Which paper tape hole is bit 1?
Allison
ajp166 at bellatlantic.net
Sat Nov 19 11:35:00 CST 2005
vrs wrote:
> From: "Allison":
>
>>Nominal PDP-8 use was short BIN loader hand toggled in. Load bin
>>tape that contains small BIN format program or loads the RIM
>>loader for more complex programs (basic, focal). BASIC would
>>then read an ascii program tape.
>
>
> It's a nit, but you have the roles of BIN and RIM reversed in
> this paragraph. You also omitted a discussion of the checksum,
> field setting, and comment features allowed in a BIN tape :-).
>
> For those who care, BIN tapes have an extra 'data' pair at the
> end which forms a checksum. Bytes with both of the most significant
> bits set use the next three bits to select which bank or 'field'
> is loaded. And arbitrary 'comments' may appear between rub-outs
> (which have all bits set). RIM tapes have none of these features.
> Both BIN and RIM tapes use leader-trailer with just the MSB set.
>
> There are at least two versions of the BIN loader. I don't know
> offhand if the older BIN loader supported all the features or
> not.
>
> Vince
I flubed the first one and 99% get it wrong when playing with the -8!
The other was one of those typing things where I decided it was enough
and stopped rather than get even further off the topic.
Allison
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