Writing emulators (was Re: VCF PNW 2018: Pictures!)

[Henk Gooijen]

Van: Ethan Dicks via cctalk<mailto:cctalk at classiccmp.org>
Verzonden: woensdag 21 februari 2018 20:44
Aan: Paul Koning<mailto:paulkoning at comcast.net>; General Discussion: On-Topic and Off-Topic Posts<mailto:cctalk at classiccmp.org>
Onderwerp: Re: Writing emulators (was Re: VCF PNW 2018: Pictures!)

On Wed, Feb 21, 2018 at 1:59 PM, Paul Koning via cctalk
<cctalk at classiccmp.org> wrote:
> If microcode is not user-changeable, or if that capability is not a core feature, then you can easily omit it.  That tends to make the job much easier.  For example, I don't know that anyone emulates the PDP-11/60 WCS.  The absence of that emulation isn't a big deal, unless you want to run the Richy Lary PDP-8 emulator on that emulated 11/60.  (Has it been preserved?)

I have long heard of the PDP-8 emulator that depends on the 11/60 WCS
but every time it comes up, it's always been said to be lost.

Feel free to prove me wrong, anyone.  I'd love to stare at it.

-ethan

Tekst on my website:

The only other PDP-11 that has a WCS option (KUV11, M8018) is the PDP-11/03, KD11-F processor.
Ritchie Lary wrote the micro-code for the PDP-11/60 to emulate the PDP-8 instruction set, making it the "fastest PDP-8 ever".
It is a pity that the source code seems to be lost. Even Ritchie Lary, the author, no longer had the source when Eric Smith inquired some years back (~2011 - 2012), and Ritchie did not think that anyone else was likely to have it. So, it appears to be lost forever.

☹