About NetBSD/hp300

NetBSD/hp300 is the port of NetBSD to Hewlett-Packard 9000 Series 300 and 400 workstations. It runs on almost all workstations from this generation. Series 700 and 800 workstations are supported by NetBSD/hppa.

NetBSD/hp300 is based on work done by David P. Davis at the University of California, Berkeley and the Systems Programming Group at the University of Utah Department of Computer Science, beginning in the mid-80's. It was imported into the NetBSD source tree on May 13, 1993. Special thanks are extended to David and the Systems Programming Group for their work. Without it, the port would not exist.

hp300 FAQ

Release Info

• NetBSD/hp300 10.1 via download
• NetBSD/hp300 10.1 ISO
• NetBSD/hp300 10.1 INSTALL notes
• NetBSD/hp300 10.0 pre-built binary packages from pkgsrc
• NetBSD/hp300 10.0 changes
• NetBSD/hp300 11.0 changes

Mailing List

The NetBSD/hp300 mailing list, covering NetBSD's port to hp300 machine: [ subscribe | archive ]

Mail the NetBSD/hp300 port maintainer

Supported Hardware

Most systems with 68020, 68030, or 68040 are supported in NetBSD/hp300 (this excludes the 310). You will need to set up a serial console on machines with unsupported framebuffers.

The minimal configuration for a NetBSD/hp300 system requires 4M of RAM and about 40M of disk space. For a full installation (including source and X11), at least 8M of RAM and 200M of disk space are recommended.

Supported Systems

• 320
• 318, 319, 330
• 332
• 340
• 350
• 360
• 362
• 370
• 345, 375
• 380
• 382
• 385
• 400s, 400t, 400dl
• 425s, 425t, 425dl
• 425e
• 433s, 433t, 433dl

Note: Series 400 machines must be configured in HP-UX Compatible Boot Mode. Follow these instructions in the FAQ.

Supported Hardware

Devices (driver names in parenthesis) supported by NetBSD/hp300 include (list may not be complete):

• CPUs:
  • 318 (16 MHz 68020, with built-in monochrome framebuffer, no expansion)
  • 319 (16 MHz 68020, with built-in 6 bit color framebuffer, no expansion)
  • 320 (16 MHz 68020, 16 KB L2 cache, up to 7.5 MB RAM)
    requires Human Interface board
  • 330 (16 MHz 68020, 4 MB on motherboard, up to 8 MB RAM)
    requires Human Interface board
  • 332 (16 MHz 68030, optional 68882, up to 8 MB RAM)
  • 340 (16 MHz 68030, up to 16 MB RAM)
  • 345 (50 MHz 68030 with 32 KB L2 cache, up to 128 MB RAM, built-in SCSI)
  • 350 (25 MHz 68020, 32 KB L2 cache, up to 48 MB RAM)
    requires Human Interface board
  • 360 (25 MHz 68030, with 4 MB RAM built-in, up to 16 MB RAM)
    requires System Interface board
  • 362 (25 MHz 68030, up to 16 MB RAM, built-in SCSI)
  • 370 (33 MHz 68030, 64 KB L2 cache, up to 48 MB RAM)
    requires System Interface board
  • 375 (50 MHz 68030 with 32 KB L2 cache, up to 128 MB RAM, built-in SCSI)
  • 380 (25 MHz 68040, up to 128 MB RAM, built-in SCSI)
  • 382 (25 MHz 68040, up to 32 MB RAM, built-in SCSI)
  • 385 (33 MHz 68040, up to 128 MB RAM, built-in SCSI)
  • 400s, 400t, 400dl (50 MHz 68030 with 32 KB L2 cache, built-in SCSI, up to 128 MB RAM)
  • 425s, 425t, 425dl (25 MHz 68040 with built-in SCSI, up to 128 MB RAM)
  • 425e (25 MHz 68040, up to 48 MB RAM, built-in SCSI)
    The BootROM does not support serial console. The NetBSD/hp300 bootloader and kernel will use the serial port for console if SERVICE/NORMAL switch on the back panel is turned to SERVICE position.
  • 433s, 433t, 433dl (33 MHz 68040 with built-in SCSI, up to 128 MB RAM)
• HP-IB devices (known working, possibly more):
  • 98624 HP-IB interface (DIO-I board or built-in) (nhpib)
  • 98625A and 98625B 'fast' HP-IB interface (DIO-I board or daughtercard for 98562) (fhpib)
  • CS80 Hard drives: 2200, 2202, 2203, 7908, 7911, 7912, 7914, 7933, 7936, 7937, 7941, 7945, 7946, 7957, 7958, and 7959 (rd)
    Emulated CS80 disks by HPDisk and HPDrive also work.
  • CS80 tape drives - Low density, 16 track (67 MB): 7912, 7914, 7946, and 9144 (ct)
    Cannot read or write 32 track tapes
  • CS80 tape drives - High density, 32 track (134 MB): 9145 (ct)
    Cannot write to 16 track tapes (only read)
  • Half-inch tape drives: 7974A, 7978A/B, 7979A, 7980A, and 7980XC (mt)
  • Printers and plotters: 7475, 7585, and ThinkJet (ppi)
  • Floppy drives: 9122, 9134 (possibly others) (rd)
    requires use of HP-UX LIF utilities via emulation
• SCSI devices:
  • 98265A SCSI interface (DIO-I board, daughtercard for 98562, or built-in) (spc)
  • All SCSI devices supported by machine-independent SCSI drivers.
• RS-232 serial interfaces (supports terminals, ppp, and printers/plotters):
  • built-in single serial port on System Interface board and Human Interface board (com)
  • built-in Apollo 4-port on Series 400 workstations (com)
  • 98638 8-port (DIO-II board, appears to kernel as two 98642 devices) (dcm)
  • 98642 4-port (DIO-I board) (dcm)
  • 98626, 98644 built-in or add-on (DIO-I board) single serial port (com)
• Network Interfaces:
  • 98643 built-in and add-on (DIO-I board) Ethernet cards (le)
• Graphics Devices (wsdisplay):
  • 98542 monochrome Topcat (512x400, 1 bit, DIO-II) (topcat)
  • 98543 color Topcat (512x400, 4 bit, DIO-II) (topcat)
  • 98544 monochrome Topcat (1024x768, 1 bit, DIO-II) (topcat)
  • 98545A color Topcat (1024x768, 4 bits, DIO-II) (topcat)
  • 98547 color Topcat (1024x768, 6 bits) (topcat)
  • 98548A monochrome Catseye (1024x768, 1 bit) (topcat)
  • 98549A color Catseye (1024x768, 6 bits) (topcat)
  • 98550A Catseye Hi-Res Color (a.k.a. CH) (1280x1024 @ 60 Hz, 8 bits, DIO-II) (topcat)
  • 98700 and 98710 Gatorbox (1280x1024 @ 60 Hz, 4 or 8 bits) (gbox)
    Requires 98287 (DIO-I board) to connect to workstation
  • 98720 and 98721 color Renaissance SRX (1280x1024 @ 60 Hz, 8, 12 or 24 bits) (rbox)
    Requires 98724 (DIO-I board) or 98725 (DIO-II board) to connect to workstation
  • 98730 and 98731 DaVinci TurboSRX (1280x1024 @ 60 Hz, 8, 16, or 24 bits) (dvbox)
    Requires 98726A (DIO-II board) to connect to workstation
  • A1096A monochrome Hyperion (1280x1024, 1 bit) (hyper)
  • A1416A Kathmandu (a.k.a. Color VRX) (1280x1024 @ 60 hz, 8 bits, DIO-II) (topcat)
  • A1659A CRX (1280x1024 @ 72 hz, 8 bits, SGC) (sti)
  • 98705 Tigershark PersonalVRX DIO-II graphics device (untested)
  • 362 and 382 built-in EVRX framebuffer (sti)
  • 425e built-in EVRX framebuffer (sti)
• HP-HIL devices:
  • Keyboards (hilkbd)
  • Two and three button mice (hilms)
  • M1309A Three button trackballs (hilms)
  • 46094 Quadrature Port (supports normal serial mice)
  • Graphics tablets
  • Dial boxes
  • ID modules (hilid)
• Miscellaneous boards/interfaces:
  • 98561 Human Interface board (DIO-I board with serial port, HP-HIL, and HP-IB)
  • 98562 System Interface board (DIO-II board with serial port, HP-HIL, HP-IB, DMA, and Ethernet, has optional fast HP-IB or SCSI daughterboard)
  • 98620 DMA card (DIO-I board, for use with 98561)
  • 98624 HP-IB interface (DIO-I board or built-in)
  • 98625A and 98625B 'fast' HP-IB interface (DIO-I board or daughtercard for 98562)
  • Apollo Domain keyboard and mouse on Series 400 workstations
  • ARCOFI audio device on 425e

