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IBM Cassette Tape
The original IBM Personal Computer and IBM PCjr included support for storing data and programs on compact cassette tape. It was common for home computers of the time, such as the Apple II, Commodore 64 and BBC Micro, to use cassette tapes for storage due to the lower cost of hardware and media compared to floppy disks. A wide range of commercial home computer software was available on tape throughout the 80s. The IBM PC cassette format did not experience the same popularity however, since very few were shipped without at least one floppy disk drive, and apart from one diagnostic tape available from IBM, there seems never to have been any software sold on tape, and the interface was not included on the followup PC XT. Despite this lack of popularity, up until the original PC's discontinuation in 1987, IBM continued to offer a Model 104 which shipped without a floppy disk drive. The IBM PCjr was also seldom sold without a floppy disk drive, but it also had two ROM cartridge slots ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
IBM Personal Computer
The IBM Personal Computer (model 5150, commonly known as the IBM PC) is the first microcomputer released in the IBM PC model line and the basis for the IBM PC compatible de facto standard. Released on August 12, 1981, it was created by a team of engineers and designers directed by Don Estridge in Boca Raton, Florida. The machine was based on open architecture and third-party peripherals. Over time, expansion cards and software technology increased to support it. The PC had a substantial influence on the personal computer market. The specifications of the IBM PC became one of the most popular computer design standards in the world. The only significant competition it faced from a non-compatible platform throughout the 1980s was from the Apple Macintosh product line. The majority of modern personal computers are distant descendants of the IBM PC. History Prior to the 1980s, IBM had largely been known as a provider of business computer systems. As the 1980s opened, their ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
BIOS Interrupt Call
BIOS interrupt calls are a facility that operating systems and application programs use to invoke the facilities of the Basic Input/Output System firmware on IBM PC compatible computers. Traditionally, BIOS calls are mainly used by DOS programs and some other software such as boot loaders (including, mostly historically, relatively simple application software that boots directly and runs without an operating system—especially game software). BIOS runs in the real address mode (Real Mode) of the x86 CPU, so programs that call BIOS either must also run in real mode or must switch from protected mode to real mode before calling BIOS and then switching back again. For this reason, modern operating systems that use the CPU in Protected mode or Long mode generally do not use the BIOS interrupt calls to support system functions, although they use the BIOS interrupt calls to probe and initialize hardware during booting. Real mode has the 1MB memory limitation, modern boot loaders ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Home Computer Peripherals
A home, or domicile, is a space used as a permanent or semi-permanent residence for one or many humans, and sometimes various companion animals. It is a fully or semi sheltered space and can have both interior and exterior aspects to it. Homes provide sheltered spaces, for instance rooms, where domestic activity can be performed such as sleeping, preparing food, eating and hygiene as well as providing spaces for work and leisure such as remote working, studying and playing. Physical forms of homes can be static such as a house or an apartment, mobile such as a houseboat, trailer or yurt or digital such as virtual space. The aspect of ‘home’ can be considered across scales; from the micro scale showcasing the most intimate spaces of the individual dwelling and direct surrounding area to the macro scale of the geographic area such as town, village, city, country or planet. The concept of ‘home’ has been researched and theorized across disciplines – topics ranging ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Tarbell Cassette Interface
The Tarbell Cassette Interface is an expansion card for use with the Altair 8800 early personal computer, or other systems using the Altair's S-100 bus. It was designed by Don Tarbell and sold by Tarbell Electronics as early as 1976. At the time, it was considered to be fast, reliable, and popular. While supporting the 1975 Kansas City (Byte/Lancaster) standard, it also introduced a much faster Tarbell standard which became a ''de facto'' standard for compact cassette data storage. Tarbell also sold other products, including TARBELL CASSETTE BASIC in 1978 and a Shugart Associates-compatible dual disk drive subsystem. The latter includes a Tarbell 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 ... interface, said to plug into any S-100 bus computer, introduced in 1979. ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Kansas City Standard
The Kansas City standard (KCS), or ''Byte'' standard, is a data storage protocol for standard cassette tapes at . It originated in a symposium sponsored by ''Byte'' magazine in November 1975 in Kansas City, Missouri to develop a standard for the storage of digital microcomputer data on inexpensive consumer quality cassettes. The first systems based on the standard appeared in 1976. One variation on the basic standard is CUTS, which is identical at 300 bit/s, but with an optional 1200 bit/s mode. CUTS is the default encoding used by several later machine families, including those from Acorn and the MSX. MSX added a higher 2400 bit/s mode that is otherwise similar. The 1200 bit/s mode of CUTS was used as the standard for cross-platform BASICODE distribution. KCS originated from the earliest days of the microcomputer revolution, among other prolific protocols. Most home computers of the era have unique formats that are incompatible with anything. History Ea ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Commodore Datasette
The third, most common version of the 1530 C2N Datassette The Commodore 1530 (C2N) Datasette, later also Datassette (a portmanteau of ''data'' and ''cassette''), is Commodore's dedicated magnetic tape data storage device. Using compact cassettes as the storage medium, it provides inexpensive storage to Commodore's 8-bit home/personal computers, notably the PET, VIC-20, and C64. A physically similar model, Commodore 1531, was made for the Commodore 16 and Plus/4 series computers. Features Typical compact cassette interfaces of the late 1970s use a small controller in the computer to convert digital data to and from analog tones. The interface is then connected to the cassette deck using normal audio cables like RCA jacks or 3.5mm phone jacks. This sort of system was used on the Apple II and TRS-80 Color Computer, as well as many S-100 bus systems, and allow them to be used with any cassette player with suitable connections. left, The Datasette loading process In the D ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
