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The Atari TT030 is a member of the
Atari ST The Atari ST is a line of personal computers from Atari Corporation and the successor to the Atari 8-bit family. The initial model, the Atari 520ST, had limited release in April–June 1985 and was widely available in July. It was the first pers ...
family, released in 1990. It was originally intended to be a high-end
Unix workstation A workstation is a special computer designed for technical or scientific applications. Intended primarily to be used by a single user, they are commonly connected to a local area network and run multi-user operating systems. The term ''workstat ...
, but Atari took two years to release a port of Unix SVR4 for the TT, which prevented the TT from ever being seriously considered in its intended market. In 1992, the TT was replaced by the
Atari Falcon The Atari Falcon030 (usually shortened to Atari Falcon), released in 1992, was the final personal computer product from Atari Corporation. A high-end model of the Atari ST line, the machine is based on a Motorola 68030 CPU and a Motorola 56001 dig ...
, a low-cost consumer-oriented machine with greatly improved graphics and sound capability, but with a slower and severely bottle-necked CPU. The Falcon possesses only a fraction of the TT's raw CPU performance. Though well priced for a workstation machine, the TT's high cost kept it mostly out of reach of the existing Atari ST market until after the TT was discontinued and sold at discount. The nascent
open source movement The open-source-software movement is a movement that supports the use of open-source licenses for some or all software, as part of the broader notion of open collaboration. The open-source movement was started to spread the concept/idea of open ...
eventually filled the void. Thanks to open hardware documentation, the Atari TT, along with the
Amiga Amiga is a family of personal computers introduced by Commodore in 1985. The original model is one of a number of mid-1980s computers with 16- or 32-bit processors, 256 KB or more of RAM, mouse-based GUIs, and significantly improved graphi ...
and
Atari Falcon The Atari Falcon030 (usually shortened to Atari Falcon), released in 1992, was the final personal computer product from Atari Corporation. A high-end model of the Atari ST line, the machine is based on a Motorola 68030 CPU and a Motorola 56001 dig ...
, were the first non-Intel machines to have
Linux Linux ( or ) is a family of open-source Unix-like operating systems based on the Linux kernel, an operating system kernel first released on September 17, 1991, by Linus Torvalds. Linux is typically packaged as a Linux distribution, which ...
ported to them, though this work did not stabilize until after the TT had already been discontinued by Atari. By 1995
NetBSD NetBSD is a free and open-source Unix operating system based on the Berkeley Software Distribution (BSD). It was the first open-source BSD descendant officially released after 386BSD was forked. It continues to be actively developed and is a ...
had also been ported to the Atari TT.


