14 Oct
2002
14 Oct
'02
8:55 a.m.
At 01:25 AM 10/14/02 -0700, you wrote:
Hi Joe:
At 09:37 PM 10/13/02, you wrote:
Right, that's also memory for a RAMDISK. I wasn't aware that it had the extra
sockets in it. Do you know what type memory it uses? The 128K cartridges are in high
demand, it would be nice to upgrade the 64k cartridges.
I opened it up to find a second row of chips not
I'm sending a copy of this reply directly
to you as well as replying on
the list so I can be sure that you get a copy.
Thanks. I subcribed to cctalk, and will dump cctech once it seems like
posts are coming through -- looks like I'll miss stuff otherwise.
No, the 85B has more memory (32k vs 16k) than
the 85 (aka 85A) but it's
standard memory and not RAMDISK memory. The E-Disk ROM
MAY be able to
convert all or part of that to RAMDISK but it would leave you with no user
memory. FWIW The 128k memory cartridge is strickly for RAMDISK memory, it
can't be used for regular memory.
Ahh. Knew there was something about ramdisk in there. I actually have a
64K expansion card. installed, so I suppose I could make it a 128K if ever
needed.
The second ROM is either a Program Developement ROM or a Matrix ROM, I forget which.
The extra sockets are there for the user to add custom ROMs. It appears that HP expected
the 9915 owners to develope their own programs and burn them into ROM for the 9915 but it
never happened. The ONLY person that I'v ever talked to that had done it was someone
from HP. It costs a bundle to get all the stuff that you needed. At the very least
you'd need the Program Developemnt package, Assembly Language ROMs and programs,
Serial interface, EPROM burner and a HP-85 to do the development on. PLUS the 9915!
Joe
Also I'm pretty certain that 85B does not have
the I/O and Mass Storage
ROMs built-in. The HP-85F has those built in and it looks
like an 85B and
says 85B on the front but it should have a metal tag on the back that
identifies it as an 85F. The 85F were delivered as part of various HP test
systems and AFIK they were never listed separately in the HP catalogs.
That's probably why few people have heard of them and may be confusing
their capabilities with standard 85Bs. The 85F is a nice catch IMO, you
gain two ROMs and don't use up any of the ports on the back.
I have not heard of an 85F before. I was pulling my 9915A apart, and found
six ROM locations under the module card cage. I also just noticed a post
from someone about it too. There is an I/O rom and a 9915-specific rom,
and four spare locations.