IBM Cassette BASIC
The IBM Personal Computer Basic, commonly shortened to IBM BASIC, is a programming language first released by IBM with the IBM Personal Computer, Model 5150 (IBM PC) in 1981. IBM released four different versions of the Microsoft BASIC interpreter, licensed from Microsoft for the PC and PCjr. They are known as Cassette BASIC, Disk BASIC, Advanced BASIC (BASICA), and Cartridge BASIC. Versions of Disk BASIC and Advanced BASIC were included with IBM PC DOS up to PC DOS 4. In addition to the features of an ANSI standard BASIC, the IBM versions offered support for the graphics and sound hardware of the IBM PC line. Source code could be typed in with a full-screen editor, and very limited facilities were provided for rudimentary program debugging. IBM also released a version of the Microsoft BASIC compiler for the PC, concurrently with the release of PC DOS 1.10 in 1982. Background IBM licensed Microsoft BASIC for the IBM Personal Computer, despite already having its own version of ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Intel 8255
The Intel 8255 (or i8255) Programmable Peripheral Interface (PPI) chip was developed and manufactured by Intel in the first half of the 1970s for the Intel 8080 microprocessor. The 8255 provides 24 parallel input/output lines with a variety of programmable operating modes. The 8255 is a member of the MCS-85 Family of chips, designed by Intel for use with their 8085 and 8086 microprocessors and their descendants. It was first available in a 40-pin DIP and later a 44-pin PLCC packages. It found wide applicability in digital processing systems and was later cloned by other manufacturers. The 82C55 is a CMOS version for higher speed and lower current consumption. The functionality of the 8255 is now mostly embedded in larger VLSI processing chips as a sub-function. A CMOS version of the 8255 is still being made by Renesas but mostly used to expand the I/O of microcontrollers. Similar chips The 8255 has a similar function to the Motorola 6820 PIA (Peripheral Interface Adapter ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
DIN Connector
The DIN connector is an electrical connector that was standardized by the ' (DIN), the German Institute for Standards, in the early 1970s. The male DIN connectors (plugs) feature a 13.2 mm diameter metal shield with a notch that limits the orientation in which plug and socket can mate. The range of DIN connectors, different only in the configuration of the pins, have been standardized as DIN 41524 / IEC/DIN EN 60130-9 (3-pin at 90° and 5-pin at 45°); DIN 45322 (5-pin and 6-pin at 60°); DIN 45329 / IEC/DIN EN 60130–9 (7-pin at 45°); and DIN 45326 / IEC/DIN EN 60130-9 (8-pin at 45°). In consumer electronics, the term "DIN connector" identifies types of cylindrical connectors that the German Institute for Standards (DIN) had initially standardised for analog audio signals. Some DIN connectors have been used in analog video applications, for power connections, and for digital interfaces, such as the MIDI (DIN 41524), the IBM PC keyboard and the IBM AT keyboard connec ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
IBM BASIC
The IBM Personal Computer Basic, commonly shortened to IBM BASIC, is a programming language first released by IBM with the IBM Personal Computer, Model 5150 (IBM PC) in 1981. IBM released four different versions of the Microsoft BASIC interpreter, licensed from Microsoft for the PC and PCjr. They are known as Cassette BASIC, Disk BASIC, Advanced BASIC (BASICA), and Cartridge BASIC. Versions of Disk BASIC and Advanced BASIC were included with IBM PC DOS up to PC DOS 4. In addition to the features of an ANSI standard BASIC, the IBM versions offered support for the graphics and sound hardware of the IBM PC line. Source code could be typed in with a full-screen editor, and very limited facilities were provided for rudimentary program debugging. IBM also released a version of the Microsoft BASIC compiler for the PC, concurrently with the release of PC DOS 1.10 in 1982. Background IBM licensed Microsoft BASIC for the IBM Personal Computer, despite already having its own version of ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Cyclic Redundancy Check
A cyclic redundancy check (CRC) is an error-detecting code commonly used in digital networks and storage devices to detect accidental changes to digital data. Blocks of data entering these systems get a short ''check value'' attached, based on the remainder of a polynomial division of their contents. On retrieval, the calculation is repeated and, in the event the check values do not match, corrective action can be taken against data corruption. CRCs can be used for error correction (see bitfilters). CRCs are so called because the ''check'' (data verification) value is a ''redundancy'' (it expands the message without adding information) and the algorithm is based on ''cyclic'' codes. CRCs are popular because they are simple to implement in binary hardware, easy to analyze mathematically, and particularly good at detecting common errors caused by noise in transmission channels. Because the check value has a fixed length, the function that generates it is occasionally used ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Hexadecimal
In mathematics and computing, the hexadecimal (also base-16 or simply hex) numeral system is a positional numeral system that represents numbers using a radix (base) of 16. Unlike the decimal system representing numbers using 10 symbols, hexadecimal uses 16 distinct symbols, most often the symbols "0"–"9" to represent values 0 to 9, and "A"–"F" (or alternatively "a"–"f") to represent values from 10 to 15. Software developers and system designers widely use hexadecimal numbers because they provide a human-friendly representation of binary-coded values. Each hexadecimal digit represents four bits (binary digits), also known as a nibble (or nybble). For example, an 8-bit byte can have values ranging from 00000000 to 11111111 in binary form, which can be conveniently represented as 00 to FF in hexadecimal. In mathematics, a subscript is typically used to specify the base. For example, the decimal value would be expressed in hexadecimal as . In programming, a number o ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
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