HP 9000/827S

[Prent Patrick]

I have been handed an HP 9000/827S and asked to bring it up on the current Ethernet network. I have a 10base2 to 10baseT media converter, so network connectivity should not be an issue. I also have a MUX panel. What I don't have is a terminal, and I doubt I'll be able to talk anyone into buying one.

Question: is there a way for me to connect the output of the MUX panel port # 0 directly into the serial port of a PC, and then use Hyperterminal (or equivalent) to monitor the server?

Once the server is running and I can get an IP address, subnet mask, etc on it, I can just telnet in. I only need terminal connectivity to monitor the server on inital boot, etc.

Any help would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks,
Prent

[Patrick Wallek · Accepted solution]

Yes it is possible.

I am doing just that with an E55.

I am using an HP cable that has "24542" on the 9 pin connectors on each end. I am then using a 9pin male to 25pin male Null Modem adapter to plug into the mux panel.

I have Hypterterminal set for 9600 baud, 8 data bits, no parits, 1 stop bit (9600 8-N-1 at the bottom of the Hyperterminal window).

Hopefully that is what you need.

[Stan Sieler]

Hi,
Just in case...the 8x7 line has (IIRC)
two network connectors on the back...
an AUI and a 10-base-2. There's a switch
inside, on that card, which controls
which one is active. The chances are that
the AUI is the currently active one.

Once you get a cable/MUX-box you probably
want an HP terminal emulator for your PC.
You can get a free one, qcterm, at
http://www.aics-research.com/qcterm/index.html

[Prent Patrick]

Stan,

Thanks for the tip about the AUI port. Actually, I'm certain that the 10base2 (thinnet) port is active. This is the port that was being used for network connectivity when the server was previosuly active.

Thanks again!
Prent

[Prent Patrick]

Patrick,

Thanks for the info, that's great! Question: would it be possible to just use the 25/9 null modem cable directly from the MUX to the PC? Do you use 2 cables for extra "reach" or because there is another need?

Thanks,
Prent

[Ted Buis]

It is better with Reflections so that the pc can mimic an HP Terminal. Available from WRQ or now even HP.

[Patrick Wallek]

Prent,

You could try using the 9-25 null modem cable.

The only reason I am using the cable and adapter is because that's all I had to work with. :) No reason other than availability.

[Prent Patrick]

Ted,

When you say "it" is better for Reflections, what exactly do you mean? Using 2 cables as suggested? Please clarify.

Thanks,
Prent

[Patrick Wallek]

I think he is talking about using WRQ's Reflection terminal emulation software for the console instead of Hyperterm. He is probably correct. Reflection probably is better, but it is most definitely NOT free.

Hyperterm will work though. Just be sure it is set to vt100 emulation and make sure your TERM environment variable is set to vt100 as well.

[Ted Buis]

Yes, I was talking about WRQ's Reflections. It is better to use with 'sam', 'swinstall', 'glance' and other applications that are screen based applications using soft keys. If you use vt100 on the Hyperterminal, you need to make sure that the TERM variable is equal to vt100. After login, execute: TERM=vt100 ; export TERM

[Prent Patrick]

Gotcha...I have a terminal emulator called NetTerm that we use for other servers, might this work?

I was advised earlier in the thread that I should check to make sure that the 10base2 (thinnet) port, and not the AUI port, was active on the 802.3 LAN card.

I pulled the card. The part # is 28640-60001. The only "switch" I could find is a triple row of 8 jumpers near the front of the card. The jumpers are marked "INT" and "EXT." I'm not sure if the pins are numbered 1-2-3 from front to rear, but it appears that shorting all the 2-3 pins sets "INT" and shorting all the 1-2 pins sets "EXT." Is this the switch I was advised about earlier that determines the port that the card uses? If so, which setting makes the 10base2 port active? I have no manuals for any of the cards, the MUX, the server...nothing.

Thanks,
Prent

[Stan Sieler]

Ah yes, labelled by a person who probably
got promoted to something higher ... the
Peter Principle at work :)

"INT" is documented as "Thin LAN" (aka, coax), "EXT" is documented as "Thick LAN"
(aka the AUI connector).

As to terminal emulators ... if you want
to run an HP terminal emulator (and you
probably do want to do that), there are
really only two good choices: Reflection
from Walker, Richer, and Quinn (yes, it *is*
singular, no trailing "s"!), or QCTerm
from AICS (see prior post). QCTerm lacks
some of the scripting and uploading/download
and NS/VT protocol, but supports serial
and Telnet ... and QCTerm is free!

[Prent Patrick]

Stan,

Thanks for helping me decipher the notation on that LAN card. I think it's jumpered for INT, but I'll check again to make sure.

Checked...yep, it's jumpered for INT.

Just FYI, I have the output of the Thinnet/10base2 port on the server's LAN card connected to a 10base2/10baseT media converter. Then I ran a CAT5 crossover cable from the 10baseT port on the media converter into an old 10mbps hub. The 10baseT side links up nicely.

