This FAQ is designed to provide information on the computers developed by Tangerine and Oric Products. It is constantly being updated. In order to improve this FAQ, your help is required. Please e-mail the maintainer with any information or corrections you may have. The layout is unashamedly based on the Atari 2600/7800 FAQ. Imitation is the sincerist form of flattery! Questions without a link (not underlined) are not available yet.

Return to the 'Reluctant Dragon' - the home of the Unofficial Oric FAQ

Prologue
The Maintainer
What's new?
What information is missing from this FAQ?
Where can I get the latest version of this FAQ?

General
What is an Oric?
What Usenet groups exist to discuss the Oric?
What is the comp.sys.oric charter?
Is there a mailing list for discussion of all things Oric?
Is there any place to talk Oric in real time?
Are there any software lists?
What magazines exist/have existed for the Oric?
What books can I get for the Oric?
Were there any Oric TV adverts?
What does 'Oric' mean?
What happened to Tangerine & Oric?
Whatever happened to.......?

Software
Where can I find software for the Oric?
How do I get hold of program instructions?
How do I transfer my programs to PC?
I am confused by all the various Oric DOS's that exist, help!
What are the best games for the Oric?
What is the most common and most rare software?
What software was promised but never released?
What games take advantage of joystick interfaces?
What programs are compatible with what machine?
Are any new programs available?
I'm interested in programming the Oric, what programmers resources are available?
Has anyone managed to do one screen of Damsel In Distress, let alone finish the game without cheating?
I've seen pictures of a Dungeon Master style game for the Oric, is it available?

Hardware (General)
What are the different Oric models?
What clones exist?
How many Orics were made?
Are there any emulators for the Oric?
Where can I get real Oric computers?
What hardware peripherals were produced?
What hardware and peripherals were in the pipeline, but never released?
I've got an Oric up and running, but the picture is poor, help!
Where can I get my Oric fixed?
How do I turn the sound down?

Hardware (Technical)
What power supply does the Oric need?
The computer won't boot properly.
What are the specifications for the Oric machines?
Where can I get information on the pin-outs of the various ports?
How big can the programs be?

Projects
What projects are currently in progress for the Oric?
How do I build a sound control for the Oric?

Epilogue
Acknowledgements of thanks.

Q: The Maintainer
The current (and so far only) maintainer of this FAQ is Jim Groom. Information in this FAQ has come from a wide variety of sources, magazines, interviews, all of you out there, technical articles, books and hearsay. The information here is given in good faith and although the intention is to provide facts, I accept no responsibility for any inaccuracies it contains. You should be particularly aware that 'fiddling-around-under-the-lid' involves a degree a risk of damage - to your equipment and possibly to yourself. Do not attempt anything that is outside of your capabilities unless you are prepared for possible loss. That said, this FAQ aims to maintain a high level of quality and accuracy.

Q: What's new?

19th November 2000/19 Novembre 2000

Link to Rhetoric magazine corrected.

14th November 2000/14 Novembre 2000

Added a link for those interested in joystick interfaces.

3rd October 2000/3 Octobre 2000

Added Bruce Everiss to Whatever happened to.......?
Some information on vertical lines on the display added to I've got an Oric up and running, but the picture is poor, help!
Added new section : The computer won't boot properly.

15th August 2000/15 Août 2000

Corrected a few spelling errors (oops!)..
Added more info on the Programmable Voice Synthesizer.
Added a new section: How Many Oric's Were Made?
Added a little extra to What happened to Tangerine & Oric?

10th August 2000/10 Août 2000

Changed the information about channel 36 being used by Channel 5 (if you see what I mean). Thanks to Robert Graham.

15th January 2000/15 Janvier 2000

Added new section: What software was promised but never released?
Added new section: What happened to......?

6th January 2000 / 6 Janvier 2000

Happy New Year everyone! Just a few minor additions, tidying up etc.
Added mention of Oric availability on Ebay
Some very interesting information on still born Oric projects.

8th December 1999 / 8 Decembre 1999

Added mention on the Microtan Tigress
Increased coverage of peripherals.
Detail difference on Oric 1

4th December 1999 / 4 Decembre 1999

Steve Marshalls Theory on the 'Tick' symbol on the Oric logo.
Mentioned new software is available from CEO and Rhetoric.<
Steve Marshall has inlays available.
Info on Shortsed and rumour of a DOS called XLDOS.
Some info on joystick interfaces
Joystick compatibility of games - mention of the Shoot Again! page.
French Atmos added to the list of Oric machines.
Steve Hopps can fix your Oric.
Source of interference on channel 36 identified.
Various sound control options available from Muso.

