OpenBSD/hp300

History and Status:

OpenBSD follows in the footsteps of 4.4BSD by supporting the hp300; most types of machine are supported with 68020 or better processors, along with SCSI and HPIB storage devices.

OpenBSD/hp300 runs 8k pagesize executables natively (the first operating system for the hp300 to do so), maintaining the standard binary format used by all other OpenBSD m68k platforms.

The hp300 port has now also switched to the regular config(8) for kernel configuration. This enables the port to support things like User Kernel Config and, in the future, the generic SCSI sub-system.

Supported Hardware:

• CPUs:
  • 68020-based: 318, 319, 320, 330, and 350.
  • 68030-based: 340, 345, 360, 370, 375, and 400⁽¹⁾.
  • 68040-based: 380, 385, 425⁽¹⁾, and 433⁽¹⁾.
• Disks:
  • Most HP-IB/CS80, including: 7912, 7914, 7933, 7936, 7937, 7945, 7957, 7958, 7959, 2200, and 2203.
  • SCSI-I⁽²⁾, including magneto-optical and CD-ROM.
• Tape drives:
  • Low-density HP-IB/CS80 cartridge: 7914, 7946, and 9144.
  • High-density HP-IB/CS80 cartridge: 9145.
  • HP-IB/CS80 1/2": 7974A, 7978A/B, 7979A, 7980A, and 7980XC.
  • SCSI: HP DAT, Exabyte, and SCSI QIC drives such as the Archive Viper.
• RS232 interfaces:
  • 98644 built-in and add-on card single port (dca).
  • 98642 4-port mux (dcm).
  • 98638 8-port mux (dcm).
  • 400-series Apollo 3-port serial/keyboard mux (apci).
    (The first port is typically configured as a dca device.)
• Network interfaces:
  • 98643 built-in and add-on LAN cards.
• Displays:
  • 98543, 98544, 98545, and 98547 color and monochrome Topcat.
  • 98548, 98549, 98550, and A1416A color and monochrome Catseye.
  • 98700 and 98710 Gatorbox.
  • 98720 and 98721 Renaissance.
  • 98730 and 98731 DaVinci.
  • A1096A monochrome Hyperion.
• Input devices:
  • General interface supporting all HIL devices: keyboard, 2 and 3 button mice⁽³⁾, and ID module.
  • 400-series Apollo keyboards (currently only supported by the bootblocks)
• Miscellaneous:
  • Battery-backed real-time clock.
  • 98624 built-in HP-IB interface.
  • 98625A and 98625B `fast' HP-IB interface.
  • 98658A built-in and add-on SCSI interface.
  • Printers and plotters on RS232 and HP-IB.
  • SCSI autochanger.

⁽¹⁾ 400-series machines configured for Domain/OS are not fully supported; the ROMs must be in HP-UX mode in order to boot the system. See the hp300 FAQ page for information on how to change the ROM mode.
⁽²⁾ SCSI-II drives are known to work, though this may require changing a jumper on some drives. See your disk's documentation for details.
⁽³⁾ Serial mice connected to a HIL to quad converter are also known to work.

Much more information about hardware configuration may be found on the hp300 FAQ page.

Notably Unsupported Hardware:

• SGC bus on the 425e (and some 4XXt machines), and the associated frame buffers.
• 310 and all other 68010 based systems.

Compatibility Notes and Known Bugs:

OpenBSD/hp300 is known to run sun3 SunOS binaries via the COMPAT_SUNOS kernel option (a few have been tested and work). COMPAT_HPUX is also available, but has not been tested recently.

Slower machines may sometimes have problems booting from a serial console. The symptom of this are panics during the kernel autoconfiguration process; this can be avoided by using faster/different terminals or by eliminating the terminal's use of flow control.

Working support for the 425e was added after the 2.9 release but this model is only supported with a serial console on the first serial port.

Snapshots are made available from time to time.

There is currently no official maintainer for the hp300 port. Todd Miller millert@openbsd.org hacks on it from time to time.