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TITLE
NeXTSTEP for PA-RISC Hardware Q&A |
Article
ID: Created: Modified: |
71684 3/25/99 3/25/99 | |
TOPIC
Disclaimer
This
document pertains to the NeXTSTEP operating system, which is no longer a
supported product of Apple Computer. This information is provided only
as a convenience to our customers who have not yet upgraded their
systems, and may not apply to OPENSTEP, WebObjects, or any other product
of Apple Enterprise Software. Some questions in this Q&A document
may not apply to version 3.3 or to any given specific version of
NeXTSTEP.
DISCUSSION
HP-UX and
NEXTSTEP
Q: Can I install HP-UX and
NEXTSTEP onto separate partitions of the same hard
disk?
A: HP-UX and NEXTSTEP use incompatible
partitioning schemes and cannot be installed on the same disk. The only
way to set up a dual-boot machine is by using separate hard disks for
HP-UX and NEXTSTEP.
Q: Okay, I've set up a
dual-boot machine using one disk for NEXTSTEP and another for HP-UX.
Whenever I log in under NEXTSTEP, I get a panel which says "This disk is
damaged: initialize?" with options to initialize, repair, or ignore. The
default option is "Initialize." What should I do?
A: Under NEXTSTEP 3.2, this happens because NEXTSTEP attempts to
mount the HP-UX disk but does not know how to read its filesystem. You
should click "Ignore." Choosing either of the
other options may result in irreparable data loss on the HP-UX
disk.
This has been
fixed in NEXTSTEP 3.3, you are able to add an entry in /etc/fstab that
will force NEXTSTEP to ignore the HP-UX disk automatically. The disk
type for the HP-UX disk should be 'ignore'. See the mntent(5) UNIX
manual page for more information.
CD-ROM Compatibility
Q: What
CD-ROM drives can be used to install NEXTSTEP?
A: Due to restrictions in the HP ROMs, only certain HP and
Toshiba CD-ROM drives can be used to install NEXTSTEP. The recommended
CD-ROM drive is the HP A2655A. The HP A1999A can be used with 7x5
systems but is incompatible with 712 systems.
The HP A2655A uses the same mechanism as the Toshiba XM-3401TA,
while the HP A1999A uses the same mechanism as the Toshiba XM-3301TA.
These drives may be used instead of the equivalent HP drives, but NeXT
recommends contacting HP to be sure your firmware revision is
compatible.
Q: Can a wider range of CD-ROM
drives be used to read CD-ROMs once NEXTSTEP has been
installed?
A:
Yes.
Hard Drive
Compatibility
Q: I've encountered
some suspicious problems such as errors during installation, SCSI
timeouts, and a wait of several minutes to log in to the Workspace.
What's going on?
A: NeXT has discovered SCSI
incompatibilities with one specific hard drive model, the Quantum
LPS1080S with firmware revision 111B. The following tables summarize our
findings to date.
Compatible: Vendor Model Capacity FW rev. Verification
status HP C2247 1.0GB 0BQ3
NeXT-tested Micropolis 2112 1.0GB 4024
NeXT-tested Seagate
ST11200N 1.0GB 8104 NeXT-tested Digital DSP3107L
1.0GB 441I HP-tested Digital DSP3210 2.0GB 441G
HP-tested * Quantum LPS525S 0.5GB 9656
HP-tested Seagate ST12400N 2.0GB 8712 HP-tested
* Seagate ST31200N 1.0GB 8714
HP-tested Seagate ST12550N 2.0GB 0013 customer
report *
Not
Compatible: Vendor
Model Capacity FW rev. Verification status Quantum LPS1080S 1001MB 111B HP-tested Seagate ST3600N 0.5GB 9686 customer report Seagate ST3600N 0.5GB 4686 customer report
* subject to limitations affecting hard drives of 2GB or
greater<see below
NeXT has received
conflicting information about the compatibility of the Seagate ST3600N.
