back to article Reg readers battle to claim 'my silicon's older than yours' crown

When Simon Sharwood revealed that an Aussie operator has just retired a server that been running flawlesssly since 1997, we figured it would prompt a slew of one-upmanship comments, and we were right. What we weren’t quite prepared for were the diversions that one aging server prompted into the nature of time, space travel, …

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  1. John Robson Silver badge

    Nuclear Power Station...

    Surely a RasPi could be put together to emulate the outputs and respond to the inputs?

    Could even operate a nice displayboard of the "heavy metal power building"

    1. Andy Taylor

      Re: Nuclear Power Station...

      Our TAC project lead is already working on something along these lines.

      I did get the dates slightly wrong, the TACs were in continuous operation from 1968 to 2004, I still think that wins :)

      1. Bob H

        Re: Nuclear Power Station...

        A foreign sounding voice at the end of the line, "we would like to come and study your computer-ma-bob"

  2. Duffaboy
    Linux

    osborne 1

    I own one of these though have to admit I have not fired it up in 20years for fear that it will expire. I have the service manual for it too somewhere and still shrinkwrapped Deadline game.

    It used to run the familys business accounts way way back. I was going to donate it to Bletchley park only to find that they already own one.

    1. Anonymous C0ward

      Re: osborne 1

      I bought one of those on eBay. After a while some caps in the power supply exploded (smoke and everything, it stank). I replaced those though. Have been thinking about various projects to get it to use a more modern keyboard (the original is rusted to hell inside) and alternative data storage, but nothing finished because I'm lazy.

    2. Stoneshop

      Re: osborne 1

      Running a small-scale museum, we have stuff that's older than a fair part of our visitors, and some of it* is even older than our participants. Unfortunately, one of the Osborne I machines had one of its floppy drives emitting magic smoke, and they need both. Until then it appeared OK, but we were lacking system and program floppies. The other is rather wonky in general.

      The BBC B needed a new filter cap in its PSU, but it didn't mind it blowing. The mains fuse did, but other than that, no damage.

      * Friden electromechanical typewriters driven by paper-tape. One of them should even be capable of doing mailmerge once we can find the correct cables to connect the auxiliary reader. But on its own it works fine.

  3. David Dingwall

    Launch Alliance

    Someone in El Reg USA needs to have a chat with Boeing et al at the "Launch Alliance", they have a HUGE inventory of ancient kit they need to keep running, it all cannot be done with hardware emulators.

  4. rh587

    "Yes, Pembrokeshire's Crytal Maze was a real thing apparently."

    Yes it was, and I was taken there on a rainy day one August when it first opened! 12 year old me thought it was bloody brilliant.

  5. Paul Crawford Silver badge
    Paris Hilton

    "The WANG that would not die"

    Now that is a film I would pay money to see. Even just to brag about the title!

    Could this be Paris' first zombie flick?

    1. MrT

      Re: "The WANG that would not die"

      Shame Wang's logo wasn't a blue diamond with the "infinity" symbol in it...

      1. Anonymous Coward
        Anonymous Coward

        Re: "The WANG that would not die"

        Wang computers go back to the days of Adam and Eve.

        Eve had an Apple.

        Adam had a Wang.

    2. GrumpyKiwi
      Paris Hilton

      Re: "The WANG that would not die"

      It's still sitting in the old server room as the prospect of a hernia trying to get it into a skip didn't appeal.

      I found some old documents for it the other day relating to the NZ$30,000 spent upgrading the amount of RAM to 32MB.

      1. Shadow Systems

        @GrumpyKiwi, re: Your Wang that won't die...

        You can't lift your own Wang claiming it'll give you a hernia?

        And it's been up for HOW many years?

        You Sir, have an ego the size of a planet...

        *Rofflmao*

        I don't know to be impressed as hell or run screaming in fear!

        =-D

  6. Linker3000

    Acorn System 1

    Just have to mention my Acorn System 1 from 1979; this was Acorn's first commercial computer. I received it about a year ago from someone who had it 'in a box under my desk somewhere'. The unit needed some TLC, but after a few PCB track repairs, a couple of replacement logic chips and some rework on the LED display ribbon cable it's up and working again - although I have to admit that I don't run it 24/7 and the display is not up to email or surfing the 'net.

