HP X-Terminals are a line of

X terminal In computing, an X terminal is a display/input terminal for X Window System client applications. X terminals enjoyed a period of popularity in the early 1990s when they offered a lower total cost of ownership alternative to a full Unix workstat ...

s from

Hewlett Packard The Hewlett-Packard Company, commonly shortened to Hewlett-Packard ( ) or HP, was an American multinational information technology company headquartered in Palo Alto, California. HP developed and provided a wide variety of hardware components ...

introduced in the early- to mid-1990s, including the 700/X and 700/RX, Envizex and Entria, and the Envizex II and Entria II. They were often sold alongside

PA-RISC PA-RISC is an instruction set architecture (ISA) developed by Hewlett-Packard. As the name implies, it is a reduced instruction set computer (RISC) architecture, where the PA stands for Precision Architecture. The design is also referred to a ...

-based

HP 9000 HP 9000 is a line of workstation and server computer systems produced by the Hewlett-Packard (HP) Company. The native operating system for almost all HP 9000 systems is HP-UX, which is based on UNIX System V. The HP 9000 brand was introduced ...

Unix systems. The primary use case was connecting several graphical consoles to a single server or workstation to allow multiple users access the same (expensive) processing system from (less expensive) terminal systems. These X-Terminals all allowed high-resolution, color-graphics access to the main server from which they downloaded their operating system and necessary program files. All models featured limited expandability, in most cases additional I/O options for peripherals and memory for more programs or local storage. HP did not use its own PA-RISC platform for these systems, the first design used an Intel CISC processor, while all later systems used

RISC In computer engineering, a reduced instruction set computer (RISC) is a computer designed to simplify the individual instructions given to the computer to accomplish tasks. Compared to the instructions given to a complex instruction set compu ...

platforms, first Intel

i960 Intel's i960 (or 80960) was a RISC-based microprocessor design that became popular during the early 1990s as an embedded microcontroller. It became a best-selling CPU in that segment, along with the competing AMD 29000. In spite of its success ...

and later the popular MIPS. These 1990s X-Terminals, together with offerings from many other vendors from that time, were precursors to thin computing: the use of small dumb front-end systems for I/O and a larger processing system as back-end, shared by many concurrent users.

700/X

These were the first X-Terminals HP produced, featuring a similar case to that of some HP 9000/300 (Motorola 68000-based) workstations. They were driven by a pretty obscure CPU combination, an Intel 186 with a TI DSP as video coprocessor. * CPU: 16 MHz Intel 80186 with a 60 MHz

Texas Instruments Texas Instruments Incorporated (TI) is an American technology company headquartered in Dallas, Texas, that designs and manufactures semiconductors and various integrated circuits, which it sells to electronics designers and manufacturers globa ...

DSP as video processor * RAM: 1MB on board, 9MB maximum; one slot takes up to 8MB modules of unknown type * Video RAM: Unknown * Maximum video resolution/color-depth: 1024×768/8-bit * I/O connectors:

RS-232 In telecommunications, RS-232 or Recommended Standard 232 is a standard originally introduced in 1960 for serial communication transmission of data. It formally defines signals connecting between a ''DTE'' ('' data terminal equipment'') suc ...

serial, HIL and two PS/2 for keyboard/mouse devices, AUI and BNC 10 Mbit Ethernet connectors and VGA video connector * Expansion: Unknown

700/RX

These are the direct successors to the 700/X line of X-Terminals and changed the architecture significantly. They were the first in a line of terminals to be driven by an Intel

CPU and introduced a case which also was used on later systems. They have a (albeit very quiet) fan. Several submodels were available, featuring different video-options: * 16Ca: 1 MB video RAM, max. 1028×768 resolution, 8-bit color-depth * 19Ca: 2 MB video RAM, max. 1280×1024 resolution, 8-bit color-depth * 14Ci/16Ci/17Ci: 1 MB video RAM, max. 1028×768 resolution, 8-bit color-depth * 19Mi: 0.2 MB video RAM, max. 1280×1024 resolution, monographics All models have these base features in common: * CPU: 22 MHz Intel i960CA with 1KB instruction cache * RAM: 2 MB on board, 34 MB maximum; two slots take each up to 16 MB 72-pin non-parity

SIMM A SIMM (single in-line memory module) is a type of memory module containing random-access memory used in computers from the early 1980s to the early 2000s. It differs from a dual in-line memory module (DIMM), the most predominant form of memo ...

s * I/O connectors: RS232 serial, HIL and two PS/2 for keyboard/mouse devices, parallel for printer, AUI and BNC 10 Mbit Ethernet and VGA video connector * Expansion: slot for a Boot-ROM cartridge

