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Megaprocessor – A micro-processor built large (2016)

megaprocessor.com

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Re: Megaprocessor – A micro-processor built large (2016)

#61

Post by zanethomas »

I think the minicomputers of the 70s well-represent the halfway point between there and what we have today.

At Basic Four Corporation I worked on systems built from 8"x11" circuit boards. A CPU might consist of two such cards joined on the front by a couple flat 50-pin cables and to the other components by a backplane.

Disk Controller: 1 board Terminal controller: 1 board etc

https://www.ricomputermuseum.org/collections-gallery/equipme...

Would be interesting to see some enterprising soul recreate a modern computer in such a form factor.

Re: Megaprocessor – A micro-processor built large (2016)

#63

Post by tyingq »

95014_refugee wrote: post #57
temeritatis wrote: post #7

I often wondered i could build some sort of general computing machine if we were pushed back to the dark ages or something. I guess you have to define exactly at what level of technological achievements we were pushed back to. But with the knowledge we have today, and without ICs (or advanced manufacturing facilities) and only "simple electronics" (whatever that would be) if this would be possible. Fun stuff to think…

Then the next question is; what would you do with it? You need a source of problems to solve, and until you've bootstrapped the rest of society at least to the point where something like high-resolution trigonometric tables, desktop publishing, high-speed accounting, (for example) are needed, the effort isn't going to keep you fed...

I agree it wouldn't be high on the list, but I also imagine there would be practical needs. Like command/control. So, voice only radios first, but some sort of messaging that doesn't need a live listener on the radio would then be a nice next step. And that could be done with a simple computer.

Re: Megaprocessor – A micro-processor built large (2016)

#64

Post by mburns »

temeritatis wrote: post #7

I often wondered i could build some sort of general computing machine if we were pushed back to the dark ages or something. I guess you have to define exactly at what level of technological achievements we were pushed back to. But with the knowledge we have today, and without ICs (or advanced manufacturing facilities) and only "simple electronics" (whatever that would be) if this would be possible. Fun stuff to think…

CollapseOS is a z80-based forth that is targeted at bootstrapping computing from scavengable components in old electronics.

https://collapseos.org/

Re: Megaprocessor – A micro-processor built large (2016)

#65

Post by bitwize »

zanethomas wrote: post #61

I think the minicomputers of the 70s well-represent the halfway point between there and what we have today. At Basic Four Corporation I worked on systems built from 8"x11" circuit boards. A CPU might consist of two such cards joined on the front by a couple flat 50-pin cables and to the other components by a backplane. Disk Controller: 1 board Terminal controller: 1 board etc https://www.ricomputermuseum.org/collecti…

I am unaware of many Hackernews who had even heard of Basic Four, let alone worked there! Did you know Chuck Milden?

Re: Megaprocessor – A micro-processor built large (2016)

#66

Post by agalunar »

deltaonefour wrote: post #50
temeritatis wrote: post #7

I often wondered i could build some sort of general computing machine if we were pushed back to the dark ages or something. I guess you have to define exactly at what level of technological achievements we were pushed back to. But with the knowledge we have today, and without ICs (or advanced manufacturing facilities) and only "simple electronics" (whatever that would be) if this would be possible. Fun stuff to think…

The first computing machines used relays which are electromechanical mechanical switches. Current would flow into an electric magnetic and it would magnetize a switch and close a loop thereby switching something "on." By placing these switches together into different configurations you could form equivalent logic gates. Sometimes insects or moths would get stuck in the relays which would screw up the system. This is…

The use of the term "bug" in engineering predates automatic computers by nearly a century; the Wiki article [1] on the topic gives a pretty good summary of its history.

[1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bug_(engineering)#History

Re: Megaprocessor – A micro-processor built large (2016)

#67

Post by sbierwagen »

galcerte wrote: post #23
temeritatis wrote: post #7

I often wondered i could build some sort of general computing machine if we were pushed back to the dark ages or something. I guess you have to define exactly at what level of technological achievements we were pushed back to. But with the knowledge we have today, and without ICs (or advanced manufacturing facilities) and only "simple electronics" (whatever that would be) if this would be possible. Fun stuff to think…

In that case, if you want a somewhat entertaining very-high-level overview of what would need to be done, then there's a manga that showed this off a few chapters ago, it's called Dr. Stone. What stuck with me the most was that the purity needed for the silicon used in processors was absurdly high, so much so that they couldn't quite do that just yet, so they made a processor out of parametrons and used magnetic core…

>the purity needed for the silicon used in processors was absurdly high

Yes. Silicon wafers are cut from a monocrystalline boule, a single flawless silicon crystal with no defects or inclusions. A big chunk of silicon atoms, nothing else at all. (Doping happens later) To the extent any physical object can be called "perfect", a semiconductor wafer is perfect.

(Of course after manufacturing it will start picking up embedded hydrogen and helium atoms from cosmic rays and alpha particle background radiation.)

Re: Megaprocessor – A micro-processor built large (2016)

#68

Post by sbierwagen »

jazzyjackson wrote: post #48
diordiderot wrote: post #39

This is currently sitting in the computing history museum in Cambridge. 10 pounds entry. They have loads of old computers and consoles

Massachusetts or UK?

Would a museum in the United States have an admission fee denominated in pounds?

Re: Megaprocessor – A micro-processor built large (2016)

#70

Post by zanethomas »

bitwize wrote: post #65
zanethomas wrote: post #61

I think the minicomputers of the 70s well-represent the halfway point between there and what we have today. At Basic Four Corporation I worked on systems built from 8"x11" circuit boards. A CPU might consist of two such cards joined on the front by a couple flat 50-pin cables and to the other components by a backplane. Disk Controller: 1 board Terminal controller: 1 board etc https://www.ricomputermuseum.org/collecti…

I am unaware of many Hackernews who had even heard of Basic Four, let alone worked there! Did you know Chuck Milden?

If I did I don't remember him. :) How are you familiar with Basic Four?
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