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pfriedmaVery Important Binder<br><br><a class="hashtag" href="https://pfedi.pfriedma.org/tag/retrocomputing" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">#retroComputing</a> <br><a class="hashtag" href="https://pfedi.pfriedma.org/tag/vms" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">#vms</a><br><a class="hashtag" href="https://pfedi.pfriedma.org/tag/digitalequipmentcorporation" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">#DigitalEquipmentCorporation</a>
pfriedmaA number of years ago, I did some fun vector art minimal wallpapers featuring retro hardware. I haven't posted them in a while, so please enjoy this TI SR-51, a PDP8-e, a trio of IBM 2401 drives, and a VAX11/780. <br><br>Please feel free to use and share these freely (though please also provide attribution if you do!)<br><br><a class="hashtag" href="https://pfedi.pfriedma.org/tag/retrocomputing" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">#retroComputing</a> <a class="hashtag" href="https://pfedi.pfriedma.org/tag/minimalistart" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">#minimalistArt</a> <a class="hashtag" href="https://pfedi.pfriedma.org/tag/vectorart" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">#vectorArt</a> <a class="hashtag" href="https://pfedi.pfriedma.org/tag/vax" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">#VAX</a> <a class="hashtag" href="https://pfedi.pfriedma.org/tag/tapedrive" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">#TapeDrive</a> <a class="hashtag" href="https://pfedi.pfriedma.org/tag/texasinstruments" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">#TexasInstruments</a> <a class="hashtag" href="https://pfedi.pfriedma.org/tag/dec" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">#DEC</a> <a class="hashtag" href="https://pfedi.pfriedma.org/tag/digitalequipmentcorporation" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">#DigitalEquipmentCorporation</a> <a class="hashtag" href="https://pfedi.pfriedma.org/tag/pdp8" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">#PDP8</a> <a class="hashtag" href="https://pfedi.pfriedma.org/tag/ibm" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">#IBM</a>
Sinclair-Speccy<p><a href="https://oldbytes.space/tags/Tech" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">#<span>Tech</span></a> <a href="https://oldbytes.space/tags/Computer" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">#<span>Computer</span></a> <a href="https://oldbytes.space/tags/RetroTech" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">#<span>RetroTech</span></a> <a href="https://oldbytes.space/tags/Retro" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">#<span>Retro</span></a> <a href="https://oldbytes.space/tags/RetroTechnology" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">#<span>RetroTechnology</span></a> <a href="https://oldbytes.space/tags/RetroComputers" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">#<span>RetroComputers</span></a> <a href="https://oldbytes.space/tags/VintageComputer" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">#<span>VintageComputer</span></a> <a href="https://oldbytes.space/tags/RetroComputing" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">#<span>RetroComputing</span></a> <a href="https://oldbytes.space/tags/Magazine" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">#<span>Magazine</span></a> <a href="https://oldbytes.space/tags/MicroVAXII" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">#<span>MicroVAXII</span></a> <a href="https://oldbytes.space/tags/DEC" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">#<span>DEC</span></a> <a href="https://oldbytes.space/tags/DigitalEquipmentCorporation" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">#<span>DigitalEquipmentCorporation</span></a> <a href="https://oldbytes.space/tags/Japanese" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">#<span>Japanese</span></a> <a href="https://oldbytes.space/tags/Japan" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">#<span>Japan</span></a> <a href="https://oldbytes.space/tags/VAX" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">#<span>VAX</span></a></p>
