AT&T Unix PC

The AT&T UNIX PC is a Unix desktop computer originally developed by Convergent Technologies[2] (later acquired by Unisys),[1] and marketed by AT&T in the mid- to late-1980s. The system was also known as PC-7300, and often dubbed the 3B1. Despite the latter name, the system had little in common with AT&T's line of 3B series computers. The system was tailored for use as a productivity tool in office environments and as an electronic communication center.[4]

3B1 / PC7300 / Unix PC[1]
AT&T Unix PC
ManufacturerConvergent Technologies[1][2]
TypeProfessional Computer
Release dateMarch 26, 1985 (1985-03-26)[3]
Introductory price$5,095-$7,000[3]
Media5¼-inch floppy disks,[2] optional quarter-inch cartridge tapes
Operating systemAT&T Unix v3.51[1]
CPUMotorola MC68010 with custom Memory management unit clocked at 10Mhz[2]
Memory512KB to 4MB RAM[2]
StorageOptional 10MB, 20MB, 40MB,[2] and 67MB hard drives[1]
Display720x348 pixel resolution[2]
InputKeyboard, 3-button Mouse[2]

Hardware configuration
Exterior of the AT&T 3B1
  • 10 MHz Motorola MC68010 (16 bit external bus, 32 bit internal) with custom, discrete MMU[2]
  • Internal MFM hard drive, originally 10 MB[3], later models with up to 67 MB[1]
  • At least 512K RAM on main board, expandable via expansion cards[2]
  • 3 expansion slots[2]
  • Monochrome green phosphor 12-inch (300 mm) monitor[2]
  • Internal 300/1200 bit/s modem[2]

PC7300

The initial PC7300 model offered a modest 512 KiB[2] of memory and a small, low performance 10 MB hard drive.[3] This model, although progressive in offering a Unix system for desktop office operation, was underpowered and produced considerable fan and drive bearing noise even when idling. The modern-looking "wedge" design was innovative, and in fact the machine gained notoriety appearing in many movies as the token "computer."

AT&T 3B1

A later enhanced model was renamed "3B1".[1] The cover was redesigned to accommodate a full-height 67 MB hard drive.[1] This cover change added a 'hump' to the case, expanded onboard memory to 1 or 2 MB, as well as added a better power supply.[1]

Operating system
AT&T PC7300 compiling and running a C program

The operating system is based on Unix System V Release 2,[2] with extensions from 4.1 and 4.2 BSD, System V Release 3 and Convergent Technologies.[1] The last release was 3.51.[1]

Programming languages

Application software

Word processors

Games

Utility
  • HoneyDanBer UUCP package.
  • Various Shells: Bourne, C, and Korn
  • EMACS
  • Kermit
  • TeX
  • SPICE/NUTMEG (circuit simulation tool)[8]

Expansion cards
  • DOS-73 8086 co-processor card with 512K RAM, an RS-232C COM2 port and could be fitted with an 8087 math co-processor chip. It included MS-DOS 3.1. This board was designed and built for AT&T by Alloy Computer Products of Framingham MA.
  • RAM card could be added using 512 KB RAM or 2 MB RAM cards, up to a maximum of 4 MB (2 MB on the motherboard and 2 MB on expansion cards).
  • EIA/RAM combo cards contained extra RAM and two RS-232 serial ports.
  • Dual EIA port card
  • StarLAN – 1 Mbit/s (1BASE5) network over twisted-pair wire local area network typically used in star format
  • Ethernet 10 Mbit/s LAN card and the Wollogong TCP/IP stack/drivers
  • VoicePower card allowed for the capture and digital recording of voice conversations.
  • Tape drive card provided interface for 23 MB MFM Tape Cartridge Drive.
  • Expansion chassis card was hard-wired to Expansion Chassis (with five added slots)

Public domain software

The Store is a public domain software repository which was available for all 3B1 users.[9]

gollark: I care about the soundness and sanity of the things I build, somewhat.
gollark: You have to have it do *an* extra network round trip in order to not have to statically include the stuff in the page and run into the issue the whole external navbar thing is meant to solve.
gollark: It is then harder to change.
gollark: With server rendering: client gets HTML page from server, draws it.With client rendering: client gets HTML page, partly draws it, notices JS in it, fetches JS, executes it, draws result.
gollark: There is an ADDITIONAL NETWORK ROUND TRIP!

See also

References
  1. "3b1 FAQ". unixpc.org. Retrieved 1 August 2019.
  2. Mayer, Alastair J. W. "System Review: The AT&T UNIX PC" (PDF). Byte. No. May 1986. pp. 254–262. Retrieved 2019-08-01.
  3. Howitt, Doran (1984-04-08). "At Last, AT&T's 7300/Unix PC". Infoworld. p. 17. Retrieved 2019-08-01.
  4. AT&T, Select Code 999-601-311IS, AT&T UNIX PC Owner's Manual (1986)
  5. Satchell, Stephen (1985-09-23). "A Look at Software for AT&T's Unix PC". Infoworld. pp. 32–33. Retrieved 2019-07-30.
  6. http://unixpc.taronga.com/games/
  7. http://unixpc.taronga.com/comp.sources.3b1/volume01/
  8. http://unixpc.taronga.com/misc/
  9. http://unixpc.taronga.com/STORE/
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