PA-RISC Hardware
Silicon and Chips
The PA-RISC architecture, developed by HP, is the basis of the PA-RISC/HP 9000 computers that are the focus of this site. The following pages discuss particular processor models, the general PA-RISC architecture and unique features, I/O chipsets and the buses that connect the silicon.
» Go to the PA-RISC processors page.
» Go to the CPU architecture page.
» Go to the Chipsets page.
» Go to the Buses page.
Input/Output Devices
PA-RISC computers almost exclusively use SCSI for storage I/O, both via onboard adapters and expansion cards.
» Go to the SCSI page.
The PA-RISC workstations made use of a great range of powerful HP graphics adapters, available for different bus-systems/formats and offering a large set of visual options.
» Go to the Graphics page.
Expansion Possibilities
The various PA-RISC based computers offer a large range of expansion possibilities, including various expansion cards and memory modules.
» Go to the Expansion cards page.
» Go to the Memory modules page.
How to Diagnose
All PA-RISC based computers feature a powerful Boot-ROM, called PDC, with which it is possible to configure a large range of options and boot the system via different media. Various hardware faults and booting/processing errors can be diagnosed with the set of diagnostic LEDs featured by most PA-RISC computers.
» Go to the Boot-ROM page.
» Go to the LED error-codes page.