HP 9000/745i & 747i VME Workstations
Overview
Project names:
- 745i/50: Pace
- 747i/50: Pace
- 745i/100: Fast Pace
- 747i/100: Fast Pace
These Pace named models were one of the first PA-RISC workstations for industrial/medical use. They are technically very similar to the older 715 workstations and 725 workstations while being built in ruggedized, rack-mountable cases. The CPU and I/O controllers sit on a VME SBC (single board computer) which is identical on both 745i and 747i. The latter systems are built in an even bigger case and feature VME slots, which the 745i do not have. Both have a HP-IB interface, which was used mainly for controlling and/or instrumental use. Interestingly these machines have two pairs of LED banks, one at the front and the other directly on the CPU board on the back.
Internals
CPU
- 745i/50: PA-7100 50MHz with 64/64KB off-chip I/D L1 cache
- 747i/50: PA-7100 50MHz with 64/64KB off-chip I/D L1 cache
- 745i/100: PA-7100 100MHz with 256/256KB off-chip I/D L1 cache
- 747i/100: PA-7100 100MHz with 256/256KB off-chip I/D L1 cache
Chipset
- ASP chipset, featuring:
- NCR 53C700 8-bit single-ended SCSI-2
- Intel 82596DX 10Mb Ethernet controller
- WD 16C552 parallel
- NS 16550A compatible serial
- 512KB EPROM - the Boot ROM
- 8KB EEPROM for storing system configuration status etc.
- Intel 8042 microprocessor controlling:
- battery backed RTC
- system & user timers
- audio generator
- HP-HIL interface
- frontpanel system status LEDs
- Intel 82501AD Ethernet transceiver
- Mongoose ASIC, EISA bus-adaptor
- CRX graphics, 8-bit
- HP-IB controller
- 747i: VME controller
- PSB2160 CODEC for 8-bit mono audio
Buses
- VSC memory/CPU bus
- GSC system-level I/O bus
- EISA I/O expansion bus
- HP-IB bus (IEEE-488); peripheral bus
- SCSI-2 narrow single-ended bus
- 747i: SGC expansion of the mainbus to the SGC expansion slot
- 747i: VME bus
Memory
- 72-pin ECC SIMMs
- Takes 8-32MB modules (/100 models take 64MB modules)
- Four sockets
- /50 models: 16MB (2×8) minimum, 128MB (4×32) maximum
- /100 models: 16MB (2×8) minimum, 256MB (4×64) maximum
Expansion
- 745i: Four EISA expansion-slots
- 747i: Two EISA expansion-slots
One SGC (DIO-II formfactor) expansion slot
6 VME slots - See EISA expansion-cards
- See SGC expansion-cards
Drives
- One bay for an external-accessible 5.25″ half-height SCSI drive
- One bay for an external-accessible 3.5″ SCSI drive or floppy
- One bay for a 3.5″ SCSI drive
External Connectors
- 50-pin HD SCSI-2 single-ended
- Two DB9 male RS232C serial
- DB25 female parallel
- 15-pin AUI 10Mbit Ethernet
- HD 15 VGA
- HP-HIL connector for input devices
- HP-IB for peripherals
- Three phone jacks (microphone-in, headphone-out and speaker-out)
References
- LED error codes from older 715s should apply
- 700i Industrial Workstations Owner’s Guide (PDF, 1,6MB)
Operating Systems
- HP-UX: every release from 10.01-10.20 works.
- NeXTSTEP: Version 3.3 could work.
- Linux: works.
- OpenBSD: works.
Benchmarks
| Model | SPEC92, int | SPEC92, fp | SPEC95, int | SPEC95, fp |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| /50 | 36 | 72 | 1.53 | 2.46 |
| /100 | 81 | 138 | 3.22 | 4.06 |
Compare these with other results on the Benchmarks page.
Physical dimensions/Power
745i:- 175×425×412mm height/width/depth
- 18.6kg net weight
- 350W max. power input
- 310×425×412mm heigth/width/depth
- 29kg net weight
- 700W max. power input