Why could you hear an Amstrad CPC working? The 2019 Stack Overflow Developer Survey Results...
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Why could you hear an Amstrad CPC working?
The 2019 Stack Overflow Developer Survey Results Are InIs it possible to use an Amstrad CPC464 with a modern monitor or TVMemory sharing mechanism in the Amstrad CPC computerWhy CPC464 display is less stable while reading from cassette?Amstrad CPC 464 tape deck loads, but makes grinding scratching noisecbm prg studio for the AmstradCommon practices of programming the AY-3-8910 on Amstrad CPC: via Firmware routines or directly?
I had my first programming experience in the late 80s / early 90s on a Schneider (Amstrad) CPC 464 in Basic.
I remember that when a program was running, depending on the current workload of the processor you could hear a faint buzzing sound from the integrated speakers.
Especially when an empty for loop was running (like for i = 1 to 500 : next) which was regularly used to get short waiting times (as there was no sleep command IIRC), you could hear this buzzing which gradually changed its frequency during the loop.
My question is: Was this a feature (as an audible feedback that the computer was working) or a consequence from insufficient decoupling of circuits?
cpc464
asked 5 hours ago
elzellelzell
1162
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I had my first programming experience in the late 80s / early 90s on a Schneider (Amstrad) CPC 464 in Basic.
I remember that when a program was running, depending on the current workload of the processor you could hear a faint buzzing sound from the integrated speakers.
Especially when an empty for loop was running (like for i = 1 to 500 : next) which was regularly used to get short waiting times (as there was no sleep command IIRC), you could hear this buzzing which gradually changed its frequency during the loop.
My question is: Was this a feature (as an audible feedback that the computer was working) or a consequence from insufficient decoupling of circuits?
cpc464
asked 5 hours ago
elzellelzell
1162
New contributor
elzell is a new contributor to this site. Take care in asking for clarification, commenting, and answering.
Check out our Code of Conduct.
add a comment |
I had my first programming experience in the late 80s / early 90s on a Schneider (Amstrad) CPC 464 in Basic.
I remember that when a program was running, depending on the current workload of the processor you could hear a faint buzzing sound from the integrated speakers.
Especially when an empty for loop was running (like for i = 1 to 500 : next) which was regularly used to get short waiting times (as there was no sleep command IIRC), you could hear this buzzing which gradually changed its frequency during the loop.
My question is: Was this a feature (as an audible feedback that the computer was working) or a consequence from insufficient decoupling of circuits?
cpc464
asked 5 hours ago
elzellelzell
1162
New contributor
elzell is a new contributor to this site. Take care in asking for clarification, commenting, and answering.
Check out our Code of Conduct.
I had my first programming experience in the late 80s / early 90s on a Schneider (Amstrad) CPC 464 in Basic.
I remember that when a program was running, depending on the current workload of the processor you could hear a faint buzzing sound from the integrated speakers.
Especially when an empty for loop was running (like for i = 1 to 500 : next) which was regularly used to get short waiting times (as there was no sleep command IIRC), you could hear this buzzing which gradually changed its frequency during the loop.
My question is: Was this a feature (as an audible feedback that the computer was working) or a consequence from insufficient decoupling of circuits?
cpc464
cpc464
asked 5 hours ago
elzellelzell
1162
New contributor
elzell is a new contributor to this site. Take care in asking for clarification, commenting, and answering.
Check out our Code of Conduct.
asked 5 hours ago
elzellelzell
1162
New contributor
elzell is a new contributor to this site. Take care in asking for clarification, commenting, and answering.
Check out our Code of Conduct.
asked 5 hours ago
elzellelzell
1162
New contributor
elzell is a new contributor to this site. Take care in asking for clarification, commenting, and answering.
Check out our Code of Conduct.
asked 5 hours ago
elzellelzell
1162
asked 5 hours ago
elzellelzell
1162
1162
New contributor
elzell is a new contributor to this site. Take care in asking for clarification, commenting, and answering.
Check out our Code of Conduct.
New contributor
elzell is a new contributor to this site. Take care in asking for clarification, commenting, and answering.
Check out our Code of Conduct.
elzell is a new contributor to this site. Take care in asking for clarification, commenting, and answering.
Check out our Code of Conduct.
add a comment |
add a comment |
1 Answer
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There seems to be a slight misunderstanding: The CPU in a computer is (almost) never doing nothing (excluding power save states which was largely unknown at times the Amstrad was en vogue). So there's no such thing as "workload of a processor" going up or down - The CPU in an Amstrad is constantly running at 4 MHz, constantly under the same workload. If there's nothing do do, like executing a BASIC program), the CPU is, well, busy idling around at the same speed with the same "workload".
What you possibly can hear, however, is the CPU repeatedly doing the same thing, like operating in tight loops that can, through electrical or mechanical interference (with the monitor or audio signal, for example), create audible frequencies that you may hear. That was definitely not an intended feature.
Operators of mainframes sometimes could hear whether their machines were running properly (or had crashed) by listening to the interference noise they produced, sometimes even tried to amplify the noise. (See this book, page 161ff)
You were experiencing some similar effect.
Today, the sound of historic computers operating can even be marketed as art.
answered 3 hours ago
tofrotofro
16.6k33493
...or, by placing a cheap AM radio near the CPU. I knew a guy in college who programmed his Altair 8800 to play recognizable tunes through a nearby AM radio. Computers back in the day did not exactly comply with FCC regulations.
– Solomon Slow
1 hour ago
add a comment |
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1 Answer
1
active
oldest
votes
1 Answer
1
active
oldest
votes
active
oldest
votes
active
oldest
votes
There seems to be a slight misunderstanding: The CPU in a computer is (almost) never doing nothing (excluding power save states which was largely unknown at times the Amstrad was en vogue). So there's no such thing as "workload of a processor" going up or down - The CPU in an Amstrad is constantly running at 4 MHz, constantly under the same workload. If there's nothing do do, like executing a BASIC program), the CPU is, well, busy idling around at the same speed with the same "workload".
