But, more likely, it's just a play on a reason a Stargate (when unaided by some hostile energy source or time dilation field) just shuts off after 38 minutes with no explanation.
However in Stargate the actual 38 minutes thing isn't a computer limitation it is a physical one. In the original show (i.e. SG1) Carter said it is "impossible" due to physics for it to stay open longer, and they also established that with enough raw power (e.g. blackhole, ancient device, etc) it could be kept open longer or near indefinitely, it just wasn't possible with the normal power the Stargate needs to operate.
Keep in mind they did exceed 38 minutes many times with different explanations each time[0] none of which were computer related. It is also worth noting that earth in the show built their own DHD which presumably would have different computer limitations than the ancient built DHD (and as they established when all DHDs in the universe died except theirs due to the malware).
The basic conceit in writing this story is that when you only have access to an area of physics through poorly understood reverse engineered xenotech, a lot of arbitrary constraints imposed by the tech start to look like physical laws.
> In the original show (i.e. SG1) Carter said it is "impossible" due to physics for it to stay open longer
In a show like Stargate, "impossible" is really just another way of saying "It would require overcoming a series of increasingly unlikely and insurmountable problems for that to be possible." Which, of course, they then use for a plot device in later (or the same!) episodes as they blow past those increasingly unlikely and insurmountable problems. :)
> Carter said it is "impossible" due to physics for it to stay open longer
At the beginning of the story it's implied that things like that are why Carter would be upset. Because the physics they had thought they had learned from the stargate hardware turned out to be software limitations instead. It's not like humans are ever capable of creating a wormhole to test for themselves.
> It is also worth noting that earth in the show built their own DHD which presumably would have different computer limitations than the ancient built DHD
The gate itself has control crystals as you can dial out without a DHD if you just give it power and some elbow grease. The 38 minute cutoff is probably in that code.
They must have run out of code space in the gate and had to offload some of the code to the DHD. :D The correlative update routine for the coordinate system is in the DHD for example so the earth gate could originally only dial Abydos until they added that to their homebrew DHD.
Someone1234|10 years ago
However in Stargate the actual 38 minutes thing isn't a computer limitation it is a physical one. In the original show (i.e. SG1) Carter said it is "impossible" due to physics for it to stay open longer, and they also established that with enough raw power (e.g. blackhole, ancient device, etc) it could be kept open longer or near indefinitely, it just wasn't possible with the normal power the Stargate needs to operate.
Keep in mind they did exceed 38 minutes many times with different explanations each time[0] none of which were computer related. It is also worth noting that earth in the show built their own DHD which presumably would have different computer limitations than the ancient built DHD (and as they established when all DHDs in the universe died except theirs due to the malware).
[0] http://stargate.wikia.com/wiki/Stargate#Exceptions
DRMacIver|10 years ago
kbenson|10 years ago
In a show like Stargate, "impossible" is really just another way of saying "It would require overcoming a series of increasingly unlikely and insurmountable problems for that to be possible." Which, of course, they then use for a plot device in later (or the same!) episodes as they blow past those increasingly unlikely and insurmountable problems. :)
SolarNet|10 years ago
At the beginning of the story it's implied that things like that are why Carter would be upset. Because the physics they had thought they had learned from the stargate hardware turned out to be software limitations instead. It's not like humans are ever capable of creating a wormhole to test for themselves.
seiji|10 years ago
Assumes facts not in evidence. That could easily be a firmware (on-gate) vs. software (DHD) argument.
Carter said it is "impossible" due to physics
Potentially unreliable narrator.
also established that with enough raw power (e.g. blackhole, ancient device, etc) it could be kept open longer
Yup, cited above.
built their own DHD which presumably would have different computer limitations
firmware vs. software
when all DHDs in the universe died except theirs due to the malware
you're not doing devops unless you have one button that can destroy your entire infrastructure
Avernar|10 years ago
The gate itself has control crystals as you can dial out without a DHD if you just give it power and some elbow grease. The 38 minute cutoff is probably in that code.
They must have run out of code space in the gate and had to offload some of the code to the DHD. :D The correlative update routine for the coordinate system is in the DHD for example so the earth gate could originally only dial Abydos until they added that to their homebrew DHD.
unknown|10 years ago
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