9 Dec
2016
9 Dec
'16
3:59 p.m.
Has anyone ever described the OS/8 version history?
I have some DECtapes that are V3D and I have found some RX01 images
from the V3D Combined Kit. The programs that are common
to both are
different versions, so V3D changed over time.
Then there were the DECmates and there were changes made to support
them. I see V4 referenced.
There are also some sources online, but it isn't clear how they
correspond to the usable device images.
I have been looking at these online resources mostly, but I have found others.
http://www.ibiblio.org/pub/academic/computer-science/history/pdp-8
http://www.pdp8.net/
Are there other better resources? Are there source distributions in
the original state for example?
From what I have seen, the combined kit has the best
support for the
PDP-8/e and its devices. That's the hardware I have and so that
is
what I am concentrating on.
Hoping to trigger some conversation.
-chuck
9 Dec
9 Dec
4:13 p.m.
From: Charles Dickman: Friday, December 09, 2016 3:59 PM
I have some DECtapes that are V3D and I have found
some RX01 images
from the V3D Combined Kit. The programs that are common to both are
different versions, so V3D changed over time.
I know that .SV format saves some cruft along with the binary, so .SV
files can compare different even though they are effectively the same.
(I have some Perl code somewhere that will diff them in a way that helps
identify this problem. What happens is that the differences are all in the
"tails" where .BN format provides granularity not available in .SV format.)
It is also possible to save a program after it's been run a few times, which
saves different values for the return addresses at the top of the subroutines
and such.
Vince
4:31 p.m.
I am aware of some of that. I was actually comparing using the
information in the combined kit release notes. It has information
about how to determine the version of the included programs. Some have
a command to do it, some have an address that needs to be examined
with ODT.
With OS/8, the notion of a config files changes. You make changes and
save them in the binary of the command, so a command binary can
change. You learn this after doing a build with R BUILD and then
realizing that you can't save your changes. I haven't figured out if
there is a way to load a system head into BUILD.
-chuck
On Fri, Dec 9, 2016 at 7:13 PM, Vincent Slyngstad
<v.slyngstad at frontier.com> wrote:
From: Charles Dickman: Friday, December 09, 2016 3:59
PM
I have some DECtapes that are V3D and I have found some RX01 images
from the V3D Combined Kit. The programs that are common to both are
different versions, so V3D changed over time.
I know that .SV format saves some cruft along with the binary, so .SV files
can compare different even though they are effectively the same.
(I have some Perl code somewhere that will diff them in a way that helps
identify this problem. What happens is that the differences are all in the
"tails" where .BN format provides granularity not available in .SV format.)
It is also possible to save a program after it's been run a few times, which
saves different values for the return addresses at the top of the
subroutines and such.
Vince
2934
days inactive
2935
days old
2 comments
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chd＠chdickman.com -
v.slyngstad＠frontier.com