Q: What information is missing from this FAQ?
At the moment, everything that isn't covered under What's new? above!

Q: Where can I find the latest version of this FAQ?
The following URL should point you in the right direction:
http://freespace.virgin.net/james.groom/homepage.htm

Q: What is an Oric?
Oric Products International Ltd. was the company which launched the Oric family of 8 bit computers, back in 1983. The first one was the Oric-1 computer, powered by a 6502 processor and an extended 16K Basic, with sounds, colour graphics, printer port, and 16 or 48 K ram (really 64 K ram). Programs were stored on audio tapes. Then followed the Atmos, with a better keyboard and debugged Basic, along with an optional Microdisc controller (3" disks). The latest computer, intended to be named Stratos, was born in France after the English company's financial problems, under the TeleStrat name. For a complete story, I recommend you read Jonathan Haworth's excellent book: "Oric, The Story So Far..." available at Oric World.

Q: What Usenet groups exist to discuss the Oric?
comp.sys.oric exists for Oric users with Usenet access.
Occasional mentions of Oric appear on comp.sys.sinclair (usually derogatory!).

Q: What is the comp.sys.oric charter?
CHARTER: comp.sys.oric

        "To provide a forum for the discussion of every Oric-related subject: the Oric1, Atmos and Telestrat computers, peripherals, one of the seven disk operating systems available, emulators, programming techniques, games, clubs, magazines, local events... The group will not be moderated."

END CHARTER.
This is the place to come to ask questions on ANY Oric related question you may have.

Q: Is there a mailing list for discussion of all things Oric?
Yes, there is. Send an email to: oric-request@lyghtforce.com with the following message in the body text:

replacing your.e-mail@address with your real e-mail address.

Q: Is there any place to talk Oric in real time?
Yes, there are a few ways you can do this. Firstly, every first Friday of the month, there is an IRC meeting lasting from early evening to late evening (officially beginning at 20:00 GMT). No definitive times exist, people just seem to drift in & out for a few hours, so don't worry about being on time! This IRC session is carried by a few webchat servers including irc.ofex.net (port 6666 or 7000) and irc.greennet.net (port 6667). The relevant chatroom is #oric (try typing /join #oric if you have problems). Further details are available from Peacers website - look under the IRC banner at the top of the screen. The Who Is Who section at the same site will introduce you to some of the regular characters.

A number of Oric users are also on ICQ and impromptu meetings are sometimes held this way. I am available for contact this way, my nickname is Lothlin and my ICQ number is 20663288.

Q: Are there any software lists?
Yes, The Ultimate List of Commercial Games For the Oric is impressive although probably not complete. If you can help update it I am sure the maintainer, Jean David Olekhnovitch would be most grateful.

Q: What magazines exist/have existed for the Oric?
The newest magazine to be produced for the Oric is Rhetoric. It is produced in the UK by a group of Oric fans. Contact Simon, the editor at chaosmongers@yahoo.com or write to:

Rhetoric
c/o Simon Ullyatt
32 Peter Paine Close,
Butterwick,
Boston,
Lincolshire.
PE22 0HA
UK

The longest running Oric magazine was Oric User Monthly, which  released its final issue (145) in September 1999. Well done to Dave and all his regular contributors for years of sterling service! Thank-you!

The final Oric magazine still in existance is the CEO-MAG produced by Club Europe Oric. the magazine produces articles in a number of languages, mainly French and English.

A large number of magazines and newsletters have fallen by the wayside over the years. The term 'Professional' below means that the magazine was, shall we say, a 'commercially published' magazine rather than a fanzine.

From the UK:
Oric Computing (professional) by Tangerine User Group. Follow up to TUG. (5 Issues).
Oric Owner (professional) by Tansoft. Followed on from the Tansoft Gazette. (10 Issues).
I.O.U. by the Independent Oric User Group. (23 Issues).
Your Oric (8 Issues).

