No RISC No Fun
OpenPA is an independent technical resource on HP 9000 and PA-RISC computers and operating systems. Information on PA-RISC is contained in more than 100 articles on OpenPA since 1999 on PA-RISC computers, architecture and software ecosystem:
- Hardware: Technology covered includes HP PA-RISC architecture and processors from the 1980s to 2000s. Most chipsets and system designs were custom HP.
- Computers: Many PA-RISC computers were produced between the 1980s and 2000s, the majority from HP in HP 9000 range of servers, workstations and mainframes.
- Operating: Different Unix operating systems have been ported to HP 9000 and PA-RISC computers, HP-UX, Mach, BSD and many R&D projects.
Information is based on PA-RISC technical references, handbooks and architecture documents, correlated with disappearing articles and the press. OpenPA is independent of and does not represent HP in any way. Read the news, RSS and OpenPA book.
Unix Games on HP-UX
While HP-UX was mostly used for engineering and design applications during the PA-RISC heydays, several Unix games run on HP-UX, ported in the 1990s.
This included many iconic 3D games from the early 1990s, compiled with OpenGL but also some other, semi-commercial ports of well-known games. Many freeware games were available for Unix and often could be compiled on various versions of HP-UX.
- Unix Guru Universe: Games Software, source files for Unix games from asteriods to xtrek
- HP-UX Porting Center: Games with many X11 games
The roster for commercial games and their ports was interesting, with the followings games known to be working on HP-UX.
- Doom, based on Doom It Yourself (early 2000s) and some modifications
- Doom was apparently installed as easteregg on HP Agilent 16700 logic analyzers
- Simcity, ported by DUX in the early 1990s, recently liberated again
- Micropolis for Vintage Unix, using Simcity, fork of Linux Micropolis for X11
- Freeciv, a free and open game based on Civilization concepts
- Dominions: Priests Prophets & Pretenders, turn-based fantasy, old HP-UX port
- It seems Quake and Quake2 were ported to Unix and HP-UX specifically, but few documentation and resources exist
More RISC Laptops: UltraBook and Hitachi
Two more RISC laptops have been added to the RISC Laptop Archive: UltraSPARC-based RDI UltraBook and the rare PA-RISC Hitachi 3050RX 100C from Japan.
Hitachi 3050RX 100C were Japanese RISC laptops for Unix computing, introduced in 1994. Hitachi was a PRO consortium member for HP PA-RISC computers, the 100C was based on custom Hitachi PA/50L processor.
They were possibly compatible with HP 9000 PA-RISC workstations but used custom Hitachi HI-UX/WE2 Unix, a modified HP-UX, for for multi-media processing of the 1990s. It is unclear if the 100C was a laptop with battery or portable computer with AC.
RDI UltraBooks were SPARC64-based RISC laptops for mobile Unix computing, introduced by RDI in 1997 to be used as a portable Solaris workstation for training, demonstrations, exhibitions and portable deployment (C&C).
UltraBooks were binary compatible with Sun workstations for standard Sun Solaris Unix. They were designed for government and security agencies, their removable drives were marketed as a plus for classified environments.
RISC Laptop Archive from the 1990s
Another slight detour from PA-RISC content on OpenPA: The RISC Laptop Archive on the various RISC-based laptops sold throughout the 1990s.
Technical computing in the 1990s was mostly done on RISC workstations with Unix operating systems and specialized applications. For mobile use cases, some popular Unix vendors built RISC laptops.
Often based on contemporary Unix workstations, these RISC laptops were often marketed for government and military uses such as command, technical analysis and surveillance. The RISC Laptop Archive will sort and consolidate the information
- RDI PrecisionBook with 32-bit PA-RISC for HP-UX
- SAIC Galaxy with 32-bit PA-RISC for HP-UX
- RDI UltraLite with 32-bit SPARC for SolarisC
- IBM N40, 800, 820, 850 and 860 with 32-bit PowerPC for AIX
Added 8 September:
- Tadpole ALPHAbook with 64-bit Alpha for OpenVMS
- Tadpole SPARCbook 1 and 2 with 32-bit SPARC for SunOS
- Tadpole SPARCbook 3 and 3000 with 32-bit SPARC for SolarisC
Still to be covered: ALPHAbook, SPARCbook, Ultrabook, Viper and others.