    You can see a pic of the unit here: http://forum.6502.org/viewtopic.php?f=12&t=3286&start=15

    It's sitting on a pile of parts I have ordered so I can make a replica (when I get round to it!)

    More info here: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Acorn_System_1

    1. DJV Silver badge

      Re: Acorn System 1

      Between 1978 and 1980 I worked for the PCB manufacturing company that supplied the prototype boards for this, though we never got the contract for the production run. I did keep one of the bare 8K memory extension boards with the intention of expanding my CBM PET - a project that never actually happened.

    2. Uncle Slacky Silver badge

      Re: Acorn System 1

      A few (Acorn) Atoms were still in regular use in the University of Kent physics lab as late as 1991 - any more recent alumni know whether they went on any longer than that? They also had a PET 2001 and a PDP-8 in storage, but they were too big to carry away.

      Personally, my oldest PC is a colour Amstrad CPC 6128 from 1986. It hasn't been switched on since about 1993 but I suspect it still works, though it might need a new drive belt.

  7. knarf

    Very Old DEC Alpha

    I worked for an insurance company who had an old big Blue DEC Alpha box, it was so old it didn't even have a compaq badge on it. It running an ancient insurance system that was running for at least 20 years and it survived 4 buyouts and 4 office moves. It was always going to get replaced but never did. It came to the top of the "Risk Register" and something had to be done, but it still had live policies on it and couldn't be scrapped.

    So a backup box was sourced in case the original box died and we could switch. The "new box" turned up and it was dead. I being the oldest was asked to look at it, I calmly walked up and kicked it where it promptly sprang into life and booted with a look of wonder and horror from the support guys (I was a dev). Cue power down, strip and check all the connectors,

    1. Stoneshop

      Re: Very Old DEC Alpha

      I worked for an insurance company who had an old big Blue DEC Alpha box, it was so old it didn't even have a compaq badge on it.

      That's just plain 'old'. Now, a VAX with white on blue lettering would qualify as 'rather old', and a PDP with white on black would be one for the moniker 'very old'.

      We've hauled MicroVAXes out of a cellar and adjacent crawlspace where they had been stored for the past ten years or so, after at least ten years of running production. Plugging in and switching on, most ended up either booting VMS or some flavour of Unix, or at least got as far as the bootprompt.

      1. Down not across

        Re: Very Old DEC Alpha

        That's just plain 'old'. Now, a VAX with white on blue lettering would qualify as 'rather old', and a PDP with white on black would be one for the moniker 'very old'.

        Quite. Hence I didn't even mention my Alphas (AXP), DECstations (MIPS) or VAXstations (KA) (in the original thread.

        Why, yes of course they still run fine Ultrix, OSF/1 and VMS depending on the box.

  8. Efros

    I wonder

    how much of the current tech will get anywhere near the longevity of these fully functioning pensioners.

    1. AegisPrime
      Happy

      Re: I wonder

      I have a SuperMicro X5DAL-TG2 motherboard with dual 3Ghz P4 Xeons that's been in daily use for 13 years now - it's been re-housed in a number of different cases and has had the fans replaced several times but other than that it's still the same machine (including PSU/GPU/RAM/HD) as when I built it.

      It used to be a 3D workstation but now it's a general-purpose office machine running in a friend's business - I'm pretty sure it'll outlive me!

      My current PC's doing pretty well too - it's an Asus P6T Deluxe motherboard with a Nehalem i7 I built 6 years ago - the only part I've changed on it is the GPU (got a better one and still have the old one) - it's actually housed in the Cooler Master Black Widow case I originally bought for the SuperMicro and uses the Western Digital Raptors I bought back in 2003 for the SuperMicro too :)

      1. Down not across

        Re: I wonder

        I have a SuperMicro X5DAL-TG2 motherboard with dual 3Ghz P4 Xeons that's been in daily use for 13 years now - it's been re-housed in a number of different cases and has had the fans replaced several times but other than that it's still the same machine (including PSU/GPU/RAM/HD) as when I built it.

        Sounds bit like one old box I have that is based on Abit BP-6 with 2xCeleron (Mendocino) that is still running (been running 24x7). One of the CPU fans is practically dead and for the last few years it hasn't run much at all but CPU is still hanging in there. It has has couple of case (and one PSU) transplants and few new disks added (still original boot HDD (ST38420A)).

