Talk:Halt and Catch Fire (computing)

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Anon./Unknown (1967). [Abbreviation appearance, article title unknown], Datamation (magazine), p. 116, 120, New York, NY, USA: Technical Publishing Company. This source mentions HCF, see [1].
Anon./Unknown (1968). [Abbreviation appearance, article title unknown], Modern Data Systems (journal), p. 136, Framingham, MA, USA: Delta Publications. This source mentions HCF, see [2].
Belzer, Boris (1971). The Architecture and Engineering of Digital Computer Complexes, Vol. 1, p. 85, New York, NY, USA: Plenum Publishers, OCLC 209102. This source mentions HCF and other commands, providing a further hidden citation, see [3].
Banks, Walter (2000). "Mailing list entry". Retrieved 2014-06-08.

Z80 halt

I'm not really sure why the Zilog Z80 is mentioned here at all. As on the Intel 8080, what would be otherwise be a MOV M,M instruction is encoded as a HALT; the CPU stops until it gets interrupted. If, however, the program has disabled interrupts, obviously the CPU is going to stay halted -- unless it is sent a non-maskable interrupt, which both the 8080 and the Z80 provide. So in neither case does DI followed by HALT cause anything unusual; certainly not catching fire. --jpgordon^{𝄢𝄆𝄐𝄇} 04:28, 20 March 2022 (UTC)[reply]

NS32032

I worked for Sequent Computer systems in the 1980s and early 1990s. At one point we found a HCF problem with the CPU we were using. I believe it was when we were using the National Semiconductor 32032, though my memory is a bit hazy. I specialized in our processor boards (where the CPU resided) and I am not mistaken that we had the HCF problem. It was quite dramatic and involved a lot of work. But we used different CPUs at different times and I just don't remember the details. Naturally, I cannot add this to the article, but I wanted to mention it here in case it matters to someone else.

Incidentally, I came across this acronym in a technology quiz. I hadn't thought about it for decades, but it was one that every computer tech knew back in the 1980s. :-) FatBear1 (talk) 15:34, 2 November 2025 (UTC)[reply]