Olympia People User manual

O OLYMPIA

Introduction
Design and Contents of Guide
How to Use This Manual

Introduction
In t r odu c ti o n
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This is the User Installation and
Training Guide for the PEOPLE
Personal Microcomputer. It is
designed to explain everything
you need to know in order to use
the PEOPLE. We have made
every effort to describe things in
easy-to-understand terminology.
The Guide is divided into five sec
tions plus an appendix. Read
these sections in the suggested
order, and you will be ready to
begin using whatever software
you purchased for your particular
application—word processing, ac
counting, data management, etc.
The NOTES include helpful hints,
warnings and other useful infor
mation to keep you on the right
track while proceeding. Screen
messages are in an easily
recognizable typeface to keep you
in synch with the PEOPLE Per
sonal Microcomputer as you work
through the manual.
Section 1 is an overview of
PEOPLE’S hardware components.
Section 2 contains installation
and hook up procedures.
In Section 3 you will learn how to
start up the system in order to
begin working with your applica
tion package. This section also
contains information on handling
diskettes.
The CP/M-86 operating system
is described in Section 4, as well
as some of the command pro
grams offered in the operating
system.
Section 5 contains test
programs.
The Appendix includes code
tables, tables with the standard
abbreviations for ASCII charac
ters, technical data and a list
of accessories and consumer
products.
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People System Overview
• General Information
• Components
• Main Unit
• Keyboard
• Display

People System Overview
In t r od uc t io n
The first section of the User
Guide gives you an overview of
the basic hardware configuration
of the PEOPLE Personal Micro
computer. This overview will
enable you to:
• Recognize some of the many
benefits of the PEOPLE
Personal Microcomputer
• Identify the components of the
PEOPLE Personal Micro
computer
• Learn how they work together
G e n e r a l
Information
The Olympia PEOPLE Personal
Microcomputer is a powerful
16-bit computer for data and text
processing jobs in small,
medium-size and large com
panies.
PEOPLE offers solutions to
business professionals, small
business owners and corporate
management executives. The
PEOPLE Personal Microcomputer
can solve problems in the areas
of accounting, word processing,
law and the medical profession,
among others. In the business
realm the processing speed of
the 16-bit PEOPLE achieves high
throughput and therefore, quick
response times. In the technical
and scientific area, extensive
calculations can be carried out
quickly. Here are the principal
advantages:
PEOPLE brings electronic data
processing directly to the
workplace.
PEOPLE furnishes managers
immediately with all important
technical information.
PEOPLE makes a direct exchange
of information possible within the
company.
PEOPLE significantly reduces
turnaround times in preparing
financial statements, general
ledgers and many other account
ing applications.
PEOPLE offers scientific infor
mation possibilities with decen
tralized information processing.
The well-coordinated range of
memory sizes, diskette and hard
disk capacities and the flexible
expansion possibilities allow you
to continually adapt PEOPLE to
your new demands and growing
amounts of data.
The modular concept of PEOPLE
offers the advantage of expan
sion and adaptation through
direct assembly at the work
station.
The total software of the micro
computer functions under the
control of an operating system.
The CP/M-86 operating system
comes standard with PEOPLE.
Programs can be generated in
the programming languages
CBASIC, Pascal and COBOL.
The number of programming
languages which can be imple
mented is being continuously
expanded.
2/1