History

Atari Corporation Atari Corporation was an American manufacturer of computers and video game consoles. It was founded by Jack Tramiel on May 17, 1984, as Tramel Technology, Ltd., but then took on the Atari name less than two months later when WarnerMedia, Warn ...
realized that to remain competitive as a computer manufacturer, they needed to begin taking steps to exploit the power offered by more advanced processors in the
Motorola 68000 series The Motorola 68000 series (also known as 680x0, m68000, m68k, or 68k) is a family of 32-bit complex instruction set computer (CISC) microprocessors. During the 1980s and early 1990s, they were popular in personal computers and workstations and w ...
. At that time, the highest performance member was the
68020 The Motorola 68020 ("''sixty-eight-oh-twenty''", "''sixty-eight-oh-two-oh''" or "''six-eight-oh-two-oh''") is a 32-bit microprocessor from Motorola, released in 1984. A lower-cost version was also made available, known as the 68EC020. In keepin ...
. It is the first true "thirty-two bit bus/thirty-two bit instruction" chip from Motorola. Unlike the 68000 used in the original STs, the 68020 is capable of fetching a
32-bit In computer architecture, 32-bit computing refers to computer systems with a processor, memory, and other major system components that operate on data in 32-bit units. Compared to smaller bit widths, 32-bit computers can perform large calculation ...
value in one memory cycle, while the older STs need two cycles. The TT was initially designed around the 68020 CPU, but as the project progressed, Atari Corp. realized that the 68020 was not the best option for the TT. The 68020 still lacked some features offered by the next successor in the 68000 line, the new
68030 The Motorola 68030 ("''sixty-eight-oh-thirty''") is a 32-bit microprocessor in the Motorola 68000 family. It was released in 1987. The 68030 was the successor to the Motorola 68020, and was followed by the Motorola 68040. In keeping with general ...
. The new 68030 features built-in memory-management hardware that provide separate Supervisor, User, Program, and Data
virtual memory In computing, virtual memory, or virtual storage is a memory management technique that provides an "idealized abstraction of the storage resources that are actually available on a given machine" which "creates the illusion to users of a very l ...
spaces, and provides a 256-byte on-chip data cache. When the decision was made to switch from a 68020 to a 68030 CPU, it presented a whole new set of problems. The original specifications for the TT's clock speed was 16 MHz, which was selected to maintain backward compatibility. The existing ST chips used in the TT (DMA and video chips for example) cannot handle anything over 16 MHz. Some software also has problems running at faster speeds. To make the system work with a 32 MHz 68030, Atari Corp. had to scale back their plans somewhat, and add a large amount of
cache Cache, caching, or caché may refer to: Places United States * Cache, Idaho, an unincorporated community * Cache, Illinois, an unincorporated community * Cache, Oklahoma, a city in Comanche County * Cache, Utah, Cache County, Utah * Cache County ...
to the system. As a result, the processor runs at 32 MHz, while the system bus runs at 16 MHz. This is similar to the tactic employed by Apple with the ill-fated
Macintosh IIvx The Macintosh IIvx is a personal computer designed, manufactured and sold by Apple Computer from October 1992 to October 1993. It is the last of the Macintosh II family of Macintosh computers. The IIvx was introduced at the same time as the Ma ...
and later employed by makers of PCs with an
Intel 80486DX2 The Intel i486DX2, rumored as 80486DX2 (later renamed IntelDX2) is a CPU produced by Intel that was first introduced in 1992. The i486DX2 was nearly identical to the i486DX, but it had additional clock multiplier circuitry. It was the first chi ...
CPU which runs at double that of the system bus speed. TOS 3.01 is the operating system that Atari bundled with the TT. It is a 512  KB ROM specifically designed for the TT. However, it does not feature
pre-emptive multitasking In computing, preemption is the act of temporarily interrupting an executing task, with the intention of resuming it at a later time. This interrupt is done by an external scheduler with no assistance or cooperation from the task. This preempt ...
. Another variant, known as TT/X, uses Unix System V R4 and WISH ( Motif extension). The TT030 was first introduced at
CeBIT CeBIT was the largest and most internationally representative computer expo. The trade fair was held each year on the Hanover fairground, the world's largest fairground, in Hanover, Germany. In its day, it was considered a barometer of cur ...
in
Hannover Hanover (; german: Hannover ; nds, Hannober) is the capital and largest city of the German States of Germany, state of Lower Saxony. Its 535,932 (2021) inhabitants make it the List of cities in Germany by population, 13th-largest city in Germa ...
,
Germany Germany,, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It is the second most populous country in Europe after Russia, and the most populous member state of the European Union. Germany is situated betwe ...
and launched in 1990. It retailed for $2995 with 2 MB RAM and a 50 MB hard drive. The US release came the following year. In 1993, Atari Corp.'s exit from the computer business marked the end of the TT, as well as the entire ST family. A number of TT machines were built as developer systems for the
Jaguar The jaguar (''Panthera onca'') is a large cat species and the only living member of the genus '' Panthera'' native to the Americas. With a body length of up to and a weight of up to , it is the largest cat species in the Americas and the th ...
.


