Visit to TI Records Archive at SMU

[+Ksarul]

19 hours ago, FarmerPotato said:

 Papers relevant to home computer, in various employee folders:

The Texas Instruments TMS 9940 and TMS 9985 One Chip Microcomputers:
Their Market Potential Through 1983.  Adam Osborne. July 1979.

Frank Walters: 1980 memos on home computer distribution, marketing, advertising, Pascal vs GPL.

Home Computer Sales Training Guide. 1979.

TI Microprocessor Strategy. Bernie List. Objectives, Strategies, Tactics Division.  1978.

These are all block-busters. I need time to write articles about them.

 

I have a couple of different variants of the Home Computer Sales Training Guide. I think I've even scanned one of them at some point and put it online. I'll have to look in my archives. . .

[jbdigriz]

On 7/4/2021 at 6:04 PM, jbdigriz said:

If you mean as VRAM, no, it's got plenty of dual-port VRAM on the 34010 board. Also I have to apologize, it's Bell&Howell, not Bausch&Lomb, and it's  AT bus, not 8-bit. I'm not sure if it's a PC add in or some kind of embedded setup. I took it apart a while back to take pictures, but I haven't had time to fool with it since then. Still haven''t identified it, other than "IRIS". Seems to be missing a chip, looks like a DAC. [cut photos]

I found the other board set I had; it is indeed a Brooktree Bt454KPJ170 RAMDAC in there, in case anyone needed to know. Unfortunately the 2nd board set PCB is damaged; fortunately I have a 34010 project in mind that needed components, anyway. 

[+FarmerPotato]

I found this book on eBay while hunting for copies of books I saw at SMU. 

 

TMS4164 Reliability Report

 

much fascinating background on memory and memory testing. Also, several Application Reports on designing boards for DRAM. 

 

my scanner is broke so here are some interesting photos. More coming later. 
 

The Application Report sheets don’t turn up often do they? At SMU, I read in one Sales memo, that after receiving allotment of ARs, they were to be shared with promising leads only. (Maybe the material is also in the MOS Memory Databook.)

 

[+Ksarul]

I've got one or two of the reliability reports as well. I need to pull them and get them scanned too. . .

[+FarmerPotato]

I got copies of a few more books from eBay.  Some I'd only seen in the Archive, and some I'd not seen anywhere:

* TMS9118 Data Manual.  "The newest compatible members of TI's VDP chip family".   As used in the 99/2 and 99/8, the only difference is the interface to 4416 DRAMs, and the removal of GROMCLK. Dunno if other parts of the manual are revised from the 9918A/28/29. 

 

TMS7000 Family Data Manual.  Covers 7020, 7040.  

 

Especially interesting is the chapter on microcode programming -- necessarily contains detail on the inner workings of this 8-bit CPU. The CROM (microcode ROM) is 64 bits by 160 words. In microcode, every block of the CPU/ALU is switched on or off by some of those 64 bits, for instance selecting 2 inputs to the ALU, the ALU operation, etc.  Every instruction can have an 8-bit next address.  Just 160 words is sufficient to code all the instructions.  There was a microcode assembler and custom CROM service, where TI allowed you to replace "non core instructions".  Books on microcoding are expensive and hard to find, so this was a treat.  I hope to go back to the 99105 patent, which seems to describe its microcoding. 

 

 

TMS370 Family Data Manual.  When Wally Rhines took over the Microprocessor group around 1982, TI relabeled the 7000 under the 370 badge. 

 

TMS9650 Data Manual.  A two-port, 256-byte RAM for sharing between two CPUs.  I was pretty excited to learn about it from the Archive, but there were other sources.

 

* TM990 Microcomputer Handbook.  This is a 1979 guide to all the TM990 products.  It is older than the Microsystems Designers Handbook, but has maybe a few more pages about each item.

 

Section 8 talks about the T-bus, the backplane for the TM990 modules. Signals, timing diagrams for DMA and arbitration.  Probably a digest of information in the TM990/520 backplane manual, and TM990/101M or other CPU manual. 

