ADAM Collection Manager
Hardware
← Back to hardware

PowerMATE Boot ROM

MICRO INNOVATIONS · ROM and Firmware
Platform, category and status for this entry were derived automatically from the source list and have not yet been checked by hand.
PowerMATE Boot ROM
Catalogue IDHW-0379
ManufacturerMICRO INNOVATIONS
Person or teamMark Gordon
TypeROM and Firmware (Firmware)
Connects viaCartridge or Eprom
PlatformADAM
StatusReleased
SourceCollectors DB v1.00 Master

Notes

The ROM that lets an ADAM start from a PowerMATE hard disk rather than from tape or floppy.

Why it is needed

  • The ADAM's own EOS knows about data drives and disk drives. A hard disk on an expansion card is not something it was built to look for.
  • Code in a ROM runs the moment the machine starts, before any drive is asked for anything - which is the only place from which a machine can be taught to boot from something new.

In practice

  • Switch on and the machine comes up from the hard disk, with no cartridge, tape or disk needed.

The ADAM community has since written boot ROMs that handle several hard disk systems at once - ADAMnet, SASI/SCSI, MFM and IDE - and select between them, which is the same idea taken further.