Entria

The Entrias were the low-cost line of X-Terminals, featuring the same architecture as the 700/RX terminals, but in a plastic case the same style as the

/712 workstation. They are very small and quiet. The Entrias were available in different video configurations, depending on the exact model: * 0.6 MB video RAM: max. resolution of 1024×768 with grayscale graphics * 1 MB video RAM: max. resolution of 1024×768 with 8-bit color depth * 2 MB video RAM: max. resolution of 1280×1024 with 8-bit color depth Common: * CPU: Intel i960CA with 1 KB instruction cache * RAM: 4 MB on board, 68 MB maximum; two slots take each up to 32 MB 72-pin non-parity

s * I/O connectors: RS-232 serial, two PS/2 for keyboard/mouse devices, parallel for printer, TP and BNC 10 Mbit Ethernet and VGA video connector * Expansion: none

Envizex

The Envizex were the successors to the 700/RX terminals, featuring the same flat pizzabox case and a slightly modified architecture with a faster version of the Intel i960 RISC CPU. They have a (very quiet) fan inside. Three different series were available which featured different speeds of the CPU: * i SERIES: 25 MHz

Intel i960 Intel's i960 (or 80960) was a RISC-based microprocessor design that became popular during the early 1990s as an embedded microcontroller. It became a best-selling CPU in that segment, along with the competing AMD 29000. In spite of its succes ...

CF with 4 KB instruction and 1 KB data cache * a SERIES: 28 MHz

CF with 4 KB instruction and 1 KB data cache * p SERIES: 33 MHz

CF with 4 KB instruction and 1 KB data cache Common aspects: * RAM: ''a'' and ''i SERIES'': 4 MB on board, 132 MB maximum; four slots take each up to 32 MB 72-pin non-parity

s. ''p SERIES'': 6 MB on board, 102 MB maximum; three slots take each up to 32 MB 72-pin non-parity

s * Video RAM: 2 MB * Maximum video resolution/color-depth: 1280×1024 (''i SERIES'' might do only 1024×768) 8-bit * I/O connectors: two RS-232 serial, HIL and two PS/2 for keyboard/mouse devices, parallel for printer, TP, AUI and BNC 10 Mbit Ethernet and VGA video connector * Expansion: They offer a range of expansion options: ** 3.5″ PC floppy drive ** CD-quality audio support ** Either one of the following three cards: ***

SCSI Small Computer System Interface (SCSI, ) is a set of standards for physically connecting and transferring data between computers and peripheral devices. The SCSI standards define commands, protocols, electrical, optical and logical interface ...

/ROM adapter card ***

Token Ring Token Ring network IBM hermaphroditic connector with locking clip. Screen contacts are prominently visible, gold-plated signal contacts less so. Token Ring is a computer networking technology used to build local area networks. It was introduc ...

adapter *** 100VG AnyLan adapter (HP-proprietary 100 MBit networking) ** They also have two

PCMCIA The Personal Computer Memory Card International Association (PCMCIA) was a group of computer hardware manufacturers, operating under that name from 1989 to 2009. Starting with the PCMCIA card in 1990 (the name later simplified to ''PC Card''), ...

sockets for: *** Boot-ROM card *** SRAM cards which contain fonts or a local copy of the X server (no network download necessary)

Entria II

These were the successors of the low-cost Entria X-Terminals, keeping their HP 9000/712-style small footprint plastic case. The system architecture was changed completely and is shared with the later Envizex II terminals. It is based around a NEC

R4300 The R4200 is a microprocessor designed by MIPS Technologies, Inc. (MTI) that implemented the MIPS III instruction set architecture (ISA). It was also known as the VRX during development. The microprocessor was licensed to NEC, and the company f ...

CPU and

PCI PCI may refer to: Business and economics * Payment card industry, businesses associated with debit, credit, and other payment cards ** Payment Card Industry Data Security Standard, a set of security requirements for credit card processors * Prov ...

-based I/O devices. * CPU: 100 MHz NEC

* RAM: 64 MB maximum; two slots take each up to 32 MB 168-pin

DIMM A DIMM () (Dual In-line Memory Module), commonly called a RAM stick, comprises a series of dynamic random-access memory integrated circuits. These memory modules are mounted on a printed circuit board and designed for use in personal compute ...

s (PC66/100/133

s in different sizes can be used, but only 8 MB of each module will be available; the larger modules (16 and 32 MB) were HP-proprietary) * Video RAM: 2 MB * Maximum video resolution/color-depth: 1280×1024/8-bit * I/O connectors: RS-232 serial, two PS/2 for keyboard/mouse devices, parallel for printer, TP Ethernet (probably 10 Mbit) connector and VGA video connector * Expansion: none

