No RISC No Fun
OpenPA is an independent technical resource for HP 9000 and PA-RISC computers and operating systems. Online since 1999, OpenPA documents PA-RISC, a technical computer architecture developed by HP in the 1980s and 1990s, with more than 160 articles.
- Hardware: OpenPA covers HP PA-RISC architecture and processors from early RISC experiments in the 1980s to 64-bit multicore CPUs in custom HP RISC designs.
- Computers: HP released a wide array of PA-RISC computers, from servers, 3D workstations to mainframes in the HP 9000, Visualize and Integrity ranges.
- Operating: Unix was the main operating system for PA-RISC, with many versions of HP-UX, Mach, BSD, Linux and R&D projects developed for PA-RISC.
- Software: Many engineering and technical computing solutions were developed for and ported to HP-UX and PA-RISC, including CAD/CAM, DTP, EDA and office.
OpenPA is based on PA-RISC technical documentation, handbooks, journal and architecture documents, correlated with disappearing archives. OpenPA is non-commercial and independent of and does not represent HP. More about us, news, RSS and OpenPA book.
Also on OpenPA: RISC Laptop Archive and VLIW CPUs, computing history of the 1990s.
ME10, ME30 and SolidDesigner CAD on HP-UX
HP ME10 and ME30 were a set of CAD applications developed by HP in the 1980s originally for HP 9000 200 computers. HP ME10 was CAD in 2D while ME30 was 3D solid modeling, both were separate programs. They were ported in the 1990s to PA-RISC and became a mainstay for HP’s MCAD offerings – ME10 was used well into the 2000s.
HP ME10 was used for 2D design, drafting and documentation [with] a user guidance system for fast accurate specifications of geometry, the capability to capture inherent geometric relationships, and the ability to ensure automatic and precise updates.
HP ME30 in turn was an integrated modeling, design and drafting system [with] a smooth progression from 2D to 3D modeling.
PE/SolidDesigner was the follow-on HP 3D offering, based on a new 3D kernel, to which HP MDD transitioned ME30 customers until 1994-95.
ME10, ME30 and SolidDesigner were developed by HP MDD in the 1980s and supported HP-UX since then; ports to PA-RISC followed in the early-1990s. There were a few non-HP Unix ports and Windows NT and 2000 support, but HP-UX stayed the main platform until the mid-2000s.
HP’s Mechanical Design Division was spun-off from HP in 1996 as CoCreate, later bought by PTC. ME30 was EOLed in 1999 (not Y2K-compliant), while ME10 was renamed to OneSpace Designer Drafting and SolidDesigner to OneSpace Designer Modelling. MDD products were used internally at HP well into the 2000s to develop and design devices.
PA-RISC Computers and Unix Timeline
The overall timeline of PA-RISC computers and operating systems – in four phases, starting in 1986 with early PA-RISC 1.0 computers through growth and maturity in the RISC era of the 1990s until the decline of PA-RISC and failed transition to Itanium in the 2000s.
PA-RISC Infancy Growth Maturity Decline Year 86 87 88 89 90 91 92 93 94 95 96 97 98 99 00 01 02 03 04 05 06 07 08 09 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 HP 9000 500 ∆ ∆ 600 ∆ ∆ 700 ∆ ∆ ∆ ∆ ∆ 740 ∏ ∏ ∏ 800 █ █ █ █ █ █ DN ∆ A-Class ∏ ∏ B-Class ∆ ∆ ∆ ∆ C-Class ∆ ∆ ∆ ∆ ∆ ∆ ∆ D-Class █ █ E-Class █ █ FGHI-Class █ █ █ J-Class ∆ ∆ ∆ ∆ ∆ ∆ K-Class █ █ █ █ L-Class ∏ ∏ N-Class ∏ R-Class ∏ rp ∏ ∏ ∏ ∏ ∏ ∏ ∏ ∏ rx ∏ ∏ ∏ ∏ ∏ SuperDome ∏ ∏ ∏ ∏ ∏ T-Class ∏ ∏ ∏ V-Class ∏ ∏ ∏ zx ∆ ∆ Year 86 87 88 89 90 91 92 93 94 95 96 97 98 99 00 01 02 03 04 05 06 07 08 09 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 Design 32-bit Early ASP LASI U2 64-bit