Difference between revisions of "Besta-88"

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The '''Besta-88''' is a Soviet graphics [[workstation]] which was a clone of a Force-3 (German) which itself is a clone of [[Sun-3]]. The firmware of a Besta-88 is essentially the same, and the circuit board layout is almost exactly the same. Reverse engineering at its finest.
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The '''Besta-88''' is a Soviet graphics [[workstation]] which was a clone of a Force-3 (German) which itself is a clone of [[Sun-3]]. The [[firmware]] of a Besta-88 is essentially the same, and the [[printed circuit board]] layout is almost exactly the same. Reverse engineering at its finest.
  
The Force-2 is a clone of the Sun-2, and while the Force-3 was intended as a clone of the Sun-3 the engineering was difficult to reverse the custom MMU of the Sun-2. The Besta-88 VME earliest CPU boards were like the Force-2 with a 68010R10 processor, and like Force, Besta skipped over the Sun-3's use of a 68020 and custom Memory Management Unit, and refocused on cloning the MC68030 based members of the Sun-3 family, since the MMU was built into the CPU, it could be cloned much more easily.
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The Force-2 is a clone of the [[Sun-2]], and while the Force-3 was intended as a clone of the Sun-3 the engineering was difficult to reverse the custom [[Memory Management]] Unit of the Sun-2. The Besta-88 VME earliest CPU boards were like the Force-2 with a 68010R10 processor, and like Force, Besta skipped over the Sun-3's use of a [[MC68020]] and custom MMU, and refocused on cloning the [[MC68030]] based members of the Sun-3 family, since the MMU was built into the CPU, it could be cloned much more easily.
  
The MAME developers, in dumping the ROMs for the Force-3 workstations noticed that the Besta-88 roms were nearly indetical, making the emulation of a Besta-88 trivial once a Force-3 workstation can be emulated.
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The MAME developers, in dumping the [[ROM]]s for the Force-3 workstations noticed that the Besta-88 ROMs were nearly indentical, making the [[emulation]] of a Besta-88 trivial once a Force-3 workstation can be emulated.
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:"Hmm, I just added the official ROM:s for the ISCSI-1 VME board and they look very similar to the ROM:s from the Besta 88 computer"
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*[https://forums.bannister.org/ubbthreads.php?ubb=showflat&Number=101333&page=all Besta-88 ROM Dumps]
  
 
There are pictures of the case, various pictures of CPU [[VME]] boards, and a single picture of a [[booting]] (or non-booting as the case may be) system.
 
There are pictures of the case, various pictures of CPU [[VME]] boards, and a single picture of a [[booting]] (or non-booting as the case may be) system.
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* [https://link.springer.com/chapter/10.1007%2F978-3-642-74230-9_2 Stollmann is still listed in Berlin: They authored a paper on Data flow archicture]
 
* [https://link.springer.com/chapter/10.1007%2F978-3-642-74230-9_2 Stollmann is still listed in Berlin: They authored a paper on Data flow archicture]
  
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* [http://ftp.stu.neva.ru/besta/sysv-misc/docs-html-koi8.tar.gz The documentation - Russian]
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[[Category: Workstations]]
 
[[Category: Workstations]]

Revision as of 04:39, 18 September 2019

The Besta-88 is a Soviet graphics workstation which was a clone of a Force-3 (German) which itself is a clone of Sun-3. The firmware of a Besta-88 is essentially the same, and the printed circuit board layout is almost exactly the same. Reverse engineering at its finest.

The Force-2 is a clone of the Sun-2, and while the Force-3 was intended as a clone of the Sun-3 the engineering was difficult to reverse the custom Memory Management Unit of the Sun-2. The Besta-88 VME earliest CPU boards were like the Force-2 with a 68010R10 processor, and like Force, Besta skipped over the Sun-3's use of a MC68020 and custom MMU, and refocused on cloning the MC68030 based members of the Sun-3 family, since the MMU was built into the CPU, it could be cloned much more easily.

The MAME developers, in dumping the ROMs for the Force-3 workstations noticed that the Besta-88 ROMs were nearly indentical, making the emulation of a Besta-88 trivial once a Force-3 workstation can be emulated.

"Hmm, I just added the official ROM:s for the ISCSI-1 VME board and they look very similar to the ROM:s from the Besta 88 computer"

There are pictures of the case, various pictures of CPU VME boards, and a single picture of a booting (or non-booting as the case may be) system.

Images

External Links