Path: utzoo!utgpu!news-server.csri.toronto.edu!rutgers!att!cbnewsl!rl
From: rl@cbnewsl.att.com (roger.h.levy)
Newsgroups: comp.sys.hp
Subject: Re: HP2114B info
Summary: it's still viable
Message-ID: <1990Jun11.214908.25659@cbnewsl.att.com>
Date: 11 Jun 90 21:49:08 GMT
References: <2498@igloo.scum.com>
Distribution: usa
Organization: AT&T Bell Laboratories
Lines: 45

In article <2498@igloo.scum.com>, drew@igloo.scum.com (Mike Drew) writes:
> I am looking for information and manuals for the HP2114B computer.
> ... I think that the machine is around 22 years old, and it still works!
> ...
> Does anyone have said manual? Does anyone remember this machine? I would be
> interested in any info and/or components for this baby.

My email response bounced so I'm posting the reply - perhaps others are
interested ...

Unless I don't remember the model line nearly as well as I think I do, I don't
recall the 2114B being quite the antique you describe.  I think that model is
closer to 14 years old, uses RAM memory (not core), and is still actively used
in many places, especially military systems.  HP minicomputers of this class
(16 bit, 21XX instruction set, optimized for real-time applications) do date
back about 22 years but the grand-daddy was (I think!) called the 2116 - that
was core based with a maximum of 128 Kbytes of memory.

The 2114B is in a family that was at first called 21MX and later HP-1000.  This
is one of the heftier models with 14 expansion slots (i.e. the 14 in 2114) and
capable of supporting up to 2 Mbytes of memory.  The OS of choice is RTE-VI VM -
this is somewhat similar to old DEC operating systems like RT-11M.  Most of
these systems were programmed in Fortran (last compiler I knew of was Fortran-77
compliant).  Assembler, Pascal were also available from HP and a third party C
compiler (not very good!) is available.

You seem to be soliciting for donations of software and documentation.  From
the tone of your posting, I'm guessing you hope to get this for free on the
assumption that this dinosaur is extinct.  To the contrary, I've heard that HP
still supports this reliable workhorse and may continue to do so until the
next century!  I'd guess that software is still available but for a license
fee, e.g. 8 years ago, an OS license was about $5000, a compiler license about
$2000-$4000.

I can tell you much more since I worked with this very machine and its
predecessors for 10 years.  I also know of a few sites where old friends of
mine are still operating and writing new applications for it!  I also expect
you'll get other responses since this machine is still viable, and despite an
architecture that was outmoded when it was new, is highly respected for its
reliability.  There are lots of dealers who will pay you cash ($500?) if you
don't want it.

Roger Levy
...!att!groucho!rl
201-386-6641