Tag Archives: simh

Retro emulation

I have written about a number of projects that I have done in recreating old computers like the HP2000/Access and the DEC PDP-10. To give this some impact and a sense of how these might have been used in the … Continue reading

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Fixing BCPL

The BCPL compiler to executes successfully and the BCL: ersatz device exists in the monitor but the compiler seems to be producing code which is executing at an illegal memory address. So how do we fix that? Not being familiar … Continue reading

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Installing BCPL

Having completed the pre-requisites for BCPL, it should be a simple matter to install BCPL using the BUILD.CTL job that is included with the BCPL files on tape. First, boot Tops-10 with the amended system that was generated with MONGEN … Continue reading

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Essex BCPL pre-requisites

Having restored the BCPL tape, before you can properly install BCPL you must undertake some pre-requisite work. Fortunately the pre-requisites are stated in the BUILD.CTL file that ships on the tape and boil down to three things: Check the code … Continue reading

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Essex BCPL restore

Now that I have a working TOPS-10 environment, in order to truly start the journey to MUD the first step is to install the Essex university BCPL compiler from the 1970’s. This compiler was lost for many years, and even … Continue reading

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May the Fortran be with you.

If you have your own Tops-10 system up and running you might want to do something useful with it. So, the first step for me was to install the Fortran and BASIC programming languages, partly to prove they would work … Continue reading

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Configuring PDP10 Tops-10 for online use

I installed my very own PDP10 Tops-10 system up and running on simh, but to make it work like a 1970’s timesharing system I needed to configure it to support remote users on “teletypes” attached to the system. Of course, … Continue reading

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Building a Dec PDP10 using simh

The Dec PDP10 is a large mini/mainframe computer from the 1970’s. For me the most famous aspect of the PDP10 is that it was the original computer upon which Colossal Cave Adventure, Dungeon (aka Zork) and the original MUD were … Continue reading

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Star Trekkin’ across the universe

Many years ago I used to be a computer nerd and really enjoyed just writing programs on the at the local computer centre on a HP2000 Access computer system. The language was BASIC but this was a 32 user computer … Continue reading

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Building an HP2000/Access system from scratch

If you are interested in revisiting the great computer systems of the 1970s, then there is nowhere easier to start than with the HP2000/Access system, a system that was used by many schools and universities around the world from 1969 … Continue reading

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