What’s even more amazing is there were additional Mindset computers and peripherals found in subsequent months. The owner of Computer Reset said he procured these from a computer graphics artist in the 1980s. This is the ONLY video about this computer on TH-cam!
Thanks for letting Dave do a video on this. I have never heard of the computer before so it was really cool to watch. It would be even more cool if you did a follow up video (hint hint).
That face... It's so familiar, but not exactly in a positive way.... I feel as though someone or something is scolding me for a wrong doing. What game is this face icon from again?
@David - the reason Planet X3 fails, is because while the Mindset does implement the BIOS calls for CGA video (INT 10H), it does NOT implement the CGA hardware registers (nor the hardware registers for the PC speaker) AT ALL. The mindset framebuffer can be located anywhere in memory, and can be changed to anywhere in memory, as well as being able to have its bit blitter move graphics data _very_ quickly through the system memory. (In this way, it's very much like a proto-Amiga, sans hardware sprites). The nice thing is, that while the IBM PC BIOS functions were horrible piles of crap, the ROM BIOS functions on the mindset (INT traps 0xEE and 0xEF) are very flexible and reasonably fast, especially since a lot of them cause graphics coprocessor commands to be emitted over DMA, and so you could probably port Planet X3 with little effort to use the advanced graphics features of the mindset. :)
Would it be possible/sensible to set up a TSR to transparently remap the CGA registers to memory for seamless compatibility, or do you lose too much speed in the process?
@@Kat21 What are the specifications for MindOS 10? In my timeline Mindset failed so I wanted to know if my system would support it (assuming I could ever get a copy). Main Stuff ________________________________________________________________________________________________________________ Motherboard: Cyrix ProG with 2x Firewire 1600, 4x Firewire 800, 2x Infiniband HDR+, and Proxim Wireless Built-in CPU: Cyrix Cx4800 GPU: Matrox Mystique-9 5Gb with 3x Displayport and 1x DMS-59 Sound: Aureal Vortex 3 Pro (A3D 5.0 compatible) RAM: 32GB Nanya DDR4-2666 (8x4GB in quad-channel configuration) OS: IBM OS2 Warp 7 Storage: 512GB PrairieTek Solid State Drive (boot drive) 4x 1TB Iomega 10k HDD (for game storage) Extras ________________________________________________________________________________________________________________ 1x HD-DVD Drive 1x SuperFloppy Drive (for backwards compatibility)
@John Wagner It does indeed. However, it still is early on in its development. It also has support for the BeOS kernal through running a virtualized version of Haiku (so while it's just a virtual machine, it's at least an officially supported one)
MindOS 11 is in beta. It’s going to be awesome! Sent From My MindOS 11 Beta Computer Also kinda odd how ♉︎♋︎♎︎♍︎♌︎♎︎♎︎♉︎ released it so early. I’ve been ♎︎♊︎♎︎♉︎♊︎♎︎♍︎ a lot of corrupti♋︎♏︎. any idea why?
It's slowly becoming more clear to the public at large that Computer Reset is a serious treasure trove of computer history. That place NEEDS to be preserved!
Sadly, its shut down. Richard had some health issues and did a big sellout around 2 or 3 weeks ago, and hes ending the buisness. He's been a family friend for decades, and sadly ive only known him for half of one. Good man though, an honor to have helped him with his buisness
And I could be mistaken, but he called me to notify me of his sellout a few weeks ago, and I sadly didn't go because I was on vacation. However, if he ever decides to lemme drive that firebird, I'd be down in a jiffy 😉
10:45 this is collision detection, and can be remarkably complex as in its most basic form the computer has to compare the position of every object against every other object. While i can't say for sure, the fact that they built a demo around it says to me that they probably had a function specifically for it that could be used by program designers. Thus the demo was probably to show off its features and act as a template for developers.
As I understand, when Doom got ported the Atari Jaguar, they had to use the Jaguar's DSP to handle collision detection calculations and therefore, the DSP didnt have enough clock cycles left to be doing anything else and as a result, Atari Jaguar Doom has no music. Might be wrong though.
What a fantastically unique machine, thanks to you and Rob for sharing this! Those graphics seriously blow my mind, I can only wonder what else could be done with this hardware.
The designer listed on the MoMA page is Robert Brunner - he went on to lead the Apple Industrial design team, and was responsible for a lot of their mid 90s design direction. He is also the guy who hired Jony Ive
The AT program is showing the coprocessor interaction between the bit blitter _AND_ the hardware collision detection registers, which were nicely exposed in the BASIC.
Yep. It looks like sample code to show people how to make a video game. It looks like it's made to be as simple as possible so that people can understand that code. It's impressive considering it's being run from BASIC
This sounds like one of things average people say to make fun of intelligent people. "Ah yes, its quite clear that the dynamic iso-actuator is running into micro oscillations cause the kinetic propagation field was misaligned from an improper initiation. Someone forgot to quantify its parameterized state without juxtapositioning it against a known metric such as the hyperbolic descriptor known as word soup. Duhhh... Must've been one of the interns. 😁
@@heyidiot This is true, they just had a rubber coating to make them more sticky. Now I have the disturbing thought that the computer system named "girlfriend" (Amiga) also had balls of steel... BTW, the Amiga also had a 16 color RGBI output (via a round DIN socket). I suppose the hardware somehow mapped the 4096 possible colors into their RGBI counterparts (but I guess no one ever did). Not sure how the Mindset worked this; it had a palette of 512 colors ("9 bit RGB") of which it could display 16 colors simultaneously.
Oh my God, I've seen that before, including Vyper. The more you talked, the more familiar it all sounded. Then you played the game and I remembered it. I used to work for Synapse Software, and Synapse developed Vyper. Yep, we had that computer at the back of the office! The actual look of the system isn't familiar, I think we had pre-production hardware.
I was an Atari 800 guy, so Synapse was a big name for me then and I recognized Kelly Day's name on the game. I was very interested in the Mindset because I first about it as having the involvement of some former Atari chip designers, much like the Amiga. The Amiga was still a mysterious product that had yet to ship anything but game controllers, so the Mindset, with a lengthy story in Byte on the technology, was a fascination of mine for that year. archive.org/details/byte-magazine-1984-04/page/n269
That's awesome! Had the Atari 800 (GTIA chipset) and Synapse Software was a true powerhouse in those days! So many great and memorable titles by some damn amazing programmers! Thanks for being a part of that wonderful time in my life, you guys at Synapse were a major inspiration!
Would have been very interesting to actually see that system alter a video source with overlays in real time. That's what a Mindset was really for, most TV stations here in Germany used these boxes to inject text into the original source, i.e. the score of a soccer game, lottery numbers, and so on. My dad used to work for ZDF and proper use of these machines were the secret for having a lot nicer screen texts than the competing ARD, in the mid 80s at least. I even own a Mindset (S/N 000108) that I found in the attic after my dad passed away. Same config as here but with DOS on a cartridge. Will try to repair (it does not turn on) that gem as soon as possible. This video did a great job motivating me after the machine sat in my attic for yet another decade by now...
Was going to ask how german public tv is competing eachother, as in my youth we could recieve 3 german tv chanels next ARD ZDF WDR to NED 1 and 2. After reading some wiki pages its just as complicated as the Dutch public tv.
I imagine some executive laying awake in bed late at night thinking back to when he told the team "it's compatible enough, we're good" and how that ruined his company
Being this was released in 1984 and as I write this, that’s 38 years later, and most CEOs aren’t exactly young to become a CEO, I suspect without looking, the Mindset CEO has died of old age by now. Such is life.
The sound chip is right next to the graphics processor, it too was a DMA chip (it's an MCU), so sound instructions (and "wavetables") could be sent to the chip and programmed, and the audio chip could run without CPU intervention.
both appear to be custom VLSI chips th-cam.com/video/3a_qJFD80_c/w-d-xo.htmlm54s VTI is the original VLSI Technology, Inc. it was a contract manufacturer at teh time. en.wikipedia.org/wiki/VLSI_Technology probably THE first ever 'Very Large Scale Integration' company, founded just a year after so called Mead/Conway revolution, that is the publication of a book and first practical MIT course based on it.