What you possibly can hear, however, is the CPU repeatedly doing the same thing, like operating in tight loops that can, through electrical or mechanical interference (with the monitor or audio signal, for example), create audible frequencies that you may hear. That was definitely not an intended feature.
Operators of mainframes sometimes could hear whether their machines were running properly (or had crashed) by listening to the interference noise they produced, sometimes even tried to amplify the noise. (See this book, page 161ff)
You were experiencing some similar effect.
Today, the sound of historic computers operating can even be marketed as art.
answered 3 hours ago
tofrotofro
16.6k33493
...or, by placing a cheap AM radio near the CPU. I knew a guy in college who programmed his Altair 8800 to play recognizable tunes through a nearby AM radio. Computers back in the day did not exactly comply with FCC regulations.
– Solomon Slow
1 hour ago
add a comment |
There seems to be a slight misunderstanding: The CPU in a computer is (almost) never doing nothing (excluding power save states which was largely unknown at times the Amstrad was en vogue). So there's no such thing as "workload of a processor" going up or down - The CPU in an Amstrad is constantly running at 4 MHz, constantly under the same workload. If there's nothing do do, like executing a BASIC program), the CPU is, well, busy idling around at the same speed with the same "workload".
What you possibly can hear, however, is the CPU repeatedly doing the same thing, like operating in tight loops that can, through electrical or mechanical interference (with the monitor or audio signal, for example), create audible frequencies that you may hear. That was definitely not an intended feature.
Operators of mainframes sometimes could hear whether their machines were running properly (or had crashed) by listening to the interference noise they produced, sometimes even tried to amplify the noise. (See this book, page 161ff)
You were experiencing some similar effect.
Today, the sound of historic computers operating can even be marketed as art.
answered 3 hours ago
tofrotofro
16.6k33493
...or, by placing a cheap AM radio near the CPU. I knew a guy in college who programmed his Altair 8800 to play recognizable tunes through a nearby AM radio. Computers back in the day did not exactly comply with FCC regulations.
– Solomon Slow
1 hour ago
add a comment |
There seems to be a slight misunderstanding: The CPU in a computer is (almost) never doing nothing (excluding power save states which was largely unknown at times the Amstrad was en vogue). So there's no such thing as "workload of a processor" going up or down - The CPU in an Amstrad is constantly running at 4 MHz, constantly under the same workload. If there's nothing do do, like executing a BASIC program), the CPU is, well, busy idling around at the same speed with the same "workload".
What you possibly can hear, however, is the CPU repeatedly doing the same thing, like operating in tight loops that can, through electrical or mechanical interference (with the monitor or audio signal, for example), create audible frequencies that you may hear. That was definitely not an intended feature.
Operators of mainframes sometimes could hear whether their machines were running properly (or had crashed) by listening to the interference noise they produced, sometimes even tried to amplify the noise. (See this book, page 161ff)
You were experiencing some similar effect.
Today, the sound of historic computers operating can even be marketed as art.
answered 3 hours ago
tofrotofro
16.6k33493
There seems to be a slight misunderstanding: The CPU in a computer is (almost) never doing nothing (excluding power save states which was largely unknown at times the Amstrad was en vogue). So there's no such thing as "workload of a processor" going up or down - The CPU in an Amstrad is constantly running at 4 MHz, constantly under the same workload. If there's nothing do do, like executing a BASIC program), the CPU is, well, busy idling around at the same speed with the same "workload".
What you possibly can hear, however, is the CPU repeatedly doing the same thing, like operating in tight loops that can, through electrical or mechanical interference (with the monitor or audio signal, for example), create audible frequencies that you may hear. That was definitely not an intended feature.
Operators of mainframes sometimes could hear whether their machines were running properly (or had crashed) by listening to the interference noise they produced, sometimes even tried to amplify the noise. (See this book, page 161ff)
You were experiencing some similar effect.
Today, the sound of historic computers operating can even be marketed as art.
answered 3 hours ago
tofrotofro
16.6k33493
edited 3 hours ago
answered 3 hours ago
tofrotofro
16.6k33493
answered 3 hours ago
tofrotofro
16.6k33493
answered 3 hours ago
tofrotofro
16.6k33493
16.6k33493
...or, by placing a cheap AM radio near the CPU. I knew a guy in college who programmed his Altair 8800 to play recognizable tunes through a nearby AM radio. Computers back in the day did not exactly comply with FCC regulations.
– Solomon Slow
1 hour ago
add a comment |
...or, by placing a cheap AM radio near the CPU. I knew a guy in college who programmed his Altair 8800 to play recognizable tunes through a nearby AM radio. Computers back in the day did not exactly comply with FCC regulations.
– Solomon Slow
1 hour ago
...or, by placing a cheap AM radio near the CPU. I knew a guy in college who programmed his Altair 8800 to play recognizable tunes through a nearby AM radio. Computers back in the day did not exactly comply with FCC regulations.
– Solomon Slow
1 hour ago
...or, by placing a cheap AM radio near the CPU. I knew a guy in college who programmed his Altair 8800 to play recognizable tunes through a nearby AM radio. Computers back in the day did not exactly comply with FCC regulations.
– Solomon Slow
1 hour ago
add a comment |
elzell is a new contributor. Be nice, and check out our Code of Conduct.
elzell is a new contributor. Be nice, and check out our Code of Conduct.
elzell is a new contributor. Be nice, and check out our Code of Conduct.
elzell is a new contributor. Be nice, and check out our Code of Conduct.
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