Astro Stretch Cell zx1 CPUs 32-bit TS-1 PCX NS-1 NS-2 PA-7000 PA-7100 PA-7100LC PA-7200 PA-7300LC 64-bit PA-8000 PA-8200 PA-8500 PA-8600 PA-8700 PA-8800 PA-8900 Itanium [PA-WideWord] Itanium 86 87 88 89 90 91 92 93 94 95 96 97 98 99 00 01 02 03 04 05 06 07 08 09 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 OS HP-UX █░░█░░█░░█░░█░░█░░█░░░░░░░░█░░█░░█░░░░░░░░█░░█░░█░░░░░░░░█░░░░░█░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░ NeXTSTEP ░░░█░░ SPP-UX █░░░░░░░░░░░█░░░░░░░ VOS,FTX █░░░░░░░░░░░█░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░ HPBSD █░░█░░░░░░░░█░░ Mach 3 ░░ Mach 4 ░░░░░░█░░ OSF/1 ░░█░░ ░░█░░█░░█░░ MkLinux ░░░░░ Linux ░░░░░░░░░░░░█░░░░░░░░█░░█░░█░░█░░█░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░ OpenBSD ░░░░░░░░░░░░█░░█░░█░░█░░█░░█░░█░░█░░█░░█░░█░░█░░█░░█░░█░░█░░█░░█░░█░░█░░█░░█░ NetBSD ░░░░░█░░█░░ █░░█░░ █░░█ ░░░░░░█░░█░░█░░█░░█░░█░░█░░█░ QEMU ░░█░░░░░░░░░░░█░░█░░█░ HP-RT ░█░░█░░░░░░░░█░░ Windows NT ░░░░░░ NetWare ░░░░░░░░░░░ 86 87 88 89 90 91 92 93 94 95 96 97 98 99 00 01 02 03 04 05 06 07 08 09 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 OpenPA ░█░░█░░░░█░░█░░█░░ █░░ ░░ ░░ ░░ ░░ ░░░░░░█░ OS: █ major release; ░ support and development HP 9000: ∆ workstation; █ server; ∏ rack
The story of HP PA-RISC computers is covered at HP 9000 PA-RISC History, also split into the four PA-RISC phases Infancy, Growth, Maturity and Decline over two decades from 1986 to 2007. PA-RISC processors lineage is covered at PA-RISC Processors History with separate articles on PA-RISC Design and PA-RISC Operating Systems History.
OpenPA itself started at the end of PA-RISC’s Maturity phase, which was also the tail end of the 90s RISC era. Most fundamental HP 9000 PA-RISC information was documented here during the latter’s long Decline during the 2000s, with much more information added and maintained long after PA-RISC was EOL.
AutoCAD on HP-UX
AutoCAD is a 2D and 3D CAD software solution, developed and sold by AutoDesk sind the early 1980s.
AutoCAD was conceived for mechanical design engineers and later extended to architects and other professions that use CAD.
In the 1980s, AutoCAD was the first CAD program in the world to run on a PC.
Originally designed for PCs with MS-DOS and Macintosh – The IBM PC version was what enabled the company to shift into high gear.
– AutoCAD was ported to Unix in the 1990s with limited success and market acceptance (less than 10% of sales
).
First AutoCAD Unix releases were in the late 1980s.
AutoCAD supported HP-UX and PA-RISC possibly in releases AutoCAD 11 (1990), AutoCAD 12 (1992) and AutoCAD 13 (1994), before AutoDesk cancelled Unix releases after 1994. AutoCAD focused on PCs and later Windows and MacOS, with the Windows version often lagging the main release for a bit during the early 1990s.
There were a few oddball ports of AutoCAD during the 80s and 90s – AutoCAD on Digital Ultrix and VMS, on Sun 386i and Apollo AEGIS, which all were not overly successful.
I-DEAS CAD/CAM on HP-UX
I-DEAS was a CAD and mechanical design automation (MDA) software developed in the early 1980s by SDRC, Structural Dynamics Research Corporation. Originally developed as Integrated Design and Engineering Analysis Software, I-DEAS and SDRC were part of several mergers and acquisitions in the 2000s and sold to EDS in 2001, merged into Unigraphics NX, another CAD product, in 2002 and eventually sold to Siemens and renamed Siemens PLM or Siemens Digital Industries Software.
SDRC I-DEAS contained very diverse applications and products, centered around mechanical design and often used in the automotive sector such as Ford Motor in the mid-1990s.