Yaroslav Khnygin<p>Bob Supnik breaks the CVAX to make COBOL run faster:</p><p><a href="https://mastodon.ie/tags/DEC" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">#<span>DEC</span></a> <a href="https://mastodon.ie/tags/Digital" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">#<span>Digital</span></a> <a href="https://mastodon.ie/tags/DigitalEquipmentCorporation" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">#<span>DigitalEquipmentCorporation</span></a> <a href="https://mastodon.ie/tags/VAX" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">#<span>VAX</span></a> <a href="https://mastodon.ie/tags/CVAX" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">#<span>CVAX</span></a> <a href="https://mastodon.ie/tags/COBOL" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">#<span>COBOL</span></a> <a href="https://mastodon.ie/tags/ComputerArchitecture" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">#<span>ComputerArchitecture</span></a> <a href="https://mastodon.ie/tags/ComputerHistory" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">#<span>ComputerHistory</span></a> <a href="https://mastodon.ie/tags/ComputingHistory" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">#<span>ComputingHistory</span></a> <a href="https://mastodon.ie/tags/ComputerHistoryMuseum" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">#<span>ComputerHistoryMuseum</span></a> <a href="https://mastodon.ie/tags/CHM" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">#<span>CHM</span></a> <a href="https://mastodon.ie/tags/BobSupnik" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">#<span>BobSupnik</span></a></p>
Retrópolis<p>Repórter Retro 106</p><p><a href="https://retropolis.com.br/2024/08/28/reporter-retro-106/" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank"><span class="invisible">https://</span><span class="ellipsis">retropolis.com.br/2024/08/28/r</span><span class="invisible">eporter-retro-106/</span></a></p><p><a href="https://bitbang.social/tags/ReprterRetro" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">#<span>ReprterRetro</span></a> #6502 #6800 #6847 <a href="https://bitbang.social/tags/ActionRetro" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">#<span>ActionRetro</span></a> <a href="https://bitbang.social/tags/AdrianBlack" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">#<span>AdrianBlack</span></a> <a href="https://bitbang.social/tags/Arcade" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">#<span>Arcade</span></a> <a href="https://bitbang.social/tags/Asianometry" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">#<span>Asianometry</span></a> <a href="https://bitbang.social/tags/AugustoBaffa" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">#<span>AugustoBaffa</span></a> <a href="https://bitbang.social/tags/Baffa3" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">#<span>Baffa3</span></a> <a href="https://bitbang.social/tags/CP500" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">#<span>CP500</span></a> <a href="https://bitbang.social/tags/Cray" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">#<span>Cray</span></a> <a href="https://bitbang.social/tags/CRT" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">#<span>CRT</span></a> <a href="https://bitbang.social/tags/ctrlaltrees" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">#<span>ctrlaltrees</span></a> <a href="https://bitbang.social/tags/CultOfTheDeadCow" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">#<span>CultOfTheDeadCow</span></a> <a href="https://bitbang.social/tags/CulturaHacker" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">#<span>CulturaHacker</span></a> <a href="https://bitbang.social/tags/DavesGarage" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">#<span>DavesGarage</span></a> <a href="https://bitbang.social/tags/DigitalEquipmentCorporation" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">#<span>DigitalEquipmentCorporation</span></a> <a href="https://bitbang.social/tags/EPROM" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">#<span>EPROM</span></a> <a href="https://bitbang.social/tags/fliperama" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">#<span>fliperama</span></a> <a href="https://bitbang.social/tags/Fofoca" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">#<span>Fofoca</span></a> <a href="https://bitbang.social/tags/Intel80286" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">#<span>Intel80286</span></a> <a href="https://bitbang.social/tags/LaCoCoStrangiato" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">#<span>LaCoCoStrangiato</span></a> <a href="https://bitbang.social/tags/Lemmings" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">#<span>Lemmings</span></a> <a href="https://bitbang.social/tags/Macintosh" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">#<span>Macintosh</span></a> <a href="https://bitbang.social/tags/MC6847" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">#<span>MC6847</span></a> <a href="https://bitbang.social/tags/PDP11" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">#<span>PDP11</span></a> <a href="https://bitbang.social/tags/PicoMEM" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">#<span>PicoMEM</span></a> <a