booting salvaged 712/80

[James Schopp]

Hello all,
I've just acquired a 712/80 (just moved, and it was here at my new desk). I would like to salvage it, if possible.

o I have connected a monitor, keyboard, mouse, and LAN, and then powered on the machine.
o It seems the video card is damaged - the screen rapidly "flips" vertically. I have tried several monitors with no success.
o Without knowing *exactly* the screens and steps to follow, I cannot access the machine via the "console".
o Assuming that the machine is in fact booting correctly, I do not know the root password or any user/pass that con logon to the machine. Even without this information, I cannot follow the boot_admin screes (due to the video issue)
o I do not know the IP address of the machine, so I can't telnet to it. I have used a tcpdump on another machine, and it does not appear to be generating any traffic. (The LAN is a "closed LAN" - 2 machines and a HUB, so there is no other network traffic.)
o The 712/80 does not seem to let you connect via the serial port initially. After some reading, it appears that this requires some amount of previous configuration direct from the console in order to allow console and boot access via the serial port. (And since I can't connect understand the console due to the damaged video card....)

My end goal is to use the machine as a "headless server" (no keyborad, mouse, nor monitor) with Linux (various services: web, mysql, named, etc.)

Do you have any suggestions? I would prefer not to throw the machine in the garbage if it can in fact be salvaged.

Thanks in advance for any advice.
James
james.schopp@hp.com

[Stefan Farrelly · Accepted solution]

Its possible the monitor is not the correct frequency for the video card. Have your tired booting, then hold down tab, or repeatedly press tab until a menu appears asking you to adjust the frequency ?

other thing to try is a couple of different monitors - you may get one which syncs up fine with the frequency the video card is initially trying to use.

[James Schopp]

I have tried several "digital" monitors (an HP Ultra VGA 1280, and a Dell monitor), and they both have the same problem (and both work with my laptop, no problems).

I was not aware about the "tab" behavior for changing the syncing frequency. Where can I read about this to find *exactly* how to do it?

Thanks for your help.
James

[James Schopp]

Ok, I just gave this a try with no luck. I held the "tab" down at various stages of the boot process (hard to tell though, since I can't make sense of the stuff on the screen), tried pressing the tab repeatedly istead of holding it down, etc.

It didn't seem to have any affect.

James

[James Schopp]

I read up a bit, and gave it some more tests.
SUCCESS!! THANK YOU!!

the trick: press the tab key every 3 seconds during the boot sequence. It then presents a munu in various sync frequencies so you can select the one that works.

Apparently there are 2 methods:
PS/2: press the tab key after the numlock light goes on
HIL: press the tab key every 3 secs during the boot sequence.

I have a PS/2 keyboard, but the HIL method is what worked for me, so try them both.

[Stefan Farrelly]

Heres some more info;

http://www.dutchworks.nl/htbin/hpsysadmin?h=3&dn=6540&q=PC%20monitor%20SUMMARY%20712&fh

http://www.dutchworks.nl/htbin/hpsysadmin?h=3&dn=71432&q=PC%20monitor%20SUMMARY&fh

http://www.dutchworks.nl/htbin/hpsysadmin?h=3&dn=17386&q=PC%20monitor%20SUMMARY&fh

[harry d brown jr]

James,

have a look at this:

Turn on the machine and wait for the num-lock light. Press Tab every few secs and the machine will cycle through all it's video modes.
Or find a nicer screen and when the machine starts press Esc. Use the bios monitor command to select a video mode.

from: http://www.unixnerd.demon.co.uk/hp_unix.html

or

http://mail-index.netbsd.org/port-hp700/2002/06/09/0010.html


live free or die
harry