Performance of 3D CAD on early-1990s RISC workstations was still limited though – The 3-D CAD programs are slow. [...] I-deas on IBM RISC System/6000 workstations under AIX are only adequate in terms of speed.
(Byte 1992)
Early releases of I-DEAS ran mostly on DEC VAX and PDP-11 servers with the rest consisting of a few IBM and Apollo installations, with ports to Unix and RISC started in the mid-1980s. I-DEAS on IBM RT-PC (ROMP) was apparently one of the first RISC ports, followed by early HP-UX in the late-1980s and PA-RISC in the early- to mid-1990s. HP-UX on PA-RISC was supported in I-DEAS well until 2001 and the integration with Unigraphics NX.
CATIA computer-aided design on HP-UX Unix
CATIA from Dassault Systems is a CAD, CAM and CAE software suite that has been released in many different versions since the early 1980s. Originally developed for aircraft design, it was released as CATIA (Computer-Aided Three-Dimensional Interactive Application) in 1981.
CATIA was ported to Unix and RISC computers in the late 1980s (first IBM RT-PC, then RS/6000) in version 3, with version 4 ported to PA-RISC among other in the mid-1990s. CATIA V4 was used widely in the 1990s and 2000 on PA-RISC HP-UX systems for product development, design and engineering.
HP-UX and PA-RISC was supported at least in CATIA V4 (1996) and CATIA V5 (1999), with the last release possibly CATIA V5R19 in 2008. Unix workstations were CATIA-certified, with at least HP 9000 712 and 715, 735 and J200 PA-RISC workstations supported in V4, and newer 32-bit and 64-bit HP Visualize workstations in V5.
HP had a dedicated team and website for CATIA on HP-UX, with regular events, publications for HP 9000 and HP-UX and tests and certications. However it seems CATIA was not the preferred CAD system on PA-RISC and HP-UX, with others like HP ME10/ME30 and AutoCAD much more widely.
Operating systems and Unix software history
Different operating systems have been developed for PA-RISC computers since their inception in 1986, most of them Unix or Unix-like. Conceived as an Unix platform, PA-RISC supported many commercial, research and open source systems and was intensively during the 1990s with technical Unix software.
PA-RISC operating system history started in 1986 with Unix and HP’s own HP-UX. Early PA-RISC operating systems until the early 1990s were commercial Unix and BSD, followed by an expansion of the PA-RISC ecosystem to platforms such as Mach, OSF/1 and experiments like Windows NT and NetWare. Open source with Linux and BSD really started only in the 2000s during the commercial decline of PA-RISC – supported until today.
PA-RISC computers were used in the heydays of the 1990s for technical computing and design, with a plethora of Unix software suites: CAD/CAM, engineering, mathematics but also office, DTP and emulation. Most of this commercial software was developed and used during the 1990s maturity of PA-RISC and Unix.
Infancy Growth Maturity Decline
Year 86 87 88 89 90 91 92 93 94 95 96 97 98 99 00 01 02 03 04 05 06 07 08 09 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24
HP-UX █▒▒█▒▒█▒▒█▒▒█▒▒█▒▒█▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒█▒▒█▒▒█▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒█▒▒█▒▒█▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒█▒▒▒▒▒█▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒
NeXTSTEP ▒▒▒█▒▒
SPP-UX █▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒█▒▒▒▒▒▒▒
VOS,FTX █▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒█▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒
