Alternative Operating Systems

Get some fine gauge wire, like wirewrap wire, and solder one to the pad for C97 that has a via about 7 mm away.  Solder another wire to the trace from pin 35 on the CPU (you'll need to scrape the solder mask off the trace).  Then connect the other ends of those wires to a 1.8V to TTL level shifter IC which you'll connect to an RS-232 driver like the MAX232 or maybe just use one of those logic to USB serial converter boards.  Then you can fiddle with the baud rates and, if you catch it at the right time, you can't interrupt the boot sequence via the serial terminal./making shiat up.

More info than you'll know what to do with...

A look at an innovative computer industry pioneer, whose achievements have been largely forgottenTom R. Halfhill / Byte magazine August 1994Obituaries customarily focus on the deceased's accomplishments, not the unpleasant details of the demise. That's especially true when the demise hints strongly of self-neglect tantamount to suicide, and nobody can find a note that offers some final explanation. There will be no such note from Commodore, and it would take a book to explain why this once-great computer company lies cold on its deathbed. But Commodore deserves a eulogy, because its role as an industry pioneer has been largely forgotten or ignored by revisionist historians who claim that everything started with Apple or IBM. Commodore's passing also recalls an era when conformity to standards wasn't the yardstick by which all innovation was measured. In the 1970s and early 1980s, when Commodore peaked as a billion-dollar company, the young computer industry wasn't dominated by standards that dictated design parameters. Engineers had much more latitude to explore new directions. Users tended to be hobbyists who prized the latest technology over backward compatibility. As a result, the market tolerated a wild proliferation of computers based on many different processors, architectures, and operating systems. Commodore was at the forefront of this revolution. In 1977, the first three consumer-ready personal computers appeared: the Apple II, the Tandy TRS-80, and the Commodore PET (Personal Electronic Transactor). Chuck Peddle, who designed the PET, isn't as famous as Steve Wozniak and Steve Jobs, the founders of Apple. But ...