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Re: bootstrap, was What is the oldest computer that could be used today for real work? [message #411412 is a reply to message #411391] Thu, 30 September 2021 10:41 Go to previous messageGo to previous message
Charles Richmond is currently offline  Charles Richmond
Messages: 2754
Registered: December 2011
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Senior Member
On 9/29/2021 5:10 PM, John Levine wrote:
> According to Questor <usenet@only.tnx>:
>> Circling back to something on topic: this reminds me of bootstraping
>> a DEC KI-10. From memory, subject to errors: first you set a code
>> in a switch register that selects which device to use, for example, paper tape,
>> then push another button. That loads into memory and executes a small
>> loader program that reads a bigger bootstrap loader from disk, which in
>> turn loads and starts the operating system (i.e., the monitor in TOPS-10
>> parlance).
>
> Sounds like S/360. You set the device number of the IPL (initial program load)
> device in the switches and pressed the IPL button. That ran a fixed one instruction
> channel program pretending to be at location 0, that read 24 bytes into 0-23, then
> executed whatever was read into locaion 8, typically another read command to read
> a disk or tape block with real bootstrap, then started the computer by restoring the status word at
> location 0 which runs the bootstrap just read in to start up the computer.
>

If it's like the IBM IPL I know... sit down and be prepared to wait
a-while. Where I went to uni, the IBM 370/155 took about 20 minutes to
IPL. Something about "waiting for the time-base generator to come up to
speed" I think... Power supply voltage levels were involved, and
sequencing the power-on of equipment to prevent power surges.

'course that's been a *long* time ago for me!!!


--

Charles Richmond


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