9 Jan
2007
9 Jan
'07
12:30 p.m.
David wrote....
This is not uncommon with the 1000 machines either.
For example,
regarding
the F-Series machines being discussed in another thread, machines before
date code 1920 are missing a fair number of instructions (four-word
floating-point instructions, double-integer instructions, and a few SIS
codes).
Most interesting, I had no idea! Wouldn't those missing instructions be
strictly due to different microcode sets? Or is it something else in the
micromachine? Hummm... I had found a statement in the MEF Engineering
Reference docs that the E & F cpu boards (sans roms) were not
interchangeable before a certain datecode, but after a certain datecode they
were. I'm guessing this was done so they only had one board to manufacture.
But I'm curious if this is the same thing that you mention above, and what
exactly changed besides microcode if so?
Similarly, regarding RTE, M- and E-Series machines
with CPU boards prior
to
about date code 1730 required massive hardware upgrades to run RTE-IV or
later. CPU board, DMS ROMs, memory controller, memory protect, I/O
backplane (!), etc. had to be exchanged for newer versions.
Uh oh... holy cow. I
had NO idea. I believe all my machines are after that
date code, but you can bet I'll be keeping an eye out for that. Do you have
any good docs on what to look for besides the cpu date code (with regards to
RTE compatability) such as on the memory controller, MEM PRT, etc.? And the
I/O backplane even? Yikes, that's a bit unsettling - seeing as I know for
sure I replaced an I/O backplane in one of my boxes cause the connectors
were cracked. I just grabbed a backplane from a spare junk machine.... :/
Jay