Components
In its standard configuration, the
PEOPLE Personal Microcomputer
consists of:
• the Main Unit (16-bit Intel 8086
microprocessor)
• a detached, ergonomically
designed Keyboard
• a detached, tilt and swivel
Display
• a 1,3M byte Dual Disk Drive
• 128K RAM
• a Parallel Interface
Following is a brief description of
the characteristics of the main
unit, keyboard and screen. More
detailed specifications on these
and the other components are
contained in the Appendix. Again,
refer to Section 5 for software
information.
• a Serial Interface
• Operating systems and other 3¾¾7
software (Refer to Section 5)
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PE O P LE M ai n U ni t
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Most of the electronics are
located in the basic version on
two printed circuit boards. It oper
ates on the INTEL 8086, a 16-bit
microprocessor. A microprocessor
is one of the principal compo
nents of a microcomputer. It is
usually a single silicon chip (in
tegrated circuit), containing
microscopic switches used to
register the presence or absence
of electronic information. It
“ handles” all the instructions to
and from the central processing
unit.
The main unit contains two 5 1/2
inch floppy disk drives, each with
a 655K byte capacity. Disk drives
are the two slots in the front of
the main unit. They are used to
read data from or write data to
the diskettes. You’ll find a com
plete description of diskettes in
Section 2.
A parallel and an RS 232C serial
interface are also provided in the
base unit. Interfaces are devices
which contain the electronic
circuits necessary to physically
connect the microprocessor to
another device, such as a key
board or printer.
A parallel interface transmits all
the data bits simultaneously over
separate data paths, whereas a
serial interface transfers data
items one after another in
sequence over a single data
path. Parallel operation is faster
but requires more equipment and
is limited in distance, while serial
operation is slower, but can travel
further across communications
lines.
t
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PEOPLE Ke y bo a rd
The 91-key keyboard is free
standing. It is connected to the
main unit by a coil cable. In addi
tion to the alphanumeric keys,
you also have access to special
characters, 12 freely program
mable function keys, a separate
numeric keypad and 5 cursor
control keys.
2 A

PE OP L E D i s pl ay
(monoehromat ic)
L
The PEOPLE Personal Micro
computer is an ergonomically
designed, high-density, nonglare
screen. It tilts and swivels to
allow you to place it in the most
comfortable position.
Be sure to place it on its base
with the base free to move in all
directions. The display is
connected to the main unit via a
plug-in connecting cable. An
on/off switch, a brightness control
and a contrast regulator can be
operated separately for even
greater comfort.
The screen has 128K bytes of its
own memory and provides under
lining, inverse video and four
levels of intensity. Two modes of
operation are possible—character
mode for rapid text transmission/
display and a bit-map mode for
dot by dot graphics transmission/
display (640 x 475 pixels).
In the next chapter you’ll learn
how to install the system.
2/5

Installation
of the System
Repacking Instructions
Assembling the Components
Which Plug Where?
Display Control Knobs

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Installation of the System
In t r od uc t io n
Now that you are familiar with the
hardware components that fit
together to make up the basic
PEOPLE Personal Microcomputer
System, let’s proceed to the next
step—installing this system.
In this section you will cover:
• How to repack the PEOPLE
Personal Microcomputer
• How to connect the components
• How to plug in your PEOPLE
Personal Microcomputer
• Regulating the display control
knobs
Refer to the photographs to see
where each plug should be
connected in order to join the
components you have just
learned about.

Repacking
Instructions
Styrofoam section,
left
As you now know, PEOPLE is
shipped in two individual cartons.
The packing order is illustrated
below. Should you need to ship
the system again, be sure that it
is repacked according to this
order. This will help prevent
damage to the components.
After unpacking, check to make
sure that no accessory (connect
ing cable, diskette, documents) is
left in the packing material (see
repacking instructions).
Save the cardboard sheets,
which were inserted in the disk
drives as a transport safety
device. They should not be
thrown away since they can be
used to protect the read and write
heads if the computer is to be
shipped again.
Styrofoam section,
right
I • 1
I («mumm m um m |
Swivel base
Swivel base
Olympia carton
3/2

Styrofoam cover
Power cord
Styrofoam
upper section
People manual
Keytops (special parts
for the various countries)
Diskettes
Envelope (special parts)
Operating system
Connection cable (special part)
for printer
Styrofoam center
section A
Connection cable
for display
Keyboard
Styrofoam center
section B
with recess
for keyboard