IBM 5100 Horizontal Side Scroller Hardware Demonstration (homage to PALM and IBN 5100 Steins;Gate)

To celebrate the 50th anniversary of the IBM 5100, we developed this capability demonstration of a demoscene-type side scroller for the PALM processor. Typically, only IBM CE/FE specialist were aware of the built in DCP (diagnostic control program) that allows direct setting of main memory (commonly called a "system monitor"). However, the PALM instruction set is described in the original IBM 5100 MIM documentation (Appendix C). In addition, after researching the IBM SCAMP prototype project that led to the IBM 5100, we found a 1972 document that fully describes the PALM instruction set - making this a contemporary processor with the Intel 4004/8008, but built using IBM's proprietary SLT (solid logic technology) fabrication (or "Dutchess" modules).

In general, the IBM 5100 is the closet one can get to the 1960s technology that ran the IBM S/360 and S/3 systems. But it has all the attributes that we are familiar with today in a personal/portable computer: boot up system software, keyboard input, video display, and a byte addressable memory space.

The IBM 5100 is also associated with the famous John Titor time travel story of c. 2001, which is later depicted in the Steins;Gate anime series c. 2011.

This is also a demonstration of the "daisy chain" multi-monitor output capability of the IBM 5100, using the BNC composite output video output jack on the back side of the system.

A deeper look of the PALM assembly code used for this software will be prepared after the June VCF Dallas 2025 event.