Recovered Unix v4 tape quickly yields a usable operating system — nostalgia addicts can now boot up Unix v4 in a browser window

Unix v4 tape recovery
(Image credit: University of Utah)

Computer archaeology lovers among the audience are in for a rare treat in these challenging times. Remember that Unix v4 tape that was found and recovered at University of Utah around last week? You can play it in a browser emulator right now, thanks to the wonders of modern browsers and the work of Mitch Riedstra.

The emulator's page actually runs a Linux emulator first, which then you can use to call up the SimH project's PDP-11 emulator, passing it a boot.ini file containing bootstrap instructions. After booting into Unix v4 proper, you'll be greeted with a familiar prompt so you can log in as the "root" user.

Google Preferred Source

Follow 3DTested on Google News, or add us as a preferred source, to get our latest news, analysis, & reviews in your feeds.

Bruno Ferreira
Contributor
  • Lone Solipsist
    The author made it sound as if ed as the only editor installed is a bad thing.:)
    I cut my *nix teeth using ed. Yes, I am old.:)
    Reply