[Coco] OS9 vs RSDOS disks

[john dumas]

On 6/14/2013 1:49 PM, billg999 at cs.uofs.edu wrote:
>> On 6/13/2013 9:16 PM, billg999 at cs.uofs.edu wrote:
>>> [snip]
>>>>    Anyway, the only way you can hurt you computer is by striking it
>>>> sharply
>>>> with a sledge hammer.
>>> People believed that at one time, but it is not necessarily true.
>>> I think the 6809 has an HCF instruction.  I agree that there should
>> How would the "Halt & Catch Fire" instruction (incrementing reads,
>> forever)
>> cause physical damage to your computer?
>> Damage like a sledge hammer impact?
> Did you miss the "Catch Fire" part?  It has been a long time but
> I remember clearly that this instruction got its name because it
> would cause the the processor to overheat to the point of self-
> destruction.
>
> bill
Totally false!
The HCF instruction on the 6800 and 6809 were simply "test" instructions 
used
by MOT for speeding up the test procedure. (Time == $$$$).
If executing HCF "burned up the processor", we would never has shipped any
product as they would all have died (?and our Fab burned down?) in
final test..............

The "Halt and Catch Fire" instruction as well as the "Halt and Execute 
Operator"
instructions (and several others) were a joke(s) from the mainframe 
days. I remember
first hearing that joke in the days of the Univac 1108 or IBM 360........

cheers,
johnd