HPBSD █▒▒█▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒█▒▒
Mach 3 ▒▒
Mach 4 ▒▒▒▒▒▒█▒▒
OSF/1 ▒▒█▒▒ ▒▒█▒▒█▒▒█▒▒
MkLinux ▒▒▒▒▒
Linux ▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒█▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒█▒▒█▒▒█▒▒█▒▒█▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒
OpenBSD ▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒█▒▒█▒▒█▒▒█▒▒█▒▒█▒▒█▒▒█▒▒█▒▒█▒▒█▒▒█▒▒█▒▒█▒▒█▒▒█▒▒█▒▒█▒▒█▒▒█▒▒█▒▒█▒
NetBSD ▒▒▒▒▒█▒▒█▒▒ █▒▒█▒▒ █▒▒█ ▒▒▒▒▒▒█▒▒█▒▒█▒▒█▒▒█▒▒█▒▒█▒▒█▒
QEMU ▒▒█▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒█▒▒█▒▒█▒
DTP
FrameMaker █▒▒█▒▒█▒▒▒▒▒█▒▒█▒▒▒▒▒█▒▒▒▒▒█▒▒▒▒▒█▒▒▒▒▒█▒▒
Interleaf ▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒█▒▒▒▒▒█▒▒█▒▒█▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒█▒▒▒▒▒
ArborText █▒▒█▒▒█▒▒█▒▒█▒▒
Adobe Acrobat █▒▒▒▒▒█▒▒
Reader █▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒█▒▒▒▒▒█▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒█▒▒
WebWorks █▒▒█▒▒▒▒▒█▒▒█▒▒█▒▒
DynaText █▒▒█▒▒█▒▒
CAD
I-DEAS ▒??▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒??▒▒▒▒█▒▒▒▒▒█▒▒█▒▒█▒▒█▒▒█▒▒█▒▒█▒▒ (NX)
CATIA █▒▒▒▒▒█▒▒▒▒▒█▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒█
AutoCAD ▒▒█▒▒▒▒▒█▒▒▒▒▒█▒▒
Nastran █▒▒▒▒▒▒▒█▒▒▒▒▒▒█▒▒▒▒▒█▒▒▒▒▒█▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒█▒▒█▒▒▒▒▒█▒▒█▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒█▒▒
Patran █▒▒█▒▒█▒▒█▒▒▒▒▒█▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒█▒▒█▒▒█▒▒█▒▒▒▒█▒▒▒▒█▒
ME10/ME30 █▒▒▒▒▒█▒▒▒▒▒█▒▒█▒▒█▒▒█▒▒█▒▒█▒▒█▒▒▒▒??
and more
Office
CorelDRAW █▒▒█▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒█▒▒
WordPerfect ▒??▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒█▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒█▒▒█▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒█▒▒
Ami Pro █▒▒
Applixware █▒▒
IslandOffice ▒▒█▒▒▒▒▒▒▒??▒▒▒▒▒█▒▒
Lotus 1-2-3 ▒??▒▒▒█▒▒
Wingz █▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒█▒▒
Emulation
MAE █▒▒█▒▒
SoftWindows █▒▒█▒▒█▒▒▒▒▒█▒▒
Wabi █▒▒█▒▒█▒▒
Liken █▒▒
Internet
Mosaic █▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒█▒▒
Netscape █▒▒█▒▒█▒▒█▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒█▒▒█▒▒█▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒█▒▒
Mozilla ▒▒▒▒▒▒??▒
Firefox █▒▒█▒▒█▒▒▒▒▒█▒▒
Internet Explorer █▒▒▒▒▒█▒▒▒▒▒█▒▒
Lotus Notes █▒▒█▒▒█▒▒█▒▒▒▒▒█▒▒
Year 86 87 88 89 90 91 92 93 94 95 96 97 98 99 00 01 02 03 04 05 06 07 08 09 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24
█ major release
▒ support and development
Operating systems and Unix software timeline for HP-UX from 1986 to 2024 (incomplete)
PA-RISC against Cray Supercomputers
PA-RISC started its life as conservative RISC design for Unix computing in the 1980s. Performance in the early years was on par with other RISC and Unix platforms, but in the 90s, PA-RISC grew into a fast technical RISC platform with 64-bit PA-8000 CPUs.
But supercomputers?
HP used PA-RISC’s floating-point prowess and the newly-acquired Convex Exemplar technology to compete with massively-parallel and vector supercomputers from Cray and its RISC competitors. HP PA-RISC was often faster than other parallel RISC platforms but still slower than vector computers, in Linpack MFLOPS.
Notably, a HP 9000 735/125 workstation from 1991 was as fast as a Cray-1S supercomputer from 1979, while a HP 9000 K460 from 1996 was faster than a Cray Y-MP EL from 1992. At the top end in the late-1990s, Cray T90 and SV1 vector computers were still much faster than comparable HP V-Class offerings based on Convex Exemplar and 64-bit PA-RISC.
