BeBox Q & A

This document answers questions regarding Be's original product, the BeBox.

On January 30, 1997 Be announced that it was ceasing production of the BeBox. Details of the announcement and questions and answers regarding the decision to leave the hardware business are available elsewhere.

This page was last updated on July 16, 1997.

General

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Q: Is there software or some kind of upgrade card that you can buy for the BeBox that enables it to run Mac OS-based software?

A: As of this writing, we're not aware of any such card or software. We suspect that any such solution would have licensing and other legal issues regarding Apple's intellectual property that might make it difficult to bring to market...

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Q: Why use two processors on the BeBox?

A: We believe multiple processors are a cheap way to improve performance. To improve performance on most single-processor operating systems you must use faster and increasingly expensive chips to replace your existing single processor. And then you only get incremental speed improvements.

With the BeBox, we showed that you can simply add another cheap processor and get a significant boost in performance and the ability to do more than one thing at a time. It's also a fundamentally better way to do real-time tasks since one processor can be dedicated to the real-time task and the other(s) can handle more general tasks.

Of course, having an operating system that threads between processors, and allowing applications to take advantage of this without having to have extensive understanding of the threading mechanism, helps a great deal.

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Q: The fact that the PowerPC processors are mounted directly on the main logic board seems to be restrictive. Would upgrades have been easier/cheaper with a separate processor board?

A: Upgrades would have been cheaper and easier, but the system cost would have suffered. There's nothing cheaper (or more reliable, by the way) than soldering the CPUs in place.

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Q: Is it possible to directly replace the BeBox's 603/603e processors with faster 603es on the current motherboard?

A: This can't be done because the processors are soldered to the motherboard and because there are more changes than just a swap needed to run the faster chips.

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Q: Can I still upgrade my 66MHz BeBox to a 133MHz BeBox?

A: No. We had two programs to upgrade 66MHz BeBoxes to 133MHz BeBoxes, one for people who bought BeBoxes before 3/96 and one for all 66MHz BeBox owners. Both offers expired at the end of last year.

The offers were generous, especially for the early purchasers, and we could only offer them for a limited time...

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Q: Is there a way I can buy a BeBox I/O board?

A: No, I/O boards are not for sale.

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Q: Why can't I boot my BeBox from my DR8.0 CD-ROM anymore?

A: If you are trying to boot your BeBox from a DR8.0 CD, and it is not booting correctly, you have probably updated your BeBox's ROM to a later version, e.g., the DR8.2 ROM. This won't work.

Ideally, you have a DR8.2 CD-ROM that you can boot from. If not, you will need to "downgrade" your ROM to the older version, by booting your BeBox with the 8.0 Boot ROM Upgrader floppy that should have come with the 8.0 CD-ROM. Booting with the ROM Upgrader floppy inserted in the BeBox will "update" the ROM, and you will then be able to boot from the DR8.0 CD-ROM.

You should be sure to re-update to DR8.2, if necessary re-installing DR8.0 on your hard drive and then updating it with the DR8.2 updater package, and then flashing your boot ROM again.

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Q: I am attempting to upgrade my BeBox 66 to the Preview Release. When I try to update the flash ROM, I get an error message, and when I look on the boot choices screen, it still shows that I have a DR8.x ROM in the BeBox. What's wrong?

A: You have a BeBox with a revision level 5 logic board. Among other differences, BeBoxes before revision level 6 had a smaller flash ROM chip. This flash ROM chip is too small to hold the entire ROM image for the Preview Release. This makes it impossible to upgrade to the Preview Release on these machines.

Here is a message from our director of support on this issue:

In past commuications, we have indicated that Be intended to support BeBox prototype units, the version known as "Rev 5" without the CPU lights and front plastic bezel, through the BeOS Preview Release (also known as "DR9"). While developing the Preview Release, however, we have found that the flash ROM in the Rev 5 prototype units was not big enough to hold the required information for this release.

We tried many possible solutions, but none of the options proved viable. So we've come up with another solution. We'll simply upgrade your Rev 5 hardware to the official "Rev 6" motherboard design.

If you would like to take advantage of this upgrade please contact us at custservice@be.com to make arrangements to have the work completed. In your message, please include the serial number of the BeBox, date of purchase and your developer number. We will, in turn, contact you with details on how to proceed.

If you have technical questions regarding the upgrade, please feel free to contact our Developer Technical Support people at devsupport@be.com.

Thank you for your continued interest,
Ed Romson
Director, Customer Support
Be, Inc.