From France:
Micr'Oric (professional) by ASN (official Oric importers). (10 Issues).
Theoric (professional) by Soracom (37 Issues).
Club Disc Oric Bulletin (8 Issues).
JEO-MAG by Club Europe Oric (? Issues).
There may be more - I need your help there, French chums!

For the Microtan 65, there were two magazines, TUG of the Tangerine User Group (36 Issues) and the Tansoft Gazette by Tansoft (8 Issues).

Q: What books can I get for the Oric?
A list of books for the Oric is maintained in Excel and Ability spreadsheet compatible formats at The Reluctant Dragon, on the downloads page. All British produced books are believed to have been recorded, but the list of French and other nations books is not complete. A section on books, including pictures of the covers can be found at Defence Force.

Q: Were there any Oric TV adverts?
Yes, I can remember at least one in the UK. It featured a side view of a face outline (this also appeared in a few magazine adverts) and I think at some point it stuck its hand to its nose and waggled its fingers while going "nah-nah-na-nah-nah"! The advert was for the then new Oric Atmos. If anyone finds a copy of this advert, let me know!

Q: What does 'Oric' mean?
There was a lot of speculation in the press when the Oric came out about this. Some thought it was named after the plastic-box-with-lights in called Orac from the BBC TV series 'Blakes 7'. The truth (according to Paul Kaufman, who worked for Tansoft in the early years) was that the company tried to come up with a name by juggling the letters of the word 'micro'. The best they could do was 'oric' (must have lost the 'm' under the table somewhere) and the name stuck.

From Steve Marshall comes the following: "I have a theory about the red 'tick' on the Atmos. I reckon it was put there for when people ask where the 'M' is. Stick a mirror on the top of the Oric logo and the 'M' is revealed !"

Q: What happened to Tangerine and Oric?
Tangerine (formed in 1979) originally produced the Microtan 65 computer, ancestor of the Oric 1. There was also a business machine called the Tigress. In 1982, they formed Oric Products International Ltd to produce a new micro. Tangerine remained as the research and development arm of the group until dissolved (what year anyone?).  Oric were taken over by Edenspring Investments in November 1983, a move which raised a much-needed £4 million of extra capital (partly from what Edenspring paid and partly through sales of shares). Oric went into receivership in February 1985. Ownership of the company then moved to France (but that part of the story is very complicated - I'll get my head round it one day!) going bust again in December 1987. It traded on in the hands of the receiver until December 1988, a pale shadow of its former self. For more details, you should read  'Oric - The Story So Far' by Jonathan Haworth. An online version is available at 'Oric World', where you can also find details of how to obtain a paper copy.

Q: Whatever happened to.......?
If you know the fates of any of the old Oric crew, then let me know. Of particular interest are Dr Paul Johnson, Barry Muncaster, Peter Halford, Andy Brown, Chris Shaw, John Tullis, Peter Harding, Cathie Burrell, any of the 'Oric Angels' and Carolyn Grunewald, but info on anyone from the Oric World would be relevant.

Bruce Everiss
Bruce is now working for Codemasters as Head of Communications (www.codemasters.com). He also runs the All Formats Computer Fairs which appear all over the country (see www.afm96.co.uk for more details).
Source: Bruce Everiss. Date: August 2000.

Q: Where can I find software for the Oric?
There are a number of websites out there with stuff available. Have a look around! New software is produced by the CEO and Rhetoric at regular intervals.

Q: How do I get hold of program instructions?
There is no general resource available as yet. There are a few guides for certain games out there, such as Oric Trek. A request to comp.sys.oric is your best bet. Steve Marshall has some inlays and instructions available.

Q: How do I transfer my programs to PC?
The best advice is given in the HTML manual that comes with the Oric emulator, Euphoric. This is available from Oric World. I must admit that I have had no luck transfering software using soundcards. I have not tried the parallel cable, but will one day. If you have a 3.5 inch disc system with your Oric, then transfer is easy using the readdsk program, available again from Oric World, look under the Tools section.

