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Using a 1930 Teletype as a Linux Terminal

CuriousMarc

245K subscribers • 10 videos on Hallway

YouTube
  • Recommended by 5 people: 4 on Hacker News and 1 on Lobsters.
  • Presented by CuriousMarc

Intermediate. Assumes working knowledge.

1.6M views6 years ago5 recommendations

History and cultureSystems programmingRetro computingLinuxHistory of computing

CuriousMarc demonstrates how to interface a restored 1930 Model 15 Teletype with a modern Linux system as a terminal.

Commenters requested that we use our restored vintage 1930 Model 15 Teletype as a terminal for Linux. Hooking up a 5-bit mechanical contraption that predates computers by eons to a modern OS, even one that is terminal friendly, is not without some challenges. But hey, they are both clever, lovely, and digital! Should work, right? It had to be tried. [edit] And now you can hear the bell(s)! Actually a whole episode on it: youtu.be/b2QPy-igBLA Teletype Model 19 Restoration Playlist: youtube.com/playlist?list=PL-_93BVApb5-9eQLTCk9xx16RAGEYHH1q My TTY interface box hardware and software details are available on my website at: curiousmarc.com/mechanical/teletype-model-19 Here are the ASCII art files: curiousmarc.com/mechanical/teletype-model-19#h.p_nvMSAvzNbrC… I realized after making the video that the analog interface circuit should be credited to TeleTweety (Eric Volpe), who has all kinds of fantastic teletypes running twitter and other things at his home: youtube.com/user/teletweety He tweets from his teletype (in all caps!) at @teletweety Chapters: Intro 1930 'Model 15' Teletype Overview Making the analog interface Test using the HP 8018A Serial Data Generator Arduino Software Finished interface test Linux hookup 1st Login attempt, no cigar 2nd Login attempt, success! Using the line editor 'ed' on the teletype Printing ASCII Art! Saturn V rocket printout Our sponsor for PCBs: pcbway.com Support the team on Patreon: patreon.com/curiousmarc Buy shirts on Teespring: teespring.com/stores/curiousmarcs-store Learn more on companion site: curiousmarc.com Contact info: youtube.com/curiousmarc/about

Why it's here

5 people recommend this

What people say. Highly recommended as a fascinating demonstration of retrocomputing that helps explain the historical design of command-line interfaces.

vletrmxon Lobsters • Recommends

Using a 1930 Teletype as a Linux Terminal
25View on Lobsters

NateEagon Hacker News • Recommends

On “How Did Vim Become So Popular?”

Perhaps my favorite video on YouTube is this glorious footage of someone hooking a 1930s teletype up to a computer running Linux: link to this video Watching it for the first time is what finally made ed click for me. And yes, I was disappointed that the author clearly didn't understand why ed has the UI it does. It's about the teletype, not the computational cost of having a WYSIWIG UI.
View on Hacker News

NateEagon Hacker News • Recommends

On “Using a Piece of Paper as a Display Terminal – Ed vs. Vim”

I've linked this before, but this video of hooking a 1930s teletype up to a Linux computer is what made ed click for me. link to this video It's one of the best things on the Internet, IMO.
View on Hacker News

sbukon Hacker News • Recommends

On “Ask HN: What are some great posts or articles about history of computing?”

Saw this on YouTube last night; link to this video A facinating video that is part of a series going into the restoration of a 1930 Model 15 Teletype. In this video, they use it as a terminal for Linux.
View on Hacker News

emdashcommaon Hacker News • Recommends

On “The VT-69 portable data terminal”

If you haven't seen it before, you might enjoy this: link to this video (Using a 1930 Teletype as a Linux Terminal).
View on Hacker News

WaffleIronMakeron Hacker News • Recommends

On “Ask HN: YouTube Channels for the Intellectually Curious”

I can second CuriousMarc and Ben Eater for anyone interested in computer engineering. CuriousMarc has an amazing series on the Apollo Guidance Computer, as well as great one-off videos like running a linux terminal on a teletype ( link to this video ). Ben Eater does amazing videos on low level electronics, and has a great series on understanding how a computer really works.
View on Hacker News

Naacon Hacker News • Mentions

On “Using a Piece of Paper as a Display Terminal – Ed vs. Vim”

…he only way of text editing is with a line EDitor, which lets you edit text one command at a time. When trying to use ed on a video terminal, it obviously looks wasteful. But that's because it was designed before video terminals were a thing. Kind of like using a modern day graphics card to play pong. here is a video illustrating using a teletype: link to this video…
View on Hacker News

alexvodaon Hacker News • Mentions

On “Ask HN: Oldest piece of hardware a user could access the internet with?”

Going by the scenario in the first paragraph 1930 might be your answer. Here is a video of a 1930 teletype connected to a linux machine: link to this video
View on Hacker News

NateEagon Hacker News • Mentions

On “Ask HN: Best way to learn about computing history?”

A few recommendations from an avid armchair computer historian: - Dealers of Lightning is a wonderful book covering Xerox PARC's history and contributions. If you don't know what Xerox PARC is, then you should definitely read it. - Where Wizards Stay Up Late is a highly-readable, engaging book covering the history of the Internet's early development. - Soul of a New Machine gives a compelling glimpse into the era when physical machines and unique architectures were more dominant than software in shaping the market. - The Jargon File as maintained by Eric Raymond is not without controversy, but I think it's still fair to say a lot of computing folklore and cultural history is preserved there.…
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lqeton Hacker News • Mentions

On “What happens when you press a key in your terminal?”

> The client sends l and then immediately receives an l sent back. I guess the idea here is that the client is really dumb – it doesn’t know that when I type an l, I want an l to be echoed back to the screen. It has to be told explicitly by the server process to display it. Of course the client may be really dumb! Here is a 1930s teletype used as a Linux terminal: link to this video If you would not do it that way, you would run into all kinds of synchronicity problems. How could you be sure that, after rapidly making 50 keystrokes, every keystroke was received by the other end, in that order?
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flyinghamsteron Hacker News • Mentions

On “The man with a Home Computer (1967) [video]”

It has been done: link to this video The old Teletype in question was a Baudot machine with a 60 mA current loop, rather than ASCII and 20 mA loop for the Model 33.
View on Hacker News