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Q: How can I tell what revision level my BeBox is?

A: You need to open your BeBox, and look on the logic board right underneath the stenciled Be logo, between the PCI and the ISA slots. You will see a sequence of numbers that begins with "ASSY" and ends with a "-" and then a two digit number. That number is your BeBox's revision level, so for example something with a "- 06" at the end of the ASSY sequence is a rev. 6 BeBox.

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Q: Why doesn't the BeBox have an L2 cache?

A: Since we're not emulating anything, we're very pleased with the performance of the 2 PowerPC 603e processors without L2 caches. We use the Motorola 105 "Eagle" support chip, which allows for either one processor and an L2 cache or two processors without L2 caches. So, our two-processor PowerPC BeBox has no provision for an L2 cache.

Our operating system's performance,however, is certainly sufficient with the 603e's internal caches -- perhaps because we aren't emulating any 68k code -- and because of the design tailored to the PowerPC architecture.

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Q: Why don't you have built-in graphics capabilities?

A: We decided to let third parties provide the graphics cards. Since we don't make our own ASICs, we really have no value that we can add to a graphics card, we would just be supplying a standard card with a Be name.

Since there is such a wonderful competition in graphics cards, we know that you will benefit more from being able to purchase exactly what you need instead of being tied to our choice.

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Q: Why didn't you put Ethernet on the BeBox motherboard?

A: We did not want to lock anyone in to a specific networking protocol or hardware. The ISA and PCI slots allow you to configure the network you need, based on your other installed equipment or network. On-board networking would have restricted you, and in all likelihood cost you more (in buying the BeBox) than picking up your own networking card.

We support NE2000-type Ethernet cards, which are available from a number of vendors, and which have been seen for as little as $19.95 -- retail! We also believe that users should be able to choose their own network -- be it a modem, ISDN, Ethernet, Fast Ethernet, or ATM.

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Q: Why did you use PC-style keyboards and mice instead of ADB?

A: We don't sell the monitors, keyboards, or mice used with our systems. We chose PC-standard peripherals to give our customers the widest possible choices at the lowest possible prices. ADB keyboards and devices are, in general, more expensive than the generic PC-style devices.

Also, ADB exists partially to compensate for a lack of input ports, and the BeBox does not suffer from that limitation.

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Q: How many BeBoxes were sold before they were discontinued?

A: The 66MHz BeBox began production in 10/95 (it was introduced at Agenda '95, to a standing ovation) and was manufactured until 12/96. The 133MHz BeBox began shipping in 10/96, and ended when Be announced that we would discontinue our hardware production, on 1/30/97.

Over that time, Be sold around 1,000 66MHz BeBoxes and a little over 800 133MHz BeBoxes. Most of these went to developers, with the rest going to unusually discerning and technologically savvy individuals. ;-)

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Q: I recently bought (or sold) a BeBox. How do I transfer ownership and registration information to the new owner? And do I have a full warranty?

A: Please send the following information to devservices@be.com:

• old owner contact information (name, company, address, phone number, e-mail, Be developer numer)
• new owner contact information (same deal)
• the serial number (located on the back of the unit) of the BeBox

We really need this information so that we can send the BeOS updates for the right platform to the right person.

We do ask that if the new owner of the BeBox is not a registered Be developer, that that person apply to the program, noting that they purchased their BeBox used. The application form is at:

http://www.be.com/developers/devprogramapp.html

New BeBox owners can expect to have the remainder of the original warranty honored. It is certainly our intent to make sure that everyone who has a BeBox is happy with it!

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Compatible Hardware

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Q: How many SIMM slots/banks does a BeBox have?

A: The BeBox has 8 SIMM slots, in 4 banks of two slots each (each bank must be filled with identical SIMMs).

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Q: What type of memory does the BeBox use?

A: 72 pin, 60ns, no parity RAM SIMMs. The BeBox can accept parity RAM, but does not use the parity features.

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Q: Can the BeBox support 64Mb or 128Mb SIMMS? (i.e., what is the real maximum addressable memory?)

A: Yes, the BeBox should support 64 MB and 128 MB SIMMS, up to a total of 1 GB of RAM. Quite honestly, though, we haven't tested greater than 32 MB SIMMS.

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Q: Can I mix-and-match SIMMs?

A: Yes. SIMMs must be placed in the SIMM sockets in matched side-by-side, identical pairs. So for example, you could have two 8 MB SIMMs, then two 16 MB SIMMs, then two 32 MB SIMMs.

