23 Sep
2022
23 Sep
'22
5:09 p.m.
On Sep 23, 2022, at 5:45 PM, Chuck Guzis via cctalk
<cctalk(a)classiccmp.org> wrote:
I thought it curious that many 1960s-1970s supercomputers lacked front
panels and blinking lights altogether. (e.g. Cray I, CDC
Cyber/600/700, etc.) Indeed, the Cray couldn't even spin a tape without
help from another system doing the I/O.
--Chuck
The Cray was often coupled witha DG nova for bootstrapping, which very much did have a
front panel on it. Indeed, many models of PDP-10 were bootstrapped by PDP-11’s with front
panels, even if the PDP-10 lacked one. The CDC Cyber however, had “dead start” panels
hidden behind shouding, which could be used in a very similar way to a front panel.
By the mid 70’s and early 80’s, ROM chips had largely replaced front panels, initialising
the system and performing boot routines that were otherwise done by front panel. You can
see this approach in later PDP-11/s and even PDP-8’s
Josh