Path: utzoo!utgpu!news-server.csri.toronto.edu!cs.utexas.edu!sdd.hp.com!hplabs!hpcc05!hp-ptp!bmp
From: bmp@hp-ptp.HP.COM (Brian M. Perkin)
Newsgroups: comp.sys.hp
Subject: Re: HP 3000 Series 37
Message-ID: <1320057@hp-ptp.HP.COM>
Date: 6 Mar 91 03:35:12 GMT
References: <526@lysator.liu.se>
Organization: HP Pacific Technology Park - Sunnyvale, Ca.
Lines: 28

Peter, you have acquired an entry level HP business computer. I was on the
development team for it several years ago. It had a 16 bit memory adressing
scheme, full stack architecture, full powerfail and recovery hardware, and
firmware support for a segmented virtual memory scheme. It was the first 
HP multi-user business computer that passed the FCC requirements for 
installation in an office. I have never heard of anyone porting UNIX to
it or any of the 16 bit architecture classic HP 3000's. There are commercially
available C compilers, although if you really want access to the
full rich intruction set, you really want to get an SPL compiler
which was/is the language that most fully exploits the 
instruction set. You also will need an instruction set manual and
a theory of operation manual whose official name escapes me and is 
probably out of print. I have seen some Unix-like tools ported to the
system, I don't know if any ever became commercial products.

Practically speaking, making it run unix will be a very big job. It
will be a major intellectual challenge suitable for a master's project
for a group of people. The I/O system is very different than what you
would find under the typical unix system. Redoing the drivers is a very
big job.

Newer, HP Risc based systems can run both UNIX and our MPE-XL operating
system as well. We never did that with the 3000 architecture.

Good luck.

Brian Perkin
Cooperative Object Computing Division