And the 1980s Cray computers were seriously fast.
| Computer | Processor | Year | Linpack TPP Rmax |
|
|---|---|---|---|---|
| HP 9000 V2600 | 32 PA-8500 552 MHz 16 PA-8500 552 MHz |
1999 1999 |
9068 |
36.01 20.45 |
| HP 9000 V2500 | 32 PA-8500 440 MHz 16 PA-8500 440 MHz |
1998 1998 |
8217 |
31.59 17.47 |
| HP 9000 N4000 | 8 PA-8600 550 MHz | 1999 | 7762 | 12.37 |
| HP 9000 V2250 | 16 PA-8200 240 MHz | 1998 | 5935 | 10.65 |
| HP 9000 V2200 | 16 PA-8200 200 MHz | 1997 | 4832 | 9.20 |
| HP X-Class Convex SPP2000 |
64 PA-8000 180 MHz 16 PA-8000 180 MHz |
1997 1997 |
4609 |
27.56 7.78 |
| Convex SPP1600 | 32 PA-7200 120 MHz 8 PA-7200 120 MHz |
1996 1996 |
934 |
5.45 1.45 |
| Convex SPP1000 | 64 PA-7100 100 MHz 8 PA-7100 100 MHz |
1994 1994 |
751 |
6.19 1.01 |
| HP Visualize C240 | 1 PA-8200 236 MHz | 1997 | 667 | |
| Convex SPP1200 | 32 PA-7200 120 MHz 8 PA-7200 120 MHz |
1996 1996 |
656 |
3.96 1.02 |
| HP 9000 K460 | 1 PA-8000 180 MHz | 1996 | 510 | |
| HP 9000 735/125 | 1 PA-7150 125 MHz | 1992 | 120 | |
| HP 9000 750 | 1 PA-7000 66 MHz | 1991 | 49 | |
| System | Processor | Year | Linpack TPP Rmax |
|
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Cray T90 T932 | 32 Cray ECL 450 MHz | 1995 | 29360 | 61.80 |
| Cray SV1 | 24 Cray CMOS 300 MHz | 1998 | 10420 | 38.31 |
| AlphaServer 8400 | 32 Alpha 21164 625 MHz 16 Alpha 21164 625 MHz 8 Alpha 21164 625 MHz |
1998 1998 1998 |
3608 |
17.96 9.59 |
| SGI Origin 2000 | 32 R12000 300 MHz 16 R12000 300 MHz |
1998 1998 |
3970 |
15.77 8.71 |
| Sun Starfire | 28 Sun UltraSPARC-II 333 32 Sun UltraSPARC-II 300 |
1997 1997 |
5187 |
15.66 |
| AlphaServer ES40 | 4 Alpha 21264 667 MHz | 2000 | 3804 | 4.11 |
| IBM RS/6000 SP | 4 POWER3 375 MHz | 2000 | 3700 | 4.64 |
| Sun Enterprise 6k | 16 Sun UltraSPARC 250 | 1996 | 3493 | 7.21 |
| Cray-2/4-256 | 4 Cray ECL 243 MHz | 1985 | 1226 | |
| Cray Y-MP M98 | 4 Cray ECL 166 MHz | 1992 | 1114 | |
| Cray C90 | 1 Cray 238 MHz | 1991 | 902 | 2.92 |
| Cray X-MP/416 | 4 Cray ECL 117 MHz | 1986 | 822 | |
| Intel DELTA | 512 Intel i860 MHz | 1991 | 446 | 13.9 |
| Cray Y-MP EL | 4 Cray CMOS 33 MHz | 1992 | 345 | |
| nCUBE 2 | 512 nCUBE 20 MHz | 1989 | 204 | 0.95 |
| CDC CYBER 205 | 4-pipe ECL | 1981 | 195 | |
| Cray X-MP | 1 Cray ECL 100 MHz | 1982 | 184 | |
| Cray-1S | 1 Cray ECL 80 MHz | 1979 | 110 | |
| CDC 7600 | 1 CDC 36 MHz | 1969 | 10 | |
| CDC 6600 | 1 CDC 10 MHz | 1964 | 4 | |
CAD/CAM on HP-UX: MSC Nastran and Patran
CAD, CAM and CAE applications for computer-aided design, manufacturing and engineering were one of the main use cases for PA-RISC and HP 9000 computers. In the 1990s, mainstream RISC workstations became powerful enough for serious technical computing with applications like I-DEAS, CATIA, Unigraphics, HP ME10 and MSC/Nastran and Patran.
