Acorn Archimedes A3010

Acorn Archimedes A3010

Acorn Archimedes A3010 with colour monitor
Specifications
Manufacturer	Acorn Computers Ltd
Type	Home computer
Released	September 1992
Discontinued	1995
Intro price	£499 inc VAT (1 MB, "Family Solution")
CPU	ARM250 @ 12 MHz
Memory	1 MB RAM (2 MB official max; 4 MB unofficial)
Storage	3.5" floppy (1.6 MB)
Display	Analogue RGB (15-pin) and UHF TV modulator
Sound	8-channel, 8-bit logarithmic (VIDC1a)
Dimensions	479 mm × 267 mm × 73 mm
Weight	approx. 4.1 kg
OS / Firmware	RISC OS 3.10 or 3.11
Predecessor	Acorn Archimedes A3000
Successor	Acorn A7000
Codename	Heron C
Model no.	AGB11, AGB15, AGB40

The Acorn Archimedes A3010 is an all-in-one 32-bit home computer that Acorn Computers announced in August 1992 and shipped from September 1992. It was the consumer member of the ARM250 range, sold alongside the education A3020 and the three-box A4000, and was Acorn's first machine aimed squarely at home users since the Electron.

The launch bundle, the "Family Solution", paired an unexpanded 1 MB A3010 with the EasiWord word processor and a game, cost £499 including VAT, and was sold for use with a domestic television rather than a monitor. That made the A3010 the cheapest Archimedes Acorn ever sold.

Positioning

Acorn positioned the A3010 against the Commodore Amiga 500 and Atari ST, selling it through high-street chains such as Dixons and John Lewis. Two features mark it out from the rest of the ARM250 range and reflect its home focus: a UHF television modulator and two 9-pin joystick ports. The case is grey with green function keys — the only Acorn machine with green function keys.

Later repricing tracked the machine's slide down-market: the 1993 "Action Pack" effectively dropped it to £399, a distributor cut it to £299 in 1994, and Beebug cleared remaining stock at £135 including VAT around Christmas 1995.

Processor

The A3010 uses the ARM250 at 12 MHz, the single-chip device that integrates an ARM2-class core, the MEMC1a memory controller, the VIDC1a video and sound controller, and the IOC input/output controller. At 12 MHz with 80 ns DRAM the machine reaches about 7 MIPS, against roughly 4.5 MIPS for the 8 MHz A3000.

Because the ARM250 was late into production, early A3010s used an interim daughterboard, codenamed "Adelaide", carrying the equivalent discrete chips instead of the single ARM250. A practical consequence is that Adelaide-board machines can accept an ARM3 processor upgrade, whereas the later ARM250 boards cannot.

Memory and firmware

The base A3010 has 1 MB of RAM; higher bundles shipped with 2 MB, which was Acorn's official maximum. Third-party boards later took the machine to 4 MB beyond that specification. RISC OS sits in ROM; documented units carry either RISC OS 3.10 or 3.11, with most retail machines on 3.11.

Storage

The A3010 has a single 3.5-inch high-density floppy drive formatted to 1.6 MB, which also reads and writes 720 KB and 1.44 MB DOS discs. Unlike the A3020 and A4000, the A3010 has no provision for an internal hard disc: although the IDE controller logic exists inside the support chipset, Acorn did not fit the physical IDE connector or the drive mountings. Owners who wanted a hard disc added one through the mini-podule slot or by wiring an interface to the support chip.

Ports and expansion

The rear panel carries a parallel printer port, a serial port, two 9-pin joystick ports, a mouse port, a headphone socket, the analogue RGB video output on a 15-pin VGA-style connector, and the UHF television modulator socket. The TV modulator and joystick ports are unique to the A3010 within the 32-bit Acorn range.

Expansion is limited to a single internal mini-podule slot. The A3010 has no Econet or network socket — the dedicated network interface is an A3020/A4000 feature.

Case and power

The A3010 is a one-piece wedge keyboard unit, slightly shallower than the A3000, measuring roughly 479 × 267 mm and 73 mm high and weighing about 4.1 kg. The mains supply is built onto the main PCB and is not a separate module. The service documentation records +5 V and +12 V rails, with +12 V appearing on pin 12 of the video connector for driving a SCART television.

Circuit diagrams and PCB

The ARM250 A3010 main board is part 0195,200; the earlier interim board is drawing 0194,000, codenamed "Adelaide". Acorn documented the machine at module level in the Service Manual, with component-level circuit diagrams in the Technical Reference Manual; both are hosted on this wiki.

Main PCB	Circuit diagram (sheet 1 of 3)
Circuit diagram (sheet 2 of 3)	Circuit diagram (sheet 3 of 3)

Discontinuation

The A3010 was discontinued in 1995 as Acorn moved the entry-level line towards the Acorn A7000.

General maintenance

Main article: Acorn Archimedes A3010 Maintenance Guide

The soldered NiCd backup battery is the main threat to a surviving A3010; the on-board PSU electrolytics and the audio hybrid card are the other regular jobs. See the Acorn Archimedes A3010 Maintenance Guide.

Troubleshooting

Main article: Acorn Archimedes A3010 Troubleshooting Guide

Common faults are battery corrosion, a marginal on-board PSU that will not start reliably, audio crackle from the hybrid card, and no-picture symptoms caused by a monitor-type mismatch rather than a hardware fault. See the Acorn Archimedes A3010 Troubleshooting Guide.

Capacitor guide

Main article: Acorn Archimedes A3010 Capacitor Guide

The A3010 main board uses through-hole electrolytics and is not affected by the surface-mount electrolyte leakage of the later Acorn machines; the audio hybrid card is the one place surface-mount electrolytics appear. See the Acorn Archimedes A3010 Capacitor Guide.

See also

• Acorn Archimedes A3020 — education sibling
• Acorn Archimedes A4000 — three-box sibling
• Acorn Archimedes A3000 — predecessor
• Acorn Archimedes A5000 — ARM3 flagship of the same era