Sirius DOS
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Sirius DOS is a research software platform devised by American computer scientist Alexander Nicholi based on MS-DOS 6.22 and running on IBM-PC compatibles. Specifically, it is composed of five concrete platforms: Sirius A, Sirius B, Sirius A′, Sirius B′, and Sirius V.
Platforms
Sirius A
Sirius A is a desktop build with the following specifications:
- Cyrix 5x86 CPU @ 100 MHz
- 1 MiB of 5 ns on-board SRAM cache
- 32 MiB of EDORAM
- Jetway J446A-V2.0
- PCI-based Cirrus Alpine CL-GD5480 with 64 MiB of SGRAM
- 19" Sony Trinitron running at 1280×1024 @ 60 Hz
- NEC FD1231H 3½" floppy drive (A:)
- NEC FD1157C 5¼" floppy drive (B:)
- 64 MiB industrial CF card with IDE adapter (C:)
- Creative Labs CD5233E CD-ROM drive (D:)
- Creative Labs CT1870 CD-ROM ISA controller card
- Greystone dual-slot PCMCIA reader with ISA controller card
- 3Com EtherLink III 3C509B-TP 100 Mbps Ethernet ISA controller card
Sirius A deigns to run 15-bit RGB555 "high colour" at its full 1280×1024@60Hz resolution, which is double the width and slightly more than double the height of Sirius B. In certain programs such as Quindle and Pegasus this will allow it to have a dual-column layout on a single display, which is not possible to accommodate at the lower 640×480 resolution.
Sirius B
Sirius A is a laptop set up as a desktop, specifically the Compaq LTE Elite 4/75CX:
- Genuine Intel i486-DX @ 75 MHz
- 32 KiB of on-chip cache
- 24 MiB of RAM
- Western Digital SVGA-capable chip, probably the same one in the earliest IBM ThinkPads (WD90C24A2 with 1 MiB VRAM)
- This still needs to be confirmed with real world testing
- 17" Compaq 151FS running at 640×480 @ 60 Hz
- The monitor is capable of up to 1024×768
- 64 MiB industrial CF card with IDE adapter
- Built-in dual PCMCIA slot
- This can be used to adapt CF cards as primitive "thumb drives", as well as attain Ethernet support
Sirius B is set up alongside Sirius A and deigns to run 15-bit RGB555 "high colour" at 640×480@60 Hz resolution.
Sirius A′
Sirius A′ is a GRiDCASE 1520 sporting 1 MiB of RAM and a genuine Intel i286 with i287 running at 10 MHz. It has a built-in monochrome screen, but this is optionally supplanted by a 9-pin EGA-compatible monitor. Like Sirius A and B′, it has a functioning 3½" floppy diskette drive.
Sirius B′
Sirius B′ is a Compaq SLT/286 sporting 2 MiB of RAM and a genuine Intel 80C286 running at 12 MHz. It has a built-in monochrome screen that supports up to 8 shades, but it looks quite terrible compared to Sirius A′ and any CRT. Interestingly, it supports a 15-pin VGA-style external monitor plug-out. It has a functioning 3½" floppy drive.
Sirius V
Sirius V is not a physical computer build, but rather a virtual computer that leverages Bochs for accurate emulation of an IBM-PC that is specced similarly to the other four Sirius computer builds. It can provide x86 CPU emulation, and, crucially, emulation of a somewhat generic Cirrus Alpine series 2D accelerator graphics card. Sirius V is indispensable for both mobilising software development on Sirius DOS as well as debugging at low levels close to the hardware.
