5 ms·
IBM 360’s are searching for a new home
- deleted 3y ago[deleted]
- spzb 3y agohttps://archive.is/5Uqf8 https://archive.is/5Uqf8
- karol 3y ago[flagged]
- chasil 3y agoDoes the Hercules emulator have all the firmware from these systems (and peripherals) in their collection already? http://www.hercules-390.eu/ http://www.hercules-390.eu/ I know there was specific microcode here: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=30073973 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=30073973
- pinewurst 3y agoHercules doesn’t emulate at the microcode level. It implements the appropriate instruction set(s).
- chasil 3y agoReading a little deeper into the previous HN post, this one does: https://static.righto.com/360/ https://static.righto.com/360/
- monocasa 3y agoThe 360 model 20 isn't actually a 360 compatible system. It's a 16 bit subset 'inspired by' the 360.
- ngcc_hk 3y agoYou are right it is a subset. Not sure it is totally true it is incompatible though, but do have some incompatible instruction. It is the most numerous 360 computer installed, more than 7000. See https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/IBM_System/360_Model_20 https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/IBM_System/360_Model_20 . It is sad to let these go as part of computer history.
- monocasa 3y agoIt is incompatible. For one example, it doesn't have registers R0-R7, using those as encodings as additional address bits. It also doesn't have the top half of registers R8-R15.
- KerrAvon 3y agoThe original intent IIRC was the programs for the model 20 would be upwards compatible with the rest of the series, but that the higher level models would not be downward compatible with the 20. No idea if that ended up being achieved.
- _V_ 3y agoI would love to take atleast one of these & try to restore it... Such a beatiful piece of engineering (and history)!
- neom 3y agoLooks like they ran a Puma factory/office of some descriptions, would be very interesting to see what the software they made for them does. https://www.ibm360.co.uk/?page_id=22 https://www.ibm360.co.uk/?page_id=22
- cruz100000 3y ago[flagged]
- FLT8 3y agoI wonder if Sam of "look mum no computer" fame from YouTube might be interested for his museum ("this museum is not obsolete"). He's shown a fascination with and aptitude for all kinds of old tech, although he does tend to focus a bit more on equipment that he can make music with.
- bashinator 3y agoIsn't most of his collection completely analog?
- timthorn 3y agoHis museum doesn't have enough floor space for even one of the mainframes without evicting lots of other interesting stuff. It's actually just a few yards from a computer museum though.
- tivert 3y ago> 1x 2152 System Console (possibly the last remaining example of this in the world, though in poor condition) > 2x 2415 II Tape Drives (One master, one slave) (Possibly only remaining examples of this model globally) Any pictures/info on those things? "Last example in the world" is pretty interesting and I guess urgent to see. I hope the Computer History Museum buys it, and fixes it up for live demos. The IBM 1401 they have is cool, but I kind of think an IBM 360 would be cooler, given its historical importance.
- darreninthenet 3y agoIn case they hadn't seen the article, I sent it to the senior curator... fingers crossed
- qwerty456127 3y agoI wonder what if someone could reproduce this kind of ancient high-tech using modern precision production technologies and durable materials. Could we build those huge size low density hard drives and other components with orders of magnitude higher quality so they would last forever and never need anything replaced?
- nottorp 3y agoDefine forever. Especially because you mentioned hard drives - moving parts. Which will definitely wear out in time.
- accrual 3y agoI suppose the modern equivalent of what GP is asking for would be SLC flash. Each bit has its own dedicated cell, compared to the denser and more common MLC/TLC/QLC flash where cells are shared. I would trust data stored in SLC to last unpowered for a lot longer than your average QLC disk. Or maybe core memory would be more stable over time? If we're going for ultimate durability, maybe the laser inscribed glass would be the way to go, but not sure it's practical as typical computer memory. [0] [0] https://www.sciencealert.com/this-new-5d-data-storage-disc-can-store-360tb-of-data-for-14-billion-years https://www.sciencealert.com/this-new-5d-data-storage-disc-c...
- qwerty456127 3y agoAs far as I know hard drives are more and more prone to have bad blocks as you travel back in time. An old man who had access to computers before I have even been born told me every HDD in production had some. However, nowadays as HDDs density went insane and each block is so tiny, a single bad block usually means a red alert suggesting more are coming and the whole drive is dying, nevertheless this is a rare thing to happen as we now can produce all the parts with extreme precision making it a "swiss clockwork" sort of reliable. This way, can't we produce a flawlessly perfect HDD of the old kind so its huge blocks would never turn bad?
- 3y ago
- daetnyr 3y agoI remember donating to help them transport the 360 out of Germany. Hope some obtainsit who will document its restoration.