Ed wrote... ------ HP 21mx/whatever processor works with double sided key... (I forgot model#) ------ Given the way you phrased it, the correct replacement for 'whatever' is M series. E and F never used the double sided key. However, even that is not entirely correct. Older M's used the double sided key. Later M's used the single sided key that is the same as the E and F. And.... ------- It has ... of all things 3 tty boards in it? what is with that? Multi user without a mux? ------- Didn't you sell and support these things in a prior life? It was always far more common to see the 21MX machines with 'discrete' tty boards rather than muxes. There were only two mux boards, the one in 2000/Access which was very uncommon as far as 21mx's go... and the one that RTE commonly used which was also not super common to find in the wild. If you had a mux board, then I would have been a bit surprised. Multiple tty boards? Not surprised, that was the far more common thing.... more often than not, the 21mx's weren't really used/targeted for multiuser (except 2000 TSB of course). RTE did multiuser well, but... still was probably most often used in situations that really didn't require it. Mux's weren't super common. And.... -------- Has 2 memory boards think I remember 64k total. -------- 64kb or 64kw? Remember, the M.E.M. option is required to support more than 32kw. On the M, MEM was optional. I believe it was standard on E & F.
And... ------- need to find a paper tape basic to play with. ------- There are plenty of those floating around. Google is your friend... I think MU-BASIC may have been the one I heard people using? See below for a better option.... And... ------ Any other advice? ------ You should probably start by reading an introduction to the 21MX to get some basic background on the machines... Go to: http://www.hpmuseum.net/exhibit.php?hwdoc=108 You should start with 02108-90004 followed by 02108-90002 Finally - for you (and anyone else) that has just a cpu or a cpu and minimal peripherals, the best thing you can use to play with the machine is Terry Newtons HP-IPL/OS. See http://www.infionline.net/~wtnewton/oldcomp/hp2100/ and http://newton.freehostia.com/net/hpiplos.html Yes, you can run BASIC like you mention above. But it is a very well done "Forth-like" system that is well developed/flushedout. So in addition to BASIC, you get oh-so-many-wonderful-things. I very highly recommend that anyone messing with 21mx/1000 systems take a good look at HP-IPL/OS. Best, J
