uv never seen a pdp 11 would you like to fire one up and maybe even a 8a? On Wednesday, January 22, 2014, Kevin <m...@iamkevin.ca> wrote:
> On Wed, 22 Jan 2014 08:11:45 -0600 > Mark Jenkins <m...@parit.ca <javascript:;>> wrote: > > > > > Justin wrote: > > > We have another member interested in retro computing. See if you can > > > locate Adrian Stoness sometime. > > > > Adrian has a hobby kit PDP-11 that Heathkit put out. > > http://www.computermuseum.li/Testpage/Heathkit-DEC-H11.htm > > http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Heathkit_H11 > > > > I like how some hardware manufacturers are doing this, there's also > newer versions of the Atari in form of the "Atari Coldfire Project": > http://acp.atari.org/ > > > Fun facts about the CPU in this thing: > > http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/LSI-11#LSI-11 > > * The CPU is spread out on 4 integrated circuits > > > > * The CPU is microcoded (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Microcode) > > (presumably the microcode ROM is one of the ICs) > > > > * There's no firmware, but the CPU microcode has built-in support for > > bootstraping from the paper tape reader *AND* has built-in support for > > low-level debugging over RS232 in the form of reading/writing memory > > addresses, starting execution at one, and instruction by instruction > > step through. Back in the day this RS232 support was there so you could > > attach a terminal to it, but these days it allows for much more awesome > > sauce, you could program a PC to program the PDP-11 over the wire, > > sparing much slow manual handling time. I was working on a program > > loader in python for this once upon a time... > > > > I've seen someone load a modern LISP machine on an old Apple ][ using > the audio in/tape jack. They jump into the Monitor and run a command > to load data compiled from a PC through an audio cable into the Apple ] > ['s memory and executes it. That was a pretty cool hack: > Turning the Apple //e into a lisp > machine<https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tey9sFqICSk> > > Frankly it's fun to see what you can do with old vintage hardware, > especially with modern technology to assist in the process. > > > And folks should never use Skullspace as a dumping ground for something > > "cool" they think others "might" want. Who was the dumb-ass who dumped a > > Sun Sparc on us a few months ago? > > (apologies if someone said there were going to take it before it arrived > > and then they abandoned it, the recipient would be the dumb-ass then) > > I bought a Sun Sparc station awhile back from SyroTech Industries to > play around it, used it as a Linux workstation for awhile, then turned > it into an OpenBSD router/firewall. > > > > > It's good that you're into emulators. I'm also interested in programming > > real retro computers, but I know that it's best to master them by > > emulator first. This is where I left-off on PDP-11 stuff, I had a C > > compiler tool chain up and running, was using SIMH, wrote some programs > > that worked, but also was having trouble with some instructions. Never > > did figure out from inspecting the assembly if it was the compiler or > > the emulator, though I suspect the compiler. > > > > In my opinion it's much easier to access and use a vintage system via > an emulator/simulator than it is to obtain the physical hardware. Some > of the original hardware is extremely rare, except for that ET > cartridge, I hear you can just walk into a certain landfill and fill a > bag full... > > Oh, and Mike, I see that you use Debian as well. :) We should > compare system setups one-day. Here's a very cool piece of software I > found in the Debian repository recently and absolutely love playing > around with it: > > Package: netemul > Section: net > Maintainer: Lisandro Damián Nicanor Pérez Meyer > <perezme...@gmail.com<javascript:;> > > > Architecture: amd64 > Version: 1.0.0-1 > Filename: pool/main/n/netemul/netemul_1.0.0-1_amd64.deb > Description: program for simulating computer networks > NetEmul makes possible to build, configure networks and verify its > availability. This program allows beginners to see the principles of > operation > of computer networks and gives a scope for experiments. > Homepage: http://netemul.sourceforge.net/ > > Install with: apt-get install netemul > > I record an introduction video of Netemul here: > Netemul introduction video <https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pYJTy53ndF8> > > -- > Kevin <m...@iamkevin.ca <javascript:;>> > _______________________________________________ > SkullSpace Discuss Mailing List > Help: http://www.skullspace.ca/wiki/index.php/Mailing_List#Discuss > Archive: https://groups.google.com/group/skullspace-discuss-archive/ >
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