Texas Instruments TI-990 Computer System

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The TI-990 was a series of 16-bit minicomputers sold by Texas Instruments  (TI) in the 1970s and 1980s. The TI-990 was a replacement for TI's earlier minicomputer systems, the TI-960 and the TI-980. It had several uniquely innovative features, and was easier to program than its predecessors.

The TI-990 had a unique concept that registers are stored in memory and are referred to through a hard register called the Workspace Pointer. The concept behind the workspace is that main memory was based on the new semiconductor RAM chips that TI had developed and ran at the same speed as the CPU. This meant that it didn't matter if the "registers" were real registers in the CPU or represented in memory. When the Workspace Pointer is loaded with a memory address, that address is the origin of the "registers".

There are three hard registers in the 990; the Workspace Pointer (WP), the Program Counter (PC) and the Status register (ST). A context switch entailed the saving and restoring of only the hard registers. Programmers liked the TI-990 design because it had a fairly orthogonal instruction set which allowed a programmer to separately memorize all of the operations and the methods of accessing operands.

Our rack mount machine not only includes the main minicomputer system but is complete with the:
TI Omni 800 810 RO terminal printer - part no. 0994292-0001
TI Silent 700 ASR Electronic Data Terminal including the T33 ADSR Module - part no. 959389-0001
TI 911 VDT Video Terminal and keyboard.

All were very kindly donated by Richard and Diana Blanden.

Manufacturer: Texas Instruments
Date: 1975



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Texas Instruments TI-990 Computer System Manuals:

