On Wed, 25 Nov 1998, Chuck McManis wrote:
> Not trying to be a snob here, but true "Front Panel Theory" can only be
> practiced on a computer where the 'innards' are exposed. Most
> microprocessors are too integrated to support a "real" front panel. This is
> one of the reason they died out fairly quickly in the micro world but lived
> for quite a while in the mini-world.
The other reason might be that the strong point of micros was that they
were *cheap*, and a front-panel is wasted extra cost for 99.99999% of
micro buyers. There are plenty of in-circuit emulators available for
micros that are much better for the task of system-level debugging than a
mere front-panel.
The last (and perhaps best) commercial micro with a front-panel that I
know about is the Ithaca Intersystems DPS-1. It's pretty! And it's the
only one I've seen that had breakpoint capability.
http://members.aol.com/ideatoys/ithacaint.jpg
If you want to build a Z80 front-panel, emulating the DPS-1 would be
pretty cool. I might have schematics. Contact me by email if you want a
copy.
(I still think building a front-panel for a Pentium box using the "secret"
debug port would be a cool project.)
-- Doug
Received on Wed Nov 25 1998 - 21:52:33 GMT