Q:I am confused by all the various Oric DOS's that exist, help!
There were/are nine different DOS's available for the Oric. Namely, they are:

        OricDos, the original DOS from Oric, now in release 1.13
        BDDOS, exclusive to the Byte Drive 500
        Cumana Dos 1.0, exclusive to the Cumana drive
        Cumana Super2 DOS, same instruction set but compatible with any drives
        Opelco ROMDOS, same as Oric Dos
        Opelco RANDOS, as before but with random file access added
        FT-DOS, exclusive to the Jasmin drive
        Sedoric, one of the best 8 bit home computer DOS,
        Stratsed, the Sedoric equivalent for the Telestrat

Sedoric and Stratsed feature a multitude of commands (without the need for the '!' prefix), an extended Basic, sequential files and direct files. They are the only ones that you are recommended to use (Sedoric for the Oric-1/Atmos, Stratsed for the Telestrat), and are still being updated today. You may ask for a full Sedoric manual (contact jon@cambr.force9.co.uk), or even a complete Sedoric commented disassembly... also, Jon has kindly uploaded a summary of Sedoric commands on Oric World.

Shortsed is a mini-set of Sedoric, I think, that enables you to get a disc working of programs working without having to use the full Sedoric disc.
Steve Marshall thinks there may have been a system called XLDOS. Anyone know any more?

Q: What are the best games for the Oric?
Always a very subjective topic. For arcade fans I recommend Manic Miner by Software Projects, Insect Insanity by Tansoft and Magnetix, Zebulon and Zip'n'Zap by Twilight for starters. For Role Players, try Tyrann by No Mans Land and Le Fer D'Amnukor by Norsoft. For adventures, any of the Mysterious Adventures series, Pinforic (use it to play Infocom adventures) and Krystal Worlds by Mirage should keep you interested. There are many more, but a lot of Oric software is, being diplomatic, distinctly primitive.

Q: What is the most common and the most rare software?
Some of the most common software includes the Oric and Oric Atmos Welcome tapes, Loki by Joe The Lion, Xenon 1 by IJK and possibly Forth by Tansoft as this was given away with early 48K Oric 1's. There is a lot of rare stuff. I have a copy of Leopard Lord by Kayde (doesn't load, shame). Other rare titles include The Castle by Bug Byte and Tevrogs Kingdom by Tevward Microtech. Anyone got Dreadnought Disaster?

Q: What software was promised but never released?
Zodiac 2: By Geoff Phillips, this was to be a machine code follow up to his BASIC adventure program Zodiac (released by Tansoft). The project never advanced beyond the design stage. It would have featured an assembler adventure parser, which Geoff had sketched out and partially designed which had improved sentence syntax compared to his earlier adventure programs. Source: Geoff Phillips.

Q: What games take advantage of joystick interfaces?
There were some programmable joystick interfaces which claimed to work with any game. IJK produced an Interface which worked with many of their games. PASE joystick controls were an option in a few games. More details as you give me them. There is also the excellent Shoot Again! website which describes how to patch many games for use with joystick.

Q: What programs are compatible with what machine?
Microtan 65 software will only work on the Microtan 65. Most early Oric 1 stuff required modification to work with the Atmos. Some companies went bust before the Atmos was released or decided not to convert their older/poorer programs. These programs are best used on an Oric-1 to avoid crashes/weird affects. After the Atmos was released most programs will run on either machine quite happily. A few later programs are Atmos only. Telestrat software works only on the Telestrat, but the Telestrat could be made to emulate an Oric 1 or Atmos, thus maintaining compatibility. More details as I get them. Euphoric can be run as either an Oric 1, Atmos or Telestrat. Microtan 65 emulators are also available.

Q: Are any new programs available?
A number of people are still producing commercial quality software for the Oric. Of particular note is Twilight.

Q: I'm interested in programming the Oric, what programmers resources are available?
Your'e in luck, there is quite a bit! Between the following sites, you should be able to get a fair idea of whats going on.
Oric World - Useful utilities and documentation.
Swedish Oric Website has an online copy of the Oric 1 manual.
Twilight - Extensive hardware guide and useful programming insights.
Geoff Phillips' Homepage - A full transcription of his book, Advanced Graphics and Machine Code Techniques.
Defence Force - Dbug is an extremely capable programmer. If only he didn't spend so much time on his ST!
There are plenty of other snippets out there too.

Q: Has anyone managed to do one screen of Damsel In Distress, let alone finish the game, without cheating?
Well I haven't. Over to you Graeme Burton!

Q: I've seen pictures of an excellent Dungeon Master style game for the Oric, is it available?
That would be Dbugs program. Sadly it isn't anywhere near finished and probably never will be. But, if we bully him enough, who knows ;-).

