TXG/MNX Posted June 30, 2012 Share Posted June 30, 2012 (edited) Hi, Just watch I made a video of this machine, booting up.... More movies will follow... Edited June 30, 2012 by TXG/MNX 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TwiliteZoner Posted June 30, 2012 Share Posted June 30, 2012 Looking forward to future videos. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+DarkLord Posted June 30, 2012 Share Posted June 30, 2012 Yes, keep them coming. That is one really neat, clean machine, btw. PS There is just something wrong with a Microsoft pop-up ad during an Atari video. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
svenski Posted June 30, 2012 Share Posted June 30, 2012 Wow, great looking machine. I want one. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
atarian63 Posted July 1, 2012 Share Posted July 1, 2012 very cool!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LoTonah Posted July 1, 2012 Share Posted July 1, 2012 Don't get me wrong, I'm glad you've got one, and it is pretty cool, but... I sure wish that Atari had never spent the time and the effort on projects like this that went nowhere. The ST line needed upgrades! Whenever I read about the transputers I want to scream out loud! There, I said it. Oh, and I'm also jealous. I have a pretty substantial Atari collection and it irks me that I can likely never own one for myself! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
anzac Posted July 2, 2012 Share Posted July 2, 2012 (edited) very cool video... though i wouldn´t be surprised if LoTonah comment would elicit some answers saying this isn´t the proper thread to comment on whether Atari should have spent the resources that the developement the Transputer Workstation needed or not, his comment resonated a little with me. Yes, it probably didn´t make much sense looking back and maybe even at the time didn´t either. if i would have preferred the STe sooner, yes i would. If i would have preferred that from '88 onwards all Ataris had separate keyboard cases (even without VME buses and hard drives as standard), yes, i would have liked that very much. An affordable, game-capable, professional looking STe would probably have done much more for Atari than the TT, for example. However, i am glad that the TT came and is now an iconic machine that one might reasonably find second hand, though still priced wayyyy to high for my pocket. The problem with the "looking back" approach is that we never know the specific circunstamces that led to the development of specific hardware and what that development and know-how acquired generated in other projects. It is legitimate to wonder if the Jaguar would have appeared, if Atari didn´t have the experience from the Lynx with custom chips and cooperating with an outside company to develop specific hardware, instead of using "off the shelf" components to make a computer and/or console platform. The Jaguar, hardware-wise, is a beautiful piece of engineering that blends Atari´s years long experience with 68000 processors and interfaces with new hardware and new custom chips to reach something the 68000 would never do. If i remember correctly, the console Atari was developing by itself (Panther) was a more "traditional" Atari design without "reaching for the stars" with a 64-bit console like the Jaguar. Ironically, the Jaguar ended up giving the Atari Transputer Workstations a final use. again, if memory serves me right, they were used in the development of the Jaguar´s software interface and some were even loaned to games developers to begin writing code for the Jaguar even before the Jaguar hardware was finished. I also think that later TTs were also used to this effect. So, yes, the ATWs were probably a colossal waste of money, time and resources. But who knows what came later because of what Atari learned while developing them? again, this is not probably the best thread for such a discussion and i congratulate TXG/MNX on his video and eagerly wait for more.... that was the FIRST time i saw an ATW working. Thank you. Edited July 2, 2012 by anzac Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+rdemming Posted July 2, 2012 Share Posted July 2, 2012 Here a webpage with transputer installation disks and documentation. Maybe it is useful. The transputer was developed by a British company called Perihelion. Besides financing I wonder what Atari contributed to its development. Robert Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+nanochess Posted July 2, 2012 Share Posted July 2, 2012 The transputer was developed by a British company called Perihelion. Besides financing I wonder what Atari contributed to its development. In fact the Transputer was developed and manufactured by INMOS, and Perihelion was one of the hardware/software makers. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Innovative Leisure Posted July 10, 2012 Share Posted July 10, 2012 (edited) TGX/MNX, this is very interesting. How did you come across the Transputer? Edited July 10, 2012 by Innovative Leisure Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
macgoo Posted July 25, 2012 Share Posted July 25, 2012 Hey it's not Atari's fault that the Transputor developers got no help from their government at the time. UK is piss poor at developing great ideas but they do come up with some great 80s CPU designs. ARM is one and Transputor is another CPU that our dumb govt let slip through their fingers. Atari's hope was it would soon enough come down to top end IBM PC money and essentially give them the CGA PC vs Amiga 1000 advantage in the early 90s. The OS team is also partly from the developer (Dr Tim King of Tripos fame IIRC) who helped C= with the Amiga KS/Workbench system. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tschak909 Posted June 10, 2015 Share Posted June 10, 2015 Transputers were an interesting solution to a problem that never fully materialized. Basically, process improvements negated the need for massively parallel communication heavy chips like the Transputer, before INMOS was able to refine their processes to make them cost effective. INMOS wanted Transputers to replace both the microcontroller, AND the microprocessor, in large quantities inside _any_ and _every_ device. An interesting goal to be sure, but: (1) the conventional machines soon surpassed the T800, and were considerably cheaper and more plentiful. (2) If you think people scratch their heads NOW, at natively concurrent programming languages (Erlang, etc.), imagine how they were feeling when they were presented with Occam in 1987. Perihelion was producing FORTRAN, C and other language compilers, by 1990, but it was way too late. (3) The cost of a single T800 in 1989, was 450 UKP, which placed it both outside the realm of microprocessor and microcontroller. Even the tiny T2, was many times more expensive than a 6803, 6502, or 8048, 8052, etc... (4) Transputers had to be booted from other processors (This is why there is a full ST inside the ATW), further increasing cost. Elegant, but expensive, and therefore, had no time in the market to refine its ideas. However, many of the ideas are now recurrent in today's technology, and we'll see many more of the ideas recycle themselves, as we hit the physical process limits that Dr. King warned about. Concurrent programming being the most current example. -Thom Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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