Intertec Data Systems Superbrain User manual
USERS
MANUAL
FOR
INTERTEC'S
5UPE~BRAlNTM
VIDEOCOMPUTER SYSTEM
.IMPORTANT NOTICE
This version
of
the SuperBrain
Users
Manual
is
intended
for
use
with
the
..
SuperBrain or
Sup~rBrain
OD Video Computer Systems. However,.this manual
is
applicable
only
for
those unfts
with
.Revision-Ot
of
the·
Keyboarq/d~u
module,
and
version3.0
or.h
ighe,rof the DOS and
boot
loader. If-ypu
hav~
a
Revision-OO
:,
..
Keyboard/CPU module, then
use
only the First
or
Second Edition
of
this manual.
Docum~nt
No.68~1010
.
. September
19?O
This
is
the fourth edition
of
this manual.
Your
warranty registration form must
be
returned
promptly
to
assure
receipt
of
future revisions,
if
any,
to
this document.
***
IMPORTANT
***
Do
not
attempt
to
write
or
save
programs
on
your
system diskette.
It
has
been
'write
protected'
by
placing a small adhesive aluminum strip over the notch on the right hand
side
of
the diskette. Such attempts will result in a
'WRITE'
or
'BAD
SECTOR' error.
Before using
your
SuperBrain
please
copy the System Diskette onto a new blank diskette -
an
(ntertec 1121010 diskette.
If
you do
not
have
such
a diskette, contact you local dealer.
He
should
be
able
to
supply you
with
one.
If
you
have
any questions concerning this
procedure
please
contact
your
dealer before proceeding. Failure
to
do
so
may result in
permanent
damage
to
your
System Diskette.
BEFORE APPLYING
POWER
TO THE
MACHINE
INSURE
THAT
NO
DISKETTES ARE
INSERTED
INTO
THE MACHINE. NEVER TURN THE MACHINE
ON OR
OFF WITH
DISKETTES INSERTED IN IT.
FAILURE
TO OBSERVE THIS PRECAUTION
WILL
MOST
DEFINITELY
RESULT
IN
DAMAGE TO THE DISKETTES.
CONFIDENTIAL
AND
PROPRIETARY INFORMATION
Information
presented in this manual
is
furnished
for
customer reference
only
and
is
subject
to
change.
This document
is
the
property
of
Intertec Data Systems Corporation, Columbia,
South Carolina, and contains confidential and trade secret
information.
This
information
may
not
be
transferred
from
the custody
or
control
of
Intertec
except
as
authorized
by
Intertec and then
only
by
way
of
loan
for
limited
purposes.
It
must
not
be
reproduced in whole
or
in part and must
be
returned
to
Intertec upon request and in all events upon completion
of
the purpose
of
the
loan.
Neither this document nor the
information
it
contains may
be
used
or
disclosed
to
persons
not
having a need
for
such
use
or
disclosure consistent
with
the
pu
rpose
of
the loan
without
the
prior
express
written
consent
of
Intertec.
COPYRIGHT
1980
The
following
is
a trademark
of
Intertec Data Systems Corporation, Columbia,
South Carolina:
SUPERBRAIN
INTERTEC
DATA
SYSTEMS CORPORATION
Columbia, South Carolina
THE SUPERBRAIN VIDEO COMPUTER SYSTEM
CONGRATULATIONSON YOUR PURCHASE
OF
INTERTEC'S SUPERBRAIN
VIDEO COMPUTER SYSTEM
Your
new SuperBrain Video
Computer
was
manufactured at Intertec's new 120,000 square
foot
plant
in Columbia, South Carolina under stringent
quality
control
procedures
to
insure
trouble-free operation
for
many years.
If
you should encounter
difficulties
with
the
use
or
operation
of
your
terminal,
contact
the dealer
from
whom the
unit
was
purchased
for
instructions regarding the proper servicing techniques. If service cannot
be
made available
through
your
dealer, contact Intertec's Customer
S.ervice
Department at (803) 798-9100.
As
with
all Intertec products,
we
would appreciate any comments you may
have
regarding
your
evaluation and application
for
this equipment. For
your
convenience,
we
have
enclosed
a customer comment card at the end
of
this manual.
Please
address
your
comments
to:
Product Services Manager
Intertec Data Systems Corporation
2300 Broad River Road
Columbia, South Carolina 29210
The SuperBrain
is
distributed
worldwide
through a
network
of
dealer/OEM vendors and
through Intertec's own marketing facilities. Contact
us
at
(803) 798-9100 (TWX -810-
666-2115) regarding
your
requirement
for
this and
other
Intertec products.
