--------------------------------<snip>-----------------------------
[1] Actually there may be other exceptions. The 360 Model 44 for example
was also a special machine somehow specifically designed to support
"science and engineering" (Fortran) as I recall.
---------------------------------<unsnip>---------------------------
The 360/44 was my first 360 system and brings back many fond memories.
Our first operating system was something called "44/PS" and ran from a
single-platter disk drive in the side of the CPU, which we called "The
Frisbee". We shortly migrated to OS/360 PCP (Sysgened as a Model 50),
followed by a storage upgrade from 128K to 256K and a shift to MFT at
about release 12.6. The 360/44 Commercial Feature was implemented by a
software emulator in "Bump Core". A special program interrupt for
invalid OP-CODE sent execution into the emulator, which would return
execution to real storage via a special form of the LPSW instruction.
High-speed general registers and variable-length floating point
registers made FORTRAN programs run fairly fast (for that day). SS
instructions, on the other hand, seemed to take FOREVER, due to the
emulation involved. The same was true of LM, STM, BXH and BXLE, which
weren't emulated but weren't installed except as part of the Commercial
Feature.
Channels were simple: three high-speed byte-multiplex channels were all
you could get, but they handled our 2314's, 2400 tapes (on 2803
controllers) and 2821 Reader/Punch/Printer controller fairly well. We
even had a pair of 2321 Data Cell Drives for archiving and a 2860
Controller with some 2260 terminals, for the times we brought up RAX
(There's a blast from the past!) If I remember correctly, our 2321's
were on a 2803 controller. We even added a 2501 reader, in a niche in
the hall outside the computer room, so students could submit their jobs
directly to HASP. But we didn't let them near the 1403 N1 printer or the
2540 Reader/Punch. :-)
--
Rick
--
Remember that if you’re not the lead dog, the view never changes.
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