HP 3000 No More

From: Stan Sieler <sieler_at_allegro.com>
Date: Sat Nov 17 15:04:55 2001

Re:
> See my earlier post about how they started back in '73;

1972, but the actual "start" date is hard to pin down. Was it first
introduction, or the re-introduction (after it was pulled off the market)?

I have an "Alpha External Reference Specification" on my desk at the
moment ... it's not mine :( ... and it's dated 1971-09-22.
(It's the "instruction set" manual for the HP 3000.)

> 16 bit, virtual mem, multi-cpu capable, hardware stack for fast

The 16-bit HP 3000 was never multi-CPU. The HP 3000 Series III, introduced
in 1978, *did* have one instruction that was intended to support
having a second CPU, but nothing was ever done with it. The multiple-CPU
support came with the PA-RISC system, with release MPE XL 3.0

> context switching; very oriented towards time sharing. Now MPE
> runs on PA-RISC; I don't know what the architecture of
> HP3000 was in the 80's and until they started to use
> PA-RISC. Does anybody know when it became 32bit?

November, 1986, was the first customer shipment of any PA-RISC based
computer, the HP 9000/840. It was followed very quickly (a month?)
by the HP 3000/930 (same hardware), and shortly by the HP 3000/950 and then
the same-hardware HP 9000/850.

The 9000/840 & 3000/930 had a clock speed of 8 MHz.
The 9000/850 & 3000/950 had a clock speed of about 13.7 MHz.
Stan Sieler sieler_at_allegro.com
www.allegro.com/sieler/wanted/index.html www.allegro.com/sieler
Received on Sat Nov 17 2001 - 15:04:55 GMT