Sothius' Home of Ancient Microcomputers - Commodore 8296 (ASSY 324645)

Commodore 8296

Commodore 8296 logo (10 KBytes)

Commodore 8296

Commodore 8296 (49 KBytes)

The Commodore 8296 is part of the so-called 'Softline'-series, which came in a rounded case (sometimes called 'sexy PET'). Although the keyboard is separated, it fits the machine's case perfectly, making it look similar to the older 'one-piece' PETs
(picture copyright by M.A.Grundke)

Specifications

Name Commodore 8296

Made by Commodore Business Machines (CBM)

Released 1984

Serial-No. C= commodore
8296
SER.NO.WG 15083

Board-info
upper board-side:
(C) COMMODORE
80/ 40 COLUMN CPU 64/ 128K
ASSY NO.324645 REV.B
MADE IN W.GERMANY
lower board-side:
FABRICATION NO 324646-01
ARTWORK NO 324647-01 B
as descendant of the earlier 'Universal Dynamic PET' boards, this board can be configured for 64/ 128KB and for 40/ 80 column operation, and thus was an ideal replacement part for older machines. Of course, using the same board for different machines of a series also reduced production cost

also see the ASSY 324645 REV.B board overviews

PET-specific
Sofline design with separated keyboard ('sexy PET')
low profile ('LP') case
business-style keyboard (i.e. no graphic characters on keys)

CPU MOS 6502 (NMOS-process)

Speed 1 MHz

RAM
128 KBytes (bankswitched)
8 pcs. NEC D4164C-2 (64Kx1)
8 pcs. Fujitsu MB8264A-12 (64Kx1)
board can also be configured for 64K RAM
since in BASIC mode, only 32 KB were usable, Commodore shipped the 8096/ 8296-series with LOS96 ('Loadable Operating System for 96K'). It was intended as a BASIC 4 replacement, and thus is, to a certain extend, compatible with it. Basically, it adds bankswitching techniques, so that three 32 KB banks can be used for programs. However, even in 128K machines like the 8296, LOS96 can only use 96 KBytes

ROM/ Native OS
CBM BASIC 4.0 consisting of
MOS 324746-01 BASIC + PET KERNAL V4 (128Kx1, UE7)
MOS 901474-04 BASIC 4 screen editor (16Kx1, UE8)
MOS 901447-10 BASIC 2/ 4 ASCII character-generator (16Kx1, UC5)
two unoccupied function-ROM sockets (UE9, UE10)

like most PETs, the 8296 was also available localized for different countries (i.e. different character generator, screen editor and keyboard)
all 8096/ 8296-series machines were shipped with LOS96 (see RAM)

Keyboard/ Layout 73 keys/ US (QWERTY) layout
business keyboard (no graphical characters printed to the keys' front faces)
like the other PETs, the 8296 was also available with many localized keyboard variants (e.g. with german, norwegian, swedish, hungarian or even japanese layout), so that it could be sold worldwide. Of course, localization also required the use of different ROMs, as already mentioned
although separated, keyboard and case are built to fit together perfectly, making the Commodore 8296 look like a 'one-piece' PET

Graphics MOS 6545-1 'Cathode Ray Tube Controller'
40/ 80x25 text, programmable cursor, 50/60Hz output
the ASSY 324645 board can be configured for 40 or 80-column operation. In the 8000s, it was always configured to 80 columns
up to 8 KByte main-memory used as video RAM upon operation. Older machines came without CRTC (using discrete logic for output), but with dedicated video RAM
unit has a built-in 12" CRT green-on-black monitor

Sound onboard piezo-electric speaker
one voice, three octaves

Media
standard audio-cassettes via 'Datasette' (e.g. CBM VC-1530)
5.25" disks, 1 MB/ disk (IEEE488-drives like SFD 1001, CBM 2031, CBM 2040, CBM 8050 etc)
later: harddisks up to 30 MBytes (also via IEEE488)

Input/ Output 2x R6520AP PIA ('Peripheral Interface Adaptor')
MOS 6522 VIA ('Versatile Interface Adaptor')
2x MOS 8700 PLA ('Programmable Logic Array')
3x Motorola MC3446N IEEE488 bus transceivers
25 pin SUB-D keyboard
24 pin male edge conn. IEEE488-BUS (for disk-drives or printers like the CBM MPP1361)

24 pin male edge conn. USER-PORT (programmable I/O)
2x 50 pin internal EXPANSION conn.
2x 12 pin male edge conn. CBM cassetteport
standard powersocket for integrated power supply
machine has a reset-button

Miscellaneous
The Commodore 8296 and its bigger brother, the 8296-D were, at that time, designed as versatile workstations, and based on the same mainboard. Their benefits were the industrial standard IEEE488 interface, built-in BASIC 4 and the optional LOS96 (see screenshot below), which came with all machines. BASIC 4 contained many bugfixes compared to the older versions, and some new commands for easier disk operation, but could only address 32 KB of the machine's RAM. For more, LOS96 had to be used, which was BASIC 4 compatible and could, with its bankswitching capabilites, address up to 96 KB

Like all PET-series machines, the 8296 can easily be opened by flapping the upper part forward, making service easier. By the way, the older PETs' upper part opened backwards
The first PET-series machine to come in the 'Softline' case was the PET 200 (aka CBM 8032 SK in Europe, 'SK' standing for 'separated keyboard'), which was soon called the 'sexy PET' by many. However, older 8000s came in one-piece PET design

'Loadable Operating System for 96k' (6 KBytes)