href="https://bitbang.social/tags/PLM" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">#<span>PLM</span></a> <a href="https://bitbang.social/tags/Prottipo" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">#<span>Prottipo</span></a> <a href="https://bitbang.social/tags/RaspberryPi" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">#<span>RaspberryPi</span></a> <a href="https://bitbang.social/tags/RetroRio" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">#<span>RetroRio</span></a> <a href="https://bitbang.social/tags/RMC" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">#<span>RMC</span></a> <a href="https://bitbang.social/tags/SeymourCray" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">#<span>SeymourCray</span></a> <a href="https://bitbang.social/tags/SPLM" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">#<span>SPLM</span></a> <a href="https://bitbang.social/tags/Tatung" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">#<span>Tatung</span></a> <a href="https://bitbang.social/tags/Terminal" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">#<span>Terminal</span></a> <a href="https://bitbang.social/tags/The6502Show" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">#<span>The6502Show</span></a> <a href="https://bitbang.social/tags/ValdemarGomes" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">#<span>ValdemarGomes</span></a> <a href="https://bitbang.social/tags/v" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">#<span>v</span></a></p>
Wintermute_BBS<p>just found this nice set of historic tutorial videos regarding the operation and components of your PDP-11 system ... </p><p>... that's today's evening sorted! 😅 </p><p><a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0kz0i3ANHZY&amp;list=PLWgt3n8uQhm35OH13EuIbDO5LxGHZfVZB" rel="nofollow noopener" translate="no" target="_blank"><span class="invisible">https://www.</span><span class="ellipsis">youtube.com/watch?v=0kz0i3ANHZ</span><span class="invisible">Y&amp;list=PLWgt3n8uQhm35OH13EuIbDO5LxGHZfVZB</span></a></p><p><a href="https://oldbytes.space/tags/DigitalEquipmentCorporation" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">#<span>DigitalEquipmentCorporation</span></a> <br><a href="https://oldbytes.space/tags/PDP11" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">#<span>PDP11</span></a> <br><a href="https://oldbytes.space/tags/Tutorial" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">#<span>Tutorial</span></a> <br><a href="https://oldbytes.space/tags/Videos" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">#<span>Videos</span></a></p>
pfriedmaintro info - long
Stephen Hoffman<p><span class="h-card" translate="no"><a href="https://discuss.systems/@ahelwer" class="u-url mention" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">@<span>ahelwer</span></a></span> Some of that is based on Digital Equipment Corporation PDP-11 gear.</p><p>That M7270 is a DEC LSI-11/2 processor in a Q-Bus box.</p><p>The rest of the Q-Bus contents look rather more custom.</p><p><a href="http://bitsavers.informatik.uni-stuttgart.de/pdf/dec/pdp11/1102/EK-LSI11-UG-001_KD11-HA_User_Guide_197712.pdf" rel="nofollow noopener" translate="no" target="_blank"><span class="invisible">http://</span><span class="ellipsis">bitsavers.informatik.uni-stutt</span><span class="invisible">gart.de/pdf/dec/pdp11/1102/EK-LSI11-UG-001_KD11-HA_User_Guide_197712.pdf</span></a></p><p><a href="https://infosec.exchange/tags/DigitalEquipmentCorporation" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">#<span>DigitalEquipmentCorporation</span></a></p>
Stephen Hoffman<p><span class="h-card" translate="no"><a href="https://chaos.social/@uliwitness" class="u-url mention" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">@<span>uliwitness</span></a></span> Worked with Uniface a fair amount long ago and far away, plus some others.</p><p>They all worked, but didn’t do so well with multiple developers, or with revision control.</p><p>They were much closer to fast-prototyping tools. </p><p>Very quick to get to a working app.</p><p>Tougher to use and maintain over time, or at scale.</p><p>Reuse of logic was tougher, too.</p><p>(Or maybe I was just “holding it wrong”?)</p><p>State machine visual tooling would be more useful, yes. Same for analyzing and detecting potential races, too.