Onyx Systems

Onyx Systems, Inc.

Company type	Private
Industry	Computer hardware, Computer systems
Founded	1979 (1979) in Cupertino, California, United States
Founder	Bob Marsh, Kip Myers
Defunct	1985 (1985)
Fate	Acquired by Corvus Systems
Successor	Corvus Systems (briefly continued overseas production)
Headquarters	Cupertino , United States
Area served	United States, United Kingdom
Key people	Bob Marsh, Kip Myers, William Raduchel, Scott McNealy
Products	Microprocessor-driven Unix systems (C8000 series, Sundance series)

Onyx Systems, Inc. was established in 1979 in Cupertino, California by Bob Marsh and Kip Myers, who previously held managerial roles within Zilog's systems division. The company was an early pioneer in offering microprocessor-driven Unix systems.

Products

The company's initial offering, the C8000, was a microcomputer powered by a Zilog Z80 processor running the CP/M operating system. It came equipped with a hard disk drive and tape backup capabilities. This system supported IBM terminal emulation and included a COBOL compiler, with intentions to release an add-on board featuring a Z8000 CPU. Later renamed the C8001, it could accommodate up to 256 KB of RAM through four 64 KB memory cards and was upgradeable to the 16-bit C8002 model by installing a Z8000 processor card along with expanded memory. Onyx secured a Unix license from Western Electric, offering multi-user licenses for four and eight users priced at $1,500 and $2,500 respectively.

In 1980, Onyx launched the C8002 model based on the Z8000 CPU, retailing at approximately $20,000—about half the price of similar Unix-capable systems available at the time—and bundled Bell Labs' Version 7 Unix adapted as ONIX. Rather than utilizing Zilog's Z8001 processor with integrated memory management, Onyx combined the Z8002 with proprietary memory management hardware, enabling access to up to 1 MB of memory segmented into 64 KB blocks per process. The C8002 also featured an Am9512 floating-point coprocessor and a dedicated Z80A processor responsible for disk and tape operations with DMA support. In the UK market, a four-user configuration with 256 KB RAM and a 10 MB hard drive was priced near £12,000.

By late 1982, Onyx introduced several models running Unix System III, including the Sundance-16, C5002A, and C8002A. The Sundance-16 incorporated a Z8001 CPU clocked at 6 MHz with memory ranging from 256 to 512 KB and hard drives between 7 and 21 MB. It was available in two display variants: Model 80 supported 80-column text mode, whereas Model 132 allowed toggling between 80- and 132-column displays with double-height and double-width characters. The C5002A and C8002A were designed as terminal servers accommodating five and eleven users respectively, both expandable up to 1 MB RAM. These systems offered larger hard drive options from 14 to 60 MB with provisions for multiple drive expansions.

In mid-1982, Onyx enhanced its Z80-based line by releasing the Sundance II—a multi-user system equipped with 256 KB RAM compared to the single-user model’s 64 KB—and provided upgrade paths between various models. These Z80 machines supported operating systems including CP/M, MP/M, and OASIS.

This range of products demonstrated Onyx’s strategic focus on providing cost-effective Unix-compatible microcomputers tailored for multi-user applications while integrating proprietary hardware innovations to maintain competitiveness within the microcomputer sector.

Legacy and fate

Codata Systems Corporation was founded in 1979 by former employees of Onyx Systems and developed the CTS-200, a Z8000-based platform running Xenix. This was followed by the CTS-300 featuring a Motorola 68000 CPU operating Unisis—a Unix variant created in collaboration with UniSoft. Unisis drew from Version 7 Unix and positioned Codata as an early vendor of Unix microcomputers based on the M68000 architecture, having sold approximately 500 units by early 1983. The Codata 3300 model included an 8 MHz Motorola 68000 processor, supported up to 1.5 MB RAM, and offered hard drives ranging from 12 MB to 84 MB. Pricing stood at £8,900 in the UK and $9,600 in the US markets. This system utilized the IEEE 796 Multibus standard.

Onyx’s original Unix platform served as the foundation for the Informix relational database, marking an important advancement in enterprise software development. Harvard economics professor William Raduchel brought Scott McNealy into Onyx’s manufacturing operations; McNealy subsequently co-founded Sun Microsystems, illustrating significant leadership transitions that influenced industry innovation.

In 1985, Onyx was acquired by Corvus Systems, which discontinued U.S. sales of Onyx products by early 1986 while briefly maintaining overseas production. Eventually, Corvus divested itself of Onyx product rights and withdrew from the microcomputer market entirely in 1987, thereby ending its involvement in this field.