HP 21MX Ethernet/SCSI card?

[Johannes Thelen]

Thank you all! 
Yes, I think too this is not Ethernet, I studied where RJ45 is connected...
RJ45 is connected to MC145406, RS232 3x receiver/transmitter chip, here's datasheet:http://www.freescale.com/files/timing_interconnect_access/doc/inactive/MC145406.pdf
Three transmitter and one receiver is used (other two receivers are connected to ground). So this is very likely RS232 or sort of. Board have Symbios Logic SCSI chip (53c710), three QuickLogic FPGAs (QL12x16), Z80 and bunch of ROMs. Here's pics:https://drive.google.com/folderview?id=0B_DR111cK6W-X1JkOUpzZ2tjZW8&usp=sharing
Serial number is 289, so this probably this wasn't best seller at that time...> So did you get any type of storage device or media with the machine? If so, boot it up and see what drivers and such are there?No I didn't got any :( ...just 2109E CPU
I have to find some nice drives later, but now I'll make just tape emulator for it, so I can fill memory with my own code. I think if I can't use this board that easily without manuals, I probably can make some quick & dirty solution for tape emulation lot faster.
Machine have boot ROMs for terminal, papertape, 79xx drives, C580 disc (what?).https://drive.google.com/file/d/0B_DR111cK6W-Q1VlQjJZeWZHUDA/view?usp=sharing
I'll make some empiric tests with scope, I'll try to use different ROMs/IO addresses to boot and hope something happens on RJ45.
> My guess is it's a SCSI card, perhaps with a little serial interface that> you can hook a TTY up to to configure and manage the card, as was done on> some Q-bus SCSI cards.Sounds very plausible! I have to try that also, maybe that card tells what is it.


Ps. > Congrats! I love those machines :)Thanks and I think too this 21MX/1000 is awesome machine! HP made only one BIG mistake: there's no flickering lights, because panel works via microcode (like everything in this machine)... grrrrr! ;)

- Johannes ThelenFinland
Before microcomputers blog (Finnish) http://ennenmikrotietokoneita.blogspot.fi/




> Subject: Re: HP 21MX Ethernet/SCSI card?
> From: imp at bsdimp.com
> Date: Wed, 18 Feb 2015 14:08:15 -0700
> To: cctalk at classiccmp.org
> CC: jwsmail at jwsss.com
> 
> 
> > On Feb 18, 2015, at 1:28 PM, Eric Smith <spacewar at gmail.com> wrote:
> > 
> > Johannes Thelen <johannesthelen at hotmail.com> wrote:
> >> I just got HP 2109 E-series which I bought from eBay last week. I was planning
> >> to make own tape emulator interface for it, but I found mystery card from it,
> > 
> > High-resolution photos or scans to allow identification of more of the
> > components
> > might help with figuring out the likely functionality provided.
> > 
> > Based on what can be seen, I doubt that the RJ45 is for Ethernet.
> 
> I agree. There’s no magnetics for the PHY….
> 
> Warner
>