HP Visualize x-class p-class Xeon Workstations
The last of the HP Visualize NT Workstations – and the provisional end of the Intel x86-cycle on OpenPA: HP released newer x-class and p-class workstations in 2000. These updated the late 1990s X-Class and P-Class and were based on Intel Xeon and advanced chipsets. A1280 were new x-class, A6034 new p-class.
Based on Intel Pentium III processors, x-class and p-class were up to two-way SMP capable with rare RCC ServerWorks chipset and Xeon Cascades CPUs. The updated Visualize x-class and p-class high workstations were marketed for Mechanical Design Automation (MDA) and Digital Content Creation (DCC) to complement PA-RISC Unix offerings.
Visualize X-Class shared almost nothing with the PA-RISC based Visualize brethren but the Visualize graphics adapters, which they use in modified fx+ Versions on AGP Pro. They also were shipped with 3rd-party graphics such as Elsa Gloria Synergy and were designed to run Windows NT and 2000.
HP-UX 11.11 Operating Environments (OEs)
HP-UX 11.11, the Unix from HP for PA-RISC computers, was renamed 11i in 2000. This first version HP-UX 11i v1 was the last release for PA-RISC workstations. In turn, HP-UX 11i was shipped in different operating environments (OEs) for different PA-RISC computers in specific use cases, but with the same Base OS common core:
- Technical Computing Operating Environment (TCOE) for workstations
- Minimal Technical Operating Environment (MTOE) for workstations
- Mission Critical Operating Environment (MCOE) for servers.
- Enterprise Operating Environment (EOE) for servers
- Foundation Operating Environment (FOE) for servers
A presentation from HP World in 2003 details out the multiple OEs in 11.11 and the functionalities of MCOE, TCOE and MTOE plus the Base OS.
HP-UX 11i v1 was the last operating system for many PA-RISC workstations, which needed TCOE or MTOE. It was the only HP-UX version of the HP c8000 workstation.
HP Visualize X-Class NT Workstations
HP Visualize X-Class were Intel-based personal workstations for Windows NT, released in 1999. HP complemented its PA-RISC graphics offering with these Intel NT workstations. X-Class Visualize A5014A X500 to X550 were performance HP NT workstations, above the P-Class.
Based on Intel Pentium III processors with up to two-way SMP, X-Class used Xeon CPUs, an upgrade to Katmai/Coppermine processors in the P-Class. They were slightly different to P-Class workstations and had newer processors, a different chipset (440GX), more SCSI and different, slightly larger cases.
HP Visualize X-Class were dedicated professional graphics workstations for 3D design, CAD and CAM on Windows NT, used for professional digital content creation.
For this, they were shipped with AGP versions of HP Visualize fx+ and third-party video adapters such as Elsa Gloria Synergy II and 3Dlabs Oxygen GVX-1.
X-Class, like P-Class, were designed for Windows NT 4.0, with support later enhanced to Windows 2000. There apparently were also designated Linux versions.
HP Visualize Graphics for Intel Workstations
HP offered Visualize FX video adapters for Intel HP Kayak, Visualize P-Class and X-Class NT workstations in the late 1990s, first developed for and shipped with HP Kayak workstations.
Visualize fx adapters for Intel were AGP, AGP Pro and sometimes PCI dual-slot cards that used the same 3D engine as the PA-RISC HP-UX cards. They had impressive speeds for 3D and CAM/CAD but were only offered for a few years for HP NT workstations.
A slightly bewildering array of products for NT was available, with different model numbers, configurations and possible even more options not covered yet:
- Visualize fx2, fx4, fx6: 16 MB, AGP-PCI dual-slot
- Visualize fx2+, fx4+, fx6+: 18 MB, AGP 2X
- Visualize fx5, fx10: 64 MB, AGP 2X and/or AGP Pro
- Note at some point products were spelled fx+, fx2, fx2 etc.