    2. Chris King

      Re: I wonder

      Who are you calling a pensioner ? I just get to deal with all the old stuff no-one else will touch.

      I have said that I should get some new business cards made up - should I be "Systems Executioner" or "The Decommissioner" ?

      1. Efros

        Re: I wonder

        I was referring to the hardware not the operators, god knows I'm probably older!

      2. ExchangeMonkeyboy
        Thumb Up

        Re: I wonder

        "The Decommissioner" - love it!

      3. Down not across

        Re: I wonder

        Who are you calling a pensioner ? I just get to deal with all the old stuff no-one else will touch.

        If its proper old stuff, then I'd say its a blessing. The old stuff (not PCs, but minis and larger) had soul.

      4. allthecoolshortnamesweretaken

        Re: I wonder

        @Chris King: why not something along the lines of "The Chip Whisperer"?

    3. fishman

      Re: I wonder

      My guess is that current tech won't last as long due to the lead free solder that is used now.

      1. Richard 12 Silver badge

        Re: I wonder

        Also the smaller process transistors will die faster. Less dopant migration needed before it turns into an amorphous blob.

        Ignoring outside events like cosmic rays and frustrated users.

        1. allthecoolshortnamesweretaken

          Re: I wonder / outside events

          I wonder, what kind of radiation is emitted by a frusteated user?

          1. phuzz Silver badge
            Boffin

            Re: I wonder / outside events

            "what kind of radiation is emitted by a frustrated user?"

            Users emit "bogons", which cause computers to fail, different people emit different different amounts. You may well have met a user who emits a high level of bogons, causing technology near to them to fail inexplicably.

            Sysadmins absorb bogons, help the machines to work again. The absorbed bogons are re-emitted at a lower energy level as snark.

      2. Down not across

        Re: I wonder

        My guess is that current tech won't last as long due to the lead free solder that is used now.

        Worst invention ever. You might well be right.

        Although if the designs start to take that into account when designing the thermal envelopes there might be a small chance.

    4. elDog

      Re: I wonder

      Another apt question - how many of these ElReg commenting retards will still be computing as long as these crufty hardware bits?

      1. Ken Moorhouse Silver badge

        Re: I wonder

        >Another apt question - how many of these ElReg commenting retards will still be computing as long as these crufty hardware bits?

        Someone is sure to crowd-fund a gesture-controlled zimmer-frame. Just need a pair of bicycle-clips to help control the output.

  9. sisk

    Not too terribly long ago I stumbled across an old 8086 luggable computer (I refuse to call anything with a CRT monitor portable, even if it does fold up into a package small enough to carry) in my dad's garage. Predictably the battery was long dead, but surprisingly once plugged in to the mains it booted from the 5 1/4in floppy that had been left in the drive. It also lacked any internal hard drive, but the boot disk had a copy of Space Wars on it so I spent about 15 minutes reliving my childhood. Sadly my wife would probably use the thing to whack me over the head if I tried to bring it home and I'd be unlikely to survive getting hit with something so heavy, so it went back into the storage loft dad built in his garage and will likely remain there till the day both my parents are in the ground.

  10. Chris Gray 1
    Go

    Amiga 1000

    Surely someone still has an Amiga 1000 that works? Mine, from 1985, worked as of 3 or 4 years ago when all of my old Amiga stuff went into a friend's storage. We probably *could* extract it and try it out, but...

    When I tried it just before we packed it off, the internal floppy was OK, but the external one just made noises. The old NTSC display looked wonky on my LCD TV, but it was there, and the Kickstart and Extras floppies fired up.

    Needless to say, the machine didn't run anywhere near continuously since I got it.

    1. jgarry

      Re: Amiga 1000

      I have an Amiga 1000 that works. I have two pdp-11's, one of which may work if I turn it on (11/23 modded into a 23+ back in the '80s, RSTS/E - one of these days it will be Ready...) and the other would need some fiddling (11/73 rescued on way to dumpster), with CIT-100's and LA-120.

  11. HmmmYes

    Agree with Model M keyboards.

    I've just flipped mine over to check the date - the pen (yes, made in the UK, QA checked by hand, QA recorded in pen) has rubbed off. From memory I think the date was 1990.

    QNX 4 is worth an honorable mention.