Intertec's
new
one
hundred
and
twenty
thousand square
foot
corporate and
manufilt'wriny
fi}(:iliry
in
Columbia, South Carolina
WILL
THE
MICROCOMPUTER YOU BUY
TODAY
STILL
BE
THE
BEST MICROCOMPUTER BUY TOMORROW?
Probably the best test in determining
how
to
spend
your
microcomputer
dollar
wisely
is
to
consider the overall versatility
of
your
terminal purchase over the
next
three
to
five years. In the fast-paced, ever-changing world··
of
data
communications, new features
to
increase operator and machine efficiency are
introduced
into
the marketplace daily.
We
at
Intertec
are
acutely aware
of
this
rapid infusion
of
new
ideas
into
the small systems business. As a result,
we
have
designed the SuperBrain in such a manner
as
to
virtually
eliminate the possibility
of
obsolescence.
Many competitive alternatives
to
the SuperBrain available today provide
only
limited
capability
for
high level programming and system expansion. Indeed, most
low-cost
microcomputer
systems presently available
quickly
become outdated
because
of
the
inability
to
expand the system. Intertec, however, realizes
that
increased demands
for
more
efficient
utilization
of
programming makes system
expansion capability mandatory.
That
means a
lot.
Because
the more you
use
your
SuperBrain, the more
you'll
discover its adaptability
to
virtually
any small
system requirement. Extensive
use
of
"software-oriented"
design concepts instead·
of
conventional
"hardware"
designs
assure
you
of
compatibility
with
almost any
application
for
which you intend
to
use
the SuperBrain.
Once you
read
our
operator's manual and
tryout
some
of
the features described
herein, we are
confident
that
you
too
will
agree
with
our
"top
performance -
bottom
dollar"
approach
to
manufacturing. The SuperBrain offers you many
more extremely flexible features at a lower cost than any
other
microcomputer
we
know
of
on the
market
today. The
use
of
newly developed technologies,
efficient
manufacturing
processes
and consumer-oriented marketing programs
enables
us
to
be
the
first
and
only
major manufacturer
to
offer
such
an
incredible
breakthrough in the
microcomputer
marketplace.
Browse through
our
operator's manual and sit
down
in
front
of
a SuperBrain
for
a
few
hours. Then,
let
us
know
what
you
think
about
our
new system. There
is
a
customer
comment
card enclosed in· the rear section
of
this manual
for
your
convenience.
Thank you
for
selecting the SuperBrain
as
your
choice
for
a
microcomputer
system.
We
hope you
will
be
selecting
it
many more times in the future.
TABLE
OF
CONTENTS
INTRODUCTION
MAJOR COMPONENTS
SYSTEM OPERATION
INTRODUCTION TO CP/M FEATURES & FACILITIES
OPERATION OF THE CP/M CONTEXT EDITOR
CP/M 2.0 USER'S GUIDE
FOR
CP/M 1.4 OWNERS
OPERATION
OF
THE CP/M DEBUGGER
OPERATION
OF
THE CP/M ASSEMBLER
THE CP/M 2.0 INTERFACE GUIDE
THE CP/M 2.0 SYSTEM
ALTERATION
GUIDE
MICROSOFT BASIC 80 REFERENCE
MANUAL
MICROSOFT
UTILITY
SOFTWARE
MANUAL
SERVICE INFORMATION
HARDWAREADDENDUMS
SOFTWAREADDENDUMS
Section
1
Section
2
Section
3
Section
4
Section
5
-
Section
6
Section
7
Section
8
Section
9
Section
10
Section
11
Section
12
I
Section
13
Section
14
Section
15
•
INTRODUCTION
)
..
Page
6
INTRODUCTION
The SuperBrain
Video
Computer
System represents the latest technological advances in
the
microprocessor industry. The universal
adaptability
of
the
SuperBrain
CP/M*
Disk
Operating System satisfies the general purpose requirement
for
a
low
cost, high performance
microcomputer
system.
From the
standpoint
of
human engineering,
the
SuperBrain
has
been
designed
to
minimize
operator fatigue
through
the
use
of
a
typewriter-oriented
keyboard and a remarkably clear
display. The SuperBrain displays a total
of
1,920 characters arranged in 24 lines
with
80
characters per line. The video display
is
usually crisp
and
sharp due
to
Intertec's
own
specially designed video driver
circuitry.
And,
the high
quality,
non-glare etched
CRT
face
plate featured on every SuperBrain
assures
ease
of
viewing and
uniformity
of
brightness
throughout
the entire screen.