@@ChristopherDrum The sound processor is an Intel 8048 microcontroller running a software synthesizer and connected to an 8-bit DAC for output. The stereo module contains an identical 8048.
@@tschak909 ... OK, I'm sort of familiar with how that works at a software level, but what's the difference when we're talking about hardware? Is it just a technical difference owing to what chips are involved and how, or does it affect performance and programming technique as well?
@@markpenrice6253 There is a pair of graphics and display coprocessors involved that DMAs their instructions and data out of main memory. As such, writing to the hardware directly isn't as straightforward as on standard PCs. This is why Mindset spent so much time and energy making an excellent BIOS interface that can not only handle all of the various operations that the GCP/DP and audio processors can handle, but be able to schedule many of the same type very quickly with a single call, so the BIOS interface is actually pretty fast, unlike every other MS-DOS machine of the time. You can see some demos here: i.imgur.com/sR5U6jJ.gif the colorbars draws in less time than one frame. Boxes spits out a queue of 128 operations to the GCP (it can do more), and the pause is because it's randomizing 128 more before sending them out... Polyline also sends 128 seperate polylines per color before changing color. Polygons is slowest, filling one 8-sided random polygon per call.
@@joeg4707 for the new demos? I'm using WATCOM C (OpenWatcom) . The compiler intended on the original ISV disks was Microsoft C, Pascal, or Assembler. (At that time, Microsoft C was a rebadged version of Lattice C 2.0 for 8086..WATCOM has an infinitely better optimizer.)
Wow, this a trip down memory lane. I was amazed to see a video about this obscure computer. I purchased one of these back in 1985 with money I saved after several arduous weeks of mowing neighbors lawns and working a pt job after school. I really wish I had held on to it! Great video!
Makes you wonder what Windows on a Mindset would've felt/looked like... It's amazing how many old "failures" were actually just way too ahead of their times in concepts. (PS - glad to see some proper video capture of the system - slightly curious how the various video outs compare)
Microsoft was all talk back then, they couldnt even be bothered to properly support TIGA chipsets (full graphical processor running at 40-50MHz) in Windows 3.0 despite talking the talk.
I QA interned at Mindset. They were an incredible team, deep knowledge of hardware (custom blitter), compilers (side project early use of C in that market), databases, and many many other things. Part of the opportunity was the PC 5150 was a big empty chassis, but then the PC XT and PC AT started using that space for a hard disk.
The 80186 was in a leadless carrier, and it was installed UPSIDE DOWN in the socket. The metal cap has the part markings and that side is buried in the socket.
@@Xilog It's upside down in the sense that the gold plated lid is facing DOWN. But so are the CONTACTS. The socket was designed to work that way. Usually the part number was also printed on the back side, but now always.
Probably one of my favorite pieces of hardware you've ever featured. It's absolutely beautiful and way ahead of its time. A big "what if" with all the compatibility things for sure. Loved it. Thank you for your video, David.
when you said it was from 1984, i had to stop and rewind to make sure i'd heard you right. with the design, i would have NEVER guessed it was from the 80s!
It doesn't even look like a 90s PC. This thing could slot right into a modern desk, juuuust barely dated. Fonts and styling were about 30 years ahead of its time, maybe?
:D I wanted to write the same comment but then i saw yours but that is true XD And i am not the one of "r/Whoosh"ers who doesnt know the joke don't worry
How to take apart the stereo cartridge: You take the clip off from around the RCA composite connector using some small vice grips to separate the two loops which will allow you to pull the brushed metal retainer off the plastic and it probably clam shells out from the plastic side... Just guessin
Your on the right track but the clip is called a circlip , vice grips wont work, you need a circlip removal tool which pushes the clip apart as you squeeze the handles together.
thanks for a trip down memory lane. i was fortunate enough to work at mindset as did my father and sister. a couple notes: 1. the digital audio controller chip i believe was used to control fading of external video 2. the power switch on the keyboard was hated by employees because at lunch people would push the keyboard away from them and the switch would bump up against the computer and shut down causing many folks to lose their work. similar problem with the reset button. originally you didn’t need to press it in conjunction with the alt key so an accidental hit of it and the computer would restart 3. in the pac-man basic program what you’re seeing is hardware collision detection which was novel at the time 4. the mindset used custom vlsi graphic chips 5. it was originally conceived as a next generation atari home computer but when atari tanked the president of the home computer division left atari and formed mindset. 6. as a last ditch effort to save the computer the mindset was repositioned as a graphic worksatetion for television. a mindset 2000 system was built for this application but the industrial design was just a metal box as the company didn’t have the funds to hire robert bruner to do the industrial design
I know you've had it for a while now, but I just wanted to say how much I love the current 8-bit guy intro. The older ones were all good, don't get me wrong. But the current one is so fun and familiar and the music is such a bop, it always gets me excited for the video.
You might find the book "Marketing High Technology" by Bill Davidow interesting. He was head of marketing at Intel in the early 80s. One of the anecdotes in the book describes how the 80186 was marketed as needing "only" 14 peripheral chips.
I feel like removing the C-clip on the RCA jack would most likely get you into that sound cartridge. But you're probably right, best not to mess too much with such a rare piece of hardware, especially a loaner. :)
You beat me to it, I was just about to write a similar comment. ;-) Thankfully I scrolled through the comments first. But even with that clip off, there is still a chance that the parts of the module's cover are just held together by plastic clips. And those are probably very brittle after all these years.
My gosh... I've been waiting FOREVER for someone to make a video about Mindset. It's really great to see one in action for a change. From a technical standpoint it's not quite as advanced as I had initially heard (being architecturally more similar to the AtariST than the Amiga), but it's still quite interesting.
That computer! That STORE! I wish I could go there and rummage around for a few weeks... Unfortunately I'm from Denmark :(. I really hope, that stuff doesn't end up in the landfill.
@@reneastle8447 Well... Custom chips are custom chips. They can be approximated to some degree with circuitry, but it's not the same/the full experience. FPGA and equivalent can help too, but that's an even worse approximation...
It doesn't appear that it will be going into the landfill. Unfortunately, the owner passed away several weeks ago. But a group of local enthusiasts have partnered with the owner's daughter to organize and sell off anything anyone wants to buy. Obviously, the proceeds will go to the family, but the enthusiasts have gotten involved to make sure that none of the history gets destroyed.
Ah, the 80186. There was another, mildly famous computer that ran that processor: The Research Machines RM Nimbus PC used in schools and colleges in the UK in the late 80s and early 90s. Wonderful machines. CGA Graphics but with more colours, BBC BASIC on ROM and, most important of all, it was mostly IBM compatible, if you ran the right bit of software that enabled compatibility mode. I had some fun times on those machines.
Heads up ... there's another computer that used an Intel 80186. The Research Machines Nimbus, which was marketed as an educational workstation for schools here in the UK. Early versions used the 186, before the CPU was changed for a 286 (then a 386) in later models. That's another seriously rare machine for you to hunt down.
Glad you said this, I was going to say the same thing. I don't know if they were ubiquitous across education in the UK, but they were certainly common enough that I saw them in our high school computer room, and then again when I went to college. They soon started to gather dust tho' when the the college bought a bunch of 386 IBM clones in another part of the room.
Neat to see "Program Load Priority" in the sys config. Very similar to the "boot priority" we have in BIOS/UEFI nowadays, but it's really cool to see it used even way back then. Also, I can only assume the "at" program was used to demonstrate sprite-on-sprite collision detection, based on the demonstration.
In 1983/84 or whatever. Jaw dropped. Graphics abstraction was basically unheard of that time. At least while keeping things still fast enough. This system could probably do pretty crazy things if one hardcodes graphics routines!
You know that for a fact? I suppose if they're high-level enough that's not too astounding. The PC's BIOS had a rep for being slow but that's not an intrinsic property of BIOSes, IBM's just sucked. Using the BIOS to set each pixel would've been terrible, but if you could move sprites around the place, including scaling and transforms, then it's no more astounding than a modern GPU using Open GL etc.