    I did some some work for an org (who I cannot mention) for purposes (that I cannot talk about) to sit a various rooms. 486, 2G M flash system, ISA bus cards. 1998-ish.

    Was still running last time I asked a person who I cannot name,

    1. Frumious Bandersnatch

      Agree with Model M keyboards.

      I've been running my Model M system for a comparable length of time. I've changed a few components here and there (like CPU, RAM, disks and external case and screen) but otherwise it's still the same system.

      (and of course, I'm using it to write this)

  12. Jeffrey Nonken

    I might be able to help Alan Sharkey with his floppy problem, but I'll have to check. It's possible I gave all my 5 1/4s away with my TRS-80 model I a decade ago. Could be all I have left are 8" floppies for my IMSAI 8080.

    ...Which isn't currently working so I only get limited bragging rights, or I might have mentioned it previously.

  13. Dr. Ellen
    Pint

    Why, when I was young ...

    I had a blind friend who was using an IBM XT286 to write -- stories, letters, keeping lists. He had it set up with a speaking word processor. He'd learned it, he'd liked it, and he never had much luck with updates. So I maintained that puppy for him until he died in 2012. I think he got it in 1987, so that would be 25 years. Had to replace the clock battery once, and get him a few new printers -- and put in a 3.5" drive so I could get data in and out. (Not that big a job with a 5 meg HD and a 1.44 meg FD.)

    If something does a satisfactory job, keep it going.

    1. TeeCee Gold badge

      Re: Why, when I was young ...

      Wow, that caused a nostalgia moment.

      First actual, honest-to-god "PC" I ever got given as "mine" to work on was an XT 286.

      Provided to me with a shitload of figures, a copy of Freelance, a pen plotter and instructions to put something on foils that the Chairman could use to impress his peers. Colour monitor too, no expense spared when He says "Do it".

      First thing I did on being given this unexpected and extraordinarily expensive[1] present was to wheedle a 5250 card for it so it could replace my terminal and (as a side effect and more importantly) also ensure that no other bugger could take it away......

      [1] As in more than twice the cost of my car at the time.

  14. Dazed and Confused

    I've got

    An HP85 from 1980 which still works fine. I'm told the printers and tape drive can give problems but the rest of it is likely to still be working when the Sun goes nova on us.

    I've also got the Casio 502P I bought in 1978 to do my A-Levels, does that count?

    1. Stoneshop

      Re: I've got

      An HP85 from 1980 which still works fine. I'm told the printers and tape drive can give problems

      They do. The tape drive wheel rubber gets sticky; happens to TU58 tape drives as well.

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  16. MyffyW Silver badge

    30+ years with my clock radio

    I have a Saisho clock radio in what was generic "Old English White" (now a more yellowy shade). Got it for my birthday in 1984, been running pretty much constantly since then.

    It's still running and waking me up every morning.

    1. Arthur the cat Silver badge

      Re: 30+ years with my clock radio

      Ditto, with a cube shaped Sony clock radio from 1984. One knob has been held together by tape for the last decade, apart from that it works fine. I just hope they don't scrap FM for DAB.

    2. allthecoolshortnamesweretaken

      Re: 30+ years with my clock radio

      Clock radios NEVER die, and that's a fact.

      1. PhilBuk

        Re: 30+ years with my clock radio

        Got my LED clock radio for a birthday present when I was 16 - I'm 61 now so 45 years of constant use. Had to clean the contacts on the buttons once but it still soldiers on.

        Praise the lord for lead solder!!

        Phil.

  17. John Klos

    Quality of older hardware

    The quality of Digital hardware is best. I have several VAXstations running 24/7 which have had no problems aside from the occasional dead battery backed clock.

    Sun hardware, though, has been disappointing. Older SPARCstations have died over time, an Ultra 5 had to give its life to make parts for an Ultra 10... The hardware was good, but not great.

    SGI falls in the same category. The old Indy systems look nice, but they've become flakier and flakier and probably need to have their capacitors replaced.

    Old m68k Macs are good, but definitely need recapping. Second generation (PCI) PowerPC Macs are excellent - I have one that has been running non-stop as a full time server for more than a decade.

    Amigas are also pretty hardy, also needing little more than replacement capacitors or a better power supply. My personal Amiga 1200 which is running as a server (http://lilith.ziaspace.com/) celebrated its 20th birthday last year :)

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