</p><p>One of the few hunks of OpenVMS that I’d really like to find else-platform is lib$table_parse, a built-in parser:</p><p><a href="https://docs.vmssoftware.com/vsi-openvms-rtl-library-lib-manual/#d0e58624" rel="nofollow noopener" translate="no" target="_blank"><span class="invisible">https://</span><span class="ellipsis">docs.vmssoftware.com/vsi-openv</span><span class="invisible">ms-rtl-library-lib-manual/#d0e58624</span></a></p><p>The state tables used for that wouldn’t be that hard to display, and probably even to generate. (Creating a Swift DSL was suggested as an alternative useful on Apple platforms, but I’m not sufficiently versed with Swift to get there. Or to create an enhancement proposal for Swift.)</p><p>An ancient DEC visual development product InstantSQL was one of the handiest variations of this whole visual programming approach. You graphically created your relational data access relationship, and out popped the SQL code.</p><p><a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RkeTvYiIJKk" rel="nofollow noopener" translate="no" target="_blank"><span class="invisible">https://www.</span><span class="ellipsis">youtube.com/watch?v=RkeTvYiIJK</span><span class="invisible">k</span></a></p><p><a href="https://infosec.exchange/tags/retrocomputing" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">#<span>retrocomputing</span></a> <a href="https://infosec.exchange/tags/DigitalEquipmentCorporation" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">#<span>DigitalEquipmentCorporation</span></a> <a href="https://infosec.exchange/tags/openvms" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">#<span>openvms</span></a> <a href="https://infosec.exchange/tags/swift" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">#<span>swift</span></a> <a href="https://infosec.exchange/tags/ide" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">#<span>ide</span></a></p>
Stephen Hoffman<p>Some IT stuff lasts.</p><p>The Ethernet Product Announcement (1982):</p><p><a href="https://gordonbell.azurewebsites.net/Digital/Ethernet_announcement_820210c.pdf" rel="nofollow noopener" translate="no" target="_blank"><span class="invisible">https://</span><span class="ellipsis">gordonbell.azurewebsites.net/D</span><span class="invisible">igital/Ethernet_announcement_820210c.pdf</span></a></p><p><a href="https://infosec.exchange/tags/DigitalEquipmentCorporation" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">#<span>DigitalEquipmentCorporation</span></a> <a href="https://infosec.exchange/tags/history" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">#<span>history</span></a> <a href="https://infosec.exchange/tags/network" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">#<span>network</span></a></p>
Stephen Hoffman<p>The No Output Division, a management frustration memo written some forty years ago by a senior VP at a then-huge-now-gone IT entity:</p><p><a href="http://archive.computerhistory.org/resources/text/DEC/dec.bell.no_output_division_C-I_TF;productivity_review.1982.102630376.pdf" rel="nofollow noopener" translate="no" target="_blank"><span class="invisible">http://</span><span class="ellipsis">archive.computerhistory.org/re</span><span class="invisible">sources/text/DEC/dec.bell.no_output_division_C-I_TF;productivity_review.1982.102630376.pdf</span></a></p><p>“I believe 1/2 of these people could be let go from DEC today and our productivity would take a sharp rise.”</p><p><a href="https://infosec.exchange/tags/retrocomputing" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">#<span>retrocomputing</span></a> <a href="https://infosec.exchange/tags/history" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">#<span>history</span></a> <a href="https://infosec.exchange/tags/DigitalEquipmentCorporation" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">#<span>DigitalEquipmentCorporation</span></a> <a href="https://infosec.exchange/tags/GordonBell" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">#<span>GordonBell</span></a></p>
IT News<p>Gordon Bell, an architect of our digital age, dies at age 89 - Enlarge / A photo of Gordon Bell speaking at the annual PC Forum in Pal... - <a href="https://arstechnica.com/?p=2025881" rel="nofollow noopener" translate="no" target="_blank"><span class="invisible">https://</span><span class="">arstechnica.com/?p=2025881</span><span class="invisible"></span></a> <a href="https://schleuss.online/tags/digitalequipmentcorporation" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">#<span>digitalequipmentcorporation</span></a> <a href="https://schleuss.online/tags/gordonbell" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">#<span>gordonbell</span></a> <a href="https://schleuss.online/tags/obituaries" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">#<span>obituaries</span></a> <a href="https://schleuss.online/tags/techlegend" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">#<span>techlegend</span></a> <a href="https://schleuss.online/tags/microsoft" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">#<span>microsoft</span></a> <a href="https://schleuss.online/tags/retrotech" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">#<span>retrotech</span></a> <a href="https://schleuss.online/tags/obituary" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">#<span>obituary</span></a> <a href="https://schleuss.online/tags/tech" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">#<span>tech</span></a> <a href="https://schleuss.online/tags/dec" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">#<span>dec</span></a> <a href="https://schleuss.online/tags/vax" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">#<span>vax</span></a></p>