Similar to Visualize FX for HP-UX, fx and fx+ integrated PA-RISC FPU cores into the 3D accelerator with a Cirrus Logic 2D graphics chip for GUI (GD5480), at least on the AGP-PCI dual slot cards.
The Visualize graphics accelerator ASIC consisted of 2 integer ALUs, 2 floating-point multipliers, 2 floating point divider/square root units and dual control,
possibly based on PA-7200 CPU and/or FPU.
There were drivers for Intel Windows NT and 2000.
HP Visualize P-Class NT Workstations
HP Visualize Personal Workstations were Intel-based computers for Windows NT, released in 1999. With the P-Class, HP complemented its PA-RISC Visualize Unix workstations. Visualize P450 to P700C P-Class were entry-level HP NT workstations, followed by X-Class.
Based on Intel Pentium III processors, up to two-way SMP capable and with the Intel 440BX chipset, P-Class start with the P450, P500 and P600 using Katmai processors, updated later in P600C, P650C and P700C with Coppermine CPUs.
HP Visualize P-Class were dedicated professional graphics workstations for 3D design, CAD and CAM on Windows NT, used for professional digital content creation.
Visualize P-Class shared almost nothing with the PA-RISC based Visualize brethren but the Visualize graphics adapters, which they use in modified + AGP versions. They also were shipped with 3rd-party graphics such as Elsa Gloria Synergy II and 3Dlabs Oxygen GVX-1.
The dark-grey mini-tower HP P-Class used was similar to PA-RISC HP Visualize B1000, C3000, C3600, C3700 workstations and apparently the same to lower-end HP Kayak PCs.
Stratus Continuum Fault Tolerant PA-RISC
Stratus Technologies produced a line of Ultra High Availability Fault Tolerant
PA-RISC servers in the 1990s, the Stratus Continuum.
They were based on multiple 32-bit and 64-bit PA-RISC processors and sold as the Continuum 400, 600 and 1200 series between 1995 and 2004 by Stratus together with HP.
Stratus Continuums feature a great deal of redundancy, with up to four CPUs to form one single logical processor for continuous availability
with redundant buses, I/O and power supplies.
PA-RISC-powered Stratus were phased out in the mid-2000s in favor of Intel-based systems, the Xeon Pentium 4 based ftServer (after Stratus dabbled in IA64). Before PA-RISC, Stratus computers used many different architectures – Stratus/32, XA400 and XA2000 from the 1980s were based on Motorola 68000 CPUs while the Stratus XA/R from the early-1990s used Intel i860 RISC.
| Model | CPU | Cache | RAM | Design | Expansion | Operating systems |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Continuum 400 | 1-8 | 1.5 MB | 8 GB | Continuum | 12 PCI | HP-UX, FTX |
| Continuum 600 | 1-8 | 0.5-2 MB | 4 GB | Continuum | 6 slots | VOS, FTX |
| Continuum 1200 | 1-16 | 0.5-2 MB | 4 GB | Continuum | 12-18 slots | VOS, FTX |
Stratus Continuum used PA-RISC processors from PA-7100 to 64-bit PA-8000, PA-8500 and PA-8600 using different Cache and SMP implementations (logical and physical). The article on Stratus Continuum had originally been added in 2004, with Ti Kan.
When HP Visualize was called HP VisualEyes
HP Visualize graphics adapters were used in many HP 9000 and HP Visualize PA-RISC workstations, often integrated onto the mainboard or as separate GSC expansion cards of various types. HP Visualize were a deep design and integration of previous HP graphics systems like CRX and HCRX from the 1990s.
HP very briefly called these cards HP VisualEyes in 1995 before renaming and marketing them under HP VISUALIZE as successors to the HCRX line of adapters. HP marketed Visualize as the following successors to HP HCRX:
- HCRX-8: No successor
- HCRX-8Z: Visualize-8 for $5,500
- HCRX-24Z: Visualize-24 for $7,000
- HCRX-48Z: Visualize-48 for $16,000
HP integrated parallel PA-RISC floating point technology from the PA-7200 processor (FPU) into Visualize graphics to increase scalable performance and speed up the graphics pipeline.