The Mindset sounds like it was a truly amazing computer for its' day! Actually including a hardware 3D vector processor in the graphics chip was something completely unheard of at that time. In a way it's too bad they were going for some level of PC compatibility because the CGA-like graphics output left the machine fairly crippled for video games. Had they gone another direction it would likely have been a strong competitor to Atari and Commodore. And Mindset may have lived longer than a couple of years, too. Thanks for the look at that machine. An absolute work of art in 1984.
I'm five years late to the party, but anyway - the 80186 showed up in the RM Nimbus too, which was also an educational computer, released only in the UK as far as I'm aware. I believe it was called "Nimbus" because it had a distinctive silver lining (RF shield) on the inside of the case - "every cloud has a silver lining".
Someone described this computer as being very Amiga-like and I believe it. It’s amazing this thing was able to render 3D graphics so fast and so well in 1984!
As someone that was born way after this age of computers and software, it’s still interesting to see what stuff like this was like back then. While watching these videos I can still feel the magic of this type of tech being the way of the future that was being emitted back when this stuff was new and it just peaks my interest and curiosity more and more as I wonder how people got stuff done back then..it’s cool to learn about stuff like this really
Sadly, I've lived in the Dallas/Fort Worth area for over twenty years, and I've never heard of Computer Reset. I _may_ have seen it before a couple of times. But I did not know all of those glorious computer artifacts were there.
Just imagine if other DOS computers had these accelerated vector/sprite graphics that the mindset had. They would have been like DOS X68000s and games would have been out of this world.
Amazing job getting your hands on one of these. This video is a great example of why you and LGR are the best in the business for content creation for retro tech.
The 80186 was also used in the BBC Master 512. It had a 65C02 which would run all of the BBC Computer software and an 80186 which ran DR-DOS and the GEM-PLUS graphical operating system. It was hopelessly incompatible with almost everything from the world of DOS. I think only about 20 software titles worked on it.
If memory serves, the BBC Master 512 did not exactly have DR-DOS yet, but an earlier product, DOS Plus 1.x, which essentially was CP/M-86 with a built-in DOS 2.11 ABI level emulator called PCMODE. This early hybrid could run both CP/M-86 and MS-DOS programs (incl. batch files). In theory, it also could run CP/M-80 programs via emulation (at the rime, CP/M emulators existed for various platforms, including MS-DOS, CP/M-68k and CP/M-86 platforms). en.wikipedia.org/wiki/DOS_Plus Edit: At some point, the 512 also came with v2.1 apparently. My apologies. I should have had been more thorough in this case. ^^;
The Swedish school computer, Telenova Compis, also used the Intel 80186 CPU. The machine normally ran CPM-86 as its OS, but could run MS-DOS (version 3.2 I think) - and like the Mindset it was not particularly compatible with IBM PC.
I love that the designers of early computers were prepared to produce really interesting case shapes. I once saw a Wang workstation that was amazing. The monitor was supported by a concertina tube and it fitted into the top of the base unit perfectly, like something out of Space 1999. Olivetti also made very interesting colourful computers in the early days. Somehow cases all became a bit boring. Thanks for another fascinating offering.
Information is sparse on stuff like this, graphics workstations / video painting systems were normally crazy expensive so only sold in small numbers. Try googling for Quantel Paintbox, Ampex Video Art, Dubner 20K, Spaceward Matisse and Xerox SuperPaint. There are others too like VideoToaster too but you probably know that one!
@@DextersTechLab I've heard of the Paintbox, but Im curious about what was used for old home video and television logos and stuff. There's gotta be some computer behind it all, and it would be cool to know what that is.
@@The1Nomad There was lots of options, rostrum based cel animation, genlocked computers, some would have been sent off to a specialist company to be rendered on a computer as CGI or it could have been just regular optical and video effects. The BBC even had a dedicated bit of hardware to generate the BBC world logo (google for 'BBC Computer Originated World') There was no 'one' solution. It could even be a combination of several techniques composited together. This short video might help explain some of it... th-cam.com/video/6Xk2ET5xZUM/w-d-xo.html
10:42 may have been an example of collision detection, taking into account the visible (round) shape of the sprite, and not the actual square that it's bound in. VERY advanced for the time if that's the case, but I'm only guessing. Who knows really.
Although Mindset got a couple of things wrong they were actually ahead of their time without a modular computer workstation. The design and effort even in the name itself is incredible!
I logged quite a few hours on one of these in an electronic sound and image studio/lab in college back in the day. Story was, a sales rep dropped it off on spec, and never came back for it because the company folded.
oiSnowy It was also used in the ICL-owned RC Piccoline computers that were common in schools in the 1980s. They had a similar look but the floppy box would be shared between 4 computers to save costs for a classroom setup. These machines ran CCP/M-86 and more closely followed the Intel documentation stating that int 00 to 1F were reserved for future CPU enhancements, 20 to 2F for BIOS etc., rules blatantly violated by the IBM PC and MS-DOS.
The Mindset supported an analog RGB video output mode meant for use with monitors akin to those used in the TV production world. Sony and Toshiba made compatible monitors. I think PC monitor maker Taxan did as well. (I'm posting to this old thread just for the record.)
Reading old ANTIC! magazines, Atari 400s for under $30, Atari 800s for under $60 liquidation of old stock, new in box, that would be worth a good deal more on eBay today !
J.S.Bach --- When that sound started, I was overcome with a forgotten nostalgia. Though, I can't recall if it was from my Texas Instruments TI99/4A or my Telex 1260. It was certainly an early memory as it was a childhood moment where I was shocked with what the new technology could create.
I read an article about the Mindset in BYTE magazine back in the 80s and was quite excited about it at the time, mostly because of the hardware acceleration and number of colours. Unfortunately, that BYTE article was the last I ever heard or saw of the Mindset... until today. I eventually wound up upgrading from the Atari 800 to an Amiga 500. :)
I remember this machine! Those distinctive semicircular cutouts in the front! I only saw it ONCE, though. I couldn't remember the _name_ of it nowadays to save my life! THANK YOU for posting this fun reminder! There was a promotional tour for this machine that visited the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee campus, a demo that I attended.
@@eng3d Ha , I remember in 1987-1988 We got NEC 286 and they key items were , under $4,000 2 x Floppy or 1 x Floppy and one 10/20Meg HDD and must run Lotus 123 and Wordstar With the EGA+ Multisync games we found we could run games of a floppy eg star trek text games, then leisure Suit Larry
wow this video has so many surprises. an 80-186, so many computers dumped, all of the posibilities that the mindset had to take the market and failed, and so much. it is really a good finding.
Another 80186-based computer was the Unisys ICON computer that was very common in high schools throughout Ontario, Canada. It ran an early version of QNX, and was my first exposure to both a Unix-like OS, and a client/server type computer network.
and yes, sorry, sometimes my mind fails me, the sound processor is an Intel MCU. The stereo add-on adds another of the same MCU on a cartridge, for stereo output.
Brilliant video. I started my computer employment at around 1988. I was addicted to computers before then, and spent all night typing programmes in, just to find they always had errors. I used the BBC Micro
I recall Amiga and Commodore were really pushing graphics innovation around that time, had no idea about the PC since it was somewhat standardized during that era. Also didn't know Computer Reset was still around, I had to stop going by there because it was too easy to find something I didn't need that I couldn't live without. So for the last 10 years or so I've forbidden myself from bringing anything home that is bigger than a golf ball. One day I hope my work shop is as neat and clean as your presentation area. Thanks for the great videos, I enjoy them a lot!
14:40 That is a very noisy fan. Sounded like an auto-whisk on high speed. Ooof...lol After combing my memory, I can confirm that I have used this computer a few times. I cannot say that my experience was remarkable-I was a twat back then and all I cared about was gaming, as well as messing about with graphics programs... I mean, knowing what I know now, it would of been neat to have one of these, even if it was a DoA system...
The 80186 had the primary virtue of being more complete and needing less 'glue' chips. It was used a lot in systems that ran MS-DOS but weren't IBM PC compatible. The TI Pro from Texas Instruments was another, and also had much better graphics capability than was then offered by IBM.
