Four-Phase systems - The Creator, the Company and the System IV/70 Computer

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Four-Phase systems - The Creator, the Company and the System IV/70 Computer - Part 1

Рет қаралды 9,963

Күн бұрын

In 2022 I came across a computer I had only heard of once before in my life. A year and a half later I think I've gone through enough of what remains known on the Internet to talk a little more about what I found. This is the System IV/70 ("Four-Seventy") computer and this is the remarkable history behind the microprocessor that makes it run, the AL1. Lets talk about everything Four-Phase and go through what lives inside my system.
Ken Shirriff's blog on AL1 and it's importance in the early world of microprocessors alongside the Texas Instruments TMX1795 can be found here - www.righto.com/...
More information on Lee Boysel and the early history of microprocessing can be found here along with more details on the famous courtroom demonstration: ece.engin.umic...
An early brochure from Four-Phase Systems covering their computer, it's optional capabilities and its software options is available here - www.computerhi...
High-resolution (multi-megabyte) photographs of all the boards seen today in the video are now available on Bitsavers - www.bitsavers.o...
(Thank you Bitsavers for archiving this!)
Interestingly, Four-Phase Systems seem to of fallen into a historical black hole. Almost no systems still exist and likewise documentation, software, hardware and technical papers are hard to come by. I have been working on efforts to help locate and digitize items as I can (affordably) come across them before the system becomes completely extinct but I'm always willing to find more. If you wish to reach out to me regarding Four-Phase systems I can be reached by email, an ongoing thread on the VCfed forums or other archival operations such as Bitsavers or the Vintage computer Federation are willing to help in whatever way we can.
Finally I would like to credit the Museum of Information Technology at Arlington and the Four-Phase Facebook users group both for providing information and photos, along with other former employees who wish to remain anonymous. Without your historical momentos there would be much, much less to research about this otherwise forgotten machine.
Remember to follow me on "X" at @CelGenStudios to keep up to date on what I am doing and what might be happening in the next video.

Пікірлер: 60

@jgalietto 3 ай бұрын

I was a Software Support Engineer for IV-Phase in the mid-eighties. You are doing a fantastic job !

@ForgottenMachines 4 ай бұрын

You've done a WAY BETTER job of overviewing this Four Phase machine than I've ever seen anyone do overviewing a Data General Nova.......Which is a FAR more common machine!! (And this is both a huge compliment to you, but also a bit of a dig on myself, because most of the hardware breakdown DG Nova videos on KZfaq so far have been created by me...)

@WyrdieBeardie 4 ай бұрын

Not often that you run across a video with so many badasses! The Data General Eclipse, the Four Phase machine, Lee Boysel, and this guy! Amazing video.

@clabretro 4 ай бұрын

Great video, hadn't heard of these before!

@FaronRoth 3 ай бұрын

Great overview. I was a field engineer for the company and serviced the device. Debugging things like display issues on a terminal could require you to go through a routine on loading up data via the 24 switches. The return would be the light indicators providing information as to what board and chip is faulty. Many field updates required updating boards utilizing wiring diagrams identifying updates that needed to be made. Pull out your soldering iron and go to town.

@jefftruck 4 ай бұрын

Thanks for sharing. I hadn’t seen one of these systems since I worked on an IV/90 in high school. We’d write the COBOL and submit it to an IBM 370-158. All during the early 80’s

@utp216 3 ай бұрын

I really don’t know how I happened on to your video but wow I’m glad I did! Maybe it’s because I watch a lot of old school tech videos and the algorithm thought I’d watch yours. Excellent work!! I never knew this computer existed and you are killing it explaining!!

@CelGenStudios 3 ай бұрын

Yeah I seem to really exist under the radar.

@brittainadams5960 3 ай бұрын

You are a total star. For someone to explain such a device with such clarity and make a story of it, one simply does not care that it was not working. for now! I would be interested in how this fits in with the F-14 CADC which also had some sort of claim. The laserjet behind you was one of the best. I rushed to see what else you have done, which made me regret ripping an expensive Sony camera to bits which did not work until you then let on that they are difficult to put back together I wanted it for the B4 lens. Please keep contenting.