Q: What are the different Oric models?
Including Tangerine's machine we have:
1. Tangerine Microtan 65
2. Oric 1 (the last batch had a coloured Oric logo on the case -red, blue and green).
3. Oric Atmos
3a. Oric Atmos (French model - was there any difference?)
4. Oric Stratos (IQ164)
The Stratos never really made it, the company going into receivership the day after its launch. The models that were displayed at this time are believed to have been empty cases. If anyone has one, let me know.
5. Oric Telestrat
The Telestrat was what the French did with the Stratos - awesome.

Q: How Many Orics Were Made?
Quite a few. I have no idea of the exact number. They were available from most high street chains in the UK (my first Oric 1 48K was from Rumbelows in Birmingham). According to a press release from Oric dated 19th October 1983 and published in Oric Computing Issue 1, Rumbelows had ordered 10,000 Oric 1 48K's and Comet had ordered 5,000 Oric's and 1500 printers (MCP-40's).

Q: What clones exist?
A Yugoslavian company obtained a licence to make 5000 machines. Whether they did or not is not known.
A Bulgarian machine called the Pravetz  8D is known to have existed, and a few are owned by Bulgarian 'Oric' owners. This was a copy of the Atmos 48K and was produced between 1986 and 1989. It was yellow!

Q: Are there any emulators for the Oric?
Yes, quite a few. Emulators exist for :
DOS, Windows, Linux and Macintosh (Euphoric).
Amiga (Amoric).
Atari ST (Atoric).
Acorn (ArcOric).
There is also a joke emulator for the ST available, which simply puts up the Oric starting screen.
For more on Oric emulators, visit Welcome To Oric World.

Q: Where can I get real Oric computers?
Steve Hopps is able to provide new Atmos computers and Microdisc controllers (you need to supply your own drive and cable). Not cheap (they are carefully handbuilt and tested from unused original components) but worth it.
Speaking of not cheap, if you keep an eye on an online auction such as Ebay, then you may be 'lucky' enough to pick up some Oric hardware, software or books. Just be ready with your chequebook though - I have seen an Oric1 sell for £100 and an Atmos for £200. Thats for the basic machine, cables and a couple of games, nothing more!

Q: What hardware peripherals were produced?
Lots. More details to follow.

Disc Drives and Interfaces
Oric Microdisc. The original Oric Micro Disc was first available for the Atmos. The version you can see in old Oric 1 adverts was never released. It contains its own interface in the drive, just plug in and go! It takes 3" discs (as used on the Amstrad CPC 6128 and Spectrum +3) with 160K per side capacity. Other drives could be daisy-chained to it.

Expansion Interfaces
RS232-C Interface. This device, from MCP, comes with Prestel software and is designed to work with a Telemod modem.
300/300 Baud Serial Interface Module. Produced by Kenema Associates/Oric User Group is designed to allow connection to Modems, printers etc.

Joystick Interfaces (Visit www.48katmos.freeuk.com for more details on Joystick Interfaces)
D'Ktronics made one and I think they did the Oric one, (in Oric colours).
Downsway Programmable Joystick Interface. Downsway Electronics produced this device. You could program it to produce the equivalent effect of key presses, but I found it a bit flaky.
MCP (Modular Concepts Peripherals) produced a joystick inteface that included a speech synthesizer as well as two Atari-type joystick ports. The synthesizer had a fixed vocabulary of about 200 words. There was also a separate joystick interface available for a much lower price.
PASE produced one of the first. This was an interface which plugged into the Oric printer port. There were sockets for two Atari-type joysticks.
Altai made a Pase compatible one which OUM sold quite a few of. Plugs into the printer port and can support up to two Atari-style joysticks.
Pennant produced a self centering micro-switch based joystick (which looked like the analogue ones that were used on the Dragon) and interface, which plugged into the printer port. The interface was supported by software house IJK and later became....
.....Oric Joystick Interface. Made by Oric and supported by IJK and Tansoft, this interface was basically the Pennant interface.
Protek Programmable Joystick Interface. This info on this device from Steve Marshall: "You flick a switch and then press the key you want to program and press the joystick up a lot of times and then repeat for all other positions and then get bored and go and watch the telly."

Joysticks
There was also an Oric joystick in Atmos colours.

Loading Aids
Easi-Load. Produced by Rainbow Electronics. Connecting between Oric and tape recorder, this device was said to improve loading and saving performance.