Already commented, but watching again :-) About the Mindset's problem of not fully compatible with existing software (x86/MS-DOS) and the lack of games... Amiga almost the reverse problem (not compatibility though as it was not compatible with anything from the start although a bit later with emulation/hardware it was MacOS and x86 compatible) because it was called a games machine. I do remember trying to tell older PC guys at the time that the Amiga is faster, better graphics, better sound, better OS and so on... but all I got back was ah well the Amiga is just a games machine... It lacked Wordperfect, AutoCAD, Excel and so on it just had pretty nice good looking games, and sound. And it was sort of true, but later it got everything that could easily match anything out there but it was sort of too late... The Atari ST (and models around that) because of the built in MIDI port got eventually called "just" a music machine... Even though it was just a $10 addon for the Amiga and it could easily do the exact same thing as the Atari... but the Amiga was just a games machine, the Atari was just a music machine and the PC was a business machine.. Apple Macintosh was the user friendly machine. Anyway I do agree with you that if they had have (have had?) a better compatibility with existing MS-DOS software just by making maybe drivers/emulation for existing leading CGA card and sound so it could run stuff maybe even better then original emulated cards and that would be 1 selling point. Otherwise this computer seems to be really good designed (almost Amiga'ish but with a x86 chip).
Ahah, the side joystick/mouse ports and the power switch at the back fit the Amstrad CPC philosophy exactly. Actually the expansion ports as well. I always tended to think that this architectural setup generally pertained to what manufacturers and designers had in mind when thinking about plug & play at the time. Amazing to find such common details on other seemingly very distance work stations. Thanks for the video.
You can find same kind of 'acceleration' on the Yamaha V99x8 family of video display processors, starting in 1984 (and backwards compatible with the TMS9918 chip you can find on the Colecovision and other early 80s machines). The V9938 can show multicoloured hardware sprites, can move VRAM blocks with logical operations, drawing lines, boxes, video superimpose, hardware-driven scroll, etc. without the aid of the main CPU. It's the VDP used on MSX2 computers. Excellent video, BTW.
Man, I can feel the nostalgia even though that thing wasn't on my childhood. Looking at old electronics like this really feels good. Feel bad when I heard the company went bankrupt :(
I love coming back to these computer reset vids. I always notice something I hadnt seen before. I wish I could some day go, and perhaps buy some stuff, but its so far from me. For now Ill have to make due with scouring eBay for deals on things.
![PASULOL รามเกียรติ์ ตอนที่ 4 นนทกพบรัก [Ramakien Ep.4: Nonthok in love]](http://i.ytimg.com/vi/tMUQgmZzf_A/mqdefault.jpg)
![[MV] A leap of faith...ความเชื่อใจครั้งสุดท้าย (From "Petrichor the series")](http://i.ytimg.com/vi/U1piZH2CNXA/mqdefault.jpg)
What’s even more amazing is there were additional Mindset computers and peripherals found in subsequent months. The owner of Computer Reset said he procured these from a computer graphics artist in the 1980s. This is the ONLY video about this computer on TH-cam!
Thanks for letting Dave do a video on this. I have never heard of the computer before so it was really cool to watch. It would be even more cool if you did a follow up video (hint hint).
Hey @The Obsolete Geek ! Please make More videos
Please do your own teardown on this when you get it! the mystery of the sound is tantalising!
Rob: So glad you got this hardware to Dave! Greets from the FB Computer Reset group.
Hi Rob
Vyper looks absolutely stunning for 1984
I agree... Was totally blown away :O
Indeed
That face... It's so familiar, but not exactly in a positive way.... I feel as though someone or something is scolding me for a wrong doing. What game is this face icon from again?
@@kidwolf0015 RollerCoaster Tycoon.
@@Squonk06 I knew it! I knew I recognized it from a tycoon game!
...and the memories of nonstop judgment are brought back on to me.... Yayyy...... 😓
@David - the reason Planet X3 fails, is because while the Mindset does implement the BIOS calls for CGA video (INT 10H), it does NOT implement the CGA hardware registers (nor the hardware registers for the PC speaker) AT ALL. The mindset framebuffer can be located anywhere in memory, and can be changed to anywhere in memory, as well as being able to have its bit blitter move graphics data _very_ quickly through the system memory. (In this way, it's very much like a proto-Amiga, sans hardware sprites).
The nice thing is, that while the IBM PC BIOS functions were horrible piles of crap, the ROM BIOS functions on the mindset (INT traps 0xEE and 0xEF) are very flexible and reasonably fast, especially since a lot of them cause graphics coprocessor commands to be emitted over DMA, and so you could probably port Planet X3 with little effort to use the advanced graphics features of the mindset. :)
Would love to see an X3 port video!
Would it be possible/sensible to set up a TSR to transparently remap the CGA registers to memory for seamless compatibility, or do you lose too much speed in the process?
@@DJSvenNo1 It doubles the number of special written games for this gem.
@@eddievhfan1984 it's worth a shot! Would be really easy to implement.
I really hope david sees this message cause that'd make for a great video/update
Wait, so in this timeline, Mindset failed? That's SO weird! Sent from my MindPhone
What do you think of the new MindOS 10?
Sent from my Mindpad
@@CardboardSliver It's pretty good! I like all the features like the paint program. Brings me back to the old times.
Sent from my MindOS 10 Desktop
@@Kat21 What are the specifications for MindOS 10? In my timeline Mindset failed so I wanted to know if my system would support it (assuming I could ever get a copy).
Main Stuff
________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
Motherboard:
Cyrix ProG with 2x Firewire 1600, 4x Firewire 800, 2x Infiniband HDR+, and Proxim Wireless Built-in
CPU:
Cyrix Cx4800
GPU:
Matrox Mystique-9 5Gb with 3x Displayport and 1x DMS-59
Sound:
Aureal Vortex 3 Pro (A3D 5.0 compatible)
RAM:
32GB Nanya DDR4-2666 (8x4GB in quad-channel configuration)
OS:
IBM OS2 Warp 7
Storage:
512GB PrairieTek Solid State Drive (boot drive)
4x 1TB Iomega 10k HDD (for game storage)
Extras
________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
1x HD-DVD Drive
1x SuperFloppy Drive (for backwards compatibility)
@John Wagner It does indeed. However, it still is early on in its development. It also has support for the BeOS kernal through running a virtualized version of Haiku (so while it's just a virtual machine, it's at least an officially supported one)
MindOS 11 is in beta. It’s going to be awesome!
Sent From My MindOS 11 Beta Computer
Also kinda odd how ♉︎♋︎♎︎♍︎♌︎♎︎♎︎♉︎ released it so early. I’ve been ♎︎♊︎♎︎♉︎♊︎♎︎♍︎ a lot of corrupti♋︎♏︎. any idea why?
It's slowly becoming more clear to the public at large that Computer Reset is a serious treasure trove of computer history. That place NEEDS to be preserved!
It needs a halon fire suppression system more than anything!
It needs a group of people to come in, and organize things.
Yeah but don't let the Fire Marshall catch a wiff of this place then it would be curtains, siyanora, adios and ciao.
Sadly, its shut down. Richard had some health issues and did a big sellout around 2 or 3 weeks ago, and hes ending the buisness. He's been a family friend for decades, and sadly ive only known him for half of one. Good man though, an honor to have helped him with his buisness
And I could be mistaken, but he called me to notify me of his sellout a few weeks ago, and I sadly didn't go because I was on vacation. However, if he ever decides to lemme drive that firebird, I'd be down in a jiffy 😉
10:45 this is collision detection, and can be remarkably complex as in its most basic form the computer has to compare the position of every object against every other object. While i can't say for sure, the fact that they built a demo around it says to me that they probably had a function specifically for it that could be used by program designers. Thus the demo was probably to show off its features and act as a template for developers.
yeah, that's pretty much sprite collision detection i guess, and it does both transparent (pacman) and opaque (hit!) drawing, a bit like a blitter?
As I understand, when Doom got ported the Atari Jaguar, they had to use the Jaguar's DSP to handle collision detection calculations and therefore, the DSP didnt have enough clock cycles left to be doing anything else and as a result, Atari Jaguar Doom has no music. Might be wrong though.
