Lt. Kernal
Encyclopedia
Lt. Kernal was the name given to a SCSI
hard drive subsystem developed for the Commodore 64
and Commodore 128
home computer
s. The original design of both the technically complicated hardware interface
and equally complex disk operating system
came from Lloyd Sponenburgh and Roy Southwick of Fiscal Information, Inc., a now-defunct Florida
-based turnkey
vendor of minicomputer
-based medical information systems.
Fiscal demonstrated a working prototype
in 1984 and starting advertising the system for sale early in 1985. It immediately found a niche with some Commodore software developers and bulletin board
SysOp
s of the day, due to its excellent performance and capacious storage (originally 10 megabytes and later extended to as much as 330 megabytes). The subsequent development of a multiplexing accessory allowed one Lt. Kernal to be shared by as many as 16 computers, using a round robin scheduling algorithm. This made the use of the Lt. Kernal with multiple line BBS
s practical. Later, streaming tape support, using QIC-02 tape cartridges, was added to provide a practical (though costly) backup strategy.
A key feature of the Lt. Kernal was its sophisticated disk operating system, which behaved much like that of the Point 4 minicomputer
s that Fiscal was reselling in the 1980s. A high degree of control over the Lt. Kernal was possible with simple typed commands, many of which had never been seen before in the eight bit Commodore environment. This, along with a powerful keyed random access filing system, made the Lt. Kernal perform at a level that was generally unmatched by any other hard drive system available for eight bit Commodore computers.
Fiscal built the units to order until late 1986, at which time the decision was made to turn over the production, marketing and customer support to Xetec Inc
. Fiscal continued to provide secondary technical support, as well as free DOS
upgrades, until December 1991, at which time production of new Lt. Kernal systems ceased. Following the shutdown of Xetec in 1995, private support of the Lt. Kernal was carried on for several years by Ron Fick until his untimely death in 1999.
SCSI
Small Computer System Interface is a set of standards for physically connecting and transferring data between computers and peripheral devices. The SCSI standards define commands, protocols, and electrical and optical interfaces. SCSI is most commonly used for hard disks and tape drives, but it...
hard drive subsystem developed for the Commodore 64
Commodore 64
The Commodore 64 is an 8-bit home computer introduced by Commodore International in January 1982.Volume production started in the spring of 1982, with machines being released on to the market in August at a price of US$595...
and Commodore 128
Commodore 128
The Commodore 128 home/personal computer was the last 8-bit machine commercially released by Commodore Business Machines...
home computer
Home computer
Home computers were a class of microcomputers entering the market in 1977, and becoming increasingly common during the 1980s. They were marketed to consumers as affordable and accessible computers that, for the first time, were intended for the use of a single nontechnical user...
s. The original design of both the technically complicated hardware interface
Interface (computer science)
In the field of computer science, an interface is a tool and concept that refers to a point of interaction between components, and is applicable at the level of both hardware and software...
and equally complex disk operating system
Disk operating system
Disk Operating System and disk operating system , most often abbreviated as DOS, refers to an operating system software used in most computers that provides the abstraction and management of secondary storage devices and the information on them...
came from Lloyd Sponenburgh and Roy Southwick of Fiscal Information, Inc., a now-defunct Florida
Florida
Florida is a state in the southeastern United States, located on the nation's Atlantic and Gulf coasts. It is bordered to the west by the Gulf of Mexico, to the north by Alabama and Georgia and to the east by the Atlantic Ocean. With a population of 18,801,310 as measured by the 2010 census, it...
-based turnkey
Turnkey
A turn-key or a turn-key project is a type of project that is constructed by a developer and sold or turned over to a buyer in a ready-to-use condition.-Common usage:...
vendor of minicomputer
Minicomputer
A minicomputer is a class of multi-user computers that lies in the middle range of the computing spectrum, in between the largest multi-user systems and the smallest single-user systems...
-based medical information systems.
Fiscal demonstrated a working prototype
Prototype
A prototype is an early sample or model built to test a concept or process or to act as a thing to be replicated or learned from.The word prototype derives from the Greek πρωτότυπον , "primitive form", neutral of πρωτότυπος , "original, primitive", from πρῶτος , "first" and τύπος ,...
in 1984 and starting advertising the system for sale early in 1985. It immediately found a niche with some Commodore software developers and bulletin board
Bulletin board system
A Bulletin Board System, or BBS, is a computer system running software that allows users to connect and log in to the system using a terminal program. Once logged in, a user can perform functions such as uploading and downloading software and data, reading news and bulletins, and exchanging...
SysOp
SysOp
A sysop is an administrator of a multi-user computer system, such as a bulletin board system or an online service virtual community. It may also be used to refer to administrators of other Internet-based network services....
s of the day, due to its excellent performance and capacious storage (originally 10 megabytes and later extended to as much as 330 megabytes). The subsequent development of a multiplexing accessory allowed one Lt. Kernal to be shared by as many as 16 computers, using a round robin scheduling algorithm. This made the use of the Lt. Kernal with multiple line BBS
Bulletin board system
A Bulletin Board System, or BBS, is a computer system running software that allows users to connect and log in to the system using a terminal program. Once logged in, a user can perform functions such as uploading and downloading software and data, reading news and bulletins, and exchanging...
s practical. Later, streaming tape support, using QIC-02 tape cartridges, was added to provide a practical (though costly) backup strategy.
A key feature of the Lt. Kernal was its sophisticated disk operating system, which behaved much like that of the Point 4 minicomputer
Minicomputer
A minicomputer is a class of multi-user computers that lies in the middle range of the computing spectrum, in between the largest multi-user systems and the smallest single-user systems...
s that Fiscal was reselling in the 1980s. A high degree of control over the Lt. Kernal was possible with simple typed commands, many of which had never been seen before in the eight bit Commodore environment. This, along with a powerful keyed random access filing system, made the Lt. Kernal perform at a level that was generally unmatched by any other hard drive system available for eight bit Commodore computers.
Fiscal built the units to order until late 1986, at which time the decision was made to turn over the production, marketing and customer support to Xetec Inc
Xetec
Xetec was founded in 1983 by Jon Flickinger, and was located in Salina, Kansas, United States. Before closing in 1995, the company produced many third-party products for the Commodore 64, Commodore 128, Amiga, Macintosh, Atari ST and PC computers....
. Fiscal continued to provide secondary technical support, as well as free DOS
Disk operating system
Disk Operating System and disk operating system , most often abbreviated as DOS, refers to an operating system software used in most computers that provides the abstraction and management of secondary storage devices and the information on them...
upgrades, until December 1991, at which time production of new Lt. Kernal systems ceased. Following the shutdown of Xetec in 1995, private support of the Lt. Kernal was carried on for several years by Ron Fick until his untimely death in 1999.