Unsupported Hardware

The following HP workstations are not and will never be supported under NetBSD/hp300 due to extremely different architectures: 9000 Series 100, 9000 Series 200, 9000 Series 500, 9000 Series 600, 9000 Series 700, 9000 Series 800, 9000 Series 900, 3000 Series, Apollo DNXXXXX

Unsupported Devices

When you try booting from a system with a framebuffer that is not supported by NetBSD/hp300, the screen will turn black, and it will try using the serial port for the console.

• CPUs:
  • 310 (10 MHz 68010, with built-in monochrome framebuffer, rs232 (25 pin), hil, and slow hpib)
• Graphics Devices:
  • 98702 TurboVRX DIO-II graphics device
• Miscellaneous boards/interfaces
  • parallel port, on 345, 362, 375, 380, 382, 385, and Series 400 workstations
  • EISA support, on Series 400 workstations
  • Token Ring cards (a.k.a. ATR)
  • VME bus adapter, on Series 300 workstations
  • 98625C fast HP-IB option on models 345 and 375
  • 98628A single port dcl (DIO-I board) (supported by 4.4BSD as dcl)

Here are a few links that might be of interest to anyone with HP hardware not supported by NetBSD/hp300:

• NetBSD/hppa
• HP9000/300 Linux
• Apollo Frequently Asked Questions
• Apollo/DOMAIN Computer Info

Additional Info

Known Problems/Wishlist

Known problems with this port (aside from the missing/poor drivers listed below):

• Items in the NetBSD/hp300 Problem Reports database
• bootloader problems:
  • turns screen black if the graphics device is unsupported (e.g. 98702 console)
  • is very slow when connecting to some linux nfs servers, due to mismatched block size. See fix in the Diskless HOW-TO
• SYS_INST (installer) problems:
  • Doesn't do error checking on disklabel entries
  • very slow nfs transfers of miniroot (particularly from linux)
  • doesn't support streaming from ct devices (such as the 9145)
  • hangs if filename of miniroot on server is wrong

Items that already have support, but need to be rewritten.

• standalone bootstrap drivers
• ppi (printer/plotter on HP-IB driver)
• dcl driver in 4.3BSD but not NetBSD

Related Links

• HPBSD: Utah's 4.3bsd port for HP9000 series machines
• Michael Wolfson's Fatmac Guide to HP9000/300 hardware
• Ross Sponholtz's HP9000/300 hardware FAQ