Eric Vitiello<p>Rare, working PDP-8/m for sale <a href="https://social.pixels.pizza/tags/RetroComputing" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">#<span>RetroComputing</span></a> <a href="https://social.pixels.pizza/tags/PDP" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">#<span>PDP</span></a> <a href="https://social.pixels.pizza/tags/Digital" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">#<span>Digital</span></a> <a href="https://social.pixels.pizza/tags/DigitalEquipmentCorporation" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">#<span>DigitalEquipmentCorporation</span></a> <a href="https://social.pixels.pizza/tags/DEC" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">#<span>DEC</span></a></p><p><a href="https://www.ebay.com/itm/116163448173" rel="nofollow noopener" translate="no" target="_blank"><span class="invisible">https://www.</span><span class="">ebay.com/itm/116163448173</span><span class="invisible"></span></a></p>
Stephen Hoffman<p><span class="h-card" translate="no"><a href="https://mstdn.ca/@jfmezei" class="u-url mention" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">@<span>jfmezei</span></a></span> Assembler floating point? Some. </p><p>OpenVMS didn’t have any FP in the kernel when last I checked, and the operating system drivers didn’t have FP.</p><p>Whole lot of integer, though.</p><p>There was more than a little FP code in the distribution kit in user mode, though.</p><p>And in the compilers, obviously.</p><p>I don’t know off-hand what the graphics drivers were doing with FP, if anything.</p><p>There was a fifty-some page design and detail spec created for the Alpha-to-Itanium port, around floating point. Most of the hassles there involved the migration of existing code and data to IEEE floating point, or of using newly-created routines that emulated VAX FP on Itanium. Alpha had both IEEE and VAX FP, so various existing code was not switched. Itanium used IEEE and lacked VAX FP.</p><p>Amusingly, it was possible for a faulty floating point accelerator to cause the VAX/VMS kernel to bugcheck in the lock manager though, as occasionally happened with FP780 on VAX-11/780. This bugcheck even though the lock manager had no floating point, it did have integer multiply, and FP780 also accelerated integer multiply. Hence, boom.</p><p>Ignoring shaders whether Apple Metal or otherwise, and ignoring OpenCL and other such code, and ignoring other GPU-accelerated processing, and ignoring co-processor boards, all which can do their own thing with their own processing, I/O controllers only deal with the *host* instruction set when the host is executing something from the controller firmware store (think “ROM”), whether that’s native instructions or something else like EFI (UEFI) byte code. </p><p><a href="https://developer.apple.com/metal/shader-converter/" rel="nofollow noopener" translate="no" target="_blank"><span class="invisible">https://</span><span class="ellipsis">developer.apple.com/metal/shad</span><span class="invisible">er-converter/</span></a></p><p><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/OpenCL" rel="nofollow noopener" translate="no" target="_blank"><span class="invisible">https://</span><span class="">en.wikipedia.org/wiki/OpenCL</span><span class="invisible"></span></a></p><p><a href="https://uefi.org/specs/UEFI/2.10/22_EFI_Byte_Code_Virtual_Machine.html" rel="nofollow noopener" translate="no" target="_blank"><span class="invisible">https://</span><span class="ellipsis">uefi.org/specs/UEFI/2.10/22_EF</span><span class="invisible">I_Byte_Code_Virtual_Machine.html</span></a></p><p>See also CUDA, Vulkan, DirectX, etc.</p><p>TL;DR: the design of modern computers has shifted substantially from the simplistic scattering-of-boxes conceptual descriptions that were (and still are?) taught in many computing classes. Most (all?) modern computers have numerous different processors and instruction sets, with different data types, with multiple operating systems, etc., all active in parallel.