What a fantastically unique machine, thanks to you and Rob for sharing this! Those graphics seriously blow my mind, I can only wonder what else could be done with this hardware.
Here's hoping the exposure brings some demoscene coders to the table to really exploit those hardware graphics. :)
It would have been an amazing game machine
This could have been the Amiga years earlier.
Hi
wish i could go there.....
The designer listed on the MoMA page is Robert Brunner - he went on to lead the Apple Industrial design team, and was responsible for a lot of their mid 90s design direction. He is also the guy who hired Jony Ive
The AT program is showing the coprocessor interaction between the bit blitter _AND_ the hardware collision detection registers, which were nicely exposed in the BASIC.
Bruh, just threw you a sub cause of your knowledge :D
Obviously. :S
Ya....what he said
Yep. It looks like sample code to show people how to make a video game. It looks like it's made to be as simple as possible so that people can understand that code. It's impressive considering it's being run from BASIC
This sounds like one of things average people say to make fun of intelligent people.
"Ah yes, its quite clear that the dynamic iso-actuator is running into micro oscillations cause the kinetic propagation field was misaligned from an improper initiation. Someone forgot to quantify its parameterized state without juxtapositioning it against a known metric such as the hyperbolic descriptor known as word soup. Duhhh... Must've been one of the interns. 😁
"It has ball of steel!" What a great Duke Nukem reference, LGR would be proud of you, David.
To be fair, in those days, most mice has balls of steel.
@@heyidiot This is true, they just had a rubber coating to make them more sticky. Now I have the disturbing thought that the computer system named "girlfriend" (Amiga) also had balls of steel...
BTW, the Amiga also had a 16 color RGBI output (via a round DIN socket). I suppose the hardware somehow mapped the 4096 possible colors into their RGBI counterparts (but I guess no one ever did). Not sure how the Mindset worked this; it had a palette of 512 colors ("9 bit RGB") of which it could display 16 colors simultaneously.
@@klausstock8020 Balls of steel
Oh my God, I've seen that before, including Vyper. The more you talked, the more familiar it all sounded. Then you played the game and I remembered it.
I used to work for Synapse Software, and Synapse developed Vyper. Yep, we had that computer at the back of the office!
The actual look of the system isn't familiar, I think we had pre-production hardware.
Do you have any early prototypes of Vyper or Mindset development software saved on some old floppies somewhere?
@@djhenyo no. I don't have anything.
Awesome! Synapse was one of the best. What did you work on?
I was an Atari 800 guy, so Synapse was a big name for me then and I recognized Kelly Day's name on the game. I was very interested in the Mindset because I first about it as having the involvement of some former Atari chip designers, much like the Amiga. The Amiga was still a mysterious product that had yet to ship anything but game controllers, so the Mindset, with a lengthy story in Byte on the technology, was a fascination of mine for that year.
archive.org/details/byte-magazine-1984-04/page/n269
That's awesome! Had the Atari 800 (GTIA chipset) and Synapse Software was a true powerhouse in those days! So many great and memorable titles by some damn amazing programmers!
Thanks for being a part of that wonderful time in my life, you guys at Synapse were a major inspiration!
Would have been very interesting to actually see that system alter a video source with overlays in real time. That's what a Mindset was really for, most TV stations here in Germany used these boxes to inject text into the original source, i.e. the score of a soccer game, lottery numbers, and so on. My dad used to work for ZDF and proper use of these machines were the secret for having a lot nicer screen texts than the competing ARD, in the mid 80s at least. I even own a Mindset (S/N 000108) that I found in the attic after my dad passed away. Same config as here but with DOS on a cartridge.
Will try to repair (it does not turn on) that gem as soon as possible. This video did a great job motivating me after the machine sat in my attic for yet another decade by now...
Was going to ask how german public tv is competing eachother, as in my youth we could recieve 3 german tv chanels next ARD ZDF WDR to NED 1 and 2. After reading some wiki pages its just as complicated as the Dutch public tv.
damn
@@MultiArrie ah yes knightrider, a-team and Bud&Spencer in German.
I imagine some executive laying awake in bed late at night thinking back to when he told the team "it's compatible enough, we're good" and how that ruined his company
Executives rarely have second thoughts like that. They just get a golden parachute and another high-paying job.
that's why CEO's make so much, they take all the risk, if they screw up everyone is out of work!
Being this was released in 1984 and as I write this, that’s 38 years later, and most CEOs aren’t exactly young to become a CEO, I suspect without looking, the Mindset CEO has died of old age by now.
Such is life.
This machine was recently promoted to working in MAME.
I played Vyper in MAME
Also liked for truth
Wait. Are you the same Stereophonic working on the Mother 1+2 translation?
@@ardentruby873 yes!
@@Sterophonick when will you start on the mother 4 translation?
@@kimgkomg Winter 2014
The sound chip is right next to the graphics processor, it too was a DMA chip (it's an MCU), so sound instructions (and "wavetables") could be sent to the chip and programmed, and the audio chip could run without CPU intervention.
Which part number?
both appear to be custom VLSI chips th-cam.com/video/3a_qJFD80_c/w-d-xo.htmlm54s
VTI is the original VLSI Technology, Inc. it was a contract manufacturer at teh time.
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/VLSI_Technology
probably THE first ever 'Very Large Scale Integration' company, founded just a year after so called Mead/Conway revolution, that is the publication of a book and first practical MIT course based on it.
@@ChristopherDrum The sound processor is an Intel 8048 microcontroller running a software synthesizer and connected to an 8-bit DAC for output. The stereo module contains an identical 8048.
@@ischmidt Sorry, I mistyped. I meant "sound chip location is identified..." (*location* being the point of my post)
@@ischmidt just me or is the sound quality extraordinary for 1983?
the Mindset was started by a group of former Atari people, so the use of specialized chips makes since when you think of the Atari specialized chips.
Haha! That makes total sense, considering the graphics. I love Atari's innovation. :)
The "Pacman" program demonstrates the feature of hardware sprite collision
yup, hardware collision detection, but the system did not have sprites, rather blitter objects (BOBs)
@@tschak909 ... OK, I'm sort of familiar with how that works at a software level, but what's the difference when we're talking about hardware? Is it just a technical difference owing to what chips are involved and how, or does it affect performance and programming technique as well?
@@markpenrice6253 There is a pair of graphics and display coprocessors involved that DMAs their instructions and data out of main memory. As such, writing to the hardware directly isn't as straightforward as on standard PCs. This is why Mindset spent so much time and energy making an excellent BIOS interface that can not only handle all of the various operations that the GCP/DP and audio processors can handle, but be able to schedule many of the same type very quickly with a single call, so the BIOS interface is actually pretty fast, unlike every other MS-DOS machine of the time. You can see some demos here: i.imgur.com/sR5U6jJ.gif
the colorbars draws in less time than one frame.
Boxes spits out a queue of 128 operations to the GCP (it can do more), and the pause is because it's randomizing 128 more before sending them out...
Polyline also sends 128 seperate polylines per color before changing color.
Polygons is slowest, filling one 8-sided random polygon per call.
@@tschak909 What was the compiler?
@@joeg4707 for the new demos? I'm using WATCOM C (OpenWatcom) .
The compiler intended on the original ISV disks was Microsoft C, Pascal, or Assembler.
(At that time, Microsoft C was a rebadged version of Lattice C 2.0 for 8086..WATCOM has an infinitely better optimizer.)
Wow, this a trip down memory lane. I was amazed to see a video about this obscure computer. I purchased one of these back in 1985 with money I saved after several arduous weeks of mowing neighbors lawns and working a pt job after school. I really wish I had held on to it! Great video!
Makes you wonder what Windows on a Mindset would've felt/looked like... It's amazing how many old "failures" were actually just way too ahead of their times in concepts. (PS - glad to see some proper video capture of the system - slightly curious how the various video outs compare)
I seem to remember Windows 3.0 worked on the Nimbus 186, so it might work on the mindset.
