Alpha/Linux Wiki

The AlphaBook 1 (styled ALPHAbook 1) is the only Alpha notebook computer that reached the market. It was built by Tadpole Technology, announced at DECUS on 5 December 1995, and shipped from early January 1996. ¹⁾

Specifications are from the announcement except where noted. ²⁾

• Closely related to the AXPpci 33 and the Multia: the same 21066A with its integrated PCI and memory controller, plus power management and a Cirrus PCI-to-PCMCIA controller ³⁾
• DECchip 21066A (LCA45) with a variable speed of up to 233 MHz, and 512 KiB of write-back level 2 cache
• PCI bus and memory controller integrated into the CPU, feeding the graphics, PCMCIA, and SCSI interfaces
• Industry-standard SIMMs, user upgradable, 32 MiB to 128 MiB
• Removable 2.5-inch SCSI-2 hard disk, 520 MB, 810 MB, or 1.2 GB
• Western Digital WD90C24A2 graphics controller with 1 MiB of video RAM ⁴⁾
• 10.4-inch true-color TFT panel, 800x600 with 256 colors from a palette of 262,144; up to 1024x768 on an external display
• Two PCMCIA slots taking two Type I/II cards or one Type III card, driven by a Cirrus 6729 PCI-to-PCMCIA controller ⁵⁾
• 3Com Ethernet PC Card included; optional 28.8K fax/modem PC Card; two docking station options
• Integrated 16-bit stereo audio with internal microphone and speaker and in/out ports
• Hitachi H8/337 microcontroller monitoring battery charging and CPU temperature ⁶⁾
• Rugged magnesium case, NiMH battery, 7.5 pounds

The AlphaBook 1 has only the SRM console. ⁷⁾ Digital shipped its firmware in an alphabook1 directory on the Alpha firmware CD-ROM. ^{8) 9)} Linux boots from SRM with aboot.

Linux 6.9 was the last version to support the AlphaBook 1, with CONFIG_ALPHA_BOOK1; Linux 6.10 removed support for processors older than the EV56 (21164A). ¹⁰⁾ It was a separate Linux platform rather than part of Noname. ¹¹⁾ The kernel fixes the console at 800x600 and disables SCSI burst mode, because the Cirrus 6729 PCMCIA controller is sensitive to PCI bus bursts. ¹²⁾

• Heat and clock throttling: the 21066A runs hot in the notebook enclosure, and the firmware reduces the clock as the system warms. Although rated at 233 MHz, it typically ran at 116 MHz or even 57 MHz. ¹³⁾ Sustained operation at full speed requires external cooling such as a fan. ¹⁴⁾
• PCMCIA versus SCSI: kernels have been reported to detect either the SCSI controller and disk or the PCMCIA bridge, but not both. Since the only networking is a PCMCIA card, this makes a networked, disk-booted configuration difficult. ^{15) 16)} The PCMCIA bridge interfering with DMA is the suspected cause, and no fix has been reported. ¹⁷⁾
• Disk size: the drive is a 2.5-inch SCSI unit, and these are scarce; the largest reported in an AlphaBook or a Multia is 1.2 GB. ^{18) 19)}
• Memory ceiling: 128 MiB is the maximum, which limits what can usefully be built on the machine itself. ²⁰⁾
• Installation media: there is no CD-ROM drive, so installation is done over the network from a PCMCIA card or from an external disk. ²¹⁾

Tadpole built the AlphaBook 1 under a strategic agreement with Digital announced in May 1994. ²²⁾ Tadpole had built three generations of SPARCbook notebooks, and the AlphaBook 1 applied the same design to Digital's 21066A. It was aimed at software development, defense, communications, and engineering customers who needed a portable OpenVMS machine; Digital's own low-power notebook projects, Alpha LEAN and Burns, never shipped. ²³⁾

Jim Paradis had Linux running on a prototype in May 1996, ²⁴⁾ and the platform was included in Jay Estabrook's public patch kit in July 1997. ²⁵⁾

List prices started at $13,950 for 32 MiB of memory, a 520 MB disk, the 3Com Ethernet card, and bundled OpenVMS, and a fully loaded machine ran to $25,000. ^{26) 27)} Production had ended by 1999. ²⁸⁾ Few were sold. ²⁹⁾

OpenVMS was the launch operating system, ³⁰⁾ which made the machine unusual: OpenVMS did not otherwise support 21066-based systems such as the AXPpci 33 and the Multia. ^{31) 32)} OpenVMS V7.3-1 was the last release to support it. ³³⁾ Digital UNIX was promised for 1996 and could be ordered by August 1997. ³⁴⁾ Windows NT was never supported. ³⁵⁾ NetBSD gained preliminary support in June 1998, ³⁶⁾ and it appeared as a new platform in NetBSD 1.4. ³⁷⁾

The following sources conflict with each other or with the account given above. They are listed here for further investigation.

• Codename
  • The kernel's system variation tables and the lists posted by Digital engineers give the codename Burns (see Systems).
  • "Re: New Alpha XLs????", Terry C. Shannon, comp.sys.dec, 11 Jan 1996: Burns, "a.k.a. Green Machine", was a Digital prototype, the successor to Alpha LEAN and designed to run Windows NT, and distinct from the AlphaBook 1.
  • "Re: Digital Miata Computer", Fred Kleinsorge, comp.sys.dec, 11 Nov 1999: the design underlying both the Multia and the AlphaBook 1 was "Mustang 1", an LCA-based machine.
• Relationship to the AXPpci 33
  • "Re: Alpha laptops", Ron Farrer, axp-list, 13 Apr 2000: "It was based on the AXPpci33 motherboard (21066)."
  • "First-draft AlphaBook support", Jason Thorpe, port-alpha, 25 Jun 1998: "basically AXPpci33 machines + power management and a Cirrus PCI-PCMCIA controller", which is a statement about the programming model rather than a shared board.
• CPU
  • The announcement, and most later reports, say 21066A at up to 233 MHz.
  • arch/alpha/Kconfig, Linux 6.9: the AlphaBook 1 is built with the Noname (AXPpci 33) support, whose description gives the 21066.
  • "Re: Alpha Notebooks, Notebooks with hardware MPEG", Steve Lionel, comp.sys.dec, 5 Jan 1996: "a 21066-AB processor running at 233MHz".