BeBox
Encyclopedia
The BeBox was a short-lived dual processor personal computer
, offered by Be Inc.
to run the company's own operating system
, BeOS
. Notable aspects of the system include its CPU configuration, I/O board with "GeekPort", and "Blinkenlights
" on the front bezel.
The BeBox made its debut in October 1995 (BeBox Dual603-66). The processors were upgraded to 133 MHz in August 1996 (BeBox Dual603e-133). Production was halted in January 1997, following the port of BeOS to the Macintosh, in order for the company to concentrate on software. Be sold around 1000 66 MHz BeBoxes and 800 133 MHz BeBoxes.
processors and three AT&T 9308S DSP
s.
Production models used two PowerPC 603 processors
running at 66 or 133 MHz to power the BeBox. Prototypes having dual 200 MHz CPUs or four CPUs exist, but these were never publicly available.
", were built into the front bezel to illustrate the CPU
load. The bottommost LED on the right side indicated hard disk activity.
Personal computer
A personal computer is any general-purpose computer whose size, capabilities, and original sales price make it useful for individuals, and which is intended to be operated directly by an end-user with no intervening computer operator...
, offered by Be Inc.
Be Inc.
Be Incorporated was an American computer company founded in 1990, best known for the Be Operating System and BeBox personal computer. Be was founded by former Apple Computer executive Jean-Louis Gassée with capital from Seymour Cray....
to run the company's own operating system
Operating system
An operating system is a set of programs that manage computer hardware resources and provide common services for application software. The operating system is the most important type of system software in a computer system...
, BeOS
BeOS
BeOS is an operating system for personal computers which began development by Be Inc. in 1991. It was first written to run on BeBox hardware. BeOS was optimized for digital media work and was written to take advantage of modern hardware facilities such as symmetric multiprocessing by utilizing...
. Notable aspects of the system include its CPU configuration, I/O board with "GeekPort", and "Blinkenlights
Blinkenlights
Blinkenlights is a hacker's neologism for diagnostic lights on old mainframe computers and modern network hardware.The Jargon File provides the following etymology:...
" on the front bezel.
The BeBox made its debut in October 1995 (BeBox Dual603-66). The processors were upgraded to 133 MHz in August 1996 (BeBox Dual603e-133). Production was halted in January 1997, following the port of BeOS to the Macintosh, in order for the company to concentrate on software. Be sold around 1000 66 MHz BeBoxes and 800 133 MHz BeBoxes.
CPU Configuration
Initial prototypes were equipped with two AT&T HobbitAT&T Hobbit
The Hobbit is a microprocessor design of the early 1990s from AT&T. It developed from the company's CRISP design that was in turn developed from the C Machine experimental efforts in the late 1980s at Bell Labs. C Machine, CRISP and Hobbit were optimized for running the C programming language...
processors and three AT&T 9308S DSP
Digital signal processor
A digital signal processor is a specialized microprocessor with an architecture optimized for the fast operational needs of digital signal processing.-Typical characteristics:...
s.
Production models used two PowerPC 603 processors
Central processing unit
The central processing unit is the portion of a computer system that carries out the instructions of a computer program, to perform the basic arithmetical, logical, and input/output operations of the system. The CPU plays a role somewhat analogous to the brain in the computer. The term has been in...
running at 66 or 133 MHz to power the BeBox. Prototypes having dual 200 MHz CPUs or four CPUs exist, but these were never publicly available.
I/O board
- Four serial ports (9-pin D-shell)
- One mouse port, PS/2-type
- Two joystick ports (15-pin D-shell)
- Two MIDI out ports
- Two MIDI in ports
- Three infrared (IR) I/O ports (6-pin mini DIN)
- One internal CD audio line-level input (5-pin strip)
- One internal microphone audio input (4-pin strip)
- One internal headphone audio output (4-pin strip)
- Two line-level RCA inputs (L/R)
- Two line-level outputs (L/R)
- One microphone input 3.5 mm stereo phono jack
- One headphone output 3.5 mm stereo phono jack
- A 16-bit stereo sound system @ 48 and 44.1 kHz
- One "GeekPort" (37-pin D-shell)
- An experimental-electronic-development oriented port, backed by three fuses on the mainboard.
- Digital and analog I/OInput/outputIn computing, input/output, or I/O, refers to the communication between an information processing system , and the outside world, possibly a human, or another information processing system. Inputs are the signals or data received by the system, and outputs are the signals or data sent from it...
and DC powerDirect currentDirect current is the unidirectional flow of electric charge. Direct current is produced by such sources as batteries, thermocouples, solar cells, and commutator-type electric machines of the dynamo type. Direct current may flow in a conductor such as a wire, but can also flow through...
connector, 37-pin connector on the ISA bus. - Two independent, bidirectional 8-bit ports
- Four A/D pins routing to a 12-bit A/D converterAnalog-to-digital converterAn analog-to-digital converter is a device that converts a continuous quantity to a discrete time digital representation. An ADC may also provide an isolated measurement...
- Four D/A pins connected to an independent 8-bit D/A converterDigital-to-analog converterIn electronics, a digital-to-analog converter is a device that converts a digital code to an analog signal . An analog-to-digital converter performs the reverse operation...
- Two signal groundGround (electricity)In electrical engineering, ground or earth may be the reference point in an electrical circuit from which other voltages are measured, or a common return path for electric current, or a direct physical connection to the Earth....
reference pins - Eleven power and ground pins:
- Two at +5 V, one at +12 V, one at -12 V, seven ground pins.
"Blinkenlights"
Two yellow/green vertical LED arrays, dubbed the "blinkenlightsBlinkenlights
Blinkenlights is a hacker's neologism for diagnostic lights on old mainframe computers and modern network hardware.The Jargon File provides the following etymology:...
", were built into the front bezel to illustrate the CPU
Central processing unit
The central processing unit is the portion of a computer system that carries out the instructions of a computer program, to perform the basic arithmetical, logical, and input/output operations of the system. The CPU plays a role somewhat analogous to the brain in the computer. The term has been in...
load. The bottommost LED on the right side indicated hard disk activity.