IBM System/360 Front Panel

I recently acquired this front panel from an IBM 360 mod 50, with lots of switches and over 250 blinkenlights. The IBM System/360 was an iconic mainframe computer introduced in 1964 (see promotional video here:    • Computer History: IBM System/360 Main...  ). The system was a huge development gamble for IBM, with all the "models" from small to huge sharing mostly the same overall architecture and instruction set, but with radically different hardware implementations depending on the cost and performance point. A key novelty was the introduction of "SLT" ceramic hybrid modules, pre-dating the integrated circuit, but with denser packaging than individual transistors. This front panel is from a model 50 (in IBM speak a "mod 50"), a larger business system. And yes, I'll take you through most of the buttons. Take this with a grain of salt, this is very complicated and I am new at it. Understanding the meaning of every one of the 1,152 bits that the lights and rollers can display will take some serious further study. I am sure the IBM CEs (Customer Engineers) that spent their careers on these panels will chime in the comments section and correct all my mistakes.

Try Ken Shirriff's emulation of a running 360 driving this panel:
https://static.righto.com/360/

Ken Shirriff's article about the 360:
https://www.righto.com/2022/01/ibm360...

Chapters
00:00 Panel unboxing
00:53 First look, front side
02:28 First look, back side
04:17 Repairs
06:52 Every part of the panel explained!
07:43 Power panel
09:00 Memory panel
09:49 Emergency pull
10:11 Auxilaliary memory power panel
11:05 Channel test panel
11:34 Main indicator panel
12:47 Data and address entry panel
14:21 Error lights panel
15:41 Debug / program flow control switches
17:51 Time counters
18:22 Manual operation and debug panel
20:50 FLT control (firmware test routines) panel
21:51 Start/boot (IPL) panel
23:02 Overall view, flipping rollers, future work

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