HP 712/60 UNIX Workstation Unboxing and First Run
ฝัง
- เผยแพร่เมื่อ 7 ก.ย. 2024
- I was looking for a machine that could run NEXTSTEP and also for a workstation that would use less power... Next machines are very expensive and, compared to this gem, also very slow.
So here we have, folks: a 712 to run both HP-UX and NEXTSTEP, and continue with my projects.
Let's unbox it and test it!
Mind that it was suuuuuper slow to boot it, so I cut a lot of the video.
Nice! I used one back in the 90s, and about 10 years ago I got one for hobbyist use - definitely one of my favourite workstations. I have a 712/100 (which can take 192Mb RAM), and I have a VRAM card (more graphics mode options) and mine has the rare GIO card with breakout cable for an extra ethernet and serial port, and even the stand for vertical use. The official floppy drive and bezel is really hard to find it seems. HP also sold nice external CDROM, HDD and Tape units that match the style of case of the main machine.
Be very careful with those plastic retainer tabs at the back - one of mine eventually broke just from fairly occasional/normal use. Also be careful changing it to run via serial console - back in the 90s if you got the setting wrong a HP tech had to come and fix it.
It can certainly run HP-UX 9, 10.x, 11 and 11i v1 (2001.12 is the last 11i version that officially mentioned support for it, but maybe later versions still work). I found 11i is too slow (even on the max hw configuration) and 11 is more usable. I think 10.20 is the best HP-UX option for it. You can also install WABI and MAE emulators for even more retro experiences. NeXT is nice on it too. Debian runs OK but is not as interesting as HP-UX or NeXT.
Thanks for the precious tips! I was actually going to play with the serial console possibility but now I will pass it. =)
One tab, as you could see, is gone. I think the seller just glued it, because it came off as soon as I slide the top case in place. I can probably fix it, but it's a shame. Anyway... I won't blame 30 years of plastic for failing.
I plan to open the workstation later today to inspect the capacitors.
I have 11v1 in my C8000 so I think I don't need it. I may install 9 just to have a taste of VUE and play a bit with the old legacy APIs (or, since I have all the development tools for 11v1, install it instead and build the demos). I will most probably get something like a SCSI2SD and dual boot nextstep and HP-UX 9 or 10.
I have Debian installed in my C8000, fully up-to-date, but, honestly, it's a bit besides the point - I'd maybe set a space C8000 as a very inefficient webserver someday, but it's hard to justify.
Or perhaps I will get a later Visualize workstation to run the graphics APIs and really keep this machine as a NEXTSTEP box, will see...
Any idea where I could get WABI? And, if I may ask, what did you use it for professionally back in the day (if not classified and if you are willing to share)
@@Shiunbird You can change the serial console setting, but just be really careful - if you set it wrong its a big problem to get into firmware and fix it. HPUX 9 is BSD derived, so quite different to later versions (e.g. system administration). There might also be Y2k issues. HPUX is SysV style and has VUE, and definitely has patches for Y2k. SCSI2SD is ideal - you have try them both as you say, and the system will be almost silent when operating.
I have a HP c3750 and that is great if you want a fast VISUALIZE system that supports several later HPUX versions (unlike the C8000). If you can find one, HP 715/100XC is one of the best options with support for NeXT on PARISC as it has 256Mb RAM and 1Mb cache, but the HP 712 will be fine for running it too. I think WABI and MAE could be installed from some version of the HP-UX 10.20 application discs (unsecured version), but its been so long I don't remember for sure. SoftPC/SoftWindows was also released for HP-UX, but licences will be a problem to source.
We had a variety of HP M68k and PARISC systems running most of a factory - databases, serving files and communicating via serial lines with stations doing soldering, visual PCB verification, firmware programming, product labels, shipping labels, laser etching machines, box packaging machines etc. Servers like F/K-Class for the back end (e.g. databases), 800 series and 715s for print/file serving, and serving boot files and control interfaces for Xterminals on each production line, and 712s and Envizex Xterminals for development/administration, email (ZMail) and docs (FrameMaker).
@@ed-jh4om Wow - this is golden information, thank you!
I will be abroad for a couple of weeks so I may not have time to get the system fully set before July, but I am very much looking forward to it!
Ah classic Seagate bearing whine. Worked with 712/60 and 712/80 in 90s. Used one as the first web server at the university.
These HP/UX machines are not that expensive like a NeXT, but also not cheap. Thanks for the showcase :)
My pleasure! I will get it up to its potential during the next months, and am also planning to get another PA-RISC box, something a bit newer that I could use to demo the graphics APIs and HP's driving simulator (the C8000 only does OpenGL).
That's a beautiful machine. Congratulations! These workstations in pizza box format where the dream machines of my youth and I'm happy that I was able to collect several ones now. PA/RISC was an amazing architecture. It is a shame it was killed by Itanium.
Oh, man, let's not even go there... Itanium was a bloodbath, and gave us nothing in return. It almost feels like a scam by Intel - the same kind of scam they did to get AMD on its knees, or Microsoft did to system builders that tried to ship something else with Windows.
Stay in tune. I actually started writing a few things to run in these machines (developing on my C8000), even with MAX instruction optimizations. It's actually quite hard to find things to run in HP-UX PA-RISC (I have already everything pre-built I could find on the Internet) but, as I get better with coding, I want to get a few things up and running to put HP-UX and NEXTSTEP through my daily driver challenge.
@@Shiunbird I'm looking forward to your upcoming C8000 test. Booting is incredible slow on this machine, but afterwards it seems to be very responsive. I'm very interested in some valid numbers about.
@@admirerofclassicalelectron2858 There is plenty about the C8000 already in my channel. But, if you are looking for benchmarks, I guess I could prepare something...
@@Shiunbird I know! You videos and some of your answers in a HP forum helped me a lot to setup my own C8000. Thank you! It's a little bit tricky to get the graphics card up and running without TCOE install media. But my current project is an older D380 server (dual PA8000 cpu) without any graphics capabilities.
@@admirerofclassicalelectron2858 Did you install a GPU?
Very cool!