Al Kossow wrote:
If people are curious about the details, I've been
scanning a LOT
of 19xx material lately. The 1955 was the last of the 1000 series
to have a control panel with lights and switches, too (it is under
the right front door in the main cpu cabinet) and has the classic
panel layout of the earier models which were visible on the front.
I would definitely second any attempt to save this system. The 1900 had
a quite unique architecture with bit addressable main memory and what
could be construed as dynamic microcode. Definitely an interesting machine.
An anecdote : I used to work for Burroughs doing software support for
the B1900 series in Europe. One day at a Burroughs office in Brussels,
one of the center staff complained to me that their B1900 would
occasionally halt requiring a reboot. Halts were programmed and the
reason was displayed on the console panel as a pattern of lights. I ask
him what the halt code was. His reply "Oh some of the lights are on, and
some are off" Needless to say I was not motivated to find out what
their problem was.
I am in touch with some of my ex-colleagues in Belgium where I worked
and will see if they have any docs which might be helpful.
-- HansP