Geneve 9640

Last updated
Geneve 9640
Type Home computer
Release date1987;37 years ago (1987)
Operating system MDOS
CPU Texas Instruments TMS9995 @ 12 MHz
Memory640K RAM
StorageFloppy Disks
DisplayComposite video, RGB output;
512x424 (16 colors), 512x212 (16 colors), 256x424 (256 colors), 256x212 (256 colors)
Graphics Yamaha V9938
Sound SN76496
Input IBM PC XT keyboard
Controller input IBM PC XT mouse

The Geneve 9640 is an enhanced TI-99/4A computer-on-a-card upgrade. It was sold by Myarc as a card to fit into the Texas Instruments TI Peripheral Expansion System. [1] [2] Released in 1987, it is in many ways similar to the earlier TI-99/8, which was in prototype form in early 1983. The Geneve 9640 was designed by Paul Charlton, [3] and the graphical swan on the boot up screen was designed by Mi-Kyung Kim. [4]

Contents

Hardware

The Geneve 9640 features a 16-bit TMS9995 processor clocked at 12 MHz.

A Yamaha V9938 video display processor (the same one used in the MSX2 family of home computers) provides 256-color graphics at a 256×424 resolution, 16-color graphics at a 512×424, and an 80-column text mode. [5]

Audio is produced via an SN76496 programmable sound generator capable of producing three simultaneous square waves at sixteen different volume levels, as well as an additional noise channel that could produce either periodic or white noise in three different frequencies and at sixteen different volumes.

Onboard memory consists of 512 KB CPU RAM, which can be upgraded to at least 2 MB through the use of the Myarc Memex Expansion Card or similar. The card also has as 128 KB video RAM. [2]

The board includes a battery-backed real time clock (RTC). An IBM PC XT compatible detached keyboard and a mouse are used for input. [5] The Geneve 9640 is compatible with nearly all software written for the TI-99/4A. An adapter was made by a company named Rave to allow the sidecar-only Speech Synthesizer to be installed inside the Peripheral Expansion System.

Software

The following software is bundled with the Geneve: [5]

In 1993, Beery Miller, the publisher of 9640 News, organized a group of Geneve 9640 owners and was able to purchase all rights to the source code for MDOS, Advanced Basic, the PSYSTEM runtime module, and the GPL Interpreter from Myarc and Paul Charlton.

Over the years, MDOS has been updated by individuals including Tim Tesch, Clint Pulley, Alan Beard, John Johnson, James Schroeder, Mike Maksimik, James Uzzell, Tony Knerr, Beery Miller, and others. Support for SCSI, IDE, and larger ramdisks was added in the earlier years after the buyout. In late 2020 and early 2021, with the release of the TIPI for the TI-99/4A, the Geneve was interfaced with the TIPI and a Raspberry PI providing TCP socket access and nearly unlimited high speed hard-drive-like file access.

A small but active base of users still exist on www.atariage.com as of 2021, where Tim Tesch, Beery Miller, and others provide support.

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References

  1. ↑ "Geneve 9640". Old-computers.com Museum. Archived from the original on 2021-06-18. Retrieved 2023-08-23.
  2. 1 2 "Myarc Geneve 9640". HCM: The Home Computer Museum. Retrieved 2023-08-23.
  3. ↑ Gaskill, William (2001). "Timeline 99 - 1987". The TI-99 Home Computer Encyclopedia. Archived from the original on February 8, 2006. Retrieved 2008-12-26.
  4. ↑ "John Birdwell Memorial Award". The World Wide 99ers Newsletter. The Milwaukee Area T.I. User Group. 2007. Archived from the original on 2013-04-15. Retrieved 2008-12-26.
  5. 1 2 3 Reuter, Ron. "Geneve 9640". Mainbyte's Home of the Texas Instruments Computers. Retrieved 2023-08-23.
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