Acorn FileStore
 | |
| A FileStore E01S base unit stacked on an E40S hard disc unit (photo: Chris Whytehead, CC BY-SA 3.0) | |
| Specifications | |
|---|---|
| Manufacturer | Acorn Computers |
| Type | Dedicated Econet file and printer server |
| Released | 1987[1] |
| Intro price | E01S £1,148.85 including VAT (February 1989)[2] |
| CPU | 65C102 at 2 MHz (8 MHz crystal divided by four)[3] |
| Memory | 64 KB RAM; 64 KB ROM |
| Storage | Two 3.5-inch floppy drives; E20 20 MB, E40S 40 MB and E60S 60 MB hard disc units |
| Display | — |
| Sound | — |
| Power | 198 to 264 V AC, 50 Hz; 25 W (E01, E01S), 40 W (E20, E40S, E60S) |
| Dimensions | 333 × 351 × 78.8 mm per unit |
| Weight | 5 kg per unit |
| OS / Firmware | — |
| Model no. | AEH26 (E01), AEH27 (E20), AEH35 (E01S), AEH36 (E40S), AEH37 (E60S) |
The Acorn FileStore is a range of dedicated file servers for Acorn's Econet network. The base units, the FileStore E01 and its successor the Stacking FileStore E01S, each hold two 3.5-inch floppy drives, a switch-mode power supply and a 65C102 controller board with 64 KB of RAM, 64 KB of ROM, a real-time clock, an Econet module and a Centronics printer port. Hard disc units connect to the base unit's expansion bus: the E20 (20 MB) for the E01, and the E40S and E60S (40 and 60 MB) for the E01S. A FileStore has no keyboard or screen; it is managed from an Econet station.[3]
Acorn's brochure for the E01 and E20 is dated January 1987 and the leaflet for the E01S, E40S and E60S September 1988.[1][4] Wikipedia gives an E01S price of £1,148.85 including VAT in February 1989, and notes that by 1991 Acorn's price lists no longer carried the FileStore and offered the Level 4 file server software for the Archimedes instead.[2]
Models
[edit | edit source]| Unit | Sales code | Contents | Connects to |
|---|---|---|---|
| E01 | AEH26 | Two 3.5-inch floppy drives, controller board, power supply, fan | Econet; E20 by a 34-way 2 MHz expansion bus |
| E20 | AEH27 | 3.5-inch 20 MB hard disc with SCSI controller, host adaptor board, power supply, fan | E01 expansion bus |
| E01S | AEH35 | Two 800 KB floppy drives, controller board with SCSI expansion bus, power supply, fan, mains outlet | Econet; up to four E40S or E60S units |
| E40S | AEH36 | 40 MB SCSI hard disc, power supply, fan, drive number switch | E01S expansion bus, daisy-chained |
| E60S | AEH37 | 60 MB SCSI hard disc, power supply, fan, drive number switch | E01S expansion bus, daisy-chained |
Sales codes from Chris's Acorns;[5] contents from the service manual and the brochures.[3][4]
The E01 was made in two versions that differ only in the colour of the case and plastics and the software supplied: a Master version (part 0354,002) and a Communicator version (part 0354,000) for use with the Acorn Communicator Videotex terminal. The E20 likewise exists as 0354,407 (Master) and 0354,005 (Communicator).[3] Chris Whytehead's E01 is grey, which he links to the Communicator version.[6]
Hardware
[edit | edit source]
Base unit board
[edit | edit source]The controller board is a cut-down 6502-family machine with no video. The processor is a 65C102 run from an 8 MHz crystal divided internally by four, giving 2 MHz.[3] Chris Whytehead's table for his E01 gives the clock as 4 MHz.[6] At power-up the ROM is copied into RAM and the server runs from RAM; ROM and RAM are never mapped at the same time.[3]
| Item | E01 (board 0154,000) | E01S (board 0182,000) |
|---|---|---|
| Processor | 65C102, IC3 | 65C102, IC16 |
| ROM | Two 27256 EPROMs: IC4 (operating system) and IC5 (file server) | One 27512 EPROM, IC7 |
| RAM | Two 4464 (64K × 4) DRAMs, IC12 and IC13 | Two 64K × 4 DRAMs, IC9 and IC10 |
| Floppy controller | 2793, IC20 (TMS2793 in the parts list) | 2793 |
| Real-time clock | 146818, IC2, with 32.768 kHz crystal X1 | 146818, IC1 |