Modems
Oric V23 Modem. This modem was designed mainly to allow access to the Prestel system. Operated at 1200 baud half duplex or 1200/75 full duplex.

Power Buffers
Nike AT is a device containing rechargeable nickel-cadmium batteries. These are kept powered up by the mains supply and if the mains goes off, will keep an Atmos powered for 30 minutes - hopefully enough time to restore power or save your work. The device also offers some protection against some mains borne interference.

Printers
Oric MCP-40. Oric produced their own 4 colour plotter which used 4 pens of different colours to write to a roll of 4.5 inch paper (use it to draw designs on your bog-roll!). While adequate for program print-outs and such like, it wasn't very useful for business or formal letters. Luckily, the Centronics port allowed easy connection to most common printers of the day. This device was available in Oric 1 or Oric Atmos colour schemes.

Speech Synthesizers and Sound Devices
Programmable Voice Synthesizer. Produced by the Oric User Group/Kenema Associates (from what I can tell these two organisations appear to have been effectively one and the same).This device connected to the Centronics printer port and used an allophone system, allowing an unlimited vocabulary. Allophones are groups of letters which the device can pronounce. Words are made up using these groups and with a bit of experimentation, the device can be made to say virtually anything. This device also worked with the Microtan 65 and was available for several other micros (not specified in Oric adds). The manual was also available in a foreign language edition (languages not specified).It could be connected to a hifi system for better amplification. The price in November 1983 was £29.95 plus £1 for postage and packing.
See the MCP joystick interface as well.

Consoles
Not sure how to classify this, but Express Computers Limited produced a plastic unit to house your Oric 1 in. This helped hide away all the wires and included a recess for a pad and pens, a cassette shelf and was able to support a TV. Looked very neat in the advert! Cost was £29.95.

Q: What hardware and peripherals were in the pipeline, but never released?
The Oric-1 colour-scheme microdisc drives seen in old adverts were never available.

Peter Dickerson used to work for Oric and has some interesting information on some projects that never made it:
"An Oric based on the 68008. The idea was to produce a 68K product based on the Oric/Atmos gate-array. Unfortunately we
could not resolve the memory sync problems reliably - memory errors every 15 mins."
"Z80 system. Chris Shaw and I worked on a joint Oric/CPM system like the Torch BBC/Tube system. He wrote the CPM side of the drivers while I wrote the 6502 side."
"Chris Shaw and I also colaborated on the PC clone project. We both spent about six weeks together in Colorado designing some gate arrays for this system (at NCR in Fort Collins). The financial situation closed in before we could run with it. The gate arrays were never used."
Maintainers note: Interesting news that, Oric may have become one of the UKs PC manufacturers if only they had a little more time and money. They may have even been still around today! Back to Peter:
"The Stratos project (not released, but formed the basis of the French Telestrat) was pretty much complete when the Receiver was called in. I don't recall too much about it other than we seemed quite pleased with ourselves. I don't recall contributing much to this other than testing and some bankswitch stuff. The new error correcting cassette load/save code and some new graphics facilities were written by John Dugrez-Lewis. I can bring a few other faces to mind but not their names. Dave Hutchinson (?) designed the Stratos gate array with some input from PJ (Maintainers note: PJ = Paul Johnson I presume)."

Q: I've got an Oric up and running, but the picture is poor, help!
First, make sure your TV is tuned in as best you can to UHF Channel 36. If the problem continues, have a look underneath your Oric. You should see two holes, one round, one oval. There is a small screw inside each one. You can turn these (only slightly!) with a screwdriver to optimise the picture. Do not turn them more than half a turn in either direction. Some of the UHF boxes inside Orics were of poor quality and there is nothing you can do unless you replace them (a job for those who know what they are doing). Unfortunately, faint lines down the screen are commonplace. These are equally spaced across the display and can be used to good effect in platform games as they give you points of reference for jumping. The appearance of these lines can be reduced by anti-wrinkle cream, er, no, sorry. You will need to twiddle the screws underneath the Oric and the Brightness/Contrast settings of your TV. Alternatively use a monitor and the RGB port or an emulator. For those of us living in Britain, there is the added problem that Channel 5 uses channels near channel 36 for its signal and you may therefore get interference if you use an aerial splitter to connect your aerial and Oric at the same time (also beware of portable TVs with their own aerials). I have had no problems however.

