[Coco] The DOSes

Wed Apr 8 20:08:27 EDT 2015

----- Original Message ----- 
From: "K. Pruitt" <pruittk at roadrunner.com>
To: "CoCoList for Color Computer Enthusiasts" <coco at maltedmedia.com>
Sent: Wednesday, April 08, 2015 4:25 PM
Subject: Re: [Coco] The DOSes

> 
> P.S.
> 
> Some people STRONGLY object to the phrase RS-DOS.
> 
> 
> LOL!!!  Just kidding, Stephen.  Your response almost made me spit out me 
> coffee.

Perhaps I should clarify.

The CDC 1604 did not have an OS. Programs were read in using a card reader and could access data, programs and output results to ½ in magnetic tape. 

My machine level programming course covered the 1604 mainly but we touched on the 3600. I messed up on one final question. Simple problem, write a program that found out where in memory it had been loaded. I wrote a program containing a close to unique pattern and searched for it. Wrong!!! Answers for the 3600 were allowed. The CDC 3600 had an instruction to transfer the "P" counter to another register. 

The CDC 3600 which I operated was similar but at the end it also had RMS (Rotating Mass Storage).

The "drum" memory had platters 6 feet across and two heads that could move to another track with a solenoid. Six feet is not a typo. I started work at CDC the CDC 6600 and related computers had a real operating system which was what I was paid to program.

Even one of the richest persons on the planet is having problems in getting one to work.

  CDC Restoration Update - Living Computer Museum
  http://livingcomputermuseum.tumblr.com/post/91924982154/cdc-restoration-update  

It's the cooling system IMHO although the cables between chassis just being cut was a huge blow. The company that made the taper pins originally agreed to make some more. I wanted out of hardware as all I was doing was punching cables, the core memory sense modules were bad so we could not ship anything. I took the first part of the hardware course for the CDC 6600.

The first day as a programmer we had a huge meeting where it was announced that we were moving to California. I asked if I could go and was told yes.

SHF