What's needed for a minimal HP-1000 series E/(F?) system?

[Christian Corti]

On Wed, 11 Mar 2009, Steve Robertson wrote:
>>> The 1000E (2113E) is empty aside from the power-supply & mainboard and a
>>> single F.E.M. card in slot 10.  The F.E.M. is cabled to the main board via a
>>
>> Right, this machine would do nothing.
>
> Actually, the machine is usable in it's current configuration. Once
> again, it depends on what you want to use it for.

No, without memory, it won't do anything.

> configured for your machine will not be easy. IMHO, The easiest way to
> boot the computer from an external device is to use the BACI board and
> upload programs serially from a PC.

Right, I haven't tried if I could use AdvanceLink or HPTerm (both can be 
found on hpmuseum.net) to boot the machine.

> Toggle in a few instructions on the front panel, establish a serial link
> from the PC, and upload the program. Can't get much simpler than that.
> Check the BOOT ROMS (below the MEM cards) and see what device(s) they
> are for. I'd be willing to bet one of them is for the 2648A. In that
> case, you don't have to toggle in anything on the HP1000.

You usually don't need to toggle in any instruction since the 264x 
bootloader ROM is standard in the E- and F-series machines.

Christian