| Backup cell | BT1, 3.6 V NiCd (part 0817,000) | B1, 3.6 V 100 mAh NiCd button (part 0817,000) |
| Expansion bus | 34-way IDC, 2 MHz bus similar to the BBC 1 MHz bus | 50-way Delta ("Type 57"), SCSI signals |
| Printer port | 26-way IDC, Centronics, driven by a 6522 VIA | 24-way Delta, Centronics, driven by a 6522 VIA |
| Mains | Fixed lead; 3 A plug fuse | Fixed lead and an IEC outlet for stacked units; 5 A plug fuse |
The 146818 holds the date and time and 50 bytes of CMOS RAM used for configuration and error logging, including the station number, MAXUSERS and MAXDRIVE settings and the printer server name. A rechargeable NiCd cell keeps it running when the unit is off, charged from a constant-current circuit while the power is on.[3]
A door flap switch (an optical sensor) tells the processor when a disc is about to be changed and selects the start-up mode. With the flap closed at power-up the FileStore starts in network (user) mode; with it open it starts in maintenance mode, which allows discs to be formatted. Maintenance mode can also be selected with *FSMODE M from a station. When the flap is opened in use, the server writes the disc maps held in memory back to the discs, so the drive motors must stop before a disc is removed.[3]
The Econet hardware is on a plug-in Econet module (68B54 data link controller) on sockets SK10 and SK11, the same module design used in the BBC Master.[3][6] The board also has an Econet clock generator and an active terminator, which it switches in if no network clock is detected, so a FileStore and one station with an Econet interface can form a network on their own.[3][7] Links on the board set the clock period and mark-space ratio; Acorn gives 200 kHz as the optimum.[3]
Hard disc units
[edit | edit source]The E20 contains a 3.5-inch 20 MB hard disc with an on-board SCSI controller, a switch-mode supply and a host adaptor board that converts the E01's 2 MHz expansion bus to SCSI. Acorn treated the host adaptor as the only dealer-serviceable part; drives, controller boards and supplies were exchanged.[3] Chris Whytehead describes the E20's drive as an ST506 disc.[6]
The E40S and E60S carry a 40 or 60 MB SCSI drive and a supply, with two 50-way expansion connectors for daisy-chaining, a mains inlet and outlet, and a drive number switch on the rear panel. Up to four can be stacked under one E01S.[3][4] Chris Whytehead's E40S holds a Rodime RO3057S.[8]
Power supplies
[edit | edit source]Each unit has its own switch-mode supply. The E01 and E01S supplies have two +5 V outputs (board and drives) and a +12 V output for the drives, and the units draw 25 W. The hard disc units draw 40 W.[3] Acorn's parts lists give the supplies only as assemblies (E01S PSU 0182,015; E40S and E60S PSU 0182,115) with no circuit, so there is no Acorn component data for them.[3] Rail limits and current checks are in the Acorn FileStore Troubleshooting Guide.
Software and upgrades
[edit | edit source]The file server software is in ROM. It uses the same commands and user interface as Acorn's Level 2 and Level 3 file servers.[1] Acorn issued field change orders that replace the ROMs: FCO 2005 for the E01 replaces IC4 with EPROM 0254,204-03 and IC5 with 0254,205-04, and FCO 2006 for the E01S replaces IC7 with 0282,008-01. Both were done by removing the plastics and top cover, and the E01 change needs drive 5 lifted to reach the sockets.[7]
Maintenance and repair
[edit | edit source]- Acorn FileStore Maintenance Guide: disassembly, the NiCd backup cell, capacitors, fan, floppy and hard drives.
- Acorn FileStore Troubleshooting Guide: power-up sequence, Acorn's three-stage fault finding, supply and current checks, network faults and lost passwords.
Documentation
[edit | edit source]- Acorn FileStore Documentation: the FileStore Service Manual (0482,001), the APP 150 leaflet and Acorn's list of Econet Level II, III and FileStore error codes.
