Bug-for-bug compatibility [was RE: SimH DECtape vs. Tops-10 [was RE: Writing emulators [Was: Re: VCF PNW 2018: Pictures!]]]

[Doug Ingraham]

On Tue, Feb 27, 2018 at 2:46 PM, Rich Alderson via cctalk <
cctalk at classiccmp.org> wrote:
>
> Fast forward 20 years, to Living Computer Museum, where a KI-10 based
> DEC-1070
> was undergoing restoration.  Diagnostics were needed, so the resident
> TOPS-20
> programmer laid hands on the MAINDEC sources for the KI-10 and proceeded to
> compile them all and generate paper tapes of the results.  All went
> smashingly
> well until the multiplication test.
>
> The diagnostic source for this test uses a macro to build a set of test
> values
> for X**2 where X is a power of 2.  Internally, Macro-20 uses the IMULM
> instruction to build the results.  In the KA-10 manual, IMULx of 2**35 *
> 2**35
> is supposed to store the high order part of the result into the 36 bit word
> addressed by the instruction, and set the overflow bit.
>
> On the Toad-1 (and on the Toad-2 prior to our discovery of this bug), a
> zero is
> stored instead.  Since we compiled the KI-10 diagnostics on the Toad-1,
> this
> incorrect result was placed on the diagnostic paper tape, and the KI-10
> seemed
> to fail the diagnostic.  Imagine our chagrin when days of trying to
> correct the
> problem led to the conclusion that the diagnostic was incorrect.
>
>                                                                 Rich
>

This is a great story!  And it probably indicates that when developing the
Toad-1 this particular
diagnostic was never run from an original DEC generated tape or the Toad-1
would have failed
the diagnostic.  Alternatively assembling the diag on the restoration
project would have yielded
a working multiply.

So is someone going to fix the multiply instruction in the 20+ year old
Toad? <grin>

-- 
Doug Ingraham
PDP-8 SN 1175