Atari XL/XE OS Rev. 1 - 800XL?

[+MrFish]

I'm referencing two reliable sources: the Atari 8-bit FAQ (Michael Current) and the Atari 8-bit - Operating System sources document (Tomasz Krasuski @Kr0tki); and I'm seeing a slight conflict of information concerning Atari XL/XE OS Rev. 1 being used in 800XL machines. According to the FAQ, 800XL's only contained Rev. 2, but according to the Operating System Sources doc, Rev. 1 was seen in early 800XL's.

 

I would tend to fall on the side of Tomasz Krasuski, since he's the house expert on the Atari OS; but, I'm looking for some clarification/validation from anyone with insight. Thanks.

 

[+hunmanik]

600XL production seems to have started September July 1983.  The 600XL Field Service Manual dated October 1983 already makes no mention of the Rev.1 OS chip, only the Rev.2 OS chip part number is mentioned.  So Rev.1 seems already phased out by October, which is before 800XL production seems to have started in November.

Edited December 11, 2021 by hunmanik
my mistake - misread my own FAQ. :)

[+kheller2]

600XL production started in July, 1983.  It's possible that 800XL prototypes had Rev1 but we have no physical devices to confirm that.

[Kr0tki]

20 hours ago, MrFish said:

I would tend to fall on the side of Tomasz Krasuski, since he's the house expert on the Atari OS; but, I'm looking for some clarification/validation from anyone with insight. Thanks.

I may honestly claim that I did research the Atari OS's history (though I'm standing on the shoulders of giants such as the participants in this thread), but I would never consider myself an expert on the OS itself - that epithet would be more fitting to Phaeron or Drac030, who had gone as far as developing their own OS-es.

 

Having said that, the remark in question is based on the single line in the OS rev. 2 source listing that reads "Revision 1 (600XL/800XL)", as well as on various claims here and there that the early 800XLs might have contained rev. 1. But there is no hard proof that such 800XLs exist, and I have failed to clearly state that in the doc. I will fix this in the next version of the OS package, thank you for pointing it out.

[+MrFish]

4 hours ago, Kr0tki said:

I may honestly claim that I did research the Atari OS's history (though I'm standing on the shoulders of giants such as the participants in this thread), but I would never consider myself an expert on the OS itself - that epithet would be more fitting to Phaeron or Drac030, who had gone as far as developing their own OS-es.

Well, you're an expert by comparison to myself -- and the majority of folks out there. But, seriously, you've sorted out the details and differences between the various revisions, and consolidated everything into a single reference and archive -- which is extremely useful.

 

4 hours ago, Kr0tki said:

Having said that, the remark in question is based on the single line in the OS rev. 2 source listing that reads "Revision 1 (600XL/800XL)", as well as on various claims here and there that the early 800XLs might have contained rev. 1. But there is no hard proof that such 800XLs exist, and I have failed to clearly state that in the doc. I will fix this in the next version of the OS package, thank you for pointing it out.

Alright. I know they're generally referred to as the 600XL/800XL (from reviewing the source code myself). It's quite possible that some 800XL's did receive a Rev. 1. In which case, maybe some bulletin exists/existed offering people an upgrade after the fact. But until such time that one shows up, or an example machines does, I'll just consider it as a possibility.