Iyonix PC explained

Iyonix PC
Developer:Castle Technology
Manufacturer:Castle Technology
Releasedate:[1]
Discontinued:[2] [3] [4]
Media:CD-RW, floppy disk
Os:RISC OS, Linux
Cpu:ARMv5 XScale
Graphics:Nvidia video card
Predecessor:Risc PC, A9home
Successor:Touch Book, ARMini

The Iyonix PC was an Acorn-clone personal computer sold by Castle Technology and Iyonix Ltd between 2002 and 2008. According to news site Slashdot, it was the first personal computer to use Intel's XScale processor.[5] It ran .[6]

History

The Iyonix originated as a secret project by Pace engineers in connection with development of set-top boxes (STBs), and has been noted as a successor to the .[7] Pace had a licence to develop RISCOS Ltd's OS sources for use in the STB market. The Iyonix was developed under the code name Tungsten and uses, which is a version of RISC OS that supports ARM CPUs with 32-bit addressing modes. The sources and hardware design were subsequently acquired by Castle, who developed them into the final product.[8] Castle continued to keep the project a secret, requiring developers to sign a non-disclosure agreement. Information was distributed to such developers via a confidential section of the website.[9] Customers were occasionally able to buy the computer as a bare bones system for self-assembly.[10]

After speculation on the usenet newsgroups, a website for the hardware was spotted in mid October 2002.[11] Units first went on sale in December 2002.[12] Prices started from £1249.[13]

Castle ceased production of the Iyonix after the July 2006 introduction in the UK of the RoHS Regulations. The design was not compliant[14] and Castle did not redesign the Iyonix. Sales continued for another two years via a newly established company, Iyonix Ltd, which enabled Castle itself to circumvent the regulations.

On 25 September 2008, Castle announced that production of the Iyonix had ceased and that new units would no longer be available to order.[15]

Features

Features include:

It was the first time substantial changes had been made to the platform since the release of the Risc PC in 1994. All interim machines had been built on the ARM7500 system on a chip, which was widely regarded as a single-chip Risc PC. (It incorporated the memory controller, video, sound, IO and CPU logic of a Risc PC, leaving only memory and disc interfacing to be added.)

The presence of PCI and USB capabilities, as well as the retained "podule" bus, attracted comparisons to Acorn's aborted Phoebe PC; however, such comparisons should be tempered with Phoebe's proposed feature set, which retained VIDC and 26-bit mode, and although Phoebe was intended to be capable of SMP configurations, its proposed shipping configuration had been for one SA110 CPU.

External links

Notes and References

  1. Iyonix at RISC OS South-East . Mr J Sawyer . 22 October 2002 . comp.sys.acorn.announce . ap.669a7c4b89.a701a0a.m.conroy@argonet.co.uk . 10 March 2011.
  2. Web site: Iyonix Range Taken Off the Market . . 2008-09-29 . 18 August 2011 . Holwerda, Thom . A huge blow to the already small RISC OS market and community: Castle Technology has announced that the Iyonix range of ARM-based RISC OS computers will be taken off the market after 30th September..
  3. IYONIX Ltd . 2011-03-10 . 2008-09-25 . Drobe . IOYONIX Ltd would like to announce that from the 30th September 2008 it will not be possible to order an IYONIX computer. . dead . https://web.archive.org/web/20081209115940/http://www.drobe.co.uk/extra/PR07-IYONIXproductiontocease.txt . 9 December 2008.
  4. IYONIX Press Release . John Ballance . 30 September 2008 . comp.sys.acorn.announce . slrnge59v4.76r.ngb@compsoc.dur.ac.uk . 10 March 2011.
  5. Web site: First Desktop Computer To Use Intel's XScale . . 7 December 2002 . 9 January 2012 . Chamberlain, Ian . "Drobe, the leading RISC OS portal, has reported the release of Iyonix, the first desktop computer to use Intel's XScale processor..
  6. Web site: Proven . Liam . 2006-10-20 . . RISC OS six appears, only a couple of years late . 2011-06-28 . 6 November 2009 . https://web.archive.org/web/20091106005205/http://www.theinquirer.net/inquirer/news/1039769/risc-os-appears-couple-late . dead . RO5 [...] appeared at the end of 2002. [...] put together a new, 32-bit ARM machine, the Iyonix..
  7. Book: Lewin A. R. W. Edwards. So, You Wanna Be an Embedded Engineer: The Guide to Embedded Engineering, from Consultancy to the Corporate Ladder. 7 January 2013. 18 July 2006. Newnes. 978-0-7506-7953-4. 139–.
  8. Web site: Iyonix RIP. 2011-06-17. 2008. Foundation RISCWorld.
  9. Web site: IYONIX is Born.... 2011-06-17. Foundation RISCWorld. The Tungsten developer Web site was used to distribute information to developers [...] Everybody involved in the Tungsten project, as it was known, had to sign a strict Non-Disclosure Agreement [...].
  10. Web site: DIY Iyonix kit available again . 2011-06-28 . Williams . Chris . 2004-12-02 . . Castle are once again selling DIY Iyonix motherboard kits, allowing users to save cash by building Iyonix computers themselves. [...] exactly like the DIY kit they offered in October..
  11. News: WOOT! It's a 32bit XScale RISC OS PC! . . 17 October 2002 . 23 January 2012 . Williams, Chris . A quick browse to Castle's website shows a link to Iyonix PC -- what's this? [...] It seems that the rumour mill that was bandied around on Usenet recently has some reality behind it. [...].
  12. Web site: Redirecting to Google Groups .
  13. Web site: Redirecting to Google Groups.
  14. Web site: Holwerda . Thom . Iyonix Banned by New EU Green Law . 2011-06-28 . 2006-08-01 . . The computer's motherboard will require a costly resdesign in order to meet the requirements of the new RoHS rules, especially to meet the low-lead levels in the PCB solder, say contacts close to Castle..
  15. Web site: Holwerda . Thom . Iyonix Range Taken Off the Market . 2011-06-28 . 2008-09-29 . . Castle Technology has announced that the Iyonix range of ARM-based RISC OS computers will be taken off the market after 30th September..
  16. Web site: New RISC OS machine coming soon . https://web.archive.org/web/20091102072803/http://www.theinquirer.net/inquirer/news/1022447/new-risc-os-machine-coming-soon . dead . 2 November 2009 . 2011-06-27 . Proven . Liam . 2005-11-22 . . The Iyonix is a standard ATX motherboard with an nVidia graphics card [...].
  17. http://www.drobe.co.uk/article.php?id=673 Iyonix Linux port established | Drobe.co.uk archives
  18. News: Iyonix USB 2 - review . . 3 February 2005 . 2 February 2012 . Mellor, Phil.

This article is licensed under the GNU Free Documentation License. It uses material from the Wikipedia article "Iyonix PC".

Except where otherwise indicated, Everything.Explained.Today is © Copyright 2009-2024, A B Cryer, All Rights Reserved. Cookie policy.