On 9/11/2013 7:51 PM, Josh Dersch wrote:
So I took a chance on an eBay auction for a really
beat up HP 9830A
desktop (and spent more than I probably should have, alas),and it
arrived on my doorstep this evening.
This machine has taken a beating and has clearly been salvaged from;
I'm missing the main CPU and RAM boards, andseveral keyswitches are
broken off (and long gone.)
So first:
- It's a long shot but does anyone out there have any spares for this
machine? (CPU and RAM, but also plastic parts like the plastic
keyboard plate which have been utterly destroyed would be nice...)
- The keys look kind of similar to the ones on my 9825 -- anyone know
if they use the same keyswitches before I dig mine outof storage and
take the time to open it up to see? (Just looking for possible option
for sourcing keys, finding a parts-only 9825 keyboard is likely to be
much easier than finding a spare 9830...).
Second:
It looks like this thing has beenupgraded with an Infotek Systems
RX-30, and an MP-30 + FP-30 boardset (so perhaps I'm not missing the
CPU after all?)But I'm unsure that it's complete -- in particular it
looks like I'm missing the larger of the two boards here: , while I
have both of the MP-30 boards. I'm guessing the missing board is pure
unobtanium at this point... however, as is clear in the photo it's
labeled as "BASIC ROM II" and only contains what look like a few mask
ROMs. My understanding from reading the docs I've found is that the
FP-30 is a replacement processor (and those two boards in the picture
don't look like much of a processor to me) and the MP-30 is an
optional I/O processor that goes with it -- the "Mass Memory Interface
Processor" (pics here -
http://www.hpmuseum.net/images/Infotek_MP30-45.jpg).
Can anyone confirm what boards are supposed to be present for a
complete CPU set? The presence of four 2901's plus a bunch of EPROMs
on the MP-30 boardset make me wonder if there's more to the MP-30 than
just I/O...
Thanks as always,
Josh
Josh!
You might be in luck. My dad did a lot of work on the 9830 and I
inherited several of them including a 9830 "carcass" with lots of keys
still on it and it may have that plastic keyboard bezel you were talking
about. ...I also have a box full of boards which may include cards that
you need. I will dig up what I have and see. I'm pretty sure I can
answer your last paragraph about what boards need to be present if no
one else can. I'll try and look Friday or over the weekend.
Also, any news on the Apollo pickup?
-Kurt