PA-RISC processors had strong floating point performance, making them a prime CAE platform. During the mid-1990s, companies moved from supercomputers and mainframe, host-based CAD/CAM solutions on IBM System 370/390 and Cray to distributed Unix client-server models.
The market leader in CAE was, for considerable time
MSC Software, MacNeal-Schwendler Corporation.
MSC developed structural analysis software with roots in the 1960s space and airplane industry, when MSC and NASA co-developed NASTRAN.
MSC ported applications like Nastran, Patran, Marc and Dytran and from Cray to Unix including to HP-UX and HP 9000.
MSC.Nastran is a finite element analysis (FEA) software, used for Structural Analysis, Thermal Analysis, and Optimization,
the core product of MSC for a long time.
Nastran was used for the analysis of stress, vibration, and heat in automobiles, airplanes and structures and supported HP-UX and PA-RISC between 1991 and 2021 in many versions, including on HP Visualize workstations and HP 9000 V-Class scalar servers.
Patran, bought by MSC in 1994, is a 3-D mechanical computer aided-engineering (MCAE) solution, used in CAE for for linking engineering design, analysis, and results evaluation functions.
As companion product and pre/post-processor to Nastran, Patran supported HP 9000 and HP-UX at least between 1996 and 2011, with a brief Itanium interlude.
HP 9000 800 Nova Business Class Servers
HP Nova servers were archetypical HP 9000 800 PA-RISC servers from the early 1990s, when HP 9000 workstations and servers had very divergent system designs.
Nova F, G, H and I Class were business-oriented PA-RISC servers, designed by the HP Technical Server division with 32-bit PA-7000 and PA-7100 processors.
They were used as multifunction or dedicated network servers for applications, databases and communications.
The smaller 807S server (F10) was designed by HP Böblingen R&D in Germany, when the need for low-end models for value-added resellers became apparent in Europe. HP Böblingen had taken over low-end UNIX server system R&D during that time.
HP 9000 Nova servers used modified HP ASP chipset with HP Viper memory controller, interfacing the processor to memory and HP-PB I/O bus. System I/O is implemented on so-called HP-PB Personality Boards with separate I/O devices and chips.
The only operating system for HP 9000 Nova servers was HP-UX, there were no other operating systems since the architecture was proprietary and never publically documented.
Nova servers were suceeded by E Class servers with PA-7100LC that shared F Class cases and some of the proprietary I/O design. Many Nova servers became available second-hand in the 2000s at bargain prices, since few follow-on use cases were possible for the cumbersome machines with limited software options but HP-UX.
Operating systems history on PA-RISC
Many different Unix and non-Unix operating systems have been developed for PA-RISC computers since their inception. PA-RISC operating system history starts with Unix in 1986: HP’s own HP-UX, still shipped today. Several Unix, Mach and other architectures have been ported to PA-RISC over the years, some open, some commercial, some closed.
The Infancy of PA-RISC operating systems from 1986 to 1991 featured mostly commercial Unix systems. This was followed by a short Growth in the PA-RISC ecosystem between 1991 and 1993 where PA-RISC expanded to other platforms such as Mach, OSF/1 and some commercial experiments (like Windows NT and NetWare).
Maturity of PA-RISC operating system was achieved from 1994 to the turn of the century, when PA-RISC extended its support to many different architectures from Unix, stable Mach and OSF/1 to novel platforms like HP-RT, mainframe systems and first open source. PA-RISC systems started their eventual Decline in 2000, after HP and others started their move to Itanium processors. Operating systems on PA-RISC stagnated and many were discontinued in the early 2000s, but finally open source on PA-RISC took off mid-2000s.
