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From: chuck@dip.eecs.umich.edu (Chuck A. Nicholas)
Newsgroups: comp.sys.ti
Subject: Re: Mayarc Geneve
Message-ID: <176@zip.eecs.umich.edu>
Date: 11 Jul 89 12:56:32 GMT
References: <4752@psuvax1.cs.psu.edu> <1643@csm9a.UUCP>
Sender: news@zippy.eecs.umich.edu
Reply-To: chuck@dip.eecs.umich.edu.UUCP (Chuck A. Nicholas)
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Organization: University of Michigan EECS Dept., Ann Arbor, MI
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In article <1643@csm9a.UUCP> kamann@csm9a.UUCP (kamann) writes:
>In article <4752@psuvax1.cs.psu.edu>, bartle@gondor.cs.psu.edu (Aron Bartle) writes:
>> 
>> ...Since then I have almost completely lost all intrest in my junk and have
>> 	spent my time hacking around on mainframes. (and you can tell I'm a
>> 	pascal programmer by the way I compulsively indent)
>> 
>You mention your Pascal style, have you ever considered a P-Code card?
>>
>
>The Myarc Geneve (sometimes refered to as the "swan") is someones answer to
>the "big" computer built from the TMS 9900 CPU.  It is a 512k 'marvel'.  It
>runs a home-made brew version of an operating system called M-DOS (note that
>M-DOS is NOT a Microsoft concoction, it is written by a guy named Paul
>Charlton under arrangement with Myarc).  M-DOS is NOT IBM compatible, 
>therefore the Geneve is not IBM compatible.  M-DOS does resemble MS-DOS in
>many respects.  I won't go into too many details about it.
>
>The machine is also compatible hardware wise with almost ALL the hardware
>currently available for the TI.

The 9640 does not/ can not access the P-Code card.  There is supposed to be 
a disk based version of Pecan 4.1 run time Pascal (someday).

>Overall, the thing is pretty impressive, but there are still things being
>worked out, and promises that were made that have not been met.  Most
>software for the machine (machine specific software) is written in
>assembly language, although there is a Fortran compiler for it (I don't
>know how complete as I don't have it). 

The Fortran compiler is very well done, with very complete documentation.  It is
based on F77 with extensions to provide support for graphics, etc.

>There is also Basic for the machine, but that is still in the pre-release 
>versions (or was last time I heard anything). 

Basic is supposed to be complete, only "known" bug is due to a bug in the Op sys,
not basic itself.

>Oh yeah, there is also a 'C' compiler, but .. sure as to its completeness.

The C "compiler" is based on small C so it is not complete and it is actually
outputs assembler which must be assembled and linked to produce the object code.
This product is very good but is not in the same class as the Fortran compiler
that was released as a commercial product (srp 69.00).  Small C is shareware.

>As for availability, the Geneve is NOT sold in stores.  

Mail order.  Tenex, TexComp are two reputable companies.
Machine comes with a nice IBM style keyboard, mouse is extra.
>
>Before I forget, the Geneve sells for around $500.  It is a card that
>goes into the expansion box, and you'll probably want to get a real
>monitor ($200-300) for it, otherwise 80 column mode is a little hard to
>read.
 
There is a patch file to turn of the color burst signal that makes 80 col
mode readable in mono.  You would want a decent ANALOG rgb monitor for
maximum use.

>Lastly, a good source of information about topics like this is bulletin
>boards.  Anyone with a modem and a telecommunications package can get on
>to one of your local boards that supports the TI.  There are close to
>160 BBSs in the United States alone that support the TI!
>
I do own a 9640 and have had it for 2 1/2 years.  The computer is finally in
a state where I could recommend it to someone interested in upgrading from a TI.
It offers graphics capabilites superior to most other systems other than Amiga
and very close to Atari ST.  The main drawbacsk were a lack of software specific
to the Geneve (It does run 90% TI software at roughly 2x TI speed) and the lack
of a stable OS.  The OS is fairly stable now and there is a hanful of nice Geneve
specific software becoming available (A GIF viewer, a Mac Paint Viewer).  When
Pascal and a "real C" become available I expect we will see more software for the
machine.
						chuck nicholas
						Dept Computing Org
						EECS dept Univ fo Mich
						Ann Arbor, MI