 

Some unusual mentions in Section 5: the TIMPX (1979), with Pascal, an earlier RX Realtime Executive. (Which is still the basis for Pascal MPX.) TIMBER software  in ROM for the 990/101M is a subset of TIMPX. Multitasking kernel. (See application note MPB 23)

 

TMS1000 Family Data Manual.  The 4-bit (and first) CPU in the extended family.

 

 * items: not in bitsavers

 

 

[+Torrax]

Does the TMS9118 Data Manual match the one in my photo?

 

 

[+Ksarul]

29 minutes ago, Torrax said:

Does the TMS9118 Data Manual match the one in my photo?

 

 

That's what mine looks like. . .not sure if it also matches @FarmerPotato's though.

[+FarmerPotato]

2 hours ago, Torrax said:

Does the TMS9118 Data Manual match the one in my photo?

 

 

Yup, it's the blue and yellow one. 
 

Nice! You have the Programmer's Guide. I recently read through this online. Amazed that it documented the "undocumented" half-bitmap modes. The sprite coincidence application is also great. 

 

[+Torrax]

Called TI in Houston back in 1990/89 if they had any info on the TI-99/4A. And they sent me 2 copies of each manual and a photostat of the TMS9900 processor info at no charge. The extra copies went into the club library.

[+FarmerPotato]

Also acquired:

 

 

Digital Signal Processing Applications with the TMS320 Family. 

 

* TMS380 User's Guide. The guide to "The Last 9900".  (Bitsavers scan is only the odd number pages!)

[+FALCOR4]

12 hours ago, FarmerPotato said:

* TMS380 User's Guide. The guide to "The Last 9900".

What is that about?  Curious

[+Ksarul]

17 hours ago, FarmerPotato said:

Also acquired:

 

 

Digital Signal Processing Applications with the TMS320 Family. 

 

* TMS380 User's Guide. The guide to "The Last 9900".  (Bitsavers scan is only the odd number pages!)

Sad that the Bitsaver copy only has half the document, but glad you were able to find a good copy!

[ClausB]

@FarmerPotato, do you remember coming across any TI SR-5x and TI-5x programmable calculator documents at the library?

[+FarmerPotato]

6 hours ago, ClausB said:

@FarmerPotato, do you remember coming across any TI SR-5x and TI-5x programmable calculator documents at the library?

I had specific goals, so I skipped over anything on 

Calculators.  I'll kerp an eye on it when I'm there next. I think I saw ordinary SR-59  books. 
 

The 1983 accession of RG-20 Data Manuals,  looks to me like an on-site library. Or "Records must save this manual for ten years." The repair and maintenance manuals are outnumbered by hundreds of user manuals. 

 

I've seen a few sales training booklets, some Regional Learning Center seminar handouts.
 

 

[LanceLHall]

I've been to that library looking up paleontology papers.  They have one of those book scanners. 

[kl99]

interesting stuff, thanks for sharing.

[+helocast]

On 10/5/2023 at 8:31 PM, FarmerPotato said:

Also acquired:

 

 

Digital Signal Processing Applications with the TMS320 Family. 

 

* TMS380 User's Guide. The guide to "The Last 9900".  (Bitsavers scan is only the odd number pages!)

You're always welcome to whatever I have ... trash bin the rest.

Doug

TMS380 Adapter Chipset Jul86.pdf TMS380 Adapter Chipset Supplement.pdf TMS38010 Processor.pdf TMS38021 Protocol Handler.pdf TMS38030 System Interface.pdf TMS38051, TMS38052 Ring Interfaces.pdf

[+FarmerPotato]

On 7/1/2021 at 12:19 AM, FarmerPotato said:

92-41 article lists hundreds of 990 books: installation, service, and users' manuals.

94-08 manuals 1966-1983: 21 boxes. 960, 980, 990, 200, 700, etc. I see that this range covers some entries above that I skipped

 

In June 2023,  I browsed through 97-08 and found the inventory of 800+ manuals. 

I plan to visit in January and look at 92-41.