If you are encountering problems with the Quantum LPS1080S, please
contact your HP Sales Representative for a replacement drive. In
addition, if you have any additional information related to these
tables, please contact NeXT Technical Support by the means listed in the
Introduction.
Q: I couldn't install on my
hard drive which is two gigabytes or larger. Why
not?
A: There was a bug in NEXTSTEP
Release3.2 in which the UNIX File System imposes a 2GB limit for disk
partitions, the UNIX newfs command fails when attempting to create a
filesystem on these drives. (Note that "two-gigabyte" drives are
actually slightly larger than 2GB, so that they are susceptible to this
problem.) Consequently these drives may be used by partitioning with the
UNIX disk command, but they cannot be used as boot devices. See
NeXTanswer 1533_initializing_and_partitioning_big_disks for more
information.
This has been fixed in NEXTSTEP
Release 3.3.
SCSI Device
Numbering
Q: How are SCSI device
numbers assigned on HP hardware?
A: Unlike
NEXTSTEP on NeXT and Intel-based hardware, NEXTSTEP for PA-RISC assigns
SCSI device numbers in order of decreasing SCSI ID numbers. In other
words, NEXTSTEP scans down by SCSI ID, assigning device number 0 to the
first device encountered, device number 1 to the second, etc.
For example, a typical HP SCSI setup
consists of a hard disk at SCSI ID 6 and a CD-ROM drive at SCSI ID 2. In
this example, the hard disk is assigned SCSI device number 0, while the
CD-ROM drive is assigned device number 1. A second hard disk added at ID
1 would then be assigned device number 2.
Fast-Wide SCSI Support
Q: Is
the fast-wide SCSI interface supported on the higher-end HPPA
workstations?
A: No, fast-wide is not
supported by NEXTSTEP. There are no announced plans to support it at
this time.
Video
Support Q: What video cards can I use
with my HP workstation and what modes will it work
in?
A: The following are the HP PA-RISC
workstations and video systems supported by NEXTSTEP
3.3:
HP 712(/60 or
/80) Built-in (Artist) RGB:888/32 using HP's Color Recovery technology RGB:256/8 BW:8 Add
on card for two headed system RGB:888/32 using
HP's Color Recovery technology RGB:256/8 BW:8 HP 715(/33, /50, or /75) and HP 725/50 Built-in (TimberC) RGB:256/8 BW:8 CRX-24 graphics adaptor card RGB:888/32 RGB:256/8 BW:8 CRX graphics adaptor
card RGB:256/8 BW:8 HP 715(/64, /80, or /100) and HP
725/100 Built-in (Artist) RGB:888/32 using HP's Color Recovery technology RGB:256/8 BW:8 NOTE: The HCRX cards are not
currently supported in NEXTSTEP 3.3. A driver is currently being written
for the HCRX 8 and 24 bit graphic adaptors. HP 735 and HP 755 CRX-24 graphics
adaptor card RGB:888/32 RGB:256/8 BW:8 CRX
graphics adaptor card RGB:256/8 BW:8 NOTE: the CRX card for the 735 and 755 is a different card than is
used in 715's.
Resolution and Refresh
Rate All the HP's support the following
resolution and refresh rate in Configure.app: 1280x1024 72Hz However, on the machines
with the Artist graphics system, 712(/60 or /80) and 715(/64, /80, or
/100), it is possible to choose different resolutions and refresh rates
during the HP boot process. The following are supported by the
hardware: 1280x1024 72Hz 1024x768 75Hz 1024x768
70Hz 1024x768 75Hz Flat Panel 1280x1024 60Hz 1024x768
60Hz 640x480 60Hz 1280x1024 75Hz 1024x768
75Hz 800x600 75Hz 640x480
75Hz Of course, you would also need a monitor
that supports one on these. NOTE: a video memory upgrade is
required for for an HP model 712 to have a resolution of
1280x1024.
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