| Infancy |Growth| Maturity | Decline
Year 86 87 88 89 90 91 92 93 94 95 96 97 98 99 00 01 02 03 04 05 06 07 08 09 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24
HP-UX █▒▒█▒▒█▒▒█▒▒█▒▒█▒▒█▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒█▒▒█▒▒█▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒█▒▒█▒▒█▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒█▒▒▒▒▒█▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒
NeXTSTEP ▒▒▒█▒▒
SPP-UX █▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒█▒▒▒▒▒▒▒
VOS, FTX █▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒█▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒
HPBSD █▒▒█▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒█▒▒
Mach 3 ▒▒
Mach 4 ▒▒▒▒▒▒█▒▒
OSF/1 ▒▒█▒▒ ▒▒█▒▒█▒▒█▒▒
MkLinux ▒▒▒▒▒
Linux ▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒█▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒█▒▒█▒▒█▒▒█▒▒█▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒
OpenBSD ▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒█▒▒█▒▒█▒▒█▒▒█▒▒█▒▒█▒▒█▒▒█▒▒█▒▒█▒▒█▒▒█▒▒█▒▒█▒▒█▒▒█▒▒█▒▒█▒▒█▒▒█▒▒█▒
NetBSD ▒▒▒▒▒█▒▒█▒▒ █▒▒█▒▒ █▒▒█ ▒▒▒▒▒▒█▒▒█▒▒█▒▒█▒▒█▒▒█▒▒█▒▒█▒
QEMU ▒▒█▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒█▒▒█▒▒█▒
HP-RT ▒█▒▒█▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒█▒▒
Windows NT ▒▒▒▒▒▒
NetWare ▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒
Year 86 87 88 89 90 91 92 93 94 95 96 97 98 99 00 01 02 03 04 05 06 07 08 09 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24
█ major release
▒ support and development
Adobe Acrobat on HP-UX
Adobe ported its Acrobat PDF products to Unix quite early in the mid-1990s with multple Unix platforms supported by the Acrobat PDF creator. Support in Acrobat Reader for viewing PDFs was added later. Acrobat and Reader were available for HP-UX on PA-RISC until the mid-2000s:
Acrobat Reader supported PA-RISC for around ten years, starting with Acrobat Reader 3.0 (1996) on HP-UX 9.03, followed by Acrobat Reader 4.0 (2000) for HP-UX 9 and higher, already in PA-RISC’s twilight years. Next was Acrobat Reader 5.0 (2002), only belatedly ported to HP-UX 10.20 and 11.0 and the final Acrobat Reader 7.0 (2006), also ported late to HP-UX 11i.
Acrobat Reader for HP-UX skipped version 6.0 and it seems all ’newer’ versions like 8.1 (2007), 9.0 (2008) and up were never ported to PA-RISC, despite reports stating that.
Adobe Acrobat, the PDF creation suite, supported HP-UX on PA-RISC in at least two versions, consisting of Exchange, Distiller, Reader and Search with several Type 1 fonts. First was Acrobat 2.0 (1994), the first Unix version which included HP-UX support on HP 9000, followed by Acrobat 3.0 (1996) which ran on HP-UX 9.03 on PA-RISC and above with HP VUE.
Internet Browsers on HP-UX
PA-RISC workstations were popular in the 1990s heydays of Unix, a time that predates the modern graphical Internet and web browsers a bit. Later, in the 2000s, PA-RISC computers were used even more in specialized niches, in which Internet access did not feature highly. Thus there have been almost no modern browsers available since.
The main protagonists of the early web were available on HP-UX: Firefox, Netscape and Internet Explorer, besides the well known text-based Unix browsers. Support for more modern browsers tapered off in the mid-2000s and few viable options remain to browse the modern web with Internet Browsers on HP-UX.
Mosaic: The original NCSA Mosaic GUI browser was available early on Unix platforms with X Windows, with HP-UX support in Mosaic 1.0 (1993) until Mosaic 2.8 (1996). Mosaic was superseded by Netscape in the mid-1990s.
Netscape: The venerable Netscape Navigator and Communicator were available as binary products for HP-UX. Netscape supported PA-RISC in versions 1.0 to 4.7 and 4.8 between 1994 and 2002 for HP-UX 10.20, 11.00 and 11.11. Netscape 6 and 7 (2001 to 2006) were later also available for HP-UX 11.00 and 11.11, based on Mozilla Gecko.
Mozilla was available with source code instructions and as binary package in the late-1990s until the early-2000s for HP-UX 11.22, 11.00 and 10.20, provided by two specialized projects to port Mozilla to Unix.
Internet Explorer: Microsoft ported its browser very early to Unix as commercial product Internet Explorer for UNIX. Two version of IE were shipped, Internet Explorer 4 (1997) for HP-UX 10.20 and Internet Explorer 5 (1999) for HP-UX 10.20 and 11.00. There was even an Internet Explorer 5 SP1 in 2001.
Firefox: HP provided a free, commercial package of the Firefox browser for HP-UX 11i, from at least Firefox 1.5.0.4 (2006) to Firefox 3.5.9 (2010), which was the last modern browser for HP-UX PA-RISC.
