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Newest article: Controller specifications

SXD version 6


The original SXD main controller unit, first introduced in 1988, was a 32-bit system powered by the then-new Motorola 68020 CPU clocked at 16 MHz. The firmware, SXD System 6, was housed in a 4 MB ROM. The system had relatively little onboard RAM (512 KB), which was sufficient for its relatively narrow range of responsibilities:

  • battery management
  • subsystem management (at the time these were called "modules")
  • charging
  • light bus devices (EHF/FIR)
  • fan control
  • personality management
  • menu display
  • satellite uplink (AURAXICOM LiveNet)

  • Data could be loaded from an internal tape drive (based on the Exabyte 8505, sold as an upgrade) or an external magneto-optical diskette cartridge located inside the battery compartment. EXB-8505 tape drives can hold up to 60 TB of high-density slow storage, and typical MOD cartridges of the era had a capacity of 652 MB.

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