I first heard this expression long before the PC came to be. It is said to be part of the IBM legacy. Here is one reference:
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Halt and Catch Fire, KNOWN by the assembly mnemonic HCF, is an idiom referring to a computer machine code instruction that causes the computer's central processing unit (CPU) to cease meaningful operation, typically requiring a restart of the computer. It originally referred to a fictitious instruction in IBM System/360 computers, but later computer developers who saw the joke created real versions of this instruction for some machines. In the case of real instructions the implication of this expression is that, whereas in most cases in which a CPU executes an unintended instruction (a bug in the code) the computer may still be able to recover, but in the case of an HCF instruction there is, by definition, no way for the system to recover without a restart.

Ghosts in the machine“Halt and Catch Fire” makes the world of 1980s computing compulsive viewing...
Much like “Steve Jobs” and “The Social Network”, the series contains plenty of flawed innovators for audiences to consider...
“Halt and Catch Fire” paints a realistic picture of flawed characters and shows us, too, that the innovators are not always rewarded with fame and Hollywood biopics. In the fast-paced tech landscape, the creation can BECOME quickly defunct and its creator left in the shadows.