</p><p><a href="https://infosec.exchange/tags/computerarchitecture" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">#<span>computerarchitecture</span></a> <a href="https://infosec.exchange/tags/ComputerDesign" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">#<span>ComputerDesign</span></a> <a href="https://infosec.exchange/tags/vulkan" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">#<span>vulkan</span></a> <a href="https://infosec.exchange/tags/cuda" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">#<span>cuda</span></a> <a href="https://infosec.exchange/tags/directx" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">#<span>directx</span></a> <a href="https://infosec.exchange/tags/efi" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">#<span>efi</span></a> <a href="https://infosec.exchange/tags/uefi" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">#<span>uefi</span></a> <a href="https://infosec.exchange/tags/vax" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">#<span>vax</span></a> <a href="https://infosec.exchange/tags/DigitalEquipmentCorporation" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">#<span>DigitalEquipmentCorporation</span></a> <a href="https://infosec.exchange/tags/openvms" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">#<span>openvms</span></a> <a href="https://infosec.exchange/tags/apple" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">#<span>apple</span></a> <a href="https://infosec.exchange/tags/applemetal" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">#<span>applemetal</span></a> <a href="https://infosec.exchange/tags/alpha" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">#<span>alpha</span></a> <a href="https://infosec.exchange/tags/itanium" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">#<span>itanium</span></a></p>
Stephen Hoffman<p><span class="h-card" translate="no"><a href="https://mstdn.ca/@jfmezei" class="u-url mention" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">@<span>jfmezei</span></a></span> Usually, yes. But like most things in IT, details can vary.</p><p>VAX has a wad of CVT conversion instructions, among other wads of instructions including the vector extensions, for instance. VAX offers instructions for pretty much everything to everything (everything circa 1978) and either has an instruction, or maybe has a macro.</p><p>For VAX floating point details, see section 9.9 here:</p><p><a href="https://docs.vmssoftware.com/docs/VAX_MACRO_INSTRUCTION_SET_REF.pdf#page236" rel="nofollow noopener" translate="no" target="_blank"><span class="invisible">https://</span><span class="ellipsis">docs.vmssoftware.com/docs/VAX_</span><span class="invisible">MACRO_INSTRUCTION_SET_REF.pdf#page236</span></a></p><p>Details here will vary by architecture, and often by implementation within architecture. (q.v. Alpha extensions including the byte-word extension, and Arm SBSA, etc.)</p><p>Here’s an Alpha intro, as Alpha was effectively VAX with most of the latent VAX limits removed (not the least of which were the condition codes):</p><p><a href="https://www.cs.cmu.edu/afs/cs/academic/class/15213-f98/doc/alpha-guide.pdf" rel="nofollow noopener" translate="no" target="_blank"><span class="invisible">https://www.</span><span class="ellipsis">cs.cmu.edu/afs/cs/academic/cla</span><span class="invisible">ss/15213-f98/doc/alpha-guide.pdf</span></a></p><p>Alpha too has a wad of CVT conversion instructions.</p><p>The wrinkle with C code can be the implicit conversions that can (necessarily) arise when mixing data types. I’m not entirely certain a compound if {} else {} and a ?: ternary will produce the same outcome for all possible variations, and I’ve been using C for... for a while.</p><p>&lt;voice=buzzlightyear&gt;And UB, UB everywhere.</p><p>C looks kinda like a weird PDP-11 in various ways.</p><p>If you want to view the instructions of recent architectures, visit godbolt.</p><p><a href="https://godbolt.org" rel="nofollow noopener" translate="no" target="_blank"><span class="invisible">https://</span><span class="">godbolt.org</span><span class="invisible"></span></a></p><p><a href="https://infosec.exchange/tags/retrocomputing" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">#<span>retrocomputing</span></a> <a href="https://infosec.exchange/tags/vax" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">#<span>vax</span></a> <a href="https://infosec.exchange/tags/DigitalEquipmentCorporation" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">#<span>DigitalEquipmentCorporation</span></a> <a href="https://infosec.exchange/tags/digitalequipment" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">#<span>digitalequipment</span></a> <a