Path: utzoo!attcan!uunet!seismo!sundc!newstop!grapevine!sun!imagen!atari!apratt
From: apratt@atari.UUCP (Allan Pratt)
Newsgroups: comp.sys.atari.st
Subject: Re: CO-Processors---(Atari!) ARE NICE PEOPLE!
Message-ID: <1946@atari.UUCP>
Date: 11 Jan 90 19:08:49 GMT
References: <9001030805.AA24416@ucbvax.Berkeley.EDU> <2865@cuphub.cup.edu>
Organization: Atari Corp., Sunnyvale CA
Lines: 22

kar7481@cuphub.cup.edu (Dan Karbowsky;AtariEliteOfPghPa bbs412-384-5609) writes:
>I was VERY INTERESTED in attempting to tack a mc68881 co-processor onto
>my 1040.....I talked to ATARI-US and ATARI-UK: They couldn't tell me 
>ANYTHING and ATARI-US denied the '881s existance.

I can't imagine why they did that.

Atari has a product, the SFP004, which is a 68881 peripheral for a Mega.
It only works with Megas, not 1040s, which may have been the source
of the confusion.  It comes with a library (and source!) for linking
Alcyon C programs which use floating point so they use the 68881
if it's there, and use the old software routines if it's not.

Once you have this technical document and a 68881 chip, how do you
propose to weld the chip into your 1040?  It's a nontrivial
undertaking.  The SFP004 plugs into the internal Mega expansion bus. If
you do manage to weld a 68881 onto a 1040, please try to make sure it
addresses at the same place as the SFP004: the base address is $FFFA40.

============================================
Opinions expressed above do not necessarily	-- Allan Pratt, Atari Corp.
reflect those of Atari Corp. or anyone else.	  ...ames!atari!apratt