[TAG] cdrom problem

[Ben Okopnik]

On Mon, May 17, 2004 at 04:17:51PM -0600, Jason Creighton wrote:
> On Sun, 16 May 2004 01:36:54 -0400, 
> Ben Okopnik <ben at callahans.org> wrote:
> 
> > [...] once past the early 1980s (the days of Motorola 6800 and a few
> > truly stupid 80286 implementations), computer hardware that can be
> > damaged by software (including any keystrokes you want to do) is a
> > myth.
> 
> Oh! Oh! Story! :-)
 
[grin]

> Really, the only hardware I can think of that might be damaged by
> software would be some old fixed-frequency (right term?) monitors. What
> else was there?

As I recall it, there was an instruction for the 6800 which would cause
it to toggle bus state, which was a relatively high-current operation.
If you put that into a fast loop, there would arise an odor... and
shortly after, all would cease, and lo the Universe would be dark. I had
no personal experience with this, but friends who banged on Motorola
processors in those days gleefully reported discovering said creature.

As to the 286, there was a period when several companies tried to build
Their Own Proprietary Versions[TM] of the IBM PC, including those
stupid-looking CPU+monitor+keyboard boxes that looked like a donkey's
backside (in the appropriate color, natch.)  A number of them included
- woohoo! - software-controlled brightness, H/V freqs, and other video
paraphernalia - without, of course, any limit on the amount of
twiddle-factor to be applied other than the average programmer's gentle
quality of mercy.

I believe that DEC had already learned this lesson in the aeons past,
when Evil Runes (brightness control metacharacters) could be sent in a
text message to fry your cow-orkers VDUs... but these morons^Wcompanies
(happily defunct shortly after this period) had to relearn it all over
again.

"George Santayana proven right again, news at <11.0.0.0>." [sigh]


* Ben Okopnik * okopnik.freeshell.org * Editor-in-Chief, Linux Gazette *
-*- See the Linux Gazette in its new home: <http://linuxgazette.net> -*-