3b1

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The 3B1 (also known as the PC7300, or Unix PC) was a desktop Unix computer originally developed by Convergent Technologies (later acquired by Unisys), and marketed by AT&T. These machines were loosely referred to as the 'Unix PC', and were initially released in the mid-80's under the moniker 'PC7300'.

Contents

[edit] Hardware Configuration

  • 10 MHz Motorola MC68010 (16 bit external bus, 32bit internal) with custom MMU
  • Internal MFM hard drive, originally 5 MB, later models with up to 67 MB
  • 512K RAM on main board, expandable via expansion cards
  • 3 expansion slots
  • monochrome green phosphor 10" display
  • Contained internal 300/1200 bps modem


Initial design

The initial versions of the 3b1 offered a very limited 512K of memory and an extremely slow 5 MB hard drive. This version, known as the PC7300, although progressive in offering a Unix system for desktop office operation, was painfully slow and had an aggravating 'grinding' noise even when not in active use. The modern-looking 'wedge' design was innovative, and in fact the machine gained notoriety appearing in many movies as the token 'computer'.

The Hump

Later models of the PC7300 took on the more common product-line name '3b1', and gained capability. The cover was redesigned to accommodate full height 67 megabyte hard drives. This cover change added a 'hump' to the case, expanded onboard memory to 1 or 2 megabytes, as well as added a better power supply.

[edit] Operating System

The operating system is based on UNIX System V Release 2, with extensions from BSD 4.1, BSD 4.2, System V Release 3 and Convergent Technologies. The most recent version is 3.51, with a 3.51 m FIXDISK (2.0) available. The FIXDISK was available from AT&T directly.

  • HoneyDanBer HDB UUCP package was available.
  • Various Shells: Bourne, C, and Korn

[edit] Programming Languages

  • SMC Basic
  • RM Cobol
  • RM Fortran
  • LPI Fortran
  • LPI Pascal
  • LPI C
  • SVS Fortran
  • SVS Pascal
  • AT&T BASIC
  • GNU c++
  • LISP

[edit] Application Software

  • SMART System (Office Suite)
  • Informix(DBM)
  • Oracle (DBM)
  • Multiplan (Spreadsheet)

[edit] Word Processors

  • MS WORD
  • AT&T Word Processor
  • Crystalwriter
  • Wordstar 2000
  • Samna
  • WordMarc
  • SMART WORD PROCESSOR.

[edit] The Store

The Store is a public domain software repository which was available for all 3b1 users. [1]

[edit] Games

  • Pacman game version
  • NetHack
  • Chess
  • Klondike[2]
  • Life
  • Mahjongg[3]
  • Moira
  • Robots
  • Rocks
  • Rogue
  • Tetris

[edit] Utility

  • EMACS
  • Kermit
  • TeXX
  • SPICE/NUTMEG (circuit simulation tool)[4]

[edit] Expansion Cards

  • DOS-73 Card could be run with an MSDOS Co-Processor Card which allowed for the inclusion of an 8087 Math co-processor chip.
  • RAM Card could be added using 1 or 2 Mb RAM Cards (up to a maximum of 4 Mb)
  • EIA/RAM Combo Cards contained extra RAM and two RS-232 (Serial) ports.
  • Dual EIA Port Card
  • Ethernet LAN Card.
  • VoicePower Card allowed for the capture and digital recording of voice conversations.
  • Tape Drive Card provided interface for 23Mb MFM Tape Cartridge Drive.
  • Expansion Chassis Card was hard-wired to Expansion Chassis (with 3 added slots)


[edit] Networking

  • StarLAN - 1MBps communiction typically used in star format.

[edit] See also

3B Computers

[edit] Resources