Q: Where can I get my Oric fixed?
Steve Marshall has some spares, including power supplies. Wilkie used to fix Orics, but I think he has 'retired' now. Steve Hopps does repairs as time allows (don't all rush at once!).

Q: How do I turn the sound down?
You can't. I used to put my Oric on a pillow for play into the night. This should successfully muffle a lot of the sound. There is another option.

Q: What power supply does the Oric need?
Visit Twilight for more information. Steve Marshall has spare power supplies for sale.

Q: The computer won't boot properly.
There are a few things I am aware of that may prevent the computer booting.

• If the computer produces a display that consists of black and white blocks or lines, this is most likely caused by the power supply. If you plug the power lead into the Oric and then plug the power pack into the wall supply (or flick on the supply at the wall), then in all likelihood the machine will freeze instead of booting properly. This is because a capacitor in the powerpack needs to charge up and the lack of 'instant juice' prevents the computer initialising properly (I think it messes up its internal timings). The correct procedure for turning on the computer is to insert the plug into the back of the Oric after switching on the supply at the wall socket.
  
• If the computer still produces a display that consists of patterns of black and white blocks or lines it is possible that one or more of the RAM chips has blown. To test this, you will need to open up the computer so that you have easy access to the chips on the PCB. If you do not know how to work on live PCB's please do not do so - you may damage your computer or yourself. Once you've got the lid off, plug the power lead into the computer. Be careful not to electrocute yourself and earth yourself to prevent damage to the computer circuits. Leave the system 'running' for a while to warm up. Look for eight small chips in a line near one edge of the PCB. These are the RAM chips (IC12 to IC19) and they should all be identical. Carefully touch each chip in turn on its black cover using a finger. A damaged chip will usually become much hotter than its working neighbours. If one or more chips does seem unusually hot, you can try replacing it. The memory chips are 4164's and may be salvaged from other broken Orics and maybe other computers. Replacing faulty chips with working ones does not always cure this problem so it is possible that there are timing issues (with the RAM chips - does anyone know whether the 4164's were available in different 'speeds'?) or that the fault lies elsewhere.

Q: What are the specifications for the Oric machines?

Oric 1
 

Oric Atmos
 

Oric IQ164 (Stratos)
 

Q: Where can I get information on the pinouts of the various ports?
Twilight has the information you need. Look under 'Hardware'.

Q: How big can programs be?
Over to the programmers for the answer to this one. I await their replies. There is talk of work allowing the Oric to access 4MB of memory.

Don't forget that if you use a disc drive, the size is almost limitless ;-)

Q: What projects are currently in progress for the Oric?
Fabrice Frances maintains a list of projects at Oric World.

Q: How do I build a sound control for the Oric?
You will need to get hold of Issue 40 of Oric User Monthly, page 7, or CEO-MAG (I think its Issue 5 or 6?). Its quite easy to build.

Steve Marshall has developed his own volume controller (internal), sound on/off switch and earphone socket. He can also fit these to your machine if you don't feel up to it. If this interests you, drop a line to Steve for more details, price, etc.

Acknowledgement of thanks:
Many people have helped with the information and in this FAQ:

From the Oric World:
Jonathan Haworth - who has uncovered more Oric history than I thought possible. Much of the historical information in this FAQ can be traced back to his efforts.
Jon Bristow (Twilight), Fabrice Frances (Euphoric, FF, Mr Emulator - who stands to make £10,000 if I ever win a million on the lottery), Simon Ullyatt (Chaos), Matt Coates (Stato), Steve Marshall (Muso), Rob Cook, Mike Pointier (Dbug), Jean Boileau (Mr Atmos, Mr Bostik), Simon Guyart (Symoon) , Dave Dick (Thanks for all your service to the Oric community over the years, Dave) ,Oguzhan Yilmaz (Peacer), Ivan Naidenov, Robert Graham and all others I have forgotten to mention.

Special thanks to those responsible for the Oric and its software:
Peter Dickerson & Ivan Mahon.
Geoff Phillips (Geffers).
Paul Kaufman
Bruce Everiss

From elsewhere:
Zube, for advice.
Bam for supplying food and cups of tea and Lothlin for not attacking me while typing (surely the Worlds most psychotic cat?)
And anyone who I've forgotten.