this post was submitted on 23 Apr 2024
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[–] Ashyr@sh.itjust.works 53 points 1 year ago (6 children)

Incredible! So the memory chip holding a lot of core programming was damaged or failed, so they figured out which chip it was, but then there was no single place large enough to store this vital code, so they divided it up and distributed it throughout the remaining memory and now it works.

These people are brilliant.

[–] MonkderDritte@feddit.de 6 points 1 year ago* (last edited 1 year ago) (3 children)

But how does plated-wire memory (core memory variant) fail with age and no mechanical damage? Or is it mechanical damage, vibrations?

Edit: or radiation exposure?

[–] Johanno@feddit.de 4 points 1 year ago (1 children)

Radiation damage and electrical components degrade by using them.

[–] MonkderDritte@feddit.de 1 points 1 year ago* (last edited 1 year ago)

Maybe the ferromagnetic layer got brittle?

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