Iyonix PC

File:Iyonix with the cover removed.jpg

The Iyonix originated as a secret project by Pace engineers in connection with development of set-top boxes (STBs),{{Citation needed|date=July 2011}} and has been noted as a successor to the {{nowrap|RiscPC}}.{{cite book|author=Lewin A. R. W. Edwards|title=So, You Wanna Be an Embedded Engineer: The Guide to Embedded Engineering, from Consultancy to the Corporate Ladder|url=https://archive.org/details/pdfy-MKFMCCNbqENoR3Ft|access-date=7 January 2013|date=18 July 2006|publisher=Newnes|isbn=978-0-7506-7953-4|pages=[https://archive.org/details/pdfy-MKFMCCNbqENoR3Ft/page/n147 139]–}} Pace had a licence to develop RISCOS Ltd's OS sources for use in the STB market. The Iyonix was developed under the code name Tungsten and uses {{nowraplinks|RISC OS 5}}, which is a version of RISC OS that supports ARM CPUs with 32-bit addressing modes. The sources and hardware design were subsequently acquired by Castle, who developed them into the final product.

{{cite web

| url = http://www.apdl.co.uk/riscworld/volume9/issue3/iyorip/index.htm

| title = Iyonix RIP

| access-date = 2011-06-17

| year = 2008

| publisher = Foundation RISCWorld}}

Castle continued to keep the project a secret, requiring developers to sign a non-disclosure agreement. Information was distributed to such developers via a confidential section of the website.

{{cite web

| url = http://foundation.riscos.com/html/features/11/iyonix/story.htm

| title = IYONIX is Born...

| access-date = 2011-06-17

| publisher = Foundation RISCWorld

| quote = The Tungsten developer Web site was used to distribute information to developers [...] Everybody involved in the Tungsten project, as it was known, had to sign a strict Non-Disclosure Agreement [...]

}}

Customers were occasionally able to buy the computer as a bare bones system for self-assembly.{{cite web | url = http://www.drobe.co.uk/riscos/artifact1225.html | title = DIY Iyonix kit available again | access-date = 2011-06-28 | last = Williams | first = Chris | date = 2004-12-02 | publisher = Drobe | quote = Castle are once again selling DIY Iyonix motherboard kits, allowing users to save cash by building Iyonix computers themselves. [...] exactly like the DIY kit they offered in October.}}

After speculation on the usenet newsgroups, a website for the hardware was spotted in mid October 2002.{{cite news |url=http://www.drobe.co.uk/riscos/artifact458.html |title=WOOT! It's a 32bit XScale RISC OS PC! |work=Drobe |date=17 October 2002 |access-date=23 January 2012 |author=Williams, Chris |quote=A quick browse to Castle's website shows a link to Iyonix PC -- what's this? [...] It seems that the rumour mill that was bandied around on Usenet recently has some reality behind it. [...]}} Units first went on sale in December 2002.{{cite web |title=Redirecting to Google Groups |url=https://groups.google.com/forum/#!searchin/comp.sys.acorn.announce/iyonix{{!}}sort:date/comp.sys.acorn.announce/6viOUBCDE6A/7QKycCNeKs0J}} Prices started from £1249.{{cite web |url=https://groups.google.com/forum/#!searchin/comp.sys.acorn.announce/iyonix{{!}}sort:date/comp.sys.acorn.announce/39mtC6I-3jU/i5zdeoKSi5EJ |title=Redirecting to Google Groups}}

Castle ceased production of the Iyonix after the July 2006 introduction in the UK of the RoHS Regulations. The design was not compliant{{cite web |last=Holwerda |first=Thom |title=Iyonix Banned by New EU Green Law |url=http://www.osnews.com/story/15351/Iyonix_Banned_by_New_EU_Green_Law |access-date=2011-06-28 |date=2006-08-01 |publisher=OSNews |quote=The computer's motherboard will require a costly resdesign in order to meet the requirements of the new RoHS rules, especially to meet the low-lead levels in the PCB solder, say contacts close to Castle.}} and Castle did not redesign the Iyonix. Sales continued for another two years via a newly established company, Iyonix Ltd, which enabled Castle itself to circumvent the regulations.

On 25 September 2008, Castle announced that production of the Iyonix had ceased and that new units would no longer be available to order.{{cite web |last=Holwerda |first=Thom |title=Iyonix Range Taken Off the Market |url=http://www.osnews.com/story/20340/Iyonix_Range_Taken_Off_the_Market |access-date=2011-06-28 |date=2008-09-29 |publisher=OSNews |quote=Castle Technology has announced that the Iyonix range of ARM-based RISC OS computers will be taken off the market after 30th September.}}

Features include:

File:Iyonix motherboard.jpg video card at bottom]]

File:Iyonix (back).jpg

• Standard ATX motherboard and Nvidia video card{{cite web |title=New RISC OS machine coming soon |url=http://www.theinquirer.net/inquirer/news/1022447/new-risc-os-machine-coming-soon |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20091102072803/http://www.theinquirer.net/inquirer/news/1022447/new-risc-os-machine-coming-soon |url-status=dead |archive-date=2 November 2009 |access-date=2011-06-27 |last=Proven |first=Liam |date=2005-11-22 |publisher=The Inquirer |quote=The Iyonix is a standard ATX motherboard with an nVidia graphics card [...]}}
• Intel XScale 80321 600 MHz 32-bit processor
• Two 64-bit and two 32-bit PCI slots (two occupied by graphics and USB cards, two free)
• RISC OS version 5 in hardware ROM module, using 32-bit addressing mode.
• Support for the Linux operating system[http://www.drobe.co.uk/article.php?id=673 Iyonix Linux port established | Drobe.co.uk archives]
• Support for "legacy" Acorn DEBI expansion cards
• USB interfacing{{cite news |title=Iyonix USB 2 - review |url=http://www.iconbar.com/forums/viewthread.php?newsid=920 |work=The Icon Bar |date=3 February 2005 |access-date=2 February 2012 |author=Mellor, Phil}}

It was the first time substantial changes had been made to the platform since the release of the Risc PC in 1994. All interim machines had been built on the ARM7500 system on a chip, which was widely regarded as a single-chip Risc PC. (It incorporated the memory controller, video, sound, IO and CPU logic of a Risc PC, leaving only memory and disc interfacing to be added.)

The presence of PCI and USB capabilities, as well as the retained "podule" bus, attracted comparisons to Acorn's aborted Phoebe PC; however, such comparisons should be tempered with Phoebe's proposed feature set, which retained VIDC and 26-bit mode, and although Phoebe was intended to be capable of SMP configurations, its proposed shipping configuration had been for one SA110 CPU.

{{Clear}}

{{Reflist}}

• [http://www.iyonix.com/ Iyonix website]
• [http://www.iconbar.com/hardware/iyonix/ Iyonix review] by The Icon Bar
• [http://www.drobe.co.uk/features/artifact504.html Iyonix review] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20081007043936/http://www.drobe.co.uk/features/artifact504.html |date=7 October 2008 }}
• [https://web.archive.org/web/20081209115940/http://www.drobe.co.uk/extra/PR07-IYONIXproductiontocease.txt Announcement of end of production]

{{Acorn computers, clones and compatibles}}

{{RISC OS}}

Category:RISC OS

Category:ARM-based home computers