SAIC Galaxy 1100
Overview
This portable PA-RISC workstation built by SAIC is a very rare system, originally built for military/intelligence applications. It is has the following classifications:
- Portable requirements: Navy TAC-4
- Shock: Federal Test Method Standard 101C, Method 5007.1 free-fall drop test
- Airborne: MIL-STD-740-1, Grade C, Table 1
It is fully software compatible to the HP 9000/700 range of systems and technically just a HP 9000/712 workstation in a ruggedized, portable case. The Galaxy 1100 is no notebook — it is a portable workstation and as such uses standard AC power input and no battery.
Internals
CPU
- PA-7100LC 60MHz with 1KB on-chip L1 and 64KB off-chip L1 cache
- PA-7100LC 80MHz with 1KB on-chip L1 and 256KB off-chip L1 cache
The 1KB on-chip L1 cache is not really a true cache.
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
- Artist graphics, 8-bit
- Intel 82503 Ethernet transceiver, media auto-selection
- CS4215 or AD1849 programmable CODECs
- WD37C65C Floppy controller
- Two AM29F010 Flash EPROMs
Display
- 10.4″ active matrix LCD
- XGA resolution, i.e. 1024×768
- 256 colors (8-bit)
- 60Hz refresh
Human Input
- PS/2-compatible, 84-key integrated QWERTY-keyboard with 12 function keys
- Trackball and 3-button pad (left- or right-handed)
Buses
- GSC system level I/O bus
- SCSI-2 Fast-Narrow single-ended bus
Memory
- 72-pin ECC SIMMs
- (Originally described as having proprietary memory modules)
- Takes 8-32MB modules
- Four sockets
- 16MB (2×8) minimum, 128MB (4×32) maximum
- Memory has to be installed in pairs, starting from slot 0, which is the closest slot to the drives.
Expansion
- Two PCMCIA/PC card slots, supporting either two Type I/II or one Type III
Drives
- One 3.5″ Fast-Narrow 50-pin SCSI-2 hard drive
- One 3.5″ 1.44MB Floppy drive
External Connectors
- 50-pin HD SCSI-2 Fast-Narrow single-ended
- DB9 male RS232C serial (up to 115200 baud)
- DB25 female parallel
- TP/RJ45 10Mbit Ethernet
- 15-pin AUI 10Mbit Ethernet
- HD15 VGA
- Two PS/2 connectors for keyboard & mouse
- Three phone jacks (microphone, headphones and line-in)
Operating Systems
- HP-UX: every 32-bit release from 10.20-11.11 works.
- Linux: should work.
- NetBSD: should work.
- OpenBSD: works fine, although some I/O devices are not supported at the moment (e.g. the PCMCIA controller).
References
- SAIC Galaxy 1100 product page (archive.org mirror)
- Old product page with photos and details on the SAIC. Science Applications International Corporation (1996). Archive.org mirror accessed 2 Oct 2007.
Benchmarks
| Model | SPEC92, int | SPEC92, fp | SPEC95, int | SPEC95, fp |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Galaxy 1100 80MHz | 99 | 122 | 3.12 | 3.55 |
Compare these with other results on the Benchmarks page.
Physical dimensions
- 114×412×311 mm height/width/depth
- 8.2kg net weight