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Chat | Games | About Back to HN RAM: the forgotten history (2024)by Luc | 116 points | 6 comments | 2026-09-22 10:12:17 Central Open Source Link | Read Source Here Open on Hacker News Commentsmyself248
An unsung benefit of core memory's non-volatility is that,
decades later, forgotten core stacks discovered in storage
might still retain whatever data they held when they were
powered off.You just only get one chance to read it.I'm
not aware of any good writeups of such discoveries,
though.
| > mkj
Could you read it with a flatbed scanner or other
photography? That should be unobtrusive.
| > ganzsz
This is also true for spinning rust, e.g., magnetic
drum memory.
| > > kjs3
Sometimes. Coatings on drums and platters are
subject to flaking off and other deterioration,
particularly if they weren't stored in completely
perfect conditions. Tiny bits of coating cause
head crashes which destroy much bigger parts of
the surface. Also, over time, the backer for the
rust can deform, which also leads to head crashes.
Core memories are fragile in their own way (tiny,
brittle wires...), but my gut is they're a bit
more resilient that iron oxide coating.
| > > > jandrese
Usagi Electric managed to recover the code
from a 1960s era
LGP-21.https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IBjh0Sa
A5dchttps://www.youtube.com/watch?v=39SwIl3wQD
wThe coating wasn't a problem, it was a couple
of the heads that sort of failed.
| > > > > kjs3
Yeah, I saw that via another forum. You
should check out his G-15 restore; it's
epic. That LGP-21 looks almost pristine,
and based on the back story, they guy who
originally had it sounds like the kind of
guy who knows how to store vintage kit.
That thing didn't come out of a barn
someplace, so not surprising the coatings
survived. :-)
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