href="https://infosec.exchange/tags/digitalequipmentcorp" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">#<span>digitalequipmentcorp</span></a> <a href="https://infosec.exchange/tags/history" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">#<span>history</span></a> <a href="https://infosec.exchange/tags/computerarchitecture" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">#<span>computerarchitecture</span></a> <a href="https://infosec.exchange/tags/pdp11" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">#<span>pdp11</span></a> <a href="https://infosec.exchange/tags/c" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">#<span>c</span></a> <a href="https://infosec.exchange/tags/godbolt" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">#<span>godbolt</span></a></p>
Infernet Girl 🔥<p>During the 80s DEC produced the Rigel chipset to power VAX workstations. The microprocessor code-named Rex had its own logo: a t-rex driving a convertible 🦖 </p><p><a href="https://oldbytes.space/tags/dec" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">#<span>dec</span></a> <a href="https://oldbytes.space/tags/digital" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">#<span>digital</span></a> <a href="https://oldbytes.space/tags/DigitalEquipmentCorporation" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">#<span>DigitalEquipmentCorporation</span></a> <a href="https://oldbytes.space/tags/VAX" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">#<span>VAX</span></a></p>
Renaissance Dork<p>The <a href="https://social.vivaldi.net/tags/dec" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">#<span>dec</span></a> <a href="https://social.vivaldi.net/tags/Rainbow" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">#<span>Rainbow</span></a> ’s RX50 floppy drive makes managing disk images a challenge. But <a href="https://social.vivaldi.net/tags/Linux" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">#<span>Linux</span></a> has all the tools you need to get organized. <a href="https://social.vivaldi.net/tags/retrocomputing" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">#<span>retrocomputing</span></a> <a href="https://social.vivaldi.net/tags/vintagecomputing" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">#<span>vintagecomputing</span></a> <a href="https://social.vivaldi.net/tags/computerhistory" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">#<span>computerhistory</span></a> <a href="https://social.vivaldi.net/tags/retrocomputers" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">#<span>retrocomputers</span></a> <a href="https://social.vivaldi.net/tags/digital" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">#<span>digital</span></a> <a href="https://social.vivaldi.net/tags/digitalequipmentcorporation" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">#<span>digitalequipmentcorporation</span></a> <a href="https://renaissancedork.com/managing-disk-images-for-the-rainbow/" rel="nofollow noopener" translate="no" target="_blank"><span class="invisible">https://</span><span class="ellipsis">renaissancedork.com/managing-d</span><span class="invisible">isk-images-for-the-rainbow/</span></a></p>
Stephen Hoffman<p>OpenVMS file systems…</p><p>ODS-1: common RSX-11 file system, limited support on older OpenVMS.</p><p>ODS-2: OpenVMS traditional file system. Was updated from 9.3 to 39.39 filenames.</p><p>ODS-3: ISO-9660</p><p>ODS-4: ISO-9660 High Sierra</p><p>ODS-5: current OpenVMS extended file system</p><p>ODS-6: probably CFS, a file system as yet and probably forever unreleased.</p><p>Spiralog: a failed attempt at creating a log structured file system.</p><p>ANSI X3.27-1987 magtape file system. (-1987 fixed a Y2K bug, too.)</p><p>FAT: limited support via EFI$CP, or via other add-on tools.</p><p>The EXCHANGE utility adds a few PDP-11 formats.</p><p>Gaps in OpenVMS file system support exist: FAT, SMB (yeah, not technically a file system), NTFS, common ISO-9660 extensions, UDF, and accessing any volumes larger than two tebibytes.</p><p><a href="https://infosec.exchange/tags/openvms" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">#<span>openvms</span></a> <a href="https://infosec.exchange/tags/filesystem" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">#<span>filesystem</span></a> <a href="https://infosec.exchange/tags/history" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">#<span>history</span></a> <a href="https://infosec.exchange/tags/retrocomputing" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">#<span>retrocomputing</span></a> <a href="https://infosec.exchange/tags/retrocomputer" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">#<span>retrocomputer</span></a> <a href="https://infosec.exchange/tags/y2k" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">#<span>y2k</span></a> <a href="https://infosec.exchange/tags/digitalequipmentcorporation" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">#<span>digitalequipmentcorporation</span></a></p>