The above screenshot shows the end of a 'normal' LOS96 startup procedure. It's a RAM operating system/ BASIC extension and thus has to be loaded into RAM, effectively disabling the ROM operating system (although switching back to BASIC 4 is possible, because a 784 bytes area is reserved for storing zero-page and stack before LOS96 takes over). LOS96 can either be loaded automatically by pressing SHIFT and RUN keys simultaneously upon startup (provided it's the first program on an inserted disk), or manually with the command DLOAD "LOS*". While starting, it checks the ROM address-range $e900-$efff (screen editor) to determine whether an US- or european keyboard is present, and loads the appropriate binary. It then shows the modified startup screen, stating that 32K are available for programs and 32K for stack. That's due to the MOS 6502's adressing range of 64K - the rest has to be accessed with paging, which happens automatically depending on the memory areas selected. What happens next is another 'autostart mechanism' - this time, LOS96 tries to load a program from disk (START*). So it was possible to start LOS96 and an application with a few keystrokes upon power-up

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Sothius' Home - Museum - Commodore - Commodore 8296 - additional pictures

Name	Commodore 8296
Made by	Commodore Business Machines (CBM)
Released	1984
Serial-No.	C= commodore 8296 SER.NO.WG 15083
Board-info	upper board-side: (C) COMMODORE 80/ 40 COLUMN CPU 64/ 128K ASSY NO.324645 REV.B MADE IN W.GERMANY lower board-side: FABRICATION NO 324646-01 ARTWORK NO 324647-01 B as descendant of the earlier 'Universal Dynamic PET' boards, this board can be configured for 64/ 128KB and for 40/ 80 column operation, and thus was an ideal replacement part for older machines. Of course, using the same board for different machines of a series also reduced production cost also see the ASSY 324645 REV.B board overviews
PET-specific	Sofline design with separated keyboard ('sexy PET') low profile ('LP') case business-style keyboard (i.e. no graphic characters on keys)
CPU	MOS 6502 (NMOS-process)
Speed	1 MHz
RAM	128 KBytes (bankswitched) 8 pcs. NEC D4164C-2 (64Kx1) 8 pcs. Fujitsu MB8264A-12 (64Kx1) board can also be configured for 64K RAM since in BASIC mode, only 32 KB were usable, Commodore shipped the 8096/ 8296-series with LOS96 ('Loadable Operating System for 96K'). It was intended as a BASIC 4 replacement, and thus is, to a certain extend, compatible with it. Basically, it adds bankswitching techniques, so that three 32 KB banks can be used for programs. However, even in 128K machines like the 8296, LOS96 can only use 96 KBytes
ROM/ Native OS	CBM BASIC 4.0 consisting of MOS 324746-01 BASIC + PET KERNAL V4 (128Kx1, UE7) MOS 901474-04 BASIC 4 screen editor (16Kx1, UE8) MOS 901447-10 BASIC 2/ 4 ASCII character-generator (16Kx1, UC5) two unoccupied function-ROM sockets (UE9, UE10) like most PETs, the 8296 was also available localized for different countries (i.e. different character generator, screen editor and keyboard) all 8096/ 8296-series machines were shipped with LOS96 (see RAM)
Keyboard/ Layout	73 keys/ US (QWERTY) layout business keyboard (no graphical characters printed to the keys' front faces) like the other PETs, the 8296 was also available with many localized keyboard variants (e.g. with german, norwegian, swedish, hungarian or even japanese layout), so that it could be sold worldwide. Of course, localization also required the use of different ROMs, as already mentioned although separated, keyboard and case are built to fit together perfectly, making the Commodore 8296 look like a 'one-piece' PET
Graphics	MOS 6545-1 'Cathode Ray Tube Controller' 40/ 80x25 text, programmable cursor, 50/60Hz output the ASSY 324645 board can be configured for 40 or 80-column operation. In the 8000s, it was always configured to 80 columns up to 8 KByte main-memory used as video RAM upon operation. Older machines came without CRTC (using discrete logic for output), but with dedicated video RAM unit has a built-in 12" CRT green-on-black monitor
Sound	onboard piezo-electric speaker one voice, three octaves
Media	standard audio-cassettes via 'Datasette' (e.g. CBM VC-1530) 5.25" disks, 1 MB/ disk (IEEE488-drives like SFD 1001, CBM 2031, CBM 2040, CBM 8050 etc) later: harddisks up to 30 MBytes (also via IEEE488)
Input/ Output	2x R6520AP PIA ('Peripheral Interface Adaptor') MOS 6522 VIA ('Versatile Interface Adaptor') 2x MOS 8700 PLA ('Programmable Logic Array') 3x Motorola MC3446N IEEE488 bus transceivers 25 pin SUB-D keyboard 24 pin male edge conn. IEEE488-BUS (for disk-drives or printers like the CBM MPP1361) 24 pin male edge conn. USER-PORT (programmable I/O) 2x 50 pin internal EXPANSION conn. 2x 12 pin male edge conn. CBM cassetteport standard powersocket for integrated power supply machine has a reset-button
Miscellaneous	The Commodore 8296 and its bigger brother, the 8296-D were, at that time, designed as versatile workstations, and based on the same mainboard. Their benefits were the industrial standard IEEE488 interface, built-in BASIC 4 and the optional LOS96 (see screenshot below), which came with all machines. BASIC 4 contained many bugfixes compared to the older versions, and some new commands for easier disk operation, but could only address 32 KB of the machine's RAM. For more, LOS96 had to be used, which was BASIC 4 compatible and could, with its bankswitching capabilites, address up to 96 KB Like all PET-series machines, the 8296 can easily be opened by flapping the upper part forward, making service easier. By the way, the older PETs' upper part opened backwards The first PET-series machine to come in the 'Softline' case was the PET 200 (aka CBM 8032 SK in Europe, 'SK' standing for 'separated keyboard'), which was soon called the 'sexy PET' by many. However, older 8000s came in one-piece PET design