IBM 360’s are searching for a new home

https://www.ibm360.co.uk/?p=911

by ngcc_hk • 2 years ago

201 26 2 years ago

ibm360.co.uk

spzb• 2 years ago

https://archive.is/5Uqf8

chasil3• 2 years ago

Does the Hercules emulator have all the firmware from these systems (and peripherals) in their collection already?

http://www.hercules-390.eu/

I know there was specific microcode here:

https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=30073973

pinewurst• 2 years ago

Hercules doesn’t emulate at the microcode level. It implements the appropriate instruction set(s).

chasil3• 2 years ago

Reading a little deeper into the previous HN post, this one does:

https://static.righto.com/360/

monocasa2• 2 years ago

The 360 model 20 isn't actually a 360 compatible system. It's a 16 bit subset 'inspired by' the 360.

ngcc_hk• 2 years ago

You are right it is a subset. Not sure it is totally true it is incompatible though, but do have some incompatible instruction.

It is the most numerous 360 computer installed, more than 7000. See https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/IBM_System/360_Model_20 .

It is sad to let these go as part of computer history.

_V_• 2 years ago

I would love to take atleast one of these & try to restore it... Such a beatiful piece of engineering (and history)!

neom• 2 years ago

Looks like they ran a Puma factory/office of some descriptions, would be very interesting to see what the software they made for them does.

https://www.ibm360.co.uk/?page_id=22

FLT8• 2 years ago

I wonder if Sam of "look mum no computer" fame from YouTube might be interested for his museum ("this museum is not obsolete"). He's shown a fascination with and aptitude for all kinds of old tech, although he does tend to focus a bit more on equipment that he can make music with.

timthorn• 2 years ago

His museum doesn't have enough floor space for even one of the mainframes without evicting lots of other interesting stuff. It's actually just a few yards from a computer museum though.

bashinator• 2 years ago

Isn't most of his collection completely analog?

tivert• 2 years ago

1x 2152 System Console (possibly the last remaining example of this in the world, though in poor condition)
2x 2415 II Tape Drives (One master, one slave) (Possibly only remaining examples of this model globally)

Any pictures/info on those things? "Last example in the world" is pretty interesting and I guess urgent to see.

I hope the Computer History Museum buys it, and fixes it up for live demos. The IBM 1401 they have is cool, but I kind of think an IBM 360 would be cooler, given its historical importance.

darreninthenet• 2 years ago

In case they hadn't seen the article, I sent it to the senior curator... fingers crossed

qwerty4561273• 2 years ago

I wonder what if someone could reproduce this kind of ancient high-tech using modern precision production technologies and durable materials. Could we build those huge size low density hard drives and other components with orders of magnitude higher quality so they would last forever and never need anything replaced?

nottorp2• 2 years ago

Define forever. Especially because you mentioned hard drives - moving parts. Which will definitely wear out in time.

accrual• 2 years ago

I suppose the modern equivalent of what GP is asking for would be SLC flash. Each bit has its own dedicated cell, compared to the denser and more common MLC/TLC/QLC flash where cells are shared. I would trust data stored in SLC to last unpowered for a lot longer than your average QLC disk.

Or maybe core memory would be more stable over time?

If we're going for ultimate durability, maybe the laser inscribed glass would be the way to go, but not sure it's practical as typical computer memory. [0]

[0] https://www.sciencealert.com/this-new-5d-data-storage-disc-c...

Borg3• 2 years ago

I have HDDs (spining rust) in my desktop that are 10+ years and still running fine. I had older SCSI UW-320 disks that were running 20+ years until well, started to give I/O errors. Workloads are low here (mostly read). So I imagine it is doable to do HDD with low density and high grade components that would last 100 years. Interesting challenge imo.

vitiral• 2 years ago

http://civboot.org is basically trying to answer exactly this question

qwerty4561273• 2 years ago

Wow thanks! I always felt anxious about our civilization apparently loosing ways to build things from scratch. Nice to know I'm not alone and somebody is working on this problem.

daetnyr• 2 years ago

I remember donating to help them transport the 360 out of Germany. Hope some obtainsit who will document its restoration.

IBM 360’s are searching for a new home

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