Date   : Thu, 03 May 2007 04:05:12 -0500
From   : julesrichardsonuk@... (Jules Richardson)
Subject: Arthur on 5.25" media...

Pete Turnbull wrote:
 > Springboard is the hardware, which came in two versions, differing only
 > in memory size.

One of mine has the expansion connector and an IOC chip on it, too.
(It's times like this when I think there must have been all sorts of 
interesting software around for hardware like this, which has now vanished)

> But if Brazil was the on-board software for 
> Springboard (and that does sound familiar) and possibly the codename for 
> the equivalent Executive/supervisor software on an ARM Evaluation System 
> for a Beeb, then why would it also be associated with an A680, which was 
> a Unix development system that came much later?

The short answer is that it isn't :-) That was just initial speculation / 
misremembering on my part, before I could get at the machine with all my ROM 
dumps on it (see other message). There's no mention of Brazil in the A680 ROM 
(and the ROM set is a much larger 512KB in size, of which about 220KB is used).

The M4 and the Springboard(s) run Brazil. The AES looks like it might run a 
modified (unbranded :-) version of Brazil, going by your recent email. I'm not 
sure about Sprow's 16KB Brazil ROM - unless that came either from an A500 
(second processor) or A500 (standalone machine with optional TUBE podule).

cheers

Jules