Two FPU cells were added to the -8 and -24, and six cells into the -48.
This was heralded as quite interesting
and good but unusual.
HP Precision architecture - A new perspective
PA-RISC was developed and introduced by HP in the early 1980s to replace 16-bit stack-based CPUs in HP 3000 servers and Motorola 680x0 CPUs in HP’s Unix systems with a common system architecture.
Developed in-house at HP Labs, PA-RISC started as Spectrum with much research required on RISC principles and some very distinct design choices for the Precision Architecture.
Since most architectures until the early 1980s were CISC, HP made an effort to explain the rationale behind the Precision Architecture and market its RISC effort broadly. In the 1986 booklet HP Precision architecture - A new perspective and HP Labs presentation Beyond RISC, HP describes microprocessor architecture and the move from CISC to RISC with major Spectrum and PA features.
PA-RISC architecture and instruction set were built from the ground up
by HP engineers (as Spectrum).
PA-RISC was implemented almost exlusively in HP processors, from early version in TTL and NMOS in the 1980s to more modern integrated 32-bit (PA-7x00) and 64-bit (PA-8x00) RISC processors.
| Version | Bits | Instructions | Features | Processors | Years |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| PA-RISC 1.0 | 32-bit | 140 | Original | TS-1, NS-1, NS-2, PCX | 1986-1990 |
| PA-RISC 1.1 | 32-bit | 190 | Low-cost |
PA-7000,
PA-7100,
PA-7200, PA-7100LC, PA-7300LC |
1991-1996 |
| PA-RISC 2.0 | 64-bit | PA-8000,
PA-8200,
PA-8500,
PA-8600, PA-8700, PA-8800, PA-8900 |
1996-2005 |
PA-RISC was a rather conservative RISC design for the 1980s, HP described the Precision Architecture as the result of years of studying
RISC:
- Reduced instruction set (
simple, efficient instructions
) - Hardwired instruction set is implemented in hardware, not microcoded
- Instruction size is fixed length and fixed format (32-bit) for pipelining
- Load/store design: Only load and store operation access the memory
- Single cycle operation for most simple and frequently used instructions
- Optimizing compilers
The instruction set was tested widely by HP scientists on a wide range of programs with billions of instructions
(in the 1980s!) to identify the PA-RISC instruction set, only instructions that could add value were selected.
HP added a few complementary features to increase flexibility and performance:
Extended addressing, co- and multi-processor support and memory-mapped I/O.
PA-RISC supported very wide adressing from the beginning and was designed as a SMP-capable architecture, with memory-mapped I/O simplifying the overall design.
Both original documents are available at 1000bit.it: HP in 1986 HP Precision architecture - A new perspective and Beyond RISC - Spectrum Introduction.
HP PA-RISC Computers and the US Navy
During the 1980s and 1990s, HP was part of DTC and TAC contracts with the US Navy to supply industrial computers and workstations for military uses and tactical decision support.
These were some of the largest commercial contracts won by HP at the time for PA-RISC computers.
Desktop Tactical Computer: The relationship started with DTC-1 program during the 1980s, where HP offered HP FOCUS based HP 9000 520C computers (HP 9020C) that were widely deployed through the US Navy. The 9020C was also part of the US Navy Joint Operational Tactical System, JTOS.
Tactical Advanced Computer: After losing out to Sun with the DTC-2 contract, HP won the newer TAC-3 and TAC-4 programs in the early to mid-90s. TAC-3 used HP 9000 400 and Apollo, HP 9000 720, 730 and 735 and 755 workstations for mission support, electronic intelligence gathering (ELINT), mission planning and targeting.
TAC-4: Procurement started in 1993, was one of the company’s largest-ever federal contract
at the time, in which HP supplied PA-RISC workstations, software and infrastructure during the 1990s to the US Navy for measurement and control:
- HP 9000 712 workstations
- HP Visualize C-Class and J-Class workstations
- HP 9000 D-Class and K-Class servers
- HP 9000 74x VME computers
- SAIC Galaxy portables.
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