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TEST Board

11/22/2009

I recently removed the "static debug capabilities" from the Control Panel, one of the key features that Heritage/1 was intended to provide. Now, I have no way (from the Panel) to debug the machine's hardware statically.

The main argument in favor of the removal was that a real life machine would not need it since such kind of debuging is normally done at the factory, not at the field.

Now it occurred to me that I could still ofering the feature but not to the "machine's owner" but to the "manufacturer", and not as part of the Control Panel (from which it was removed) but in the form of a TEST BOARD.

NOTE: The reader shall know that I am both the "machine's owner" and the "manufacturer" but that is part of the fantacy of this project.

The TEST BOARD takes the place of the Master Controller Card (MC). I mean, I remove the MC card, then insert the TEST BOARD. This is because the MC is the one producing the status signals S0, S1 to arbitrate the machine. The TEST CARD would still producing S0, S1 in a convenient way so the machine could be managed "statically".

The TEST CARD would feature push buttons and LEDs on the visible edge, accesible from the CPU frame's front once the cover had been removed. The ingeneer will use those to monitor and activate individual CPU control signals for "static" debugging.