Stephen Hoffman<p><span class="h-card" translate="no"><a href="https://mastodon.nu/@plj" class="u-url mention" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">@<span>plj</span></a></span> An old DEC ad?</p><p>I do not know whether that advert might available anywhere.</p><p>Yes, DEC had 64-bit support pretty early on with Alpha, all the delays aside.</p><p>One of the failed VAX replacement projects, and part of which went on to fame elsewhere:</p><p><a href="https://bitsavers.org/pdf/dec/prism/" rel="nofollow noopener" translate="no" target="_blank"><span class="invisible">https://</span><span class="">bitsavers.org/pdf/dec/prism/</span><span class="invisible"></span></a></p><p>Here’s an old DEC OpenVMS video advert:</p><p><a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bUwthF9x210" rel="nofollow noopener" translate="no" target="_blank"><span class="invisible">https://www.</span><span class="ellipsis">youtube.com/watch?v=bUwthF9x21</span><span class="invisible">0</span></a></p><p><a href="https://infosec.exchange/tags/digitalequipmentcorporation" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">#<span>digitalequipmentcorporation</span></a> <a href="https://infosec.exchange/tags/OpenVMS" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">#<span>OpenVMS</span></a> <a href="https://infosec.exchange/tags/History" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">#<span>History</span></a> <a href="https://infosec.exchange/tags/hp" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">#<span>hp</span></a> <a href="https://infosec.exchange/tags/hpe" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">#<span>hpe</span></a> <a href="https://infosec.exchange/tags/compaq" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">#<span>compaq</span></a> <a href="https://infosec.exchange/tags/VAX" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">#<span>VAX</span></a> <a href="https://infosec.exchange/tags/alpha" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">#<span>alpha</span></a></p>
Stephen Hoffman<p><span class="h-card" translate="no"><a href="https://sfba.social/@mvilain" class="u-url mention" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">@<span>mvilain</span></a></span> Configurarions with DEC’s Computer Interconnect (CI) 70 Mbps dual-channel coax clustering supported up to 16 hosts and HSC-series controllers via CI and extended that to 32 via CISCE star coupler expander and then to 96 hosts officially with mixed interconnect clustering, and with clusters of 120 or so members are (were) known.</p><p>Clustering as implemented on VAX/VMS V4.0 and later shares the file system, distributed locking, and various other details, but does not share virtual address space. (Prior to the advent of shared-write clustering at V4.0, mid-to-late V3 had a scheme with one writer and multiple readers.)</p><p>Over the years, there was customer training happening at several DEC sites around Nashua, including at Spit Brook Road and sites off of Amherst Street, and more than a little was offered at the Bedford Mass training center. DEC also held customer events at what was then the Nashua Sheraton Tara Hotel (now the Raddison), and provided customer training there, too.</p><p>I don’t recall which DEC site had the Marx Brothers cluster off-hand, but many of the DEC clusters of that era had themes. One of the clusters was using Icelandic waterfalls (gulfos was one, iirc), and another was using national parks (tsavo, etc), and of course there was a beverage cluster. The main OpenVMS engineering clusters were STAR:: and EVMS::.</p><p>Near its peak, there were 60-ish thousand computers connected to the DEC internal (“enet”) network, which made picking a unique DECnet host name a chore. (That population also made things interesting, given the constrained DECnet Phase IV address space.)</p><p>At one time, the naming choice used for some of the CI storage controllers in one of the major clusters caused some customer consternation, as that name showed up in some listings. (Switching to “generated” names ended most of those issues.)</p><p>it wouldn’t surprise me if I knew or worked with your class instructor. </p><p><a href="https://infosec.exchange/tags/digitalequipmentcorporation" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">#<span>digitalequipmentcorporation</span></a> <a href="https://infosec.exchange/tags/OpenVMS" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">#<span>OpenVMS</span></a></p>