69 lines
2.6 KiB
Markdown
69 lines
2.6 KiB
Markdown
---
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layout: post
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title: You Should Have Voted For The PDP-11
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date: 2016-11-08 11:00:00
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permalink: /blog/2016/11/08/
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machines:
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- id: test1170
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type: pdp11
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debugger: true
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config: /devices/pdp11/machine/1170/panel/debugger/machine.xml
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---
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Greetings from an alternate reality where DEC's elegant PDP-11 architecture beat out Intel's gross 8086 architecture,
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and DEC managed to gracefully evolve the 16-bit PDP-11 into powerful 32-bit and 64-bit successors, all while maintaining
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excellent backward compatibility.
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Unfortunately, you're stuck in your reality, so you have no idea what I'm talking about. Basically, your ancestors voted
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for the cheapest solution rather than the best solution, and now you have to live with the consequences.
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The good news: [PDPjs](/devices/pdp11/machine/1170/panel/debugger/) makes it possible for you to go back in time, and for a moment at least,
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and relive the PDP-11 experience. It's still a somewhat primitive experience, but PDPjs is a work-in-progress, so hang in
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there.
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The latest release, v1.30.3, adds the following features:
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- Functional [Front Panels](/devices/pdp11/panel/1170/#front-panel-basics) (check out the demo below)
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- ROMs such as DEC's [M9312 ROMs](/devices/pdp11/rom/M9312/) can now be installed
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- Support for DEC's [RL11 Disk Controller](/devices/pdp11/rl11/) has been implemented
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To test RL11 support below, then select the "XXDP+ Diagnostics" disk from the "Disk Drive Controls",
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click **Load**, and wait for the message:
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Mounted disk "XXDP+ Diagnostics" in drive RL0
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Then start the machine (click **Run**) and make sure the following prompt has been displayed:
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PDP-11 MONITOR V1.0
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BOOT>
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At the prompt, type "BOOT RL0". The following text should appear:
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CHMDLD0 XXDP+ DL MONITOR
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BOOTED VIA UNIT 0
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28K UNIBUS SYSTEM
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ENTER DATE (DD-MMM-YY):
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RESTART ADDR: 152010
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THIS IS XXDP+. TYPE "H" OR "H/L" FOR HELP.
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.
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And that's the extent of my testing, so if you try anything else and it doesn't work, feel free to
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[open an issue](https://github.com/jeffpar/pcjs/issues).
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Better yet, fork the [PCjs Project](https://github.com/jeffpar/pcjs), debug the problem yourself, test a fix,
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and then send me a pull request. :-)
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Finally, another shout-out to Paul Nankervis, who not only generously gave permission
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to use code from his JavaScript [PDP-11/70 Emulator (v1.4)](http://skn.noip.me/pdp11/pdp11.html), but has also patiently
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answered all my questions.
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I'm [@jeffpar](http://twitter.com/jeffpar) and I approve this blog post.
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{% include machine.html id="test1170" %}
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*[@jeffpar](http://twitter.com/jeffpar)*
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*Nov 8, 2016*
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