Microsoft was all talk back then, they couldnt even be bothered to properly support TIGA chipsets (full graphical processor running at 40-50MHz) in Windows 3.0 despite talking the talk.
I QA interned at Mindset. They were an incredible team, deep knowledge of hardware (custom blitter), compilers (side project early use of C in that market), databases, and many many other things. Part of the opportunity was the PC 5150 was a big empty chassis, but then the PC XT and PC AT started using that space for a hard disk.
The 80186 was in a leadless carrier, and it was installed UPSIDE DOWN in the socket. The metal cap has the part markings and that side is buried in the socket.
@@Xilog It's upside down in the sense that the gold plated lid is facing DOWN. But so are the CONTACTS. The socket was designed to work that way. Usually the part number was also printed on the back side, but now always.
Probably one of my favorite pieces of hardware you've ever featured. It's absolutely beautiful and way ahead of its time. A big "what if" with all the compatibility things for sure. Loved it. Thank you for your video, David.
17:55 I think you can remove that circlip on the RCA jack, then pull of that metal clamp and the halves may separate.
thats what i thought too.
Yea, the best way to remove that is with some external snap ring pliers
I thought I saw that.
That was my thought too!
Yes, almost certainly how it would open; very cool design, huh? 😀
when you said it was from 1984, i had to stop and rewind to make sure i'd heard you right. with the design, i would have NEVER guessed it was from the 80s!
Why? There were many decent looking, or even beautiful, machines before those ugly IBM PCs and Macs took over everything...
It doesn't even look like a 90s PC. This thing could slot right into a modern desk, juuuust barely dated. Fonts and styling were about 30 years ahead of its time, maybe?
No: Current fonts and styles are throwbacks. Retro is always cool.
It does look like a 90s' PC a lot, actually. What it doesn't look so much like is an 80s' PC.
@@RedHairdo I agree
"It doesn't even look like a 90s PC." Why would it? It came out in 1984.
I think Tron was programmed on it.
9:20 "Volume in drive A is NOTFORSALE!"
Me: Dang it, I wanted to buy the volume in drive A! :( :P
:D I wanted to write the same comment but then i saw yours but that is true XD And i am not the one of "r/Whoosh"ers who doesnt know the joke don't worry
@@moonlover5544 That's fine, if you say that you're in the same mindset as me, I can understand!
@@robertsteel3563 😄
*LOL *
How to take apart the stereo cartridge: You take the clip off from around the RCA composite connector using some small vice grips to separate the two loops which will allow you to pull the brushed metal retainer off the plastic and it probably clam shells out from the plastic side... Just guessin
we now need a follow up video
Your on the right track but the clip is called a circlip , vice grips wont work, you need a circlip removal tool which pushes the clip apart as you squeeze the handles together.
thanks for a trip down memory lane. i was fortunate enough to work at mindset as did my father and sister. a couple notes:
1. the digital audio controller chip i believe was used to control fading of external video
2. the power switch on the keyboard was hated by employees because at lunch people would push the keyboard away from them and the switch would bump up against the computer and shut down causing many folks to lose their work. similar problem with the reset button. originally you didn’t need to press it in conjunction with the alt key so an accidental hit of it and the computer would restart
3. in the pac-man basic program what you’re seeing is hardware collision detection which was novel at the time
4. the mindset used custom vlsi graphic chips
5. it was originally conceived as a next generation atari home computer but when atari tanked the president of the home computer division left atari and formed mindset.
6. as a last ditch effort to save the computer the mindset was repositioned as a graphic worksatetion for television. a mindset 2000 system was built for this application but the industrial design was just a metal box as the company didn’t have the funds to hire robert bruner to do the industrial design
I wish I could go to that warehouse.. LGR's video was so neat
Same here! I'd give some of that stuff a good loving home!
I wish someone could buy all the stuff and categorized and saved all of it. I heard it's going to be bulldozed to the ground soon :(
@@will9357 Thanks! But someone really need to do some clean up and save the stuff from ratpiss and everything.
Me to...!
Me too i would get a newer PC if i could go there or if they shipped stuff and i had money
I know you've had it for a while now, but I just wanted to say how much I love the current 8-bit guy intro. The older ones were all good, don't get me wrong. But the current one is so fun and familiar and the music is such a bop, it always gets me excited for the video.
" It has a steel ball!" LGR approved, I suppose?
LOL! DUKE NUKAM REFERANCE!
@@Iliek "I've got balls of steel"
that's a jojos reference
Jokes aside, almost every ball mouse had a steel ball enclosed in some rubber
@@brycehollandsworth7175 go fuck yourself, you fucking jojotard put your noses everywhere
You might find the book "Marketing High Technology" by Bill Davidow interesting. He was head of marketing at Intel in the early 80s. One of the anecdotes in the book describes how the 80186 was marketed as needing "only" 14 peripheral chips.
One of the few computer models, even in this era, with balls of steel.
Wow this machine seems way ahead of its time. It looks fantastic, the curved moulded plastic is very Commodore!
I feel like removing the C-clip on the RCA jack would most likely get you into that sound cartridge. But you're probably right, best not to mess too much with such a rare piece of hardware, especially a loaner. :)
You beat me to it, I was just about to write a similar comment. ;-) Thankfully I scrolled through the comments first.
But even with that clip off, there is still a chance that the parts of the module's cover are just held together by plastic clips. And those are probably very brittle after all these years.
Pretty sure there would be a screw under the sticker.
My gosh... I've been waiting FOREVER for someone to make a video about Mindset. It's really great to see one in action for a change. From a technical standpoint it's not quite as advanced as I had initially heard (being architecturally more similar to the AtariST than the Amiga), but it's still quite interesting.
That computer! That STORE! I wish I could go there and rummage around for a few weeks... Unfortunately I'm from Denmark :(.
I really hope, that stuff doesn't end up in the landfill.
It won't. They will be restored to working order.
yes. hopefully they realize that would be like throwing away money or art.
@@johnwhite9303 Anything can be restored to working mint condition.
@@reneastle8447 Well... Custom chips are custom chips. They can be approximated to some degree with circuitry, but it's not the same/the full experience.
FPGA and equivalent can help too, but that's an even worse approximation...
It doesn't appear that it will be going into the landfill. Unfortunately, the owner passed away several weeks ago. But a group of local enthusiasts have partnered with the owner's daughter to organize and sell off anything anyone wants to buy. Obviously, the proceeds will go to the family, but the enthusiasts have gotten involved to make sure that none of the history gets destroyed.
I remember when this was on the cover of Byte Magazine. I briefly wanted one. The Amiga made me happy, though.
Ah, the 80186. There was another, mildly famous computer that ran that processor: The Research Machines RM Nimbus PC used in schools and colleges in the UK in the late 80s and early 90s. Wonderful machines. CGA Graphics but with more colours, BBC BASIC on ROM and, most important of all, it was mostly IBM compatible, if you ran the right bit of software that enabled compatibility mode. I had some fun times on those machines.
Wonder if you could mod one to be a mindset compatible
Heads up ... there's another computer that used an Intel 80186. The Research Machines Nimbus, which was marketed as an educational workstation for schools here in the UK. Early versions used the 186, before the CPU was changed for a 286 (then a 386) in later models. That's another seriously rare machine for you to hunt down.
Glad you said this, I was going to say the same thing. I don't know if they were ubiquitous across education in the UK, but they were certainly common enough that I saw them in our high school computer room, and then again when I went to college. They soon started to gather dust tho' when the the college bought a bunch of 386 IBM clones in another part of the room.
Neat to see "Program Load Priority" in the sys config. Very similar to the "boot priority" we have in BIOS/UEFI nowadays, but it's really cool to see it used even way back then.
Also, I can only assume the "at" program was used to demonstrate sprite-on-sprite collision detection, based on the demonstration.
I have read and acknowledged your comment, but I need to say that I've seen your avatar elsewhere...
16:58 the upper video chip is marked VTI, also known as VLSI Technologies. So as far as I know it's a custom job ASIC.
5:48
Video : Ball of Steel
Me : Expecting comments about that
Just waiting for LGR to comment.