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Q: If I purchased a BeBox, would I be able to use my current SCSI hard drives, my SCSI Zip drive, my 60 ns 72-pin SIMMs?

A: Yes to compatibility with all of that hardware.

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Q: Can I buy all my hardware elsewhere and be sure it is going to work in my BeBox?

A: You can be pretty sure it will, as long as you follow the specs and perhaps get some help from places like:

• http://ourworld.compuserve.com/homepages/Befirst/
• http://www.iag.ne t/~cstone/be/BePeripheralFAQ.txt

Another great source of current compatibility information is the comp.sys.be.help newsgroup.

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Q: What types of Ethernet cards does the BeBox support?

A: The BeBox supports NE2000 compatible (ISA), 3Com Etherlink II (ISA), and DEC 21040/21041 (PCI) based Ethernet cards.

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Q: What graphics cards does the BeBox currently support?

A: Here is a table of graphic card and chipset compatibility for Be OS:

For each chipset, and all the cards we have tested, indicated are the
available capabilities in a table using these notations :

X  => available and tested. Works well.
X- => available and tested. Difficult settings, depending on the monitor.
      (for card)
X* => available and tested. Works on some cards, doesn't work on others.
      (for chipset)
x  => available but not specifically tested (the specific card or chipset
      was not available).
#  => doesn't work now, but will probably work in the future.
0  => will never work (for technical reasons).


The abilities tested are :

640_8  : 640x480, 8 bits (with 1 MB)
800_8  : 800x600, 8 bits (with 1 MB)
1024_8 : 1024x768, 8 bits (with 1 MB)
640_32 : 640x480, 32 bits (with 2 MB)
800_32 : 800x600, 32 bits (with 2 MB)
Boot   : Bootrom support (Be logo and boot device selector)
Lines  : Accelerated stuff for line drawing
Polys  : Accelerated stuff for flat polygon filling (horizontally convex
         only). This will not be used before DR8.
Cursor : Hardware cursor.

Accelerated blit and rectangle filling is always available.


1 - Cirrus chipsets.

            abilities    6   8   1   6   8   B   L   P   C
                         4   0   0   4   0   o   i   o   u
                         0   0   2   0   0   o   n   l   r
                         /   /   4   /   /   t   e   y   s
                         8   8   /   3   3   .   s   s   o
Chipset or cards         .   .   8   2   2   .   .   .   r

cirrus alpine 5430       X   X   X-  0   0   X   0   0   X
cirrus alpine 5434       X   X   X   X   X   X   0   0   X
cirrus alpine 5436       x   x   x   x   x   x   0   0   x
cirrus alpine 5440       x   x   x   0   0   x   0   0   x

TW-5 94 VO (5430)        X   X   X-  0   0   X   0   0   X
Diamond SpeedStar...
...Pro SE PCI (5430)     X   X   X-  0   0   X   0   0   X
STB Systems Nitro...
...PCI 1.5 (5434)        X   X   X   X   X   X   0   0   X
J6NGD543XPCI (5434)      X   X   X   X   X   X   0   0   X
Orchid Kelvin EZ-PCI...
...(5430)                X   X   X-  0   0   X   0   0   X
Orchid Kelvin 64 (5434)  x   x   x   x   x   x   0   0   x


2 - S3 Chipsets.

            abilities    6   8   1   6   8   B   L   P   C
                         4   0   0   4   0   o   i   o   u
                         0   0   2   0   0   o   n   l   r
                         /   /   4   /   /   t   e   y   s
                         8   8   /   3   3   .   s   s   o
Chipset or cards         .   .   8   2   2   .   .   .   r


Vision 864               X*  X*  X*  X*  X*  X*  X*  0   X
Vision 868               #   #   #   #   #   #   #   0   #  (3)
Vision 964               X*  X*  X*  X*  X*  X*  X*  0   #
Vision 968               #   #   #   #   #   #   #   0   #  (3)
Trio 32                  #   #   #   #   #   X   #   0   #  (2)
Trio 64                  X*  X*  X*  X*  X*  X   X*  #   X* (2)

#9GXE64 (864)            X   X   X   X   X   X   X   0   X
#9GXE64 Pro (964)        X   X   X   X   X   X   X   0   #
Diamond Stealth SE...
...PCI (Trio32)          #   #   #   #   #   X   #   0   #  (1)
#9GXE64 TrioPCI (Trio64) #   #   #   #   #   X   #   #   #  (1)
Diamond Stealth 64...
...DRAM T PCI (Trio64)   X   X   X   x   x   X   X   #   X
Expert Color Trio64 PCI  X   X   X   X   X   X   X   #   X


(1) These two cards will get full support soon. A new S3 add-on will be
available on the web site.