Item Manufacturer Date
Various 5.25 Floppy discs in a green folder Texas Instruments Unknown
DX10 Operating System, Release 3 and DX10 Online Diagnostics, Release 2 Texas Instruments Unknown
Index of DX10 Unit Diagnostics and DOCS Systems Release 4.4.0 Texas Instruments Unknown
Release Information, DX10 Online Diagnostics, Object, Release 2.1.0-990 Texas Instruments Unknown
Release Information, DX10 Operating System, Release 3.5.1-990 Texas Instruments Unknown
Release Information, DX10 Products Patch Update Service, Release 3.10.0-990 Texas Instruments Unknown
Release Information, Unit Diagnostics, Release 4.4.0-990 Texas Instruments Unknown
Installation Guide for Release 2.0 of DNOS Texas Instruments Unknown
CDS System Trouble Report Texas Instruments Unknown
AMPL Model 990 Computer Product Documentation Package Texas Instruments Unknown
DX10 Online Diagnosis Self-Study Guide for Operators Texas Instruments Unknown
DX 10 Online Diagnostics Self-Study Guide for Operators Texas Instruments Unknown
TM990 Systems Configuration Student Guide Texas Instruments Unknown
System Software Design in Microprocessor Pascal Texas Instruments Unknown
IEEE-488 BUS interface Design Student Guide Texas Instruments Unknown
Introduction to TMS9900/0 Family System Design Texas Instruments Unknown
Model 990 Computer Assembly Language Programmer's Guide Texas Instruments 1 Jun 1974
Model 990 Computer 16 Input/16 Output TTL Data Module Depot Maintenance Manual Texas Instruments 1 Aug 1976
Field Service System Log Book Texas Instruments 1 Jul 1977
Model 990 Computer DX10 Operating System Release 3 Reference Manual Violume II Production Operation Texas Instruments 15 Mar 1978
Ojmni 800 MJodel 810 Printer Quick Reference Card Texas Instruments Sep 1979
Model 990 Computer DS990 AMPL Software Installation Texas Instruments 1 Oct 1979
PDWS/990 Writer's Guide Texas Instruments 1 Jun 1980
Model 990 Computer Four Channel Communications Controller Texas Instruments 15 Sep 1980
Model 990 Computer PROM Programming Utility User's Guide Texas Instruments 1 Nov 1980
AMPL Microprocesor Prototyping Laboratory Operation Guide Texas Instruments 1 Nov 1980
AMPL Microprocessor Prototyping Command Library Texas Instruments 1 Nov 1980
AMPL Microprocessor Prototyping Labratory Texas Instruments 1 Nov 1980
Model 990/10 Computer System Hardware Reference Manual Texas Instruments 15 Nov 1980
Model CD1400 Disk System Installation and Operation Manual Texas Instruments 1 Feb 1981
Model 990 Computer PROM Programming Module Texas Instruments 1 Feb 1981
Model 990 Computer PROM Programming Module Instalaltion and Operation Texas Instruments 1 Feb 1981
AMPL Laboratory Reference Card Release 2 Texas Instruments Mar 1981
AMPL CRU Expansion Chassis Installation Guide Texas Instruments Mar 1981
Unit Diagnostics Handbook Volume 5 Diagnostics for 990 Industrial Systems Texas Instruments 1 Jul 1981
Unit Diagnostics Handbook Diagnostics for 990 AMPL Systems Volume 7 Texas Instruments 1 Jul 1981
Model 990 Computer DNOS TI Pascal Programmer's Guide Texas Instruments 1 Aug 1981
Model 990 Computer - Model 911 Video Display Terminal - Installation and Operation Texas Instruments 15 Oct 1981
DS990 Models 4 and 6 Through 36 Systems Unpacking and Inventory Guide Texas Instruments 15 Dec 1981
DS990 Models 4 and 6 through 16 Systems Site Preparation Manual Texas Instruments 15 Dec 1981
DS990 Models 4 and 6 Through 16 Systems Unpacking and Inventory Guide Texas Instruments 15 Dec 1981
AMPL DX AMPL Software Release Information Texas Instruments Jan 1982
Release Information FS990 AMPL Software Texas Instruments Jan 1982
Model 990 Computer PROM Programming Module Installation and Operation Texas Instruments 15 Feb 1982
Unit Diagnostics Handbook Volume 6 Diagnostics for 990 Communications interfaces Texas Instruments 1 Aug 1982
DX 10 Online Diagnostics and System Log Analysis Task User's Guide Texas Instruments 1 Sep 1982
Link Editor Reference Manual Texas Instruments 1 Sep 1982
DX10 System Management Texas Instruments 24 Sep 1982
DNOS Messages and Codes Reference Manual Texas Instruments 1 Oct 1982
DNOS Supervisor Call (SVC) Reference Manual Texas Instruments 1 Oct 1982
DNOS Link Editor Reference Manual Texas Instruments 1 Oct 1982
Unit Diagnostics Handbook Volume 3 Diagnostics for 990 Mass Storage Devices Texas Instruments 1 Nov 1982
Unit Diagnostics Handbook Volume 8 Diagnostics for Business Systems Texas Instruments 15 Nov 1982
990/99000 Assembly Language Reference Manual Texas Instruments 15 Nov 1982
Unit Diagnostics Handbook Volume 4 Diagnostics for 990 Printers, Terminals, and Interface Models Texas Instruments 15 Nov 1982
DX 10 Operating System Text Editor Manual Volume IV Texas Instruments 15 Sep 1983
DX 10 Operating System Application Programming Guide Volume III Texas Instruments 15 Sep 1983
DX 10 Operating System Operations Guide Volume II Texas Instruments 15 Sep 1983
DX 10 Operating System Concepts and Facilities Volume 1 Texas Instruments 15 Sep 1983
DX10 Operating System Systems Programming Guide Texas Instruments 15 Sep 1983
DX10 Operating System Error Reporting and Recovery Manual Volume VI Texas Instruments 15 Sep 1983
DX 10 Online Diagnostics and System Log Analysis task Object Installation Texas Instruments 15 Sep 1983
TI Pascal Reference Manual Texas Instruments 15 Jan 1984
ROM Loader Texas Instruments Aug 1984
DX 10 Operating System Object Istallataion Texas Instruments Jan 1985
Systems Programmers Guide Texas Instruments Mar 1985
Unit Diagnostics Handbook Volume 1 General 990 Unit Diagnostic Information Texas Instruments 1 Nov 1992
Unit Diagnostics Handbook Volume 2 Diagnostics for 990 Processors and Memories Texas Instruments 1 Nov 1992

Other Systems Related To Texas Instruments TI-990 Computer System:

Item Manufacturer Date
Texas Instruments TM 990 / U89 Texas Instruments 1978
Texas Instruments - TI-99/4 Texas Instruments 1979
Texas Instruments - TI-99/4A Texas Instruments 1st June 1981
Texas Instruments TM 990 / 189 Texas Instruments March 1982

This exhibit has a reference ID of CH11554. Please quote this reference ID in any communication with the Centre for Computing History.

 

Texas Instruments TI-990 Computer System


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