HP Visualize C160 & C180
Overview
Project names - uname:
- C160: Raven U - 9000/780
- C180: Raven U - 9000/780
The C180 is also sometimes referred to as C180XP
These were the new graphics workstations equipped with the new PA-8000 processor. The case is similar to that of the HP 9000/735 workstation, build of interlocking modules. These machines were aimed at CAD/CAM/3D modelling.
Internals
CPU
- C160: PA-8000 160MHz with 512/512KB off-chip I/D L1 cache
- 128-bit wide bus to cache
- 2.56GB/s I-fetch
- 2.56GB/s D-load (16-Byte), 1.26GB/s D-store (8-Byte)
- C180: PA-8000 180MHz with 1024/1024KB off-chip I/D L1 cache
- 128-bit wide bus to cache
- 2.88GB/s I-fetch
- 2.88GB/s D-load (16-Byte), 1.44GB/s D-store (8-Byte)
Chipset
- LASI ASIC, which features:
- NCR 53C710 8-bit single-ended SCSI-2
- Intel 82596CA 10Mb Ethernet controller
- WD 16C522 compatible parallel
- Harmony CD/DAT quality 16-bit stereo audio
- NS 16550A compatible serial
- Two U2/Uturn-IOA BC Runway ports
- WAX ASIC, adds functionality missing in LASI, e.g. HIL, 2nd RS232 …
- WAX EISA bus-adaptor, connects EISA to GSC
- Dino GSC-to-PCI bridge
- Visualize-EG graphics
- Intel 82C503 Ethernet transceiver, media auto-selection
- CS4215 or AD1849 programmable CODECs
- WD37C65C Floppy controller
- NCR 53C720 16-bit Fast-Wide high-voltage differential (HVD) SCSI-2
» View a system-level ASCII-illustration of the chipset.
Buses
- Runway CPU/memory bus (120MHz with 960MB/s peak bandwidth)
- GSC-2 general system-level I/O bus
- EISA additional expansion I/O bus
- PCI-32/33 high-performance device I/O bus
- SCSI-2 single-ended bus
- SCSI-2 Fast-Wide high-voltage differential main storage I/O bus
Memory
- 72-pin ECC SIMMs, 60ns or faster
- Bus width: 128 data bits with 16 check bits
- Up to 8-way interleaving
- 960MB/s peak bandwidth
- Takes 16-256MB modules (needs latest firmware-revision for large modules)
- 12 slots
- 32MB (2×16) minimum, 3GB (12×256) maximum
Expansion
- One slot for either a GSC (EISA formfactor) or PCI 32-bit/33MHz, 3.3V card
- One slot for either a GSC (EISA formfactor), EISA or PCI 32-bit/33MHz, 3.3V card
- Two slots for either GSC (EISA formfactor) or EISA cards
- See GSC expansion-cards
- See EISA expansion-cards
- I/O slot layout (from top to bottom):
- EISA or GSC
- EISA or GSC
- PCI-32/33, 3.3V or EISA or GSC
- PCI-32/33, 3.3V or GSC
Drives
The disk-slider can accomodate up to three SCSI drives and one floppy drive simultaneously, the internal cabling (usually) includes one Wide-SCSI cable with three 68-pin connectors and a HVD-terminator at the end, one Narrow-SCSI with one 50-pin connector and one cable for the floppy.
The Narrow-SCSI cable is normally used for the external-accessible half-height 5.25″ CD/DAT drive, although it is of course also possible to connect a 50-pin SE hard drive. The cable can also be easily replaced with a variant with more connectors to use up to three 50-pin SE hard drives. The PDC can boot off these SE drives.
The Wide-SCSI cable is normally used for the internal 3.5″ 68-pin Fast-Wide high-voltage differential system drives. Up to three hard drives can be installed in the cage, which leaves no room for an external-accessible CD/DAT drive though. The Fast-Wide drives are also bootable by the PDC.
A standard configuration could look like this:
- Two 3.5″ 68-pin Fast-Wide differential (HVD) SCSI hard drives,
- One 3.5″ Floppy drive and
- One external-accessible half-height 5.25″ SCSI drive (CD/DAT).
External Connectors
- 50-pin HD SCSI-2 single-ended
- 68-pin HD SCSI-3 Fast-Wide differential (HVD)
- Two DB9 male RS232C serial (up 460.8Kb/s)
- DB25 female parallel
- TP/RJ45 10Mbit Ethernet
- 15-pin AUI 10Mbit Ethernet
- EVC graphics port1
- Two PS/2 connectors for keyboard and mouse
- HP-HIL for input device loop
- Four phone jacks (microphone, headphones, line-in and ?)
- You need a special HP adapter-cable to convert this EVC-port to either BNC or HD15 VGA
ROM update
There is a firmware update available for the C160 and C180, which contains the latest version (6.2).
- PF_CC2X0062.text has details about the contents and installation of the patch.
- PF_CC2X0062.frm contains the patch.
Operating Systems
- HP-UX: every release from 10.20-11.11 works.
- Linux: works fine.
- OpenBSD: runs fine (in 32-bit mode).
References
- LED error codes
- C-Class Owners Guide (PDF, 1.5MB)
- C100, C110 to C160, C180 CPU upgrade (PDF, 0.5MB)
- C160 to C180 CPU upgrade (PDF, 0.2MB)
- C100, C110, C160, C180 to C200 CPU upgrade (PDF, 0.5MB)
Benchmarks
| Model | SPEC95, int | SPEC95, fp | SPEC95rate, int | SPEC95rate, fp |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| C160 | 10.40 | 16.30 | 93.6 | 147 |
| C180 | 11.80 | 18.70 | 107 | 169 |
Compare these with other results on the Benchmarks page.
Physical dimensions/Power
- 138×539×447 mm height/width/depth
- 16.7kg net weight, 21.1kg fully loaded
- 525W max. power input
- 5.0A max. RMS at 240V
- 9.5A max. RMS at 120V