Rubric "Tales of the Black Cat"
Problems of evolutionary classification
computer Byte
Black Cat
Architecture of the Brest computer Byte
baffled me, I don’t know either
one famous domestic clone
ZX Spectrum,with which it could be
unambiguously evolutionarily related. At the same time
Byte clearly refers to clones
Spectrum. This happened only with one
computer - Baltic.U Byta all
makeshifts are formed by a decoder based on
two ROMs, whose output signals
are synchronized by registers. This
architectural solution is found only in
Pro, but it is clearly a later computer,
because does not contain archaic architecture
reading memory characteristic ofLvovsky
Prototype, Moscow with two memory fields,
Baltika, Novosibirsk, and other early
clones. This is evidence that
that Byte clearly comes from the most
early clones with two memory fields. Either
from Lvov Prototype,or from the
its early clone - Moscow, or from
Kaunas Prototype,about which almost
nothing is known except that he
was, and was probably similar to Lvovsky
Prototype, because their creators exchanged
information. At the same time, Novosibirsk is not
could be a prototype for Byte, because in it
not ROMs were used, butPLMto form
temporary buildings, as well as video output was
organized inin the form of a video card with duplicated
video section RAM,while in
Byte video memory is organized according to classi-
ical two-field architecture. This
combination, like using ROM for
deciphering temporary buildings, and the archaic method
reading RAM,among the earliest clones
It is also found only in Baltika,which can
testify to their common ancestor, also
which used ROM to decrypt the temporary
Also, geographical
the proximity of the regions where these clones were created, and
Kaunas Prototype,data on the architectural
tour of which has not survived. This
suggests that both Byte and
Baltic come from Kaunas Prototy-
na, but at the same time Byte is closest to
him. Balticis deeplyover-
botanical architectureKaunas Proto-
type,and perhaps one of the very first
clones with one memory field.
The featureByte distinguishes it from
all known clones are delayed
to one familiar place using shear
registers of four video signals: R, G, B,
Bright. Such an absurd architectural
there is no longer a known solution
clone. This solution is very similar to
work using reverse engineering method,
when a hypothesis about the structure of the archi-
texture, which is checked by hardware, and
then it is adjusted, as they say,
"crutches".It is these crutches that
are these four motor registers,
because in order not to redo the firmware of two
Temporary decoder ROM containing
error, developers just quickly
shifted shift registers, and so
the screen and the border were synchronized in a way.
How did such a "semi-finished product" end up in
mass production? The answer is obvious.
Most likely, when the Party set
the task of producing household computers, then
BEMZ simply borrowed the circuit
Kaunas Prototype in its final
form, probably walking from hand to hand in that
region, with all its crutches, and, not
philosophizing slyly, combing his hair a little, and
put into production :). Here it arises
question - why Kaunas developers
did not fix ROM temporary decoder?
Because it’s easier to solder four shift
register, rather than manually re-entering
programmer 2048 hexadecimal sym-
oxen for two ROM of 512 bytes each. A
here to clone for friends and acquaintances already
readyROMwith an error, no difficulty
makes up. After all, when was it created
Kaunas Prototype,before its development
the task of industrial production is not
stood, but for fans collecting a clone
on the breadboard - and it will do :). Judging by
everything, and was born unlike anything else
serial computer Byte.But now we
we canget an idea of what
represented lost architecture
Kaunas Prototype :).
P.S. If you have a complementary
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