@cashewmilkfan 4 ай бұрын

no way you just casually pulled out a ceramic 4004 & 8008

@CelGenStudios 4 ай бұрын

Shh! don't tell anyone they were actually IC's that looked the part! ;)

@TastyBusiness 4 ай бұрын

I dig a weird, lost minicomputer. Super cool!

@flaptick 3 ай бұрын

FYI, the 8437 board is an Intelligent Communications Controller, designed for use with the System IV /90, the controller contains a 16K-byte processor. The 8437 supports both the Bisync and SDLC protocols,

@CelGenStudios 3 ай бұрын

Thank you for the confirmation! When I was working on part 2 I realized my error.

@k4vms 3 ай бұрын

Datapoint did distributes data processing with 8/16 bit system and development the first commercially available network. In the very early 70’s the Startdust hotel in Las Vegas installed the first network from Datapoint called ARC. Attached Resource Computer. Oh and I was the one that installed it. Like I said earlier I grew up in this industry. I wrote many many lines of code in many many languages. Now DEC(Digital Equipment Corp) as well as Datapoint was able to submit jobs to an IBM mainframe. First by acting as a 3270 terminal and down the road in a more sophisticated way, i.e. by acting as a 3274 cluster controller. Oh and lets not forget GA (General Automation) and Xerox which in college we used as and RJE system to and IBM 360 Ricky from IBM

@williambrasky3891 3 ай бұрын

Oh, OH! I just stumbled upon your channel, and I have no idea how tf it hasn’t come up in my recommended before. Deep dives on obscure vintage tech, especially non-consumer tech, is my shiz.

@onthetubecdoerr 3 ай бұрын

Awesome video! Looking forward to part 2.

@phirenz 3 ай бұрын

I suspect the Four Phase demo worked not because it tricked the lawyers or the court, or TI. But because TI recognised the demo was potentially good enough to create reasonable doubt in a jury. It kind of flipped the nature of what TI had to argue on its head. Before the demo, they only really needed to convince the jury that their chip was manufactured first, which is something everyone can understand. After the demo, they would first need to convince the jury that AL1 wasn't a microprocessor and didn't count as prior art for the patent. Also... TI patent is actually pretty broad, and you can make a pretty convincing argument that the AL1 meets the definition even without the support circuitry.

@ForgottenMachines 4 ай бұрын

Oh, this is a fantastic video...VERY nicely done!

@thisoldtech2 3 ай бұрын

Remarkable system, I really hope you find the I/O boards... I was kinda half hoping you'd show something it could do! You've got more passion than me recapping/testing and restoring something you knew wouldn't be able to fire up. All the jollies I get from retro are when I get something working and functional. :P

@CelGenStudios 3 ай бұрын

There's so many odd boards missing out of this. Hopefully one day I can find the correct terminal for it.

@50shadesofbeige88 4 ай бұрын

It's always fun to learn about a new computer. I don't know anything about this machine.

@dragonheadthing 4 ай бұрын

Great job restoring what you could!

@JCCyC 4 ай бұрын

You need to team up with Usagi Electric. EDIT: now I watched to the end and yeah, seems you thought about that too.

@CelGenStudios 4 ай бұрын

I knew there was something I forgot to ask him at VCF East! >_>

@JoelCrager 4 ай бұрын

Hey man AWESOME video was very interesting and enjoyable to watch. Thanks for what you do and share with us. Can't wait for what you have in play next.

@strangeluck 4 ай бұрын

What a rescue! That was a fantastic intro to a system I knew nothing about. Look forward to catching up on your work and hopefully see this system do something useful someday.

@douro20 Ай бұрын

According to information from Synertek the 6512 is similar to the 6502 but requires an externally generated 2-phase clock and has an external "Data Bus Enable" line.

@Peter_S_ 4 ай бұрын

Very cool! Never heard of Four Phase before and the AL1 history is very interesting.

@EricFernandez44 3 ай бұрын

Try to gat ahold of the Field Engineer Handbook and the Systems Engineer Handbook! It has tons of information on how these systems worked.

@CelGenStudios 3 ай бұрын

If I can get my hands on that book, I'll absolutely scan it.

@MotownBatman 4 ай бұрын

Thats Crazy Awesome! Thanks for the History Lesson!

