to two such drives with a capacity of 1.2 MB.

The IBM RT was often used as a CAD workstation in connection with a graphics terminal from Tektronix . CAD programs such as CATIA , AutoCAD V3 or DOGS2D were able to deal with graphics terminals controlled via the X Window System (version 9 or 10) under AIX .