Details

The TT features a number of devices that had previously been unavailable for Atari Corp. systems. For example, an
AppleTalk AppleTalk is a discontinued proprietary suite of networking protocols developed by Apple Computer for their Macintosh computers. AppleTalk includes a number of features that allow local area networks to be connected with no prior setup or the n ...
network port (there never was a driver for it, possibly due to license problems), VME expansion bus, new
VGA Video Graphics Array (VGA) is a video display controller and accompanying de facto graphics standard, first introduced with the IBM PS/2 line of computers in 1987, which became ubiquitous in the PC industry within three years. The term can no ...
video graphics modes, and a true
SCSI Small Computer System Interface (SCSI, ) is a set of standards for physically connecting and transferring data between computers and peripheral devices. The SCSI standards define commands, protocols, electrical, optical and logical interface ...
port. Existing ST features such as
MIDI MIDI (; Musical Instrument Digital Interface) is a technical standard that describes a communications protocol, digital interface, and electrical connectors that connect a wide variety of electronic musical instruments, computers, and re ...
ports, a cartridge port, and the ASCI/DMA port are retained in this system. One device that is left out is the
BLiTTER A blitter is a circuit, sometimes as a coprocessor or a logic block on a microprocessor, dedicated to the rapid movement and modification of data within a computer's memory. A blitter can copy large quantities of data from one memory area to anot ...
graphics chip, which first appeared in the Atari Mega ST systems four to five years earlier. Using the existing 8MHz chip would have only served to bottleneck the TT's performance. To be useful, a new 32MHz blitter chip would have had to have been designed for the TT, however Atari chose not to do so. An Atari Corp. version of
Unix System V Unix System V (pronounced: "System Five") is one of the first commercial versions of the Unix operating system. It was originally developed by AT&T and first released in 1983. Four major versions of System V were released, numbered 1, 2, 3, an ...
was not released until mid-1992. By the end of that year, Atari Corp. dropped all Unix development. A special version of the TT, the TT/X, was supplied with UNIX System V R4 and WISH (an extension of OSF Motif), as well as a collection of
free software Free software or libre software is computer software distributed under terms that allow users to run the software for any purpose as well as to study, change, and distribute it and any adapted versions. Free software is a matter of liberty, no ...
utilities including GCC. In the boot screen for "Atari System V", as the manual calls it, the operating system's kernel identifies itself as "
UniSoft UniSoft Corporation is an American software developer established in 1981, originally focused on the development of Unix ports for various computer architectures. Based in Millbrae, California, it now builds standardization and conformance test ...
UNIX (R) System V Release 4.0.


