[rescue] Re: HP 9000 core IO board question

[Gavin Hubbard]

People with decent email clients wrote:

I got an older HP K580 and running out of expansion. On the HP9000 core 
IO board, there is an Optional  I/O slot. Is this HSC? Can I put a 
gigabit card on there? Model number?

Yes, seems so and don't know.
The K-class have one HSC slot on the Core I/O, and the K4xx and K5xx has 
a HSC Expansion card which adds another four HSC slots.

Some hints maybe found at:
http://docs.hp.com/hpux/netcom/index.html (under 1000Base-T and 
1000Base-SX Gigabit Ethernet)
Especially this document covers a HSC-1000Base-SX interface:
http://docs.hp.com/hpux/pdf/J1643-90009.pdf

And, while at it, K580 is big bollocks. How's it configured?

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The slot on the core I/O board is defeinitely an HSC slot. Most folks put a 
FWD HBA in there so they can run an external tape drive/autoloader, or 
connect to a Jamaica box disk array.

You can get GigE adaptors (but only fibre, not UTP). The HSC bus is fast 
enough to cope with a GigE link, the GSC bus isn't. However I have a GSC dual 
UTP fast ethernet card in my K570 and it seems to run ok.

If you want to get some more RAM, there is often really cheap stuff on EBay. 
The RAM is compatible right across the machines from that era e.g. D-class, 
R-class, A-class, K-class as well as some C-class, B-class, and J-class 
workstations despite the fact that the RAM for each system has a different 
part-number! The memory in K-class machines is installed in pairs (though 
the system can interleave up to four pairs). The sweet spot for RAM is the 
128MB modules as you can buy them for 50 USD per GB and can thus get 4GB 
max into a K580 if you use two carrier boards. If you already have the 256MB 
modules and want to trade for other system  parts, please contact me off-list.

The K580 was the largest K-class machine produced. Unfortunately they 
aren't true 64-bit machines despite using the PA8xxx class CPUs. I am quite 
fond of them (and their e3000 brethren) though the noise is a bit off-putting, 
especially when the fans switch into full-speed mode. I found an HSC 
visualise frame-buffer for my K570 and use the system as am occasional 
workstation. Unfortunately my C3600 is faster and quieter so I don't use the 
K570 that much.

Bjorn: The K580 isn't really worth that much these days. When I was living in 
Melbourne, I had eight rescued K570 & K580 systems in my bed-room at one 
stage.

Regards,

Gavin