The SuperBrain's
unique
internal design
assures
users
of
exceptional performance
for
just
a
fraction
of
what
they
would
expect
to
pay
for
such
"big
system"
capabilities. The
SuperBrain utilizes a single board
"microprocessor"
design which combines all processor,
RAM,
ROM, disk
controller,
and communications electronics on the
same
printed
circuit
board. This
type
of
design engineering enables the SuperBrain
to
deliver superior,
competitive
performance.
Standard features
of
every SuperBrain include:
two
double-density, single-sided
mini-floppies
with
a
total
of
over
350,000
bytes
formatted
disk storage,
32K
of
dynamic
RAM
memory
-expandable
to
64K
(in one
32K
increment), a universally recognized
CP/M*
Disk Operating System featuring its
own
text
editor,
an
assembler
for
assembly
language programming, a program debugger and a disk
formatter.
Also
standard are dual
universal RS232
communications
ports
for
serial data transmission between a host
computer
network
via modem
or
an
auxiliary
serial
printer.
A number
of
transmission rates up
to
9600
baud
are
available and selectable under program
control.
Other
standard features
of
the SuperBrain include: special operator convenience keys, dual
"restart"
keys
to
insure
simplified
user operation, a
full
numeric keypad
complement,
and a
high
quality
typewriter
compatible
keyboard.
An
optional
low
cost S-100 bus
adaptor
is
available
to
convert the Supel"Brain
Z80A
data bus
into
an
S-100 data and address
compatible
protocol.
The S-100 adaptor accommodates one S-100
printed
circuit
board
which
can
be
mounted
internally.
For
reliability,
the SuperBrain
has
been
designed around 4 basic modules packaged in
an
aesthetically pleasing desk-top
unit.
These
major
components are: the Keyboard/CPU
module, the
power
supply module, the
CRT
assembly, and the disk drives themselves.
Failure
of
any
component
within
the terminal may
be
corrected
by
simply
replacing
only
the defective module. Individual modules
are
fastened
to
the chassis in such a manner
to
facilitate
easy
removal and reinstallation. Terminal
down-time
can
be
greatly
minimized
by
simply
"swapping-out"
one
of
the modules and having
component
level repair performed
at
one
of
Intertec's Service Centers. Spare modules may
be
purchased
from
an
Intertec
marketing
office
to
support
those customers
who
maintain
their
own
"in-house"
repair
faciIities.
The SuperBrain's cover assembly
is
exclusively manufactured
"in-house"
by
Intertec. A
high-impact structural-foam material
is
covered
with
a special
"felt-like"
paint
to
enhance
the overall appearance. Since the cover assemblyrs injected-molded, there
is
virtually
no
possibility
of
cracks and disfigurations in the cover itself. And,
by
manufacturing
and
finishing the cover assembly in-house, Intertec
is
able
to
specify
only
high
quality
material
on the external and internal cover components
of
your
SuperBrain
to
insure unparalleled
durability
over the years
to
come.
'CP/M
is a
registered
trademark
of
Digital
Research
Page
7
INTRODUCTION (continued)
A wide variety
of
programming
tools
and
options
are
either planned
or
available
for
the
SuperBrain. Standard software development
tools
available
from
Intertec include Basic,
Fortran
and Cobol programming languages. A wide variety
of
applications packages (general
ledger, accounts receivable,
payroll,
inventory,
word
processing, etc.)
are
available
to
operate under SuperBrain CP/M Disk Operating System
from
leading software vendors in
the
industry.
Disk storage may
be
increased
by
adding SuperBrain's S-100 bus
adaptor
and
connecting
other
auxiliary
disk
devices,
including
hard disk drives.
And,
another
model
of
the SuperBrain -SuperBrain QD - features
double
density, double-sided disk drives
which
provide over
700,000
bytes
of
formatted data.
The
price/performance
ratio
of
the SuperBrain
has
rarely
been
equalled in this
industry.
By
employing
innovative design techniques, the SuperBrain
is
not
only
able
to
offer
a
competitive
price advantage
but
boasts many features
found
only
in systems costing three
to
five times
as
much. SuperBrain's
twin
Z80A
microprocessors insure
extremely
fast program
execution
even
when faced
with
the
most
difficult
programming tasks.
And,
each
unit
must
pass
a grueling
48
hour
burn-in before
it
is
shipped
to
the Customer. By
combining
advanced
microprocessor
technology
with
in-house
manufacturing
capability
and stringent
quality
control
requirements,
your
SuperBrain should provide unparalleled
reliability
in any
application
into
which
it
is
placed.
CUTAWAY VIEW SHOWING MOUNTING OF MAJOR SUBASSEMBLIES.