Technical specifications

All TTs are made up of both custom and commercial chips: *Custom chips **TT Shifter ''"TT Video shift register chip"'' — Enables bitmap graphics. Features a 64-bit wide bus with interleaved access to ("dual purpose") system memory and on-chip buffers for high bandwidths. Contiguous 32 KB memory for ST modes, 154 KB for TT modes. **TT GLU ''"Generalized Logic Unit"'' — Control logic for the system used to connect the STs chips. Not part of the data path, but needed to bridge chips with each other. Used in TT and MEGA STE. **DMA ''"Direct Memory Access"'' — Three independent channels, one for floppy and hard drive data transfers, one for the SCSI port and one for 85C30 SCC network port. Direct access to ("dual purpose") system memory in the ST. 2 chips used. **MCU ''"Memory Control Unit"'' — For system RAM. *Support chips **MC6850P ACIA ''"Asynchronous Common Interface Adapter"'' — Enables the ST to directly communicate with MIDI devices and keyboard (2 chips used). 31.25 kilobaud for MIDI, 7812.5 bit/s for keyboard. **MC68901 MFP ''"Multi Function Peripheral"'' — Used as an interrupt controller, timers and RS232C ports (2 chips used). **
NCR 5380 The NCR 5380 is an early SCSI controller chip developed by NCR Microelectronics. It was popular due to its simplicity and low cost. The 5380 was used in the Macintosh Plus and in numerous SCSI cards for personal computers, including the Amiga ...
''"SCSI Controller"'' — 8-bit asynchronous transfers up to 4 MB/s. ** WD-1772-PH ''"Western Digital Floppy Disk Controller"'' — Floppy controller chip. ** Zilog 85C30 SCC ''"Zilog Serial Communications Controller"'' — Two high-speed SDLC serial ports. ** YM2149F PSG ''" Programmable Sound Generator"'' — Provides 3-voice sound synthesis, also used for floppy signalling and printer port. **HD6301V1 ''"Hitachi keyboard processor"'' — Used for keyboard scanning and mouse/joystick ports. **MC146818A ''"Motorola Real Time Clock"'' *CPU:
Motorola 68030 The Motorola 68030 ("''sixty-eight-oh-thirty''") is a 32-bit microprocessor in the Motorola 68000 family. It was released in 1987. The 68030 was the successor to the Motorola 68020, and was followed by the Motorola 68040. In keeping with general ...
@ 32
MHz The hertz (symbol: Hz) is the unit of frequency in the International System of Units (SI), equivalent to one event (or cycle) per second. The hertz is an SI derived unit whose expression in terms of SI base units is s−1, meaning that one he ...
(system bus @ 16 MHz) *FPU:
Motorola 68882 The Motorola 68881 and Motorola 68882 are floating-point units (FPUs) used in some computer systems in conjunction with Motorola's 32-bit 68020 or 68030 microprocessors. These coprocessors are external chips, designed before floating point math bec ...
@ 32
MHz The hertz (symbol: Hz) is the unit of frequency in the International System of Units (SI), equivalent to one event (or cycle) per second. The hertz is an SI derived unit whose expression in terms of SI base units is s−1, meaning that one he ...
*RAM: **System RAM ("dual purpose") 2 MB ST RAM expandable to 10 MB **TT RAM ("single purpose") expandable to 256 MB TT RAM on daughter board using either 30-pin or 72-pin
SIMM A SIMM (single in-line memory module) is a type of memory module containing random-access memory used in computers from the early 1980s to the early 2000s. It differs from a dual in-line memory module (DIMM), the most predominant form of memory ...
s *Sound:
Yamaha YM2149 The AY-3-8910 is a 3-voice programmable sound generator (PSG) designed by General Instrument in 1978, initially for use with their 16-bit CP1610 or one of the PIC1650 series of 8-bit microcomputers. The AY-3-8910 and its variants were used i ...
+ Stereo DMA 8-bit PCM, same as in the STe *Drive: 1.44 MB (later version) or 720 KB (first TT version) 3½"
floppy disk A floppy disk or floppy diskette (casually referred to as a floppy, or a diskette) is an obsolescent type of disk storage composed of a thin and flexible disk of a magnetic storage medium in a square or nearly square plastic enclosure lined w ...
drive *Ports: **
MIDI MIDI (; Musical Instrument Digital Interface) is a technical standard that describes a communications protocol, digital interface, and electrical connectors that connect a wide variety of electronic musical instruments, computers, and re ...
In/Out **3 x
RS-232 In telecommunications, RS-232 or Recommended Standard 232 is a standard originally introduced in 1960 for serial communication transmission of data. It formally defines signals connecting between a ''DTE'' (''data terminal equipment'') such a ...
** Serial LAN
RS-422 RS-422, also known as TIA/EIA-422, is a technical standard originated by the Electronic Industries Alliance that specifies electrical characteristics of a digital signaling circuit. It was meant to be the foundation of a suite of standards that ...
** Printer **
VGA Video Graphics Array (VGA) is a video display controller and accompanying de facto graphics standard, first introduced with the IBM PS/2 line of computers in 1987, which became ubiquitous in the PC industry within three years. The term can no ...