(2) Full support for these chips will probably be done at the same time. For
that, we will probably need both new add-on and new bootrom (available on
the web site).

(3) These cards can probably be supported if necessary.

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Q: I have an XBR Sony 61-inch TV and would like to connect the BeBox to it, when I get one. What kind of video interface will you be offering?

A: Video needs to be done with add-in cards. Check the various sources listed in a previous FAQ item to verify the hardware you prefer will work in your BeBox.

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Q: What video/sound in/out cards do you recommend?

A: We don't have any recommendations as yet, as our Media/Audio/Video Kit is still not ready for prime time. We recommend that you check with the third parties with video/audio applications to determine what hardware they recommend.

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Q: Can I use an internal ISA modem card with my BeBox? How do I do it?

A: After installing your modem card, you need to configure your PPP interface to use the internal modem instead of an external modem, by choosing either COM3 or COM4 for your port in the serial settings section of the PPP configuration dialog.

If you use COM3, your card must be configured (via jumper; you should know what you're doing here) to use IRQ4. If you use COM4, your card must be configured to use IRQ3.

Once you have reconfigured your PPP interface, you will need to Restart Networking for your changes to take effect.

Note: If you used /dev/com3 for your modem, you cannot use the serial1 port (/dev/serial1) for anything else. If you used /dev/com4, you cannot use the serial2 port (/dev/serial2) .

Note: This should be obvious, but these instructions won't work in a Mac. The Mac doesn't have an ISA bus, so it's impossible to put an internal ISA modem into one...no matter how much you edit the settings file. ;-)

Good luck!

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Specifications

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Q: What kinds of expansion options are available for the BeBox? How many slots, drive bays, etc.?

A: The BeBox is highly expandable (this was one of its great features)! You can get the major details from the BeBox spec sheet:

http://www.be.com/products/bebox/dual603ds.html

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Q: Please tell me the size of the BeBox motherboard (baby-AT, full-AT, or custom size)?

A: The motherboard is custom, measuring approximately 14" by 11.5".

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Q: Why is the motherboard so small and why are there so many mounting holes?

A: We wanted all of our I/O on the back panel without resorting to kludgey breakout boxes.

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Q: What's that big square socket up near the two processors?

A: That's a logic-analyzer interface. We use it to test and debug systems.

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Q: Can I get the specs for the logic analyzer interface? I'd like to be able to diagnose my own hardware problems. The BeBox User's Guide says to contact you if I need the info...

A: You're welcome to have the logic analyzer info if you like (send mail to desmarets@be.com).

But please note the following important warning: As soon as you insert a single wire into the logic analyzer interface, your warranty is null and void and we cannot support your machine. A single misplaced short in the logic analyzer can cook your motherboard beyond repair, and we won't be able to help. So choose wisely...

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Q: Was the BeBox designed to be a green system, efficient in energy consumption? Does the BeBox allow subsystems or a processor to sleep while idling?

A: We did not try for green compliance in the BeBox. Given the number of ports and slots in the BeBox, it is difficult for us to control which cards, drives, and other peripherals will be installed.

All-in-one computer systems have a much better chance at achieving this rating, compared to a system with 8 slots. ;-)

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Q: Is the BeBox easily upgradable? I could see no mention of a BeOS ROM in the spec?

A: The BeBox's operating system consists of several parts, all of which can be updated by a software update distributed via CD or over the Internet:

• A boot ROM, which can be updated by software because we are using flash ROMs.
• The BeOS, basically the kernel, servers and shared libraries, loaded from the disk.

We have an Installer application which facilitates the job of upgrading the ROM and BeOS.

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Q: What is the internal bus speed of the BeBox?

A: Both the processor bus and the PCI bus run at 33MHz.

You can find this and all kinds of additional technical information regarding the BeBox (just about enough to build your own if you're a hardware engineer!) at:

http://www.be.com/products/bebox/dual603spec.html

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Q: What SCSI cabling do you use in the BeBox?

A: We use the standard 8 Bit SCSI-2 interface, 50 Pin .050 flat ribbon internally, 50 Pin SCSI-2 connector externally.

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Q: Will the BeBox support SCSI-2 wide devices (via the NCR 825 instead of the 810). Or is it currently possible to add industry-standard PCI SCSI cards and hope to have these recognized by the BeOS?