Envizex II

These are the bigger brothers of the Entria II X-Terminals, driven by the same R4300 MIPS CPU and

I/O architecture. The case was redesigned, is very easy to open and does not have any fans, making the terminal rather quiet. * CPU: 133 MHz NEC

* RAM: 96 MB maximum; three slots take each up to 32 MB 168-pin

s (PC66/100/133

s in different sizes can be used, but only 8 MB of each module will be available; the larger modules (16 and 32 MB) were also HP-proprietary) * Video RAM: 2 or 4 MB VSIMM * Video chipset: ATI Mach64 * Maximum video resolution/color-depth: 1600×1200/16-bit * I/O connectors: two RS-232 serial, two PS/2 and USB for keyboard/mouse devices, TP Ethernet connector and

EVC EVC may refer to: * Eastern Valley Conference, a defunct American high school athletics conference * Ecological vegetation class * Economic value to the customer * Eden Village Camp, a Jewish summer camp in New York state * Electric Vehicle Comp ...

video connector (requires an adapter-cable to use standard VGA monitors) * Expansion: ** 3.5″ PC floppy drive ** Audio Kit with telephone I/O ** Flash

s card for booting and storing configuration and font files ** 100VG AnyLan PCI card ** 100 Mbit Ethernet PCI card ** Combined BNC and AUI card (expands the onboard NIC)

Software

These X-Terminals/stations run a proprietary operating system from HP — Netstation, formerly Enware, with some versions apparently based on

VxWorks VxWorks is a real-time operating system (or RTOS) developed as proprietary software by Wind River Systems, a wholly-owned subsidiary of Aptiv. First released in 1987, VxWorks is designed for use in embedded systems requiring real-time, dete ...

(probably those with RISC support). This software runs on theoretically any

Unix Unix (; trademarked as UNIX) is a family of multitasking, multiuser computer operating systems that derive from the original AT&T Unix, whose development started in 1969 at the Bell Labs research center by Ken Thompson, Dennis Ritchie, a ...

system, native support is available for

HP-UX HP-UX (from "Hewlett Packard Unix") is Hewlett Packard Enterprise's proprietary implementation of the Unix operating system, based on Unix System V (initially System III) and first released in 1984. Current versions support HPE Integrit ...

10,

11,

IBM AIX AIX (Advanced Interactive eXecutive, pronounced , "ay-eye-ex") is a series of proprietary Unix operating systems developed and sold by IBM for several of its computer platforms. Background Originally released for the IBM RT PC RISC w ...

and Solaris 2.x. A generic installation image is provided for other Unix flavors; this can be used to install the software via the provided installation shell script on for instance various

Linux Linux ( or ) is a family of open-source Unix-like operating systems based on the Linux kernel, an operating system kernel first released on September 17, 1991, by Linus Torvalds. Linux is typically packaged as a Linux distribution, which i ...

or BSD flavors.

Netstation Version 7.1

The older Enware/Netstation Version 7.1, HP product B.07.11, supports the following i960-based terminals: * 700/RX * Entria * Envizex It ''was'' downloadable from a public HP FTP service (hprc.external.hp.com/B.07.11/), which however was apparently discontinued.Last tested September 2008. Read the included documentation and technical reference and refer to the installation instructions. Generally, a

server is needed from which the station can boot its kernel and load its X server. This is done via TFTP; the station can be managed locally via a configuration screen or remotely on the server via customizable configuration files.

Netstation Version 9.0

The most current available Netstation version is 9.0, HP product B.09.11. This version supports the newer MIPS-based X-Terminals: * Entria II * Envizex II Same as with the older Netstation software, version 9.0 was available from a HP FTP service, which was discontinued. (See above) The newer X-Terminals (IIs) can boot in different ways, over a NFS mount, a SMB share or plain TFTP. Included in the Netstation software is a native

Java Java (; id, Jawa, ; jv, ꦗꦮ; su, ) is one of the Greater Sunda Islands in Indonesia. It is bordered by the Indian Ocean to the south and the Java Sea to the north. With a population of 151.6 million people, Java is the world's mo ...

environment which makes execution of local Java applets on the terminal possible.

References

Specific references: General references: *http://www.openpa.net/ {{refend

External links

700/RX and envizex Terminal password unlocking
(Bart Dopheide: n.d. Accessed September 2008)
Setting up the Envizex
(N.a.: January 2008. Link updated July 2013) Installation instructions for the HP X-Terminal software
Information and Software for HP Envizex, Entria, and 700/RX X-Terminals
(Brian McElroy: April 2000. Access September 2008)
Updated HP Envizex files and basic config
(James Baker: Posted July 2013) X-Terminals X Window System