@DandyDon1 4 ай бұрын

Two levels of brightness. I remember Wang Alliance word processing did that too. @13:22 looks like a Xerox building....

@keyboard_g 3 ай бұрын

Ti and Intel were both contracted to make a chip for the Data General smart terminal. Intel was late and TI wad slow. Data General rejected both and the companies got to keep their designs. Intel took that chip to make the 4004. x86 registers are named according to the Data General spec.

@k4vms 3 ай бұрын

😅when I was in my early 20s I did work on Four-Phase System. It was used for medical data processing. Also worked on the TI 900 doing credit card processing I grew up in this industry Worked at Datapoint, Apple, DEC, and of course IBM Ricky from IBM

@johnjakson444 4 ай бұрын

You could delid those ram chips with a razer blade and they would quickly reveal their secrets, SRAMs are incredibly simple device to reverse engineer

@douro20 3 ай бұрын

TI made a modification of one of their laptop computer products to demonstrate the TMX-1795 in court.

@BlueChrome 3 ай бұрын

That Phase Four sales brochure mentions a 24 kilobyte memory (board?) made from 1 kilobit memory chips.

@williambrasky3891 3 ай бұрын

One thing though. It’s never safe to turn off your computer! Not till you answer this question, “Which one?”

@CelGenStudios 3 ай бұрын

Hehehehe. :v

@robertvandell8987 3 ай бұрын

I used to drill circuit boards for them. Remember them well.

@cdoublejj 4 ай бұрын

is it next time yet? moar!!

@CelGenStudios 4 ай бұрын

I have not even recorded part 2 yet! D:

@MultiPetercool 4 ай бұрын

Didn’t Motorola eventually acquire Four Phase? When I arrived in Silicon Valley in 1986, I always heard them referred to as Motorola Four Phase.

@AlexEvans1 3 ай бұрын

I have a Four Phase Systems S2000 which is a Motorola machine with an M68000 and an M6809 CPU card.

@RonJohn63 4 ай бұрын

15:30 Like a component stereo. 15:49 Anodized aluminum. 19:05 48 chips and a 24 bit computer. Two banks of memory? 19:54 Almost certainly xxxxBIT chips.

@strangeluck 4 ай бұрын

Was thinking cadmium-plated steel. Resists corrosion, just don't lick it. Used in a lot of TV chasis in the day. But that's a guess.

@mk500 4 ай бұрын

Need Patreon brother.

@CelGenStudios 4 ай бұрын

I don't know if I could find the time to do this, have a real life and also make garnish for a patreon. ;_;

@janedagger 4 ай бұрын

I think I've heard these machines mentioned but, never seen one, so this is a hoot ! :) thank you very much. I can only imagine what finding this did to your uhh...errrrr.... well, got wood? :P ROFLMAO!!

@tubeghih 4 ай бұрын

cool thnks

@galen__ 4 ай бұрын

👍

@dinkc64 4 ай бұрын

Excellent presentation, very high signal to noise ratio - maybe Usagi could take note.

@randaldavis8976 3 ай бұрын

All I remember is their closed building (earthquake damage?) that Apple later bought

@50shadesofbeige88 4 ай бұрын

15:38 😍😍

@archivis 4 ай бұрын

@User0000000000000004 4 ай бұрын

fuh-say-shuss?? That's not how you say that word.

@CelGenStudios 4 ай бұрын

sorry....

@jacktumblin4985 4 ай бұрын

EXCELLENT! Thank you sooo much for this! Some of the better late '70s junked TTL boards I used and/ or scavenged for parts way back then (7400 series, bipolar bit-slice,etc) boards had 1/2 inch high thin white plastic-coated strips arranged as vertical 'rails' similar to the broken ones you showed, but they were more than just compact high current power bars -- they had built-in sheet-like bypass caps too! They had many thru- hole leads; +5V one side, GND on the other, spaced to match DIP packages. Also--wirewrap is a blessing, not a nightmare as long as you have the right tools--hope you have a Gardner-Denver manual wrap gun and unwrap tool or equivalent, and new wire is easy to buy (though you may not need it-- wire wrapis even more reliable than PCBs, even outdoors...) Best wishes on this genuinely historic adventure! Bravo!