A: The current BeBox does not support wide SCSI on the logic board. However, a custom driver could be written to support a PCI SCSI card...

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Q: Can I use an IDE CD-ROM drive in my BeBox?

A: Yes. The Preview Release of the BeOS supports ATAPI IDE CD-ROM drives with full DMA capability.

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Q: Does the BeBox have built-in video in/out?

A: No, we are looking to PCI cards to add that function. With the rapid the advances in video technology, we were not comfortable limiting our developers and users to a video chip set for our motherboard.

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Q: Does the BeBox have a video and audio jack like the Amiga?

A: There are audio and MIDI jacks, but video will be done with add-on cards.

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Q: I want to play CDs in my CD drive and listen to them on the BeBox speaker or through the line-out ports. Do I need a special cable? If so, what cable and where can I buy one?

A: You need to connect the CD-ROM drive to the BeBox I/O board with a "pass-through cable." Pass-through cables are available at larger electronics supply stores.

Make sure you buy one that has a connector for your brand of CD-ROM drive at one end, and a connector compatible with a ProAudio Spectrum 16 card at the other (this is the end you connect to the connector on the I/O board). One manufacturer we've purchased parts from is TTS Multimedia Systems, 2045 San Elijo Ave., Cardiff, CA 92007, (800) 887-4968.

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Q: Will there be increased audio capability/quality built into the system at a later date? For example, a Mac Performa supports 16-bit CD quality (44kHz) sound, without modification (out of the box). Will the BeBox ever have DAT quality (16 bit/48kHz) or higher sound?

A: The BeBox already supports 16-bit/44kHz stereo sound capabilities out of the box.

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Q: Does the sound hardware support hardware mixing or must this be done by the software (that is, by mod players, etc.)?

A: The sound hardware supports hardware mixing only to the extent provided by the Crystal codec. Which is to say that the DAC output is mixed in hardware with Line Input, Mic Input, and AUX (which is normally the analog audio output of a connected CD-ROM drive).

Multiple channels of digital audio must be mixed by the processors (which the BeOS will do for you) before being sent to the DAC.

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Q: How come the BeBox does not use hardware to do its audio mixing?

A: We demonstrated that 16 channels mixed in software had no problem on our machine. Remember that the PowerPC 603 is a very fast processor compared to 680x0 family members, and we have two of them. Also do not forget that the BeOS is unencumbered with layer upon layer of software, and unlike the Mac, we are 100% native PowerPC code.

We also support the ability to set priorities of tasks, so it is even possible to effectively dedicate a CPU to a thread (actually, the task may bounce from CPU to CPU). On 66 MHz BeBox, we get 1375 clocks per 44 KHz sample period (on a 133 MHz BeBox, we get twice that!). We can do a lot of processing in 1375 clocks.

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Q: What standard(s) do the BeBox IR ports follow? Do they replace the PC parallel and serial ports?

A: The BeBox's IR ports are not for data, they are for infrared remote control functions.

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Q: What level of functionality do the IR ports support for sending remote control from the BeBox? What kind of device does the BeBox pretend to be when using a universal remote to control it?

A: We are going to do sampling and playback so we can be universal (to the extent that most IR is modulated at about 40 KHz, for things like your Bang and Olafsen stereo which use 100 KHz modulation you will need to do some extra work externally).

For our listening mode we plan to emulate a number of devices so that you could pick a device that you don't own, and program your "4 in one" to control the BeBox, which masquerades as that device.

For example, we might be programmed to listen for codes addressed to a Panasonic VCR and respond to them. If you happen to own that particular VCR the BeBox could be switched to listen for codes for say a Sanyo CD player. In other words we will be flexible enough to respond to a code for something you don't yet own.

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Q: What is the GeekPort sample rate?

A: The GeekPort is limited to 1 sample every 10uS.

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Q: On the GeekPort, there are four DACs (one for each output) but one ADC for all the four inputs. How can this work?

A: There is a multiplexer that is used to select which of the 4 pins to sample.

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Q: Why is it called the "GeekPort," anyway?

A: What do you call people who design their own stuff to plug into their computers, especially analog stuff? What would you call a port designed specifically for them?

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Q: Does BeBox provide an X-10 power line interface? If so does it support talk and listen?

A: We support X-10 through a serial port connection, meaning that if someone wishes to create an X-10 interface that would be the path. We don't support X-10 in the BeOS.