I'M HERE TO KICK ASS AND CHEW BUBBLE GUM
Disappointed that he didn't use an unauthorized LGR sample for that comment.
What about 3:34 that is nerdgasm too.
Now that solid-state memory is once again The Future Of Computing, someone should make a SD card reader for those ROM slots.
Vyper uses the ROM BIOS functions for all the graphics routines. Think about that.
In 1983/84 or whatever. Jaw dropped. Graphics abstraction was basically unheard of that time. At least while keeping things still fast enough. This system could probably do pretty crazy things if one hardcodes graphics routines!
Any way you could get into that warehouse and get more hardware?
Im actually kinda blown away, game from 1984 and its first person shooter and almost 3d game ? Whoa, this is pretty wild.
You know that for a fact? I suppose if they're high-level enough that's not too astounding. The PC's BIOS had a rep for being slow but that's not an intrinsic property of BIOSes, IBM's just sucked. Using the BIOS to set each pixel would've been terrible, but if you could move sprites around the place, including scaling and transforms, then it's no more astounding than a modern GPU using Open GL etc.
@@greenaum Yes.
The Mindset sounds like it was a truly amazing computer for its' day! Actually including a hardware 3D vector processor in the graphics chip was something completely unheard of at that time. In a way it's too bad they were going for some level of PC compatibility because the CGA-like graphics output left the machine fairly crippled for video games. Had they gone another direction it would likely have been a strong competitor to Atari and Commodore. And Mindset may have lived longer than a couple of years, too.
Thanks for the look at that machine. An absolute work of art in 1984.
Intel 80186 was also used in the swedish Compis computer. Made for swedish schools. It ran CP/M-86.
and in the Philips :YES computer as well. That ran the processor at 8MHz. I don't remember what OS it ran...
I'm five years late to the party, but anyway - the 80186 showed up in the RM Nimbus too, which was also an educational computer, released only in the UK as far as I'm aware. I believe it was called "Nimbus" because it had a distinctive silver lining (RF shield) on the inside of the case - "every cloud has a silver lining".
Someone described this computer as being very Amiga-like and I believe it. It’s amazing this thing was able to render 3D graphics so fast and so well in 1984!
The top part really reminds me of the Sharp X68000...
It's an X68000 on its side! The vector/sprite graphics acceleration reminds me of that as well.
Yeah,more like the pro models
As someone that was born way after this age of computers and software, it’s still interesting to see what stuff like this was like back then. While watching these videos I can still feel the magic of this type of tech being the way of the future that was being emitted back when this stuff was new and it just peaks my interest and curiosity more and more as I wonder how people got stuff done back then..it’s cool to learn about stuff like this really
Same with me. The Mindset and the og Mac are 10 years older than I am and I was always fascinated with vintage tech like this.
"Volume in drive A is NOTFORSALE" xD
@Collin Abrams or could have been a PoS model for demonstration purposes maybe, who knows?
That means you can make copies and just give them away, right?
Vyper REALLY reminds me of Starfox on the SNES
the Saturn just flying out of the BASIC prompt got a laugh from me
Sadly, I've lived in the Dallas/Fort Worth area for over twenty years, and I've never heard of Computer Reset. I _may_ have seen it before a couple of times. But I did not know all of those glorious computer artifacts were there.
Just imagine if other DOS computers had these accelerated vector/sprite graphics that the mindset had. They would have been like DOS X68000s and games would have been out of this world.
Have you noticed the original X68000 case bares some resemblance to the mindset?
@@crouchypony right?!
Amazing job getting your hands on one of these. This video is a great example of why you and LGR are the best in the business for content creation for retro tech.
The 80186 was also used in the BBC Master 512. It had a 65C02 which would run all of the BBC Computer software and an 80186 which ran DR-DOS and the GEM-PLUS graphical operating system. It was hopelessly incompatible with almost everything from the world of DOS. I think only about 20 software titles worked on it.
Another UK user of the 80186 was the Research Machines Nimbus - very large in the education market. I remember doing work experience with them :-)
Compaq also sold a system with a 80186 for a short time.
If memory serves, the BBC Master 512 did not exactly have DR-DOS yet, but an earlier product, DOS Plus 1.x, which essentially was CP/M-86 with a built-in DOS 2.11 ABI level emulator called PCMODE. This early hybrid could run both CP/M-86 and MS-DOS programs (incl. batch files). In theory, it also could run CP/M-80 programs via emulation (at the rime, CP/M emulators existed for various platforms, including MS-DOS, CP/M-68k and CP/M-86 platforms). en.wikipedia.org/wiki/DOS_Plus
Edit: At some point, the 512 also came with v2.1 apparently. My apologies. I should have had been more thorough in this case. ^^;
I worked with convergent technologies workstations that used the 80186 cpu
The Swedish school computer, Telenova Compis, also used the Intel 80186 CPU. The machine normally ran CPM-86 as its OS, but could run MS-DOS (version 3.2 I think) - and like the Mindset it was not particularly compatible with IBM PC.
Nothing has driven the development and sales of personal computers more than games.
Very romantic imagination, but in fact war and greed was the reason.
In early days, the spreadsheet?
Pornography?
@@timm1328 In the 90s, certainly. Heck if it wasn't for porno, we probably would still be reading newspapers.
@@timm1328 Na that was just an after effect.
I love that the designers of early computers were prepared to produce really interesting case shapes. I once saw a Wang workstation that was amazing. The monitor was supported by a concertina tube and it fitted into the top of the base unit perfectly, like something out of Space 1999. Olivetti also made very interesting colourful computers in the early days. Somehow cases all became a bit boring. Thanks for another fascinating offering.
Old graphics workstations are neat. If only there was more information about stuff like that.
Information is sparse on stuff like this, graphics workstations / video painting systems were normally crazy expensive so only sold in small numbers. Try googling for Quantel Paintbox, Ampex Video Art, Dubner 20K, Spaceward Matisse and Xerox SuperPaint. There are others too like VideoToaster too but you probably know that one!
@@DextersTechLab I've heard of the Paintbox, but Im curious about what was used for old home video and television logos and stuff. There's gotta be some computer behind it all, and it would be cool to know what that is.
same goes for audio workstations
@@The1Nomad There was lots of options, rostrum based cel animation, genlocked computers, some would have been sent off to a specialist company to be rendered on a computer as CGI or it could have been just regular optical and video effects. The BBC even had a dedicated bit of hardware to generate the BBC world logo (google for 'BBC Computer Originated World') There was no 'one' solution. It could even be a combination of several techniques composited together. This short video might help explain some of it... th-cam.com/video/6Xk2ET5xZUM/w-d-xo.html
History of VidiFont titling system is quite interesting -- jcbd.com/vidifont/
10:42 may have been an example of collision detection, taking into account the visible (round) shape of the sprite, and not the actual square that it's bound in. VERY advanced for the time if that's the case, but I'm only guessing. Who knows really.
Although Mindset got a couple of things wrong they were actually ahead of their time without a modular computer workstation. The design and effort even in the name itself is incredible!
I logged quite a few hours on one of these in an electronic sound and image studio/lab in college back in the day. Story was, a sales rep dropped it off on spec, and never came back for it because the company folded.
This could have become the Amiga of the PC world, considering all those custom accelerator chips.
Yeah i kept thinking back to the Amiga again and again as the video was playing.
@Stefan W. The Mindset was released a year earlier than the Amiga, and the Mindset did have a blitter, although I have no idea how they compare.
It is the Amiga of the PC world - Ultimately a market failure in the United States that only the enthusiasts remember.
Another fact is that this computer is made by ex--Atari engineers, just like the Amiga.
That is a really cool looking computer, one of the better retro designs I've seen. Really neat!
The 80186 was also used in the Philips Yes! computer and on Acorn PC boards.
oiSnowy It was also used in the ICL-owned RC Piccoline computers that were common in schools in the 1980s. They had a similar look but the floppy box would be shared between 4 computers to save costs for a classroom setup. These machines ran CCP/M-86 and more closely followed the Intel documentation stating that int 00 to 1F were reserved for future CPU enhancements, 20 to 2F for BIOS etc., rules blatantly violated by the IBM PC and MS-DOS.
