Linux on HP3000?

[IS Ops account]

Hey everyone,

This may be a stupid question, but is there a port or something available to let you run Linux or a UNIX-like operating system on an HP3000?

I have a 927LX, 947LX and 959KS/200 sitting around, and I do not know anything about MPE/iX.

Can anyone point me somewhere, tell me that it cannot be done, or tell me that I am an idiot for asking?

Anything would really be appreciated,
Andrew Pope.

[paul courry]

Linux? No.

Unix? It's called HPUX. You convert it by arranging to do what is called a board swap with a 3rd party refurbisher of HP equipment. They take the backplane and/or a CPU and give you the HPUX equivalent box.

HP3000's and HP9000's have the same hardware except for the contents of a little EPROM. The hardware and software ID's reside on this chip. HP CE's have a program they can run to alter the contents of the chip.

[Philip P. Hartl]

MPEiX has a posix shell and posix file structures available. The command is SH. Note that the standard MPEiX file structures are available under the posix shell but modified to comform to the posix standards, for example EDITOR.PUB.SYS would be /SYS/PUB/EDITOR. Also be aware that although MPEiX is not case sensitive the posix shell is. There are several manuals concerning this. Check docs.hp.com.

[Eric Sorensen_1]

Hello Andrew,

From
http://www.linuxworld.com/linuxworld/lw-2001-08/lw-08-hp.html:

"After failing to convince a commercial distribution to port Linux to its PA-RISC machines, HP partnered with the Debian project to deliver a version of Linux for the PA-RISC architecture. Debian, by the way, is the distribution used internally at HP for development on Linux."

Paul is correct: there is very little difference between the hp3000's hardware and that of the HP9000. When they finish the Linux version for the HP9000, then there should be very little work left to make it run on a HP3000. Here is one source for a status on the progress:

http://www.tazenda.demon.co.uk/phil/linux-hp/

[Art Bahrs_1]

Hi Andrew :)
Ok... Paul and the others have covered the straightforward, by-the-book answers... but not the whole story...

There is POSIX on MPE/iX and that will do a lot of UNIX like stuff... so maybe that would facilitate you in using those great 3K boxes of yours to do some more stuff???

You run it by typing sh.hpbin.sys..

Give it a shot..


Art "I find it fun to dink around in... hehe" Bahrs

[IS Ops account]

Thank you to everyone who replied to my message.

I didn't know any of this, and I am going to call our HP tech to see if he knows how to flash this EPROM. I think that I am too scared of MPE/iX to just use the POSIX shell provided, but thanks all the same.

Looks like I have a few more toys to take home.