Monitor (analog
RGB The RGB color model is an additive color model in which the red, green and blue primary colors of light are added together in various ways to reproduce a broad array of colors. The name of the model comes from the initials of the three addi ...
and
Mono Mono may refer to: Common meanings * Infectious mononucleosis, "the kissing disease" * Monaural, monophonic sound reproduction, often shortened to mono * Mono-, a numerical prefix representing anything single Music Performers * Mono (Japanese b ...
) ** Extra Disk drive port ** ACSI and
SCSI Small Computer System Interface (SCSI, ) is a set of standards for physically connecting and transferring data between computers and peripheral devices. The SCSI standards define commands, protocols, electrical, optical and logical interface ...
port **
VMEbus VMEbus (Versa Module Europa or Versa Module Eurocard bus) is a computer bus standard, originally developed for the Motorola 68000 line of CPUs, but later widely used for many applications and standardized by the IEC as ANSI/IEEE 1014-1987. I ...
inside case ** Cartridge (128 KB) ** Keyboard (detachable) *** Joystick and Mouse ports (on keyboard) *
Operating System An operating system (OS) is system software that manages computer hardware, software resources, and provides common services for computer programs. Time-sharing operating systems schedule tasks for efficient use of the system and may also in ...
: ** Atari's TOS with the
Graphics Environment Manager GEM (for Graphics Environment Manager) is an operating environment released by Digital Research (DRI) in 1985 for use with the DOS operating system on Intel 8088 and Motorola 68000 microprocessors. GEM is known primarily as the graphical user ...
(GEM)
graphical user interface The GUI ( "UI" by itself is still usually pronounced . or ), graphical user interface, is a form of user interface that allows users to interact with electronic devices through graphical icons and audio indicator such as primary notation, inste ...
(GUI) TOS versions: 3.01, 3.05 or 3.06 in ROM. Four socketed 1 Mb ROMs providing 512 KB of ROM space. **
MiNT MiNT is Now TOS (MiNT) is a free software alternative operating system kernel for the Atari ST system and its successors. It is a multi-tasking alternative to TOS and MagiC. Together with the free system components fVDI device drivers, XaA ...
**
MagiC Magic or Magick most commonly refers to: * Magic (supernatural), beliefs and actions employed to influence supernatural beings and forces * Ceremonial magic, encompasses a wide variety of rituals of magic * Magical thinking, the belief that unrela ...
** Atari System V **
NetBSD NetBSD is a free and open-source Unix operating system based on the Berkeley Software Distribution (BSD). It was the first open-source BSD descendant officially released after 386BSD was forked. It continues to be actively developed and is a ...
*Display modes: **Color: 320×200 (16 color), 320×480 (256 colors or 256 greyscales), 640×200 (4 colors), 640×480 (16 colors), palette of 4096 colors **Duochrome: 640×400 (2 colors) **Monochrome: 1280×960 mono TT high with ECL 19 in (483 mm) TTM195 monitor *Character set:
Atari ST character set The Atari ST character set is the character set of the Atari ST personal computer family including the Atari STE, TT and Falcon. It is based on code page 437, the original character set of the IBM PC, and like that set includes ASCII codes 3 ...
, based on
codepage 437 Code page 437 (CCSID 437) is the character set of the original IBM PC (personal computer). It is also known as CP437, OEM-US, OEM 437, PC-8, or DOS Latin US. The set includes all printable ASCII characters as well as some accented letters (diacr ...
. *Case: Two-piece desktop-style. *Release Date: 1990-1991 The (at least) two versions of the TT can be distinguished by: *Internal sheet plate (old) or coating (new) for electromagnetic compatibility *CPU and FPU on daughter board (old) or directly on main board (new) *1.44 MB HD floppy drive (720 KB DD floppy drive on older models)


Emulation

* Hatari is able to emulate an
Atari TT The Atari TT030 is a member of the Atari ST family, released in 1990. It was originally intended to be a high-end Unix workstation, but Atari took two years to release a port of Unix SVR4 for the TT, which prevented the TT from ever being serious ...
on a variety of different OS's using the SDL library. *
Atari Coldfire Project The Atari Coldfire Project (ACP) is a volunteer project that has created a modern Atari ST computer clone called the FireBee. Reason for the project The Atari 16 and 32 computer systems ( ST, TT and Falcon) were popular home computers in th ...
- Atari computer clone


References


External links


Guillaume Tello's WEB page
What to do with a TT? Some hardware expansions detailed

Programs for Atari, mostly for the TT.
ASV Archive page
Atari System V unofficial webpage. {{Atari hardware 68k-based computers Atari ST Computer workstations