TERRA SOFT OFFERS POWERPC ATX BOARD, LINUX SYSTEMS
Loveland, Colorado — 4 December 2002 — Terra Soft Solutions, Inc., the
leading developer of integrated PowerPC Linux solutions, is proud to offer
the world’s first consumer priced ATX form-factor PowerPC motherboard with
full Linux support.
In bringing to market an ATX PowerPC Linux solution, Terra Soft is
fulfilling a need for a PowerPC system built on industry standards. This
enables individuals to build custom systems with components readily
available through retail and online outlets. Resellers may purchase the
Teron motherboard from Terra Soft and build custom PowerPC Linux solutions
for their unique, local customers.
Terra Soft has partnered with Mai Logic, Inc., an advanced integrated
circuits and systems design company, developer of the Articia series
chipsets and Teron series development reference platforms, to deliver both
stand-alone motherboards and fully integrated, assembled systems.
Dan Burcaw, co-founder and CTO, Terra Soft states, “Mai has developed a
straight-forward, open-source friendly design with support for inexpensive
x86 video, audio, and PCI cards; PPCBoot firmware, and extensive, ongoing
in-house Linux bring-up and testing. We are proud to stand behind this
solution.”
In the mid-to-late ’90s, Apple, IBM, and Motorola worked toward a PowerPC
Common Hardware Reference Platform (CHRP). In 2000 IBM released complete
board specs and a generic design for this platform, known as ‘POP’ (PowerPC
Open Platform). Mai Logic’s Teron series boards are designed from the IBM
specifications.
“It has been a pleasure to work with the Mai team. They are knowledgeable,
enthusiastic, and dedicated to supporting their products. We are confident
our two companies will provide a thoroughly documented, well supported,
evolving series of ATX PowerPC motherboards for many years to come,” offers
Kai Staats, co-founder and CEO of Terra Soft Solutions.
In this relationship, Terra Soft is distributor of the Teron series
motherboards for both end-user and retail sales. Terra Soft offers both
stand-alone motherboard-CPU sets and complete systems. Qualified Value
Added Resellers may purchase motherboards with intent to build complete
systems, custom designed and supported for their local customers.
“We are excited with the opportunity to introduce the Teron systems with
tremendous flexibility and low cost to many who have been waiting for a
long time now,” says Jason Hou, CEO of Mai Logic, “By leveraging Terra
Soft’s outstanding relationships within the Linux community, we hope to
offer Mai Logic’s innovative solutions to customers worldwide.”
Mai Logic’s Teron CX PowerPC motherboard is a fully ATX compliant
form-factor with serial, parallel, PS/2, USB, ATA 100, and PCI on-board:
– IBM PowerPC (TM) 750 CXe CPU
– Mai Logic Articia S chipset w/133 MHz bus
– Three 32-bit 33MHz PCI slots
– One AGP/PCI (66 MHz AGP 2X or 33/66 MHz PCI) slot
– Two 168-pin DIMM slots on board
– Supports up to 2GB, 72-bit (ECC) SDRAM
– Dual ATA 100 drive ports
– Dual USB, PS/2, and com/serial (RS232) ports
– Single parallel port
– Support by Yellow Dog Linux
A complete Terra Soft ‘Boxer-T G3’ running Yellow Dog Linux has been
reviewed by Linux Journal with pending publication in late winter/early
spring.
The Teron CX motherboard with IBM 750 CXe CPU and the Terra Soft Boxer
Series tower may be ordered now from the Terra Soft Store at
http://www.terrasoftsolutions.com/store/:
Mobo + CPU: $495.00
Tower, generic case: $799.00
Tower, Antec case: $889.00
1U rackmount: $869.00
Boards and complete systems are expected to ship in January 2003.
About Mai Logic, Inc.
With more than 30 US and International invention patents granted and 100
more pending in the fields of IC, security, and systems design engineering,
Mai Logic, through its advanced technology offering, has established itself
as a technology powerhouse. Mai Logic applies the latest trends and
methodologies in design, manufacturing, and logistics in the PC segment to
the PowerPC market. Mai Logic’s end-to-end turnkey solutions include
chipsets, development platforms, and modules.
About Terra Soft Solutions, Inc.
Terra Soft is a leading developer of integrated solutions for PowerPC.
Yellow Dog Linux, the flagship product, has boosted viability of Linux on
PowerPC microprocessors with support for Mai Logic ATX motherboards, the
Apple PowerPC computers, the briQ, and other PowerPC-based desktop,
embedded, and HPC computers. Black Lab is an advanced, scalable HPC cluster
node build and management suite.
For more information, visit http://www.terrasoftsolutions.com/