....and the RM Nimbus
And the DEC Rainbow - a cross between a (not quite compatible) IBM PC and a VT320 dumb terminal.
...and in the swedish/norwegian school computer Compis / Scandis made by TeleNova.
@@saveddijon Nope, Rainbow had an 8088 and Z80.
The Mindset supported an analog RGB video output mode meant for use with monitors akin to those used in the TV production world. Sony and Toshiba made compatible monitors. I think PC monitor maker
Taxan did as well.
(I'm posting to this old thread just for the record.)
That computer didn't sell very well, because it had the wrong mindset.
XD
I think Perifractic would be proud of that pun
Take my like and go away
Reading old ANTIC! magazines, Atari 400s for under $30, Atari 800s for under $60 liquidation of old stock, new in box, that would be worth a good deal more on eBay today !
Funny lol
😆
J.S.Bach --- When that sound started, I was overcome with a forgotten nostalgia. Though, I can't recall if it was from my Texas Instruments TI99/4A or my Telex 1260. It was certainly an early memory as it was a childhood moment where I was shocked with what the new technology could create.
If there had been used a computer instead of the Delorean in Back to the Future for sure it would have been the Mindset
I read an article about the Mindset in BYTE magazine back in the 80s and was quite excited about it at the time, mostly because of the hardware acceleration and number of colours. Unfortunately, that BYTE article was the last I ever heard or saw of the Mindset... until today. I eventually wound up upgrading from the Atari 800 to an Amiga 500. :)
every other mouse: I use lazers and lights
Mindset mouse: I HAVE BALLS OF STEEL
Optical mouse with lights were not a thing yet back in the 80s
I remember this machine! Those distinctive semicircular cutouts in the front! I only saw it ONCE, though. I couldn't remember the _name_ of it nowadays to save my life! THANK YOU for posting this fun reminder! There was a promotional tour for this machine that visited the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee campus, a demo that I attended.
Ah, the days of MS-DOS compatibility and the test for IBM PC compatibility was Microsoft Flight Simulator.
I think it was lotus 123
@@eng3d Ha , I remember in 1987-1988 We got NEC 286 and they key items were , under $4,000 2 x Floppy or 1 x Floppy and one 10/20Meg HDD and must run Lotus 123 and Wordstar
With the EGA+ Multisync games we found we could run games of a floppy eg star trek text games, then leisure Suit Larry
In other words, it was really a test for Microsoft compatibility.
@@lawrencedoliveiro9104 It would have worked, too, if it came slightly later!
wow this video has so many surprises. an 80-186, so many computers dumped, all of the posibilities that the mindset had to take the market and failed, and so much. it is really a good finding.
*Runs audio programme*
"Nothing to see here.." ;-)
Another 80186-based computer was the Unisys ICON computer that was very common in high schools throughout Ontario, Canada. It ran an early version of QNX, and was my first exposure to both a Unix-like OS, and a client/server type computer network.
I wonder what other treasures are at Computer Reset. I hope they find homes and not a landfill.
and yes, sorry, sometimes my mind fails me, the sound processor is an Intel MCU. The stereo add-on adds another of the same MCU on a cartridge, for stereo output.
Wait a sec you only showed the inside of the Mindset but not the floppy controller?
Brilliant video.
I started my computer employment at around 1988.
I was addicted to computers before then, and spent all night typing programmes in, just to find they always had errors.
I used the BBC Micro
If I'm correct, I think PC paintbrush made it's movie debut in the movie "ferris buelers day off"
cool people to hook all that up for you guys. A real community
Interesting! Vyper’s 3D graphics remind me of the solid polygon graphics used in the original Tron movie!
I recall Amiga and Commodore were really pushing graphics innovation around that time, had no idea about the PC since it was somewhat standardized during that era. Also didn't know Computer Reset was still around, I had to stop going by there because it was too easy to find something I didn't need that I couldn't live without. So for the last 10 years or so I've forbidden myself from bringing anything home that is bigger than a golf ball. One day I hope my work shop is as neat and clean as your presentation area. Thanks for the great videos, I enjoy them a lot!
14:40 That is a very noisy fan. Sounded like an auto-whisk on high speed. Ooof...lol
After combing my memory, I can confirm that I have used this computer a few times. I cannot say that my experience was remarkable-I was a twat back then and all I cared about was gaming, as well as messing about with graphics programs...
I mean, knowing what I know now, it would of been neat to have one of these, even if it was a DoA system...
The 80186 had the primary virtue of being more complete and needing less 'glue' chips. It was used a lot in systems that ran MS-DOS but weren't IBM PC compatible. The TI Pro from Texas Instruments was another, and also had much better graphics capability than was then offered by IBM.
Nokia MikroMikko 2 had 186 too
The 80's vibe in this video is Great!
Already commented, but watching again :-) About the Mindset's problem of not fully compatible with existing software (x86/MS-DOS) and the lack of games... Amiga almost the reverse problem (not compatibility though as it was not compatible with anything from the start although a bit later with emulation/hardware it was MacOS and x86 compatible) because it was called a games machine. I do remember trying to tell older PC guys at the time that the Amiga is faster, better graphics, better sound, better OS and so on... but all I got back was ah well the Amiga is just a games machine... It lacked Wordperfect, AutoCAD, Excel and so on it just had pretty nice good looking games, and sound. And it was sort of true, but later it got everything that could easily match anything out there but it was sort of too late...
The Atari ST (and models around that) because of the built in MIDI port got eventually called "just" a music machine... Even though it was just a $10 addon for the Amiga and it could easily do the exact same thing as the Atari... but the Amiga was just a games machine, the Atari was just a music machine and the PC was a business machine.. Apple Macintosh was the user friendly machine.
Anyway I do agree with you that if they had have (have had?) a better compatibility with existing MS-DOS software just by making maybe drivers/emulation for existing leading CGA card and sound so it could run stuff maybe even better then original emulated cards and that would be 1 selling point.
Otherwise this computer seems to be really good designed (almost Amiga'ish but with a x86 chip).
Damn! That Tandy 2000 was insanely expensive back then! You could buy a new car that that price.
Ahah, the side joystick/mouse ports and the power switch at the back fit the Amstrad CPC philosophy exactly. Actually the expansion ports as well. I always tended to think that this architectural setup generally pertained to what manufacturers and designers had in mind when thinking about plug & play at the time. Amazing to find such common details on other seemingly very distance work stations. Thanks for the video.
Vyper reminds me a LOT of Star Fox for the SNES.
except that game is actually fun. :p
يا رجل... كم أنت رائع، أشعر بثلاثين سنة مضت تستيقظ بداخلي عندما أشاهد ما تقوم به.... أشكرك لأنك تستحق ذلك.
Would have loved to see the internals of the drive unit too... #HWNerd
You can find same kind of 'acceleration' on the Yamaha V99x8 family of video display processors, starting in 1984 (and backwards compatible with the TMS9918 chip you can find on the Colecovision and other early 80s machines). The V9938 can show multicoloured hardware sprites, can move VRAM blocks with logical operations, drawing lines, boxes, video superimpose, hardware-driven scroll, etc. without the aid of the main CPU. It's the VDP used on MSX2 computers.
Excellent video, BTW.
Fascinating. A truly interesting & obscure system. LGR must be green with envy... 😜
Man, I can feel the nostalgia even though that thing wasn't on my childhood. Looking at old electronics like this really feels good. Feel bad when I heard the company went bankrupt :(
There seem to be 1000s of obscure computer systems released in the 80s.
belstar It was a great time to be alive.
@@XalphYT Best music too :)
@Fraser Anning Is RIGHT 70's was alright, tbh I hated the 80s music in that decade. Only now looking back and listening again, I love it.
Oh, I dunno. The 80s brought in synthesizers to replace guitars. So if you like chiptunes, then the 80s were great musically too.
@@Марк.Фетнов Also the best hair. I love 80's hair.
I love coming back to these computer reset vids. I always notice something I hadnt seen before. I wish I could some day go, and perhaps buy some stuff, but its so far from me. For now Ill have to make due with scouring eBay for deals on things.