When I power up the server, I never get any activity lights on the 10base2 side of the media converter. Also, the amber light on the LAN card blinks steadily. If I'm correctly reading what it says on the card, this means that I've got some sort of failure. However, is it the card or the slot? Can I move the card to another slot to see if still fails?

One more thing...this server was a wee bit before my time (I officially started in IT in 1994)...it seems to take this jewel about 5 minutes to boot (based on audible hard drive activity). Is that normal?

Thanks,
Prent

[Stan Sieler]

Our 8x7 computers don't have crossover
cables, I think.

> failure. However, is it the card or the
> slot? Can I move the card to another
> slot to see if still fails?

you could probably move it to another
slot, but I doubt that would help much.

Don't know much about the LEDs, sorry.

comp.sys.hp.hpux is a good place to post
questions about 9000s.


> it seems to take this jewel about 5
> minutes to boot

Not too suprising ... the memory test
portion can be lengthy (up to 30 minutes
if you have 720 MB on it ... it scales
with the amount of memory) And, the 827
is slow.

[Prent Patrick]

Stan,

Thanks again.

According to what's written on the card, if the light stays on constantly, that means the self-test failed. If the light flashes, that means there is an xcvr/net failure. It's flashing.

I'm still trying to hunt up a null modem cable so I can connect a terminal session and see what's going on.

Prent

[Prent Patrick]

I downloaded QCTerm and installed the software. I connected from COM1 on my PC to port #0 on the MUX. I tried via QCTerm, and Hyperterminal (set to VT100, 8-N-1, 9600 baud, etc). However, when I connect, this is what I get on my screen:

JCCjJCÅ Å Å Ë Ã Ã Å Å Ã Ã Ã Â Å Â Å Å Â Å Ë Ã Ã Å Å Ã Ã Ã Â Å Ã Ã Ã Å Å Ã Ã Ã jÅ Å Å Â Å Å Â Å Â Å Å Â Ë Ã Å Å Â Å Â Å Å Â Å Â Å Å Â Å Â Å Å Â Å Â Å Å M
CÅ Å Â Å Å Å Å Â Å Å Â Å Â Â Å Â Å Â Å Å Å Å Â Å Å Â Å Â Å Å Â Å Â Å Å MCÅ Ë Å Å Å Å Ë Å Å Ë Å Ë Å Â Ë Å Ë Å Å Å Å Ë Å Å Ë Å Ë Ã Ã Â Å Ë Å Å Ë jÅ Ë Å Å Å Å
Ë Å Å Ë Å Ë Å Ë Ë Å Ë Å Å Å Å Ë Å Å Ë Å Ë Å Ë Å Å Ë Å Å Ë jÅ Â Å Å Â Å Â Å Å Â Å Â Å Ë Â Å Â Å Å Â Å Â Å Å Â Å Â Å Ë Å Å Â Å Å MCË Ã Ã Å Å Ã Ã Ã Â Å Â Å Å Â
Å Ë Ã Ã Å Å Ã Ã Ã Â Å Â Å Å Â Å Ã Ã Ã jJCjÅ Å Å

[Stan Sieler]

Try 9600 baud, 8-bit, no parity

[Stan Sieler]

oops...I missed your note about 9600 baud :)

Time for comp.sys.hp.hpux, perhaps?

[Prent Patrick]

Okay...thanks

[Prent Patrick]

Just in case anyone is interested...
I had to change the terminal
settings as follows:

19200 baud
7 data bits
1 stop bit
even parity
hardware (or rts/cts) flow control

Now I can connect via QCTerm or
Hyperterminal and I get a readable
display.

The next problem: no one knows the
root password!

Thanks,
Prent

[Mel Burslan]

It is time to crash the system and boot to single user mode huh ?

[John Carr_2]

Hi Prent

to change the passwd youwill need to interupt the boot process.

type
bo
interact with IPL(Y/N) Y
hpux -is

mount -a
cd /etc
passwd ( enter new passwd )

/etc/reboot -n

:-) john.

[Prent Patrick]

I guess I spoke too soon...

I found someone who knows the
root password.

So, thanks to all the great
help I've gotten, I have managed
to get a terminal session
established and I'm logged in
as root.

Only 3 things left to overcome:

1 - Find out what version of
HP-UX I'm running

2 - Configure the 802.3 LAN
card with a valid IP address,
subnet mask and default gateway
for the LAN

3 - Deal with the following
message:
/: write failed, file system is
full

Thanks,
Prent

[Patrick Wallek]

1) Easy -- Use the uname command.

# uname -a

2) Edit /etc/rc.config.d/netconf or you can go through sam

3) Do a 'bdf' and see which filesystem is full. Then use 'du -ks *' in that filesystem to see which directories are largest and find what you can delete.

Good luck.

[Prent Patrick]

Patrick,

THANK YOU!

Prent