On Mon, 23 Jul 2001 12:30:39 -0500, Clarence Verge wrote:
> So, you must somehow get the instructions into memory. There is no way to
> do this from the keyboard. I suggested debug as a simple expedient to
> make a file that DOS would load into memory for you.
> There is a more obscure way to do this without using debug, if you wish
> to try it. It uses the re-direction abilities of DOS to write your keyboard
> entry directly to a file. Unfortunately, since there is no HEX translator
> built into the keyboard, your data entry is going to seem quite strange. <g>
> Type copy con: myprog.com <enter>
> Type alt178 (use the KEYPAD)
> (hold down the alt while entering 178 then lift alt - do not hit enter)
> Type alt07 alt180 alt02 alt205 alt33 alt205 alt32
> (note that you lift alt between the above entries and still do not hit enter)
> Type cntrlZ <enter>
This reminds me of the days 'computers' had the OS build in, e.g. BASIC.
In BASIC there is a command POKE that gives the opportunity to key those
numbers right into the memory.(decimal)
But to do something usefull with those numbers... you have to know what
they mean, to the machine, in other words you have to know the
"instruction set" of the processor.
The instruction set is a list of all the commands THAT type of processor
knows and can perform.
The OP-code = the number of the operation to be performed (machine code)
plus a short explanation to the operation (in mnemonics) and sometimes
plain English.
Abt. two years ago I bought a MSX-computer at a flee-market ($3,=) just
to play around with programming in machine code.
In most cases the machine did not perform as it had been told... they
are very dumb and have to be told exactly each step.
By trial and (much) error you will succeed in having done a simple
program by the machine... e.g. light the "Caps Lock" LED at the key
board.
[Actualy the machine always performs as been told but it is not easy to
tell a machine in the right way. The machine never says;"That's
obvious".]
If finaly your machine code is OK than save it to disk.
If not... reset the machine and the memory is empty and you may try
again. Write down what you did enter to the machine!
Greetings Bastiaan
Still not boring at all Clarence.
-- Arachne V1.61, NON-COMMERCIAL copy, http://arachne.cz/
