12 Mar
2005
12 Mar
'05
1:39 p.m.
At 07:42 PM 3/12/05 +0100, you wrote:
So i got my newest toy, a HP Integral running. Problem
turned out to be
cold solder joint at the Powerok signal. Strangely enough the current
carrying pins nearby were OK.
Thanks to Tony and Joe for the pointers...
A mechanical problem with the floppy will be sorted later.
IIRC the floppy drives in the IPC are subject to the usual HP >>DS<<
floppy disk problem. The grease on the mechanism dries out and the
mechanism doesn't open all the way and when the user tries to insert or
remove a disk it tears the top head off of the drive. Examine it closely to
be sure that the mechanism opens COMPLETELY before using it. Or better yet,
go ahead and remove the drive then clean off the old grease and relube it
with a GOOD quality grease that won't harden (I use gun grease).
First impressions : this thing badly needs a harddisk....
Second : if this is HPUX 5.0, what must HPUX 1.0 have been....
HP-UX 1.o and HPUX 5.0 are virtually the same thing. HP renumbered it for
some reason but everything seems to be the same. I checked at one time and
I couldn't find any differences.
Of course i do no have software and manuals.
Most of that is online now. Let me know if you have trouble finding it
and I'll dig up the URL again.
Am i wrong to believe that
the system is only really usable with a harddisk,
Not if you have the Software Engineering ROM :-) It gives you the
complete HP-UX System 5 in ROM. Seriously, the IPC was sold as a
replacement >> FOR THE HP-85! << You're supposed to write application
programs and run them from the floppy disk.
or am i overlooking
something ?
Like any computer, it really benefits from a decent sized fixed disk
drive. The good news is that every CS-80 drive (virtually all of the HP
HP-IB hard drives) seem to work on the IPC even if HP doesn't list it as
being applicable. I'm using a HP 7958 (~160Mb IIRC) and it works perfectly.
The other side benefit is that with most HP hard drives you also get a
floppy drive so that gives you a 2nd floppy on the system. I think I have
every piece of software that HP ever released for the IPC (Yes, I'm
serious) and I've installed all of them on the 7958 and they take up only a
SMALL portion of the drive.
I have two IPCs in my bedroom along with the HP 7958 and you're making
me want to go fire them up and do something :-)
BTW I use a HP 2671 Thermal printer on my IPC and it seems to work fine.
The Thinkjet is ok but it leaks and/or dries up (Usually both!) if you
don't use it regularly. The 2671 is cheap, quiet and can sit unused for
long periods and will work with no tinkering. There's one for sale on
E-bay (
<http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&category=1504&item=3880091226
&rd=1&ssPageName=WDVW> ) but his starting price is about 3 times higher
than what they usually SELL for.
Joe
Jos