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1500 questions
18
votes
5 answers
Why plastic cases?
Early computers of the 'all in one' form factors, such as the Commodore PET, the early IBM microcomputers and later models of the TRS-80, as well as the 'box' form factors such as the Altair, used a metal case; this continued through the IBM PC and…
rwallace
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18
votes
5 answers
Can the wrong sync frequency really destroy a CRT monitor?
I've read in various places that an incorrect signal of the wrong refresh rate can cause physical damage to a CRT monitor, but I've never found an adequate explanation of why this is so. Is this true? And if it is, how?
user3570736
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18
votes
1 answer
How did Drive Overlay programs break BIOS disk barriers on older PCs?
I was just reading a thread on Vogons about OnTrack and EZ-Drive setup, and it occurred to me that I have no idea how they work.
Please explain why the barrier existed and then how the overlay programs circumvented them.
Thanks!
Thraka
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18
votes
5 answers
What tools were used in late MS-DOS era for reverse engineering and patching binary executables?
In the late MS-DOS era, what were the state of the art software tools for reverse engineering and patching binaries, i.e. .exe and .com files?
A simple list of the tools that were "state of the art", widely used, or considered excellent, and what…
AlphaCentauri
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18
votes
2 answers
What was the first arcade game to use a microprocessor instead of discrete logic?
Many authors credit Space Invaders as the first blockbuster game to have been written with an onboard microprocessor (Taito used Intel's 8080 for game logic), but there is also references to Taito's Western Gun as the first arcade game to use a…
JAL
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18
votes
8 answers
Cambridge Z88 Production Run
While this is not a technical question per se, I finally found something I have no idea and couldn't find any answer online:
How many Cambridge Z88s were made and/or sold?
As it's related, a sub-question would be How long was the Z88 in…
Raffzahn
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18
votes
1 answer
Where was the Willowsoft Overture File System (OFS1) used?
While chatting about data recovery, an obscure filesystem came up. It apparently claimed the MBR partition ID 0x20 and was named "Willowsoft Overture File System (OFS1)". In the modern world, it seems to only be seen when a partition table is…
Bob
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18
votes
2 answers
Apple // screen editing
I've heard mention many times of screen editing commands on the Apple // for fixing typos in BASIC programs (and patching code in the monitor?). I did not learn these growing up, never having the original manuals available in computer labs in…
knghtbrd
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18
votes
1 answer
How many lines of code were in the first Unix version (with the Thompson shell)?
How many lines of code were in the first Unix version (with the Thompson shell)?
Given that the modern Linux kernel has about 15 million lines of code, I do wonder of the amount with the first Unix product released at the time.
Arcticooling
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18
votes
1 answer
Where did Sony's 3D graphics hardware in the PS1 originate?
As is well-documented, the Fifth Generation of game consoles brought 3D accelerated graphics hardware to the home market. The main combatants in this particular console war of the mid-1990s were the Sega Saturn, Nintendo 64, and Sony PlayStation.
It…
Brian H
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18
votes
5 answers
Was there ever a genuine "mainframe-on-a-chip" microprocessor?
In the 1980s and 90s, there was a fad among the IT industry press to dub the newest "hot" microprocessor on the market as being a "mainframe-on-a-chip". I have seen this fawning description applied to the Mototola 68000 and 68030, the Intel 80386…
Brian H
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18
votes
2 answers
How many versions of DOS were there for the Apple II and what were the differences?
DOS 3.3 was the most common before ProDOS. How did it differ to DOS 3.2 and what versions were there before that?
nevster
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18
votes
5 answers
What are tacts in the context of ZX Spectrum systems?
I've heard the term tacts when referring to some hardware capability, e.g. "tacts on one frame" or "tacts per second". I tried Googling this but surprisingly did not find anything relevant. What is the meaning of this term when used in the…
guest
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18
votes
5 answers
Was Family BASIC for the NES/Famicom powerful enough to create full games and applications?
"Family BASIC or Famicom BASIC is the consumer product for programming
Nintendo's Family Computer video game console of Japan."
wikipedia
I can't seem to find much info about Family BASIC anywhere on the internet. So I have a 2 simple…
LateralTerminal
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18
votes
3 answers
Where are the blueprints of MOS chips?
Atari historians have been able to find documents and tapes of chips and hardware developed at Atari. E.g. http://atariage.com/forums/topic/154479-new-gtia-chips/ .
Nothing like this is happening for Commodore and Amiga.
MOS designed tens…
Valentino Miazzo
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