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Ti 990/ds990 ???

M

mnbvcxz

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I've spent a couple of days googling for information about these systems, A lot of hits but few sources and what there was, was very shallow.
So can anyone tell me about these systems, where they the same machines? aimed at different markets? names changed for some reason?
Thank you for any responses.
 
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Hi All;
I worked with TI 990/10's and 990/12's, and they were a MiniComputer that TI made for awhile..
I think they were an Off-shoot of the Previous, 980's and 960's.. But, I don't know for sure..
They were mainly a 16 bit machine, but, (Like DEC and so many others) with Memory Management they could address more Memory..
I don't know anything about DS990, I vaguely remember hearing that number, but could not tell you anything about what it was..
My main question is "Why" are You inquiring about these machines ?? Do you have an interest in them or just wondered since you saw something about them in a article..
So, I can better answer Your inquiry..
 
Hi All;
JDallas, These are mainly for a 990/4 or some other 9900 type of machine.. That used the 9900 Ic, where as the 990/10 and 990/12 used Ic's (7400) types to make the CPU.. The CPU/ALU was on two Boards for the /10..

Here is a TI 990 WireWrap Board, that is different than the Ones You refer to..

008.jpg

THANK YOU Marty
 
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Thanks for the replies,

@Marty,
I am interested in these because I am interested in the 9900 microprocessor which was based on the ti 990, I have long known that the ti 990 were a series of minicomputers and recently became aware of the ds 990 series and wondered what the relationship between the two series was.
From google images I see that the ti 990 used terminals and that the ds 990 model 1 was contained within a (large and ugly) desktop case, but I have also see adverts for ds 990 systems which appear to have the ti 990 minicomputer as part of the system, so if they were marketed as ds 990, were any systems marketed as the ti 990, to whom? or when?
 
Hi All;
I think it was the kind of Customer that the system was geared to as to what It was called.. Also, Remember that the 9900 could NOT do what a 990/10 or 990/12 could do.. It was a Parred down instruction set..
If it was Just a Ti 990 chassis and a Terminal for say Industrial use it was a TI 990 System..
But, If it was a Total Package with Video Terminals, Up and Down Loading, Via Phone, System Software like COBOL, or Fortran.. Then the Total Package was a DS990 SYSTEM..
Yes, I think I had a DS990 model 1, It was about a 3 foot high Table unit that the Video Terminal that could sit on top of it and have the Computer underneath it.. They came out in the 1980's..
If, I remember corrrectly, they were used for accounting and for pharmaceuticals.. We sold alot of Memory Boards and Controllers for those Memory Boards, and later Disk Controller Boards for these TI 990 Systems..

THANK YOU Marty
 
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I can imagine that their minicomputer line evolved into the ti 990 and was sold to industrial, resarch and commercial customers, then the marketing department got involved and created the ds 990 range for office use, but I am just guessing.
If anyone has approximate dates for the introduction of each range that might help.
 
Hi All;
'' then the marketing department got involved and created the ds 990 range for office use, but I am just guessing. ""
I would say that You probably are pretty close to the Truth..
When I started with the Company in about 1982 TI 990's were already established, and when I left the company in about 1992, they were still selling boards for the Ti 990's, but not as much.. And it was not too many years later that they stopped selling 990 support boards.. I can Remember, having about 6 stacks about 4 to 5 foot tall of nothing but old TI990 Memory Boards, that we took in for Trade on one Of our Own Boards for the TI 990..

THANK YOU Marty
 
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mnbvcxz said:
few sources and what there was, was very shallow.
Click to expand...

Apparently, you're thinking of the the 990/4, which is the member of the 990 family with a 9900 processor.
It has no memory mapping, so it can't run the normal DX-10 or DNOS operating systems.

Try http://bitsavers.org/pdf/ti/990/ds990 and 990-4
I'm not quite sure you're going to find much more than that 30+ years out from when these systems were in use.
 
Al Kossow said:
Apparently, you're thinking of the the 990/4, which is the member of the 990 family with a 9900 processor.
It has no memory mapping, so it can't run the normal DX-10 or DNOS operating systems.

Try http://bitsavers.org/pdf/ti/990/ds990 and 990-4
I'm not quite sure you're going to find much more than that 30+ years out from when these systems were in use.
Click to expand...

I am not trying to focus on a single model, my question relates to an apparent distinction between the TI990 and DS990, why this distinction?, I am now thinking that this distinction is a fabrication of the internet (correct me if I am wrong), there was no TI 990, there was the model 990 manufactured by texas instruments, and the DS label was used to advertise the various configurations to the customers.
But you are right in that after 30 years, information is becoming thin on the internet and I am hoping that this lack of real knowledge can be rectified by the memories of the people most closely involved with TI and these systems.
Firstly, was the model 990 ever advertised as the TI 990?, and if so, when and why did they start using DS990 in their marketing?
 
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mnbvcxz said:
an apparent distinction between the TI990 and DS990, why this distinction?
Click to expand...

"TI990" is meaningless. There were various models of 990 minicomputers produced by TI, but without the / and model numbers
you don't have any idea about which of the various implementations are being talked about. TI sold the CPUs and peripherals to
OEMs, and they built their own bundled systems which were the "DS" and the later more integrated "Business System 300"

Here is an example of a DS990 Model 29
http://computerhistory.org/collections/catalog/102688149

There was a product family brochure from the 70's, on my old website archived at
http://www.dimka.com/daily/external-pages/spies.com-~aek-orphanage.html

It looks like we have a product guide
computerhistory.org/collections/catalog/102659430

I'll see if I can get it scanned.
 
Al Kossow said:
"TI990" is meaningless. There were various models of 990 minicomputers produced by TI, but without the / and model numbers
you don't have any idea about which of the various implementations are being talked about. TI sold the CPUs and peripherals to
OEMs, and they built their own bundled systems which were the "DS" and the later more integrated "Business System 300"

Here is an example of a DS990 Model 29
http://computerhistory.org/collections/catalog/102688149

There was a product family brochure from the 70's, on my old website archived at
http://www.dimka.com/daily/external-pages/spies.com-~aek-orphanage.html

It looks like we have a product guide
computerhistory.org/collections/catalog/102659430

I'll see if I can get it scanned.
Click to expand...

In this picture of a 990/10A http://www.bunkerofdoom.com/computers/ti990/TI990.html the /10A part of the model number is nowhere to be seen, the front panel simply reads 990.
Everything I have read so far indicates that the DS systems come from texas instruments, not some anonymous OEM.
DS forms part of the disk drive model number.
 
Well, those brouchers were interesting, thank you Al, but they did not answer my question, so until someone who actually knows the answer posts here, I will go with the conclusion I arrived at earlier in this thread, that TI never called its systems TI 990/whatever, they simply called them model 990/whatever and when they added disks etc they became DS990/whatever.
 
Hi All;
I am sure that TI called them at least at first TI990's.. But, like I said before check with Dave Pitts..
Secondly, after all this time Does it really matter ??

THANK YOU Marty
 
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