IBM PS/55 explained

Personal System/55
Aka:パーソナルシステム/55
Developer:IBM
Manufacturer:IBM Fujisawa (PS/2 line),
Matsushita Electric Industrial (5550 line)
Type:Professional Computer
Discontinued:2001[1]
Os:Japanese DOS (K3.3 - J5.0)
PC DOS (3.3 -)
DOS/V
OS/2
Windows 3.x
Predecessor:IBM 5550
IBM JX

The or PS/55 is a personal computer series released from IBM Japan in 1987.

The PS/55 is the successor to IBM 5550 (Multistation 5550), but its architecture is based upon IBM PS/2. The first line-up of the series consisted of rebranded 5550 models except the Model 5570-S which was based on the PS/2 Model 80 (IBM 8580). Unlike the PS/2, most PS/55-based models have a 32-bit (80386 or 80486) CPU and Micro Channel (MCA) bus for the high-end business computing market. IBM Japan was hesitating to sell personal computers for consumers because the IBM JX failed.[2] The AT bus model was released for home users in 1991.

Features

Display Adapter

The MCA video card called Display Adapter has a Japanese font containing nearly 7,000 glyphs stored in its ROM, which enables PS/2-based computers to display Japanese text without loading the font into memory. Similar to the IBM 5550, the display resolution in character mode is 1040×725 pixels (12×24 and 24×24 pixel Mincho font, 80×25 text) in 8 colors. The graphics mode is 1024×768 pixels in 16 colors. This is the same resolution as 8514/A and XGA/A, but not compatible.

The first Display Adapter was installed in the model 5570-S, also known as the first Micro Channel machine of PS/55. It had a compatibility problem with PS/2 applications. Since the model 5550-S released in 1988, the Display Adapter II that improved the PS/2 compatibility was introduced. In the boot sequence, the Display Adapter enables VGA on the motherboard, and it passes the video signal from the motherboard to adapter's VGA connector. When using Japanese DOS, VGA is disabled, and the Display Adapter switches its video selector from VGA to own video chip. In addition, it added the 256 color mode (1024×768 pixels in 256 colors chosen from 262,144 colors). The adapter has 1 MB of video RAM, and 256 KB of RAM for user-defined characters.[3]

Most PS/2-based models have compatibility with the Display Adapter II. VGA and the following display modes are supported:

Later, XGA and VGA-only models were released. These later machines cannot run the special Japanese DOS, instead requiring the use of DOS/V with software-rendered kanji.

JIS layout keyboard

The following keyboards have the PS/2 port. These keyboards have new scancode sets (81h, 82h, 8Ah) to support additional keys for Japanese input method.

Models

YearNameModelCPUBusGraphicsCase
1987PS/555570-SIntel 80386DX 16MHzMCAD/ATower
1988PS/555550-SIntel 80386DX 16MHzMCAD/ADesktop
1988PS/555550-TIntel 80386DX 20MHzMCAD/ADesktop
1988PS/555570-TIntel 80386DX 20MHzMCAD/ATower
1989PS/555550-VIntel 80386DX 25MHzMCAD/ADesktop
1989PS/555570-VIntel 80386DX 25MHzMCAD/ATower
1989PS/555530-TIntel 80386DX 20MHzMCAD/ADesktop with integrated display
1989PS/55Z5530Z SXIntel 80386SX 20MHzMCAD/ADesktop with integrated display
1990PS/555535-SIntel 80386SX 16MHzMCAVGALaptop
1990PS/555540-TIntel 80386SX 20MHzMCAD/ADesktop
1990PS/555545-TIntel 80386DX 20MHzMCAD/AIntegrated Plasma Display
1990PS/555560-WIntel 80486 25MHzMCAD/ADesktop
1990PS/555580-YIntel 80486 33MHzMCAD/ATower
1991PS/55Z5510SIntel 80386SX 16MHzATVGADesktop
1991PS/55Z5510TIntel 80386DX 20MHzMCAVGADesktop
1991PS/55Z5510ZIntel 80286 12MHzATVGADesktop
1991PS/55note5523SIntel 80386SX 12MHzATVGANotebook
1991PS/555530-UIntel 80386SX 20MHzMCAXGADesktop with integrated display
1991PS/555530-VIBM 386SLC 20MHzMCAD/ADesktop with integrated display
1991PS/555560-WIntel 486SX 25MHzMCAD/ADesktop
1991PS/555580-WIntel 486SX 25MHzMCAD/ATower
1992PS/555551-WIntel 486SX 20MHzMCAXGADesktop
1992PS/55Z5530-UIBM 386SLC 20MHzMCAXGADesktop with integrated display
1992PS/555530-WIntel 486SX 20MHzMCAXGADesktop with integrated display
1992PS/555560-NIntel 486DX2 66MHzMCAXGADesktop
1992PS/55note9552-YIBM 486SLC 25MHzMCAVGANotebook
1992PS/5595 XP 486Intel 486DX 50MHzMCAXGATower
1993PS/555521-YIntel 486SX 33MHzMCAD/A / SVGADesktop
1993PS/555551-LIBM 486DLC2 66MHzMCAD/A / XGADesktop
1993PS/555551-NIntel 486DX2 66MHzMCAD/A / XGADesktop
1993PS/555551-YIntel 486SX 33MHzMCAD/A / XGADesktop
1993PS/55 Server95Intel Pentium 66MHzMCAXGATower
1994PS/555530-LIBM 486DLC2 66MHzMCAD/A / XGADesktop with integrated display
1994PS/555551-RIntel 486DX2 66MHzMCAD/A / XGADesktop

Competitors

See also

Further reading

External links

Notes and References

  1. Web site: マルチステーション、ＰＳ／Ｖ、ＰＳ／２、ＰＳ／５５の一部保守活動中止の発表. 19 November 2008 . Some model of Multistation, PS/V, PS/2, PS/55 End of Life Announcement. IBM Japan. June 7, 2016. Japanese.
  2. Book: 戸塚, 正康. 日本IBMのパソコン新戦略. 日本工業新聞社. 1991. 4-8191-0856-5. 111–113. ja. PS/2とPS/55が誕生.
  3. 1988. 特集 最新機種レポート'88 : PS/2互換の日本語マシン 日本アイ・ビー・エム IBM パーソナルシステム/55 モデル5550-S/T モデル5570-T. ASCII. ja. ASCII Corporation. 12. 7. 158–163. 0386-5428.
  4. "IBM 20万円を切った低価格DOS／V専用パソコン登場"(May 7, 1991), Retrieved June 2, 2016
  5. Web site: IBM 20万円を切った低価格DOS／V専用パソコン登場 . 1991-05-07. https://web.archive.org/web/20180218024111/http://www-06.ibm.com/jp/press/1991/05072.html . 2018-02-18.
  6. 1988. ASCII EXPRESS : 日本IBMがIBM PS/2互換の80386マシン3機種を発表 英語版OS/2用アプリケーションもすべて動作可能に. ASCII. ja. ASCII Corporation. 12. 6. 0386-5428.
  7. Web site: PS/55 5535S (5535-S04). 2021-04-28. www.mars.dti.ne.jp.

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