====== Be Inc. BeBox Dual603-66 (1995) and Dual603-133 (1996) ======


===== Features =====

  * CPU: Two RISC-based PowerPC 603 or 603e @ either 66 or 133 MHz
  * RAM: Up to 256 MB (up to 8 72-pin SIMM modules)
  * ROM: Unknown
  * Text Modes: 80 columns x 25 lines
  * Graphic Modes: 640x480 to 1600x1200
  * Colors: 256 to 16.7 million
  * Sound: 16-bit stereo sound system - Dual MIDI channels
  * I/O Ports: 4xserial, Parallel, 3 x Infrared, SCSI II, 2 x Joystick, 2 x Midi, GeekPort
  * Keyboard: Standard PC-AT
  * Built In Media: 3.5" 1.44 MB FDD, SCSI & IDE HDD
  * OS: BeOs
  * Peripherals: 3 x PCI and 5 x ISA card slots


===== Usage =====

MESS supports both BeBox main models

  * bebox [BeBox Dual603-66]: the 66MHz model
  * bebox2 [BeBox Dual603-133]: the 133MHz model

== Keyboard ==

These systems require full keyboard emulation to work correctly. At startup, full keyboard emulation mode is enabled by default. Whilst in full keyboard emulation mode, some key associated functionality may be disabled (like the ESC key for EXIT). The keyboard emulation mode is toggled using the "Scroll Lock" key (by default).

== RAM options ==

Different RAM configurations are possible for the bebox and bebox2 in MESS. You can switch between them, changing the -ramsize parameter. At command line, you simply have to add ''-ramsize ram_value'', where //ram_value// can assume one of the following values 

  8m
  16m
  32m (default)


===== Known Issues =====

The emulation of this system is Preliminary.


===== History and Trivia =====

The BeBox was a dual processor PC, created in 1995 by Be Incorporated to run their own operating system, BeOS.

BeBox hadware was based on a dual PowerPC 603 CPU running at 66 MHz (later 133 MHz). The motherboard was not really innovative but featured a large range of Input/Output ports, including IDE and SCSI HDD interfaces, standard PC card slots, MIDI, audio, infrared ports plus a special GeekPort for hardware experiments.

The Be Operating System was also developed from the ground up. It aimed to be an alternative to the "Heavy weight" Windows and Mac OS's.
BeOs was a clear and clean multi-processor (up to 8), multi-threading, multi-tasking, GUI-based operating system, optimized for digital media management. 

The first BeBox machines were mainly intended for use by software developers, and BeOs was delivered 
with Metrowerks CodeWarrior and C++ languages. But, in spite of its numerous advanced features, the BeBox never met the success expected by its designers, mainly because it was not compatible with other OS and application widely used in the computing industry. 

In 1996, BeOs was ported to Apple PowerPC machines but Apple eventually preferred the NeXT basis for its future Mac OS X. Two years later, BeOs ran on Intel machines.

In January 1997, the production ceased.

Nowadays, although marginal, BeOs is still alive, and new releases and updates are regularly announced by the BeOs community. 

== GeekPort ==

It's a digital and analog I/O and DC power connector, 37-pin connector on the ISA bus. It consists of:
  * Two independent, bidirectional 8-bit ports
  * Four A/D pins routing to a 12-bit A/D converter
  * Four D/A pins connected to an independent 8-bit D/A converter
  * Two signal ground reference pins
  * Eleven power and ground pins: Two at +5 V, one at +12 V, one at -12 V, seven ground pins.

//(info based on various Wikipedia pages)//


===== Links =====

  * [[wp>BeBox]]
  * [[http://www.bebox.nu/|The BeBox Zone]]
  * [[http://www.beatjapan.org/mirror/www.be.com/products/bebox/dual603spec.html|Beatjapan.org (Mirror of be.com, the official Be web site, now closed)]]
  * [[http://www.josephpalmer.com/BeBox/BeBox.shtml|BeBox Photo Gallery (by Joseph Palmer: Be HW Engineer)]]

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