I currently have three Symbolics MacIvory CPUs. (Do you, reader, have one to sell? Please leave a comment!) One is currently installed in a working machine and was not yet molested; the two remaining chips, I obtained in 2017 by bartering away a Symbolics 3620. At some point I will cut one or more of […]
This post concerns the “MacIvory” Model 3 Lisp Machine. It is of interest strictly to bolixologists. This is a recipe for a working replacement of an ancient SCSI HDD, such as found in the MacIvory, with an inexpensive solid-state disk. You will need: A “SCSI2SD” device. Mine is a model 6, but older units may […]
This post concerns the “MacIvory” Model 3 Lisp Machine. It is of interest strictly to bolixologists. Click on a photo to see detailed version. Machine chassis: The Ivory NuBus Board Set (i.e. the LispM itself, the Mac Quadra is otherwise ordinary): “Ivory” NuBus board, component-side: What’s under the labels? Bolix Label Part Notes 115999-B PLUS20L8 […]
At long last, got hold of one of these:
Boston Lisp Meeting; June 28, 2012. Update: Here’s a mirror of the film. The Google copy appears to have been censored.
Is there a ballpoint pen in your pocket? How fast is it? What do you mean, you don’t know? You didn’t ask the salesman? There is indeed a maximum speed at which the little ball in the pen can roll and still leave a satisfactory trace of ink upon the page. Would you pay extra […]
Tim Daly on Symbolics and the elimination of the Compile-Pray-Debug Cycle: “The Symbolics machine (its kittens all the way down…) gave me the insight that one of the most important parts of programming is the time it takes to “close the loop”. Start from the point of failure, find the failure in source code, fix […]
Better screen shots from other people: Ralf Moeller Rainer Joswig
Let’s take another look at the console. There are several boards inside, but this is the only one which deals in custom Symbolics protocols (as opposed to the widely-known intricacies of operating a black-and-white CRT.) The rough annotations are my own. Click on the pictures for super-size (~10MB!) images. Once again, the Phase Encoded Video […]
The machine does indeed power up and run: But this is not enough. The console is a museum piece. While a Lisp Machine circa 1986 might last for a reasonably long time between repairs, a CRT of the same vintage likely will not. Moreover, it is a pain to have around, even if it were […]