FEATURE
CPU
Microprocessors
Word Size
Execution
Time
Machine Instructions
I
nterrupt
Mode
Floppy
Disk
Storage Capacity
Data Transfer Rate
Average Access
Time
Media
Disk Rotation
Internal
Memory
Dynamic RAM
Static RAM
ROM Storage
CRT
Display Size
Display Format
Character
Font
Display Presentation
Page
8
SYSTEM SPECIFICATIONS
DESCRIPTION
Twin
Z80A's
with
4MHZ
Clock Frequency. One
Z80A
(the host processor) performs all processor and screen
related functions. The second
Z80A
is
"down-Ioaded"
by
the host
to
execute disk
I/O.
8 bits
1.0 microseconds register
to
register
158
All
interrupts
are
vectored and reserved.
Over
350K
(700K +
on
SuperBrain
aD)
total
bytes
of
unformatted
data
on
two
double density drives.
Optional external hard disk storage
can
be
connected
using the
optional
S-100 bus adaptor.
250K
bits/second
250 milliseconds.
35
milliseconds track-to-track
514 inch mini-disk
300
RPM
32K
(64K on Superbrain
aD)
bytes dynamic
RAM.
Expandable
to
64K
in one
32K
increment. Optional
32K
is
socketed.
1K bytes
of
static RAM
is
provided in
addition
to
the
main processor RAM. This
memory
is
used
for
program
and/or data storage
for
the auxiliary processor.
2K
bytes standard. Allows ROM
"bootstrapping"
of
system at power-on.
12-inch,
P4
phosphor.
24 lines x 80 characters per line.
5x7 character
matrix
on a 7x10 character field
Light characters· on adark background.
*Specifications
subject
to
chango
without
notice
or
liability.
•
Page
9
SYSTEM SPECIFICATIONS (continued)
FEATURE
Bandwidth
Cursor
Communications
Screen Data Transfer
Main Interface
Auxiliary
Interface
Z80A
Data
Bus
S-100
Bus
Parity
Transmission Mode
Addressable Cursor
System
Utilities
Disk Operating System
DOS
Software
Optional Software
FORTRAN
COBOL
BASIC
DESCRIPTION
15 MHZ.
Reversed
image (block cursor)
Memory-mapped at 38 kilobaud. Serial transmission
of
data at rates up
to
9600 bps.
RS-232C asynchronous. Synchronous interface optional.
Simplified RS-232C asychronous. Synchronous inter-
face optional.
40-pin Data
Bus
connector.
Connector provided
for
connection
of
optional S-100
bus
adaptor.
Choice
of
even,
odd, marking,
or
spacing -under
program control.
Half
or
Full Duplex. One
or
two
stop bits.
Direct Positioning by absolute x, yaddressing.
CP/M 2.2
An 8080 disk assembler, debugger,
text
editor and file
handling utilities.
ANSI standard. Relocatable, random
and
sequential disk
access.
ANSI standard. Relocatable, sequential, relative and
indexed
disk
access.
Sequential
and
random disk
access.
Full string
manipulation, interpreter.
Application
Packages
Extensive software development tools
are
available
from
leading software vendors including software
for
the
following applications: Payroll, Accounts Receivable,
Accounts Payable, Inventory Control, General Ledger
and Word Processing.
Keyboard
Alphanumeric Character Set Generates all 128 upper
and
lower
case
ASCII characters.
'Specifications
subject
to
change
without
notice.
Page
10
SYSTEM SPECIFICATIONS (continued)
FEATURE
Special Featu
res
Numeric
Pad
Cursor Control Keys
Internal Construction
Cabinetry
Component
Layout
Mounting
Environment
Weight
Physical Dimensions
Environment
Power Requirements
DESCRIPTION
2-Key Rollover, Keyboard
lock/unlock
-under program
control.
0-9, decimal point, comma, minus and user-
programmable
function
keys.
Up, down, forward
and
backward.
Structural foam
Four board modular design.
All
processor related
functions and hardware
are
on a single printed
circuit
board.
All
video and power related circuits on separate
single boards.
All
modules mounted
to
base.
CRT in a rigid aluminum
frame. Disk Drive assemblies
are
mounted
into
special
bracket
for
ease
of
servicing.
Approximately
45 pounds.
145/8"
(H) x
21
3/8
(W)
x
231/8
(D)
Operating: 00
to
400 C Storage: 00
to
85
0
C;
10
to
85%
reI.
humidity
-non-condensing.
115 VAC, 60 HZ, 3 AMP (optional
230VAC/50HZ
model available)
'Specifications
subject
to
change
without
notice.
Table of contents
Other Intertec Data Systems Desktop manuals
