On Wed, Dec 09, 1998 at 01:40:12PM +0200, Jarkko Teppo wrote:
=> >:)pps. off-topic: does anybody have any clue about HP9000/550 machines ?
=> >
=> >My understanding was that they predate the 200 series (based on the 68000),
=> >which predates the 300 series (68010 and better).  I think they
=> >communicated by the Shared Resource Manager (SRM) interface.  They ran some
=> >early version of HP-UX (2.X I think).
=> 
=> 
=> I booted one of my machines once and the version was HP-UX 5.??.  There were
=> three models, 530, 540 and 550. On the 550 I have 4 serial line cards with 8
=> port panels. The cards are set straight, I mean not sideways as in the 380,
=> and the backplane connector is a weird single row connector, about 7-10 cm
=> wide.
=> This seems to be one of the few machines were Altavista can't help...

I can't be sure, but about a year ago, our local hw-sw historical guru at university,
showed me some old machines. Traditionally my university is HP-based. We rivitalized
(using NetBSD) two or three 300s and we are still waiting for a port on PA 1.0 for our
800s (we have at least two we NEED) since 8.x is ... you know what it is, but it's the only
one who supports MO changer, reel tape, and such things!
Back to the mainstream: he showed me a still-living-and-used (as MX) 500, and he told me
it has gold-plated tracks and that HP wanted to buy it back when we took the 800.
Are you sure it's pre-300s and not between-300s-and-800s ? I just know it has a custom HP
CISC architecture.

-- 
Paolo Marchiori - pbm@gsol.it
System and network manager, General Services s.r.l., Milano, Italy
Microsoft Certified Solution Provider - http://www.gsol.it
"Be different: conform."