HP Visualize B132L, B160L & B180L
| Quick Facts | |
|---|---|
| CPU | PA-7300LC 132MHz (B132L) 160MHz (B160L) 180MHz (B180L) |
| Cache | 128KB L1 1MB L2 |
| RAM | 1.5GB |
| Drives | 2 SCSI 1 FD |
| Expansion | 1 GSC/PCI 1 GSC/PCI/EISA |
| Bandwidth | Mem 423MB/s (B132L) Mem 427MB/s (B160L) I/O 132MB/s (B132L) I/O 160MB/s (B160L) I/O 144MB/s (B180L) |
| I/O | 10E/100E (+-models) EVC 2 SCSI 2 serial 2 PS/2 HIL audio |
Overview
Project names - uname:
- B132L[+]: Merlin L2 - 9000/778
- B160L: Merlin L2 - 9000/778
- B180L+: Merlin L2 - 9000/778
These are very nice, small entry-level workstations. Still based on a 32-bit PA-RISC CPU they were designed as successors to the successful 715 workstations with better performance and I/O-expandability. They were developed alongside the C-Class workstations, sharing a similar casing concept but integrating more functionality onto on single mainboard to save manufacturing costs. The +-models (B132L+, B180L+) differ from the others in having Ultra-Wide SE SCSI and 10/100Mb Ethernet rather than Fast-Wide HVD SCSI and only 10Mb Ethernet.
Several B132L and B160L models feature a faulty PCI backplane chip (Dino), which could result in data loss. A firmware patch in PDC version 6.1 added a check for the faulty chip — if such a chip is found, subsequent PCI cards in the PCI slots in question are disabled and the system halts a boot-up/PDC.
Internals
CPU
- B132L: PA-7300LC 132MHz with 64/64KB int. L1 (+ 1MB ext. L2)
- B132L+: PA-7300LC 132MHz with 64/64KB int. L1 (+ 1MB ext. L2)
- B160L: PA-7300LC 160MHz with 64/64KB int. L1 (+ 1MB ext. L2)
- B180L+: PA-7300LC 180MHz with 64/64KB int. L1 (+ 1MB ext. L2)
The external L2 cache SRAM is optional and is installed in two DIMM slots below the CPU socket. The modules must be of equal size. Usually, these systems come with 2 512KB modules, totalling in 1MB L2.
Chipset
- LASI ASIC, which features:
- NCR 53C710 8-bit single-ended SCSI-2
- Intel 82596CA 10Mb Ethernet controller
- WD 16C522 compatible parallel
- Harmony CD/DAT quality 16-bit stereo audio
- NS 16550A compatible serial
- WAX ASIC, adds functionality missing in LASI, e.g. HIL, 2nd RS232 …
- WAX EISA bus adaptor, connects EISA to GSC
- Dino GSC-to-PCI bridge
- Phantom PseudoBC GSC+ port
- Visualize-EG (
Graffiti
) graphics - Intel 82503 Ethernet transceiver, media auto-selection
- CS4215 or AD1849 programmable CODECs
- WD37C65C Floppy controller
- B132L, B160L: NCR 53C720 16-bit Fast-Wide high-voltage differential (HVD) SCSI-2
- B132L+, B180L+: Symbios Logic 53C875 16-bit Ultra-Wide SCSI-2 controller
- B132L+, B180L+: DEC 21142/43 (Tulip) Fast-Ethernet controller
Buses
- GSC general system-level I/O bus
- B132L (both): 33MHz 132MB/s
- B160L: 40MHz 160MB/s
- B180L+: 36MHz 144MB/s
- EISA additional expansion I/O bus
- PCI-32/33 high-performance device I/O bus
- SCSI-2 Fast-Narrow single-ended bus
- B132L, B160L: SCSI-2 Fast-Wide high-voltage differential main storage I/O bus
- B132L+, B180L+: SCSI-2 Ultra-Wide single-ended main storage I/O bus
Memory
- 72-pin ECC SIMMs, 60ns or faster
- Takes 16-256MB modules (latest firmware-rev needed)
- Six slots
- 32MB (2×16) minimum, 1.5GB (6×256) maximum
Expansion
- B132L, B160L:
- One slot for either a GSC (EISA formfactor) or PCI 32-bit/33MHz, 3.3V card
- One slot for either a GSC (EISA formfactor), PCI 32-bit/33MHz, 3.3V or EISA card
- B132L+, B180L+:
- One slot for either a GSC (EISA formfactor) or PCI 32-bit/33MHz, 5V card
- One slot for either a GSC (EISA formfactor), PCI 32-bit/33MHz, 5V or EISA card
- See GSC expansion-cards
- See EISA expansion-cards
- I/O slots layout (from top to bottom):
- PCI-32/33 or GSC
- PCI-32/33 or EISA or GSC
Drives
- One tray for a 68-pin half-height 3.5″ SCSI hard drive, either Fast-Wide high-voltage differential (B132L, B160L) or Ultra-Wide SE (+-models)
- One tray for a 3.5″ Floppy drive
- One tray for a 50-pin half-heigth 5.25″ Fast-Narrow 50-pin SE SCSI drive, external accessible, can also accomodate a hard drive.
External Connectors
- 50-pin HD SCSI-2 Fast-Narrow single-ended
- B132L, B160L: 68-pin HD SCSI-2 Fast-Wide high-voltage differential
- B132L+, B180L+: 68-pin HD SCSI-3 Ultra-Wide single-ended
- Two DB9 male RS232C serial
- DB25 female parallel
- B132L, B160L: TP/RJ45 10Mbit Ethernet
- B132L+, B180L+: TP/RJ45 10/100Mbit Ethernet
- 15-pin AUI 10Mbit Ethernet
- EVC graphics port1
- Two PS/2 connectors for keyboard & mouse
- Four phone jacks (microphone, headphones, line-in and line-out)
- You need a special HP adapter-cable to convert this EVC-port to either BNC or HD15 VGA
ROM update
There is an firmware update available for the B-Class, which contains the latest version (6.1).
- PF_CB1X0061.txt has details about the contents and installation of the patch.
- CB1X0061.frm contains the patch.
References
- LED error codes
- B-Class Owner’s Guide (PDF, 1.5MB)
- B-Class Service Handbook (PDF, 0.9MB)
- B-Class Low-Cost Workstation description (PDF, HP Journal 7/97)
Operating Systems
- HP-UX: every 32-bit release from 10.20-11.11 works.
- Linux: works fine.
- OpenBSD works fine (the 53C720 Fast-Wide HVD SCSI controller on B132L and B160L is supported since release 4.2).
- NetBSD: experimental support as of 5/2005, but the 53C720 Fast-Wide HVD SCSI controller found on the B132L and B160L is not supported.
Benchmarks
| Model | SPEC95, int | SPEC95, fp | SPEC95 rate, int |
SPEC95 rate, fp |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| B132 | 6.45 | 6.70 | 58.1 | 60.3 |
| B132+ | 6.84 | 7.17 | 61.5 | 64.6 |
| B160L | 7.75 | 7.56 | 69.7 | 68.1 |
| B180L+ | 9.22 | 9.43 | 83.0 | 84.8 |
Compare these with other results on the Benchmarks page.
Physical dimensions/Power
- 116×445×452 mm height/width/depth
- 16kg net weight, 18kg fully loaded
- 300W max. power input
- 3A max. RMS at 240V
- 5A max. RMS at 120V