Brand	Panasonic
Type	FS-A1GT
Year	1992
RAM	512kB, 32kB SRAM
VRAM	128kB
Media	720kB 3,5" floppy disk drive
Video	Yamaha V9958
Audio	PSG (AY-3-8910 compatible), MSX-MUSIC, PCM, MSX-MIDI
Chipset	Toshiba T9769C and NEC S1990 bus controller
Extras	Microphone, MSX-JE, Kanji-ROM level 1 & 2, Pause key, Ren-Sha Turbo (autofire), MSX-DOS2 and MSX-View with some software, Kanji BASIC

Panasonic FS-A1GT

MSX turbo R logo

1 Description
2 Specifications
3 Gallery
4 Repair
5 Links

Description

The Panasonic FS-A1GT MSX turbo R is the last MSX computer produced and it follows the latest standard for the MSX line. The FS-A1GT was preceded by the FS-A1ST. Compared to the FS-A1ST, the FS-A1GT has double the amount of RAM (512kB). It also features a MIDI-IN and MIDI-OUT connector. The FS-A1ST can also be upgraded to the FS-A1GT using the μ.Pack. MIDI can also be accessed through MSX-BASIC (PLAY#1).

Note: there's a bug in the MSX-MUSIC implementation of a Panasonic FS-A1GT. This problem only occurs when a CALL MUSIC is done without any OPLL channel, e.g. CALL MUSIC(0,0) and then a tempo MCL issued (e.g. PLAY"T120") OR when a program is stopped by CTRL-STOP. In these cases, a crash occurs. The problem can be avoided by doing a CALL MUSIC(0,0,1). This problem doesn't occur on the Panasonic FS-A1ST MSX turbo R.

Due to some minor hardware bugs that were discovered, the mainboard is a bit different: e.g. the MSX-MUSIC part is redesigned to decrease influence of the noise from other digital parts, although it's confirmed this was also corrected in the last batch of the A1ST.

Specifications

The FS-A1GT is a MSX of intermediary generation with 2 CPU (Z80A & R800) and many options included. A single CPU may be used at a time by switching. The R800 has two operating modes (Mode RAM & Mode ROM).

Detailed Specifications

CPU R800 (DAR800-X0G), with 28.63630 MHz external clock and 16-bit ALU. (Can be accelerated to 40MHz by changing the crystal.) Note: the CPU clock is 7.15909MHz (external clock divided by 4) and the bus frequency is 3.579545MHz, however, an instruction on the R800 that takes 1 bus clock cycle, often takes 4 clock cycles on the Z80, so one can indeed say that the R800 runs roughly like a 28.6 MHz Z80.
CPU Z80A 3.579545MHz compatible (included in the MSX-Engine)
512kB of main RAM
32kB SRAM for backup (used internally or by MSX-View as SRAM disk) (holding ESC during boot will erase settings, FS-A1ST will keep settings ^^)
32kB BASIC/BIOS ROM and 32kB subROM (MSX-BASIC V4.1, with extra command _PAUSE to make delays in BASIC independent of the current CPU, extra commands for the PCM device (_PCMPLAY, _PCMREC)) and MSX-MIDI, 16kB DISK ROM, 48KB MSX-DOS2.30 Kernel, 16kB FM-BASIC ROM, 16kB KANJI BASIC.)
TC8566AF disk controller
3.5" double sided double density (720kB) disk drive
S1990 MSX Bus-controller
T9769C MSX-ENGINE (also contains Z80A & AY-3-8910)
MSX-JE (a simple Kanji input interface)
Kanji-ROM with approx. 32000 characters
MSX-Music (Yamaha YM-2413 OPLL)
PCM synthesizer 8-bit (sample rate 16kHz)
Internal microphone for the PCM unit
MSX-MIDI interface built-in (not compatible with MIDI-Saurus!) Includes 8251 (UART) and 8254 (timer) with 16kB MIDI-BASIC ROM and MIDI-IN / MIDI-OUT connectors. Also available as a cartridge for FS-A1ST.
MSX-VIEW ('MSX-Windows') developed by ASCII & HAL. Software as Page Edit, PageView, Page Link, VShell, VTed, VPaint and VDraw) on 512kB ROM DISK (C: drive). Also available as a cartridge for FS-A1ST. Internal software can be accessed from BASIC with command CALL MWP
Pause key (software in R800-mode, hardware in Z80-mode)
Reset button
6 LEDs (power, caps-lock, kana-lock, pause, CPU mode, FDD in use)