
The X-Windows Disaster - stargrave
http://xahlee.info/UnixResource_dir/_/The_X-Windows_Disaster.html
======
daly
You are obviously new to the computer field. Back in my day (he said from his
rocking chair) we had to modify hardware to get things to work.

For example, a teletype
([https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Teletype_Model_33](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Teletype_Model_33))
used either current or voltage in the interface so you had to physically
modify the computer motherboard ([https://www.foxdata.com/blog/time-to-test-
the-data-general-m...](https://www.foxdata.com/blog/time-to-test-the-data-
general-mv2000-dc/)) with wire cutters or a soldering gun.

Or you had to muck about with the patch panel in your card sorter
([http://www.columbia.edu/cu/computinghistory/plugboard.html](http://www.columbia.edu/cu/computinghistory/plugboard.html))

Or you had to "reseat" (open the computer, pull out each card, and plug it
back in) the cards every morning when you started the IBM Series 1 computer.
([http://www.ricomputermuseum.org/Home/equipment/ibm-
series1](http://www.ricomputermuseum.org/Home/equipment/ibm-series1))

Or you had to read (by eye) your paper tape looking for a jump instruction you
could hand punch
([https://collection.maas.museum/object/373326](https://collection.maas.museum/object/373326)
or one you made yourself) a "JUMP" instruction to your new "SUBROUTINE" (that
you hand punched) to splice the old one out of line and hand compute the
return address to skip the old routine.

Or hand wiring your own core memory array
([http://www.ricomputermuseum.org/Home/interesting_computer_it...](http://www.ricomputermuseum.org/Home/interesting_computer_items/magnetic-
core-memory)) since an order for 64 "bytes" of core was delivered as 512 tiny
core "donuts".

Or physically enter the paper tape boot loader from the front panel switches
([https://raymii.org/s/articles/Toggling_in_a_simple_program_o...](https://raymii.org/s/articles/Toggling_in_a_simple_program_on_the_DEC_PDP-8_and_PiDP-8_using_the_switch_register.html))

Or implement "Halt And Catch Fire"... The Intel chip had the "FOOF"
instruction
([https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pentium_F00F_bug](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pentium_F00F_bug))
which stopped the processor cold. You had to repower the computer to reboot.
Also, your CRT display needed the correct settings for things like
"horizontal, vertical, frontporch, backporch", etc. If they were wrong your
display could physically catch fire. SO... you created a program to set the
fire-causing display settings and then execute a FOOF instruction... The
computer stopped and the display caught fire.

~~~
simonblack
Hmm. Looks like I came in at the tail end of those.

Rewiring a teletype. Yep. But we were a little more advanced. We had an IC
socket on the motherboard that pre-wired IC headers plugged into, depending on
whether we wanted current-loop or not.

Reseating interface cards. Yep

While I did have a small amount of paper-tape use, most of my reading "JMP'
and 'Call' instructions by eye was from hexadecimal printouts.

And while I didn't have cores as memory, I did have lots of chips to install
for a measly 16K of RAM.

Happy days.

