New subject: HP-3000 (was: HP HP-2117F on ebay)

13 Dec 2006

Jay West wrote:

...
  J Blaser wrote.... 
...
  I don't
know anything about HP minis, so I don't know what to look for, but 
for those on the list that have HPs and might be interested...

 The main unit: item # 320060663740
 The FP unit: item # 320060663048

 No bids yet.    
 And hopefully there won't be... unless you want parts - cause it's got 
 issues.

 I noticed this system on ebay a night or two ago. I was going to post a 
 warning here to people about it, but just didn't get a roundtuit.

 1) The power supply for the cpu has been pulled (ie. is not present). That 
 doesn't bode well  ;) 
 2) The DCPC card (that's DMA to you and me) appears to be missing and the 
 cable is dangling. This was standard on the 2117 (1000F aka 21MX/F) I think.
 3) There is NO memory, nor a memory controller in the box, they appear to 
 have been snagged.
 4) Either the FEM board has been pulled, or they just used the wrong cable 
 to connect the FAB to the cpu board. Given that slot 10 is empty and thus 
 creates a break in the interrupt chain, I'm guessing the former. That means 
 you're likely missing microcode. Could just be vendor microcode... or your 
 base instruction set  ;) 
 5) There appears to be something homebrew on the TBG board in slot 11. At 
 least it's nothing I've ever seen. Given the RPL markings on the front this 
 tends to make me think of process control. Maybe the cable was to allow some 
 other device to generate the time based interrupts.
 6) Third party board in slot 12. Who knows.
 7) 13037 disk interface in slot 13, that matches the front panel markings as 
 likely boot device.
 8) Note the 8 channel mux card is not compatible with TSB. Note also the 
 non-standard edge card connection. PSI board?
 9) 7970 tape controller set, handy to have.
 10) Two microcircuit boards. I happen to REALLY like these. If anyone buys 
 this sytem, I'd be willing to pay for one or two of these cards  :) 
 11) Missing board in slot 22... there goes your interrupts. Who knows, maybe 
 this system ran something that was only polled.
 12) Don't recognize the board in slot 23.

 On the plus side, it IS an F series... the FP unit is auctioned separately 
 and they are calling it a power supply. Nope, it's a floating point unit. 
 There IS no power supply - and there sure is supposed to be  ;) 

 I am not familiar enough with the F series to know if that FP unit includes 
 all the necessary boards and/or connectors.

 Random thoughts....

 Jay 

Jay, thanks for the rundown on this system.  The closest I've ever come to an HP mini
was when I saw a 6' rack that with one at the local university surplus
'store'.  Unfortunately, they were only relocating the system to another part of
campus, so would not sell it.  Frankly, I was interested in it *because* it was fully
racked with drives, etc., and had an ASR-33 with it.  It was clearly a whole system. 
(BTW, I did convince them to sell me the ASR-33!)

But, this business with ebay is really starting to annoy me, since it's nearly
impossible to find a whole system, these days.  Everybody is just parting out the bits and
pieces, like that whole series of the '11/40' unibus boards that end this evening.
 I'm becoming a bit disheartened with the 'chop shop' mentality.  And,
that's trouble for someone that is ignorant of what key components may or may not be
required to get a system functional again.  It sure is easier to 'shop' for parts
that when you already have knowledge of the system in question.

On the other hand, I think that's what I like about this 'hobby'... the
exploration and (re)discovery of what these old systems really were/are and how they are
operated.  I admit that it isn't just the operation of my little collection of qbus
systems (PDP's and VAXen) that is the end all, but rather the discovery, in my case
(versus re-discovery), of how these system were constructed, configured and operated. 
Truthfully, this is the fun part for me.

So, thanks to you, Jay -- and others on the list -- for keeping the fires burning, and
helping us 'ameteurs' out from time to time.

J