5 Aug
2006
5 Aug
'06
5:29 p.m.
Tony Duell wrote:
tell you the CPU exists. It's almost as if the CPU
runs on some kind of
magic.
I can assure you that it doesn't, and that many older, simpler CPUs are
understandable at the gate level (or even the transistor level).
Tony is just pulling your leg. Some sort of newbie hazing?
The reality is that the CPU runs on compressed magic smoke.
Proof of that is that during some kinds of electrical problems,
the magic smoke can leak out, and it never works quite right
after the magic smoke leaks out.
BTW, the last time that I saw a missing CPU, and resistors and
capacitators lying around loose, it was because the previous owner
had been practicing de-soldering. After finding a CPU, and
reconnecting everything, the machine worked.
BTW2, the biggest appeal (AND reason to hate) 386 level machines,
is that they are the oldest, slowest, and simplest machines that
are instruction set compatible with most of the modern software.
It is fun to watch Windoze run on a 386. Kinda like turning the
crankshaft of a partially disassembled engine, and watching the
interrelationships of the parts moving. Watching it in "slow
motion" is a good way to find portions of the code that need to
be optimized.
--
Grumpy Ol' Fred cisin at xenosoft.com