tss@lanl.gov (Timothy S Sullivan) (02/11/90)
I just inherited an HP9000/217 without much in the way of documentation and I need to evaluate its potential usefulness for data acquisition and control. In addition to the system unit there is a 9122 unit with two 3 1/2 in floppy drives in the front, and a HP35721A monitor. I connected all this up in what looked like the obvious way (the only not-totally- obvious connection was using HP-IB to connect the sytem unit to the 9122). Powered everything up and was rewarded with: 9817A 2420A01969 Copyright 1984, Hewlett Packard Company All Rights Reserved Bootrom 4.0 MC68010 Processor Keyboard Graphics HP-IB HP98626 at 9 524128 Bytes So a lot of this information seems obvious, it has a 68010 CPU and 524kB of RAM, the keyboard is connected and it found the graphics controller and the HP-IB controller. It then hung looking for a system. Now the questions: 1) Is it safe to conclude that this machine does not have a hard disk since it couldn't find the system? 2) What (besides two 3 1/2 inch floppies) is in a 9122? Will the 3 1/2 inch floppies use industry standard floppy disks? If so, what flavor? 3) What is an HP98626 mentioned as being at 9? 4) The video output is labelled as "composite video". Is this really NTSC video? 5) What operating systems will this machine run and is there a C compiler for it?
rjn@hpfcso.HP.COM (Bob Niland) (02/12/90)
re: > I just inherited an HP9000/217... RAM, I/O and other accesory cards are still available. > 1) Is it safe to conclude that this machine does not have a hard disk > since it couldn't find the system? It does not (as a built-in). The 217 used external HP-IB hard drives such as the 9133-series and 9153-series. The 10/20/40 Mbyte 9153C is still available, although not formally supported on the 217. > 2) What (besides two 3 1/2 inch floppies) is in a 9122? Will the > 3 1/2 inch floppies use industry standard floppy disks? If so, > what flavor? Presumably you have a 9122D. Depending on the vintage, it may support IBM 720K format. It definitely supports all the HP 256-, 512- and 1024-byte sector, single- and double-sided formats. File system support depends on the operating system. > 3) What is an HP98626 mentioned as being at 9? The built-in RS-232C interface (the 50-pin connector), which is clone of the separately 98626A plug-in serial interface card. > 4) The video output is labelled as "composite video". Is this > really NTSC video? I don't think so. > 5) What operating systems will this machine run and is there a > C compiler for it? It will run the latest versions of HP's stand-alone BASIC (5.13) or Pascal (3.2). Both are available on 3.5" floppy, can execute floppy-based, and you have enough memory for them. There once was HP-UX, but the last Series 200 version was 5.17 and it is no longer available. (Series 300 is at 7.0 and has required a 68020 or better since 6.5.) I used to own a 217, and swapped it for a 310 (now a 332) during the 1985 trade-in promotion. If I were in your position, I would contact a used equipment broker who specializes in HP gear. Your 217 may be worth more to an existing customer in need of a spare/replacement unit than to you. Regards, Hewlett-Packard Bob Niland 3404 East Harmony Road rjn%hpfcrjn@hplabs.HP.COM Fort Collins UUCP: [hplabs|hpu*!hpfcse]!hpfcla!rjn CO 80525-9599
steve-t@hpfcso.HP.COM (Steve Taylor) (02/12/90)
/comp.sys.hp/tss@lanl.gov (Timothy S Sullivan)/6:06pm Feb 10,1990/ } ... HP9000/217 ... potential usefulness for data acquisition and control The Series 200 machines were designed to be used for DAC using the HP BASIC Language System (which is supposed to mean "combined Language and Operating System"). They also support the Pascal Language System, and this one also supported an earlier version of HP-UX. I don't believe HP still offers any of the HP-UX versions which ran on the old Series 200 machines, but the current versions of both HP BASIC/WS and HP Pascal/WS should work. } ... 9122 with two 3 1/2 in floppy drives ... HP35721A monitor. } 9817A 2420A01969 ^^^^^^^^^^ this is the serial number of your unit. } HP98626 at 9 } Now the questions: } 1) Is it safe to conclude that this machine does not have a hard disk } since it couldn't find the system? None of the pieces of equipment you have listed would include a hard disk. It would be a separate component. The system would normally be booted from a floppy in this configuration. Neither HP BASIC nor HP Pascal requires a hard disk to be useful. } 2) What (besides two 3 1/2 inch floppies) is in a 9122? Will the } 3 1/2 inch floppies use industry standard floppy disks? If so, what flavor? Nothing. Yes. Either single sided (format to 270Kbytes) or double sided (format to 640-720Kbytes, depending on format command option selected). To use the newer 1.4Mbyte floppies, you would need a 9122C. } 3) What is an HP98626 mentioned as being at 9? That is the RS-232 port on the back of the machine. It's built-in, but is equivalent to the HP 98626 DIO card, and the Boot ROM identifies it as such. Nine is the select code of the port. } 4) The video output is labelled as "composite video". Is this } really NTSC video? No. The 35721A is a monochome display, and I would expect that the 217 has an HP98204B (or equivalent) display card. If so, it has 512x390 graphics pixels, 80x24 alpha (from a character rom), and the sync signal is part of the video output. } 5) What operating systems will this machine run and is there a } C compiler for it? HP BASIC 4.0 or later (maybe 3.0 - don't remember for sure), HP Pascal (not sure of rev. numbers here), early HP-UX (don't know rev. number) -- NOT supported by current HP-UX. I'm not aware of any commercially available C compiler for the HP BASIC or HP Pascal workstations. } ---------- Regards, Steve Taylor NOT A STATEMENT, OFFICIAL OR OTHERWISE, OF THE HEWLETT-PACKARD COMPANY.
steve-t@hpfcso.HP.COM (Steve Taylor) (02/12/90)
/comp.sys.hp/rjn@hpfcso.HP.COM (Bob Niland)/11:34am Feb 11,1990/ } re: > I just inherited an HP9000/217... } RAM, I/O and other accesory cards are still available. } > 5) What operating systems will this machine run } It will run the latest versions of HP's stand-alone BASIC (5.13) or Pascal } (3.2). Both are available on 3.5" floppy, can execute floppy-based, and you } have enough memory for them. ---------- Technically, it is correct that you can run BASIC 5.13 in .5M of RAM. However, you will need to decide which language features to do without. A full version of BASIC 5.13, less the drivers for hardware you don't have, will come to about 600K. The HFS file system isn't recommended on floppies, that will save another 65K. After that it's your choice what to leave out. Regards, Steve Taylor NOT A STATEMENT, OFFICIAL OR OTHERWISE, OF THE HEWLETT-PACKARD COMPANY.