Related pages
[edit | edit source]- Acorn Communicator
- Acorn Master Turbo, one of the hosts for Acorn's earlier Level 2 and Level 3 file server software[5]
- Hard Drive Maintenance and Repair
- Floppy Drive Repair
References
[edit | edit source]- ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 Acorn Computers, Econet FileStore, brochure APP 109, first edition, January 1987. archive.org scan (retrieved 2026-10-02). E01 (AEH26): two 3.5-inch floppy drives "with up to 1.2 Mbytes of storage", 64K ROM, 64K RAM, 65C102, printer interface, expansion bus, Econet module, clock and termination, real-time clock and RAM "maintained by rechargeable battery", switch-mode power supply, fan; E20 (AEH27): one 3.5-inch 20 MB Winchester; weight 11 pounds.
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 "Econet", Wikipedia (retrieved 2026-10-02), section "Filestore" (65C102, 64 KB RAM and ROM, battery-backed RAM for configuration and authentication; E20, E40S and E60S; "S" for stacking) and section on Level 4 (E01S at £1148.85 including VAT in February 1989; FileStore absent from the 1991 pricing).
- ↑ 3.00 3.01 3.02 3.03 3.04 3.05 3.06 3.07 3.08 3.09 3.10 3.11 3.12 3.13 3.14 Acorn Computers, FileStore Service Manual, part no. 0482,001, issue 1, 21 September 1989 (retyped edition). Hosted on this wiki: Acorn FileStore Documentation. Introduction p. 1; E01 description, function and connections pp. 5 to 6; E01 general specification p. 6; physical p. 8; indicators and controls p. 8; signal connectors pp. 9 to 10; power input and supply pp. 10 to 11; E01 circuit description pp. 17 to 24 (timing p. 17, battery backup p. 18, ROM p. 18, Econet p. 19, disc interface p. 19, expansion bus p. 20, link survey p. 24); E20 introduction, specification and serviceable parts pp. 28 to 37; E01S introduction and specification pp. 51 to 57; E01S ROM control and battery backup pp. 68 to 70; E40S and E60S pp. 83 to 87; parts lists pp. 116 to 139.
- ↑ 4.0 4.1 4.2 Acorn Computers, Filestore, leaflet APP 150, first edition, September 1988. Hosted on this wiki: File:Acorn FileStore brochure (APP150).pdf. Two 800 KB floppy drives in the E01S (1.6 MB); E40S 40 MB and E60S 60 MB formatted; up to four hard disc units per E01S (240 MB); up to 80 users logged on, about twenty served satisfactorily; the E01S "can act as the core unit of a new network" and supplies the control for cable runs up to 500 metres.
- ↑ 5.0 5.1 Whytehead, Chris. "Econet", Chris's Acorns, The Centre for Computing History (retrieved 2026-10-02). Section "Econet servers": FileStore E01 (AEH26) and E20 (AEH27); FileStore E01S (AEH35), E40S (AEH36) and E60S (AEH37); the E01S expansion bus is a SCSI interface; Level 2 and Level 3 file servers running on a Master Turbo, Master 128 or BBC Micro with a second processor.
- ↑ 6.0 6.1 6.2 6.3 Whytehead, Chris. "Acorn AEH26 FileStore E01", Chris's Acorns (retrieved 2026-10-02). Serial 25-AEH26-1000138; circuit board 0154,000 issue 2; Rockwell R65C102P3 (his table gives the clock as 4 MHz); HD146818 RTC; two TMM27256D-20 EPROMs labelled E01 MOS and E01 FS; WD2793-APL-02; two NEC D41464C-12 RAMs; RC6522AP VIA; two NEC FD1036 3.5-inch drives; white CMOS battery at the bottom right of the board; Econet module 0259,200 issue 1; grey case linked to the Communicator.
- ↑ 7.0 7.1 Acorn Computers Customer Services, Customer Service News, February 1989 (SID references CSN0015 to CSN0020), appendices "FCO 2005 - AEH26 FileStore E01" and "FCO 2006 - AEH35 FileStore E01S" with upgrade instructions, and a supplement to the FileStore Network Manager's Guide (0454,010 issue 1, 19 February 1987). archive.org scan (catalogued as "Acorn FileStore E20 Specifications"), retrieved 2026-10-02.
- ↑ Whytehead, Chris. "Acorn FileStore E40S", Chris's Acorns (retrieved 2026-10-02). Rear panel with drive number selector, expansion bus ribbon to the E01S and a socket for the next unit, mains cable and outlet, on/off switch; inside, one Rodime RO3057S 43 MB hard disc and a power supply.