front panel display for a modern PC

Hi If one has a machine that doesn't have ROM and doesn't have a nice defined bus spec, having a front panel with a way to toggle in some minimal code is the way to go. It really wasn't until the creation of the EPROM that it was practical to develop a ROM based machine. The cost of a mask ROM was expensive to develop. The IMSAI and Altair were created just after Intel created the floating gate EPROM. It was a step the lead to the end of the front panel. I consider the EPROM to be more significant to computing than the 4004 was. Others were on the way to creating their own uP's. It was the EPROM that lowered the development cost making even the shoe string shops able to create products. Dwight _________________________________________________________________ Connect and share in new ways with Windows Live. http://www.windowslive.com/share.html?ocid=TXT_TAGHM_Wave2_sharelife_012008