BullData - pioneer in microcomputer industry but newbie to Ubuntu

BullData · 05-02-2009, 04:45 PM

Hi, good folks!
I started programming in 1965, hardwire logic programming on an IBM Hollerith card punch machine. I constructed my first microcomputer from chip level, two years before Jobs and Wozniak sold the Apple II. I've used most operating systems, including Unix, Xenix, DOS, DRDOS, IBM Series One PLS, Windows. I am a newbie to Ubuntu, however.

If you see my questions, please don't laugh too hard. This is a new environment for me. (Well, I'll laugh with you.)

BullData

pixellany · 05-02-2009, 07:51 PM

Welcome to LQ!!

What about VMS and CP/M?
And I'll bet you never built flip-flops with vacuum tubes....

astrogeek · 05-02-2009, 08:06 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by pixellany

And I'll bet you never built flip-flops with vacuum tubes....

Welcome BullData!

I still have a running CP/M machine (at least when last booted...) and I DID build flip-flops with vacuum tubes! Really! (Well, a Set/Reset latch anyway...)

BullData · 05-03-2009, 07:09 AM

Thanks for the welcome, pixellany and astrogeek.

I did not work with VMS; but Gary Kindal's CP/M was no stranger to me. I worked on quite a few of those machines. (Brings back memories. Sigh.)

I did some work with core memories; but most of my work back then was with transistors, resisters, capaciitors and other digital elements in microcomputers with 2K to 32K or RAM and ROM. I put a Heathkit 3400H together which worked the moment I turned it on. I was pleasantly surprised. <smile>

Astrogeek, are you a poet or just a poetry lover? I've written poetry since 1957. I still write poems. These days, I enjoy writing terrorist mysteries. My latest draft is titled, "TechWorld Terrorism."

"Test not the metal of man
Unless you are prepared to feel his edge."

Copyright © 2009
by
Roger C. Bull

astrogeek · 05-05-2009, 03:33 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by BullData

Astrogeek, are you a poet or just a poetry lover?

Mostly just a FREEDOM lover, and that brings out the poetry in my soul... well, that and my wife and children!

My first 'development' system was a pre-production release 6800 chip - 500Khz as I recall - paper tape mass storage and paper TTY terminal (no CRT). I had 2K of ROM to work with but expanded that to 16K before I was finished!

I also worked with some core memory PDP10/11 gear in an ATE application for a semiconductor manufacturer - we transitioned all that to in-house systems built on the amazing 'new' Z80 - all still developed with paper tape and TTY hand coded in machine language - not even an assembler to work with!

Makes me all teary eyed just to think about it!... truly a lost art form!

BullData · 05-06-2009, 07:05 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by astrogeek

Mostly just a FREEDOM lover, and that brings out the poetry in my soul... well, that and my wife and children!

My first 'development' system was a pre-production release 6800 chip - 500Khz as I recall - paper tape mass storage and paper TTY terminal (no CRT). I had 2K of ROM to work with but expanded that to 16K before I was finished!

I also worked with some core memory PDP10/11 gear in an ATE application for a semiconductor manufacturer - we transitioned all that to in-house systems built on the amazing 'new' Z80 - all still developed with paper tape and TTY hand coded in machine language - not even an assembler to work with!

Makes me all teary eyed just to think about it!... truly a lost art form!

That surely sounds familiar, Astrogeek. My HeathKit 3400H had 2K RAM and 2K ROM with an 8-digit neon tube display. The only input device was a hexidecimal keypad. It did have an onboard assembler. There was no storage mechanism to save the program and data. A year after assembly, I upgraded to a 4K ROM with Tiny BASIC and 4K RAM. I also soldered a 200 m-amp loop to allow a cassettte recorder to be plugged into the unit for program/data storage and retrieval.

I sold that unit to my supervisor who still uses it. He's a genius in electronics.

astrogeek · 05-09-2009, 10:46 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by BullData

My HeathKit 3400H had 2K RAM and 2K ROM with an 8-digit neon tube display. The only input device was a hexidecimal keypad. It did have an onboard assembler. There was no storage mechanism to save the program and data. A year after assembly, I upgraded to a 4K ROM with Tiny BASIC and 4K RAM. I also soldered a 200 m-amp loop to allow a cassettte recorder to be plugged into the unit for program/data storage and retrieval.

HA! Yep, I built a couple of cassette interfaces - awful beasts as I recall! I don't think I ever had a neon tube display on one of my boxen, but I had more than one with a 4 digit hex LED and hex keypad as the only programming interface!

This just came up as a fortune on one of my Slackware boxes, thought you might like it - applies to more than the PDP stuff!

Code:

Proposed Additions to the PDP-11 Instruction Set:

BBW     Branch Both Ways
BEW     Branch Either Way
BBBF    Branch on Bit Bucket Full
BH      Branch and Hang
BMR     Branch Multiple Registers
BOB     Branch On Bug
BPO     Branch on Power Off
BST     Backspace and Stretch Tape
CDS     Condense and Destroy System
CLBR    Clobber Register
CLBRI   Clobber Register Immediately
CM      Circulate Memory
CMFRM   Come From -- essential for truly structured programming
CPPR    Crumple Printer Paper and Rip
CRN     Convert to Roman Numerals

I probably wrote a lot of code that totally relied upon the BEW, BH and CMFRM operations!

BullData · 05-10-2009, 02:45 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by astrogeek

HA! Yep, I built a couple of cassette interfaces - awful beasts as I recall! I don't think I ever had a neon tube display on one of my boxen, but I had more than one with a 4 digit hex LED and hex keypad as the only programming interface!

This just came up as a fortune on one of my Slackware boxes, thought you might like it - applies to more than the PDP stuff!

Code:

Proposed Additions to the PDP-11 Instruction Set:

BBW     Branch Both Ways
BEW     Branch Either Way
BBBF    Branch on Bit Bucket Full
BH      Branch and Hang
BMR     Branch Multiple Registers
BOB     Branch On Bug
BPO     Branch on Power Off
BST     Backspace and Stretch Tape
CDS     Condense and Destroy System
CLBR    Clobber Register
CLBRI   Clobber Register Immediately
CM      Circulate Memory
CMFRM   Come From -- essential for truly structured programming
CPPR    Crumple Printer Paper and Rip
CRN     Convert to Roman Numerals

I probably wrote a lot of code that totally relied upon the BEW, BH and CMFRM operations!

That HeathKit had a Motorola 6800 processor chip. My other micro had a Zilog Z80. Both were 8-bit processors running between 350-500 Hz. Binary and assembler weren't a lot of fun to code in long operations. When I upgraded to the 4K ROM w/Tiny BASIC, that gave me 26 commands to easily program my work. That was fun!