Quicklinks

Projects

There are a couple of activities around the 9845, which are concerned with diverse objectives like finding replacements for missing or faulty components, gaining access to 9845 software and data, connecting the PC world with that of the 9845 series and so on. Projects can be developments of both hardware and software. Methods and how-to's should be placed into the Tutorials section.

Currently this page is a collection of my own activities, but I'm looking forward to inlcude some others if you with your own project would like to be listed here.

	The ROM Dumping Project This project is mainly intended for saving system ROMs for all models and versions. They are subject to perishability, so this is a highly important task. Roughly two-third have been already preserved, but there are still several ROM revisions left.
	The ROM Board Project Within the ROM board project, solutions for the replacement of defective ROMs are being developed. Such solutions are a necessary requirement for getting many systems back to live. Currently there is a preliminary solution for the system ROMs which needs some more design. A solution for option ROMs is still open.
	The HPDrive Project One of the most essential requirements when owning a working 9845 system is a working mass storage device for storing programs and software exchange. This project is concerned with a mass storage emulator solution based on a PC equipped with a standard GPIB interface board.
	The HPDir Project Sometimes it is necessary to gain access to a vintage mass storage device or simply to an image file representing the data on a vintage mass storage medium. This project provides a solution for handling with both vintage mass storage devices and image files on a standard PC without the need for a working 9845 system. Single prerequisite for controlling vintage mass storage devices is a PC equipped with a standard GPIB interface board.
	The HPPrint Project Sometimes hard copy is needed for HP computers or instruments, but no HP-IB printer or plotter is available. In that case an emulation might be a proper substitute. Also, an emulator can be used to produce file output instead of a paper hard copy, which might be better suited for further processing.
	The Fdio Project Sometimes it is useful to read or even write a vintage floppy disk from within a standard PC floppy drive. This project works on a utility which can be used even under Vista to gain access to ancient non-standard floppy disks (as long as a standard floppy disk drive with the appropriate form factor is installed).
	The 9845 Utilities Project This project is just a collection of diverse small but helpful tools which can be used for several procedures, like converting Teledisk images into a more convenient image format, preparing ROM data for a transfer into EEPROM replacements, calculating checksums of ROM dumps, monitoring the GPIB I/O between two GPIB devices and many others.
	The 9845 Assembler Project For diving deeper into the badly documented world of the 9845 firmware it is important to have tools available to work on assembly language level. This project works on a solution for a combined PC-based 9845 cross-assembler/disassembler for both code analysis and designing your own object code modules.
	The 9845 Mouse Project A computer mouse was barely known when the HP 9845 was designed. But should that be a reason not to try to bring both together? Read the 9845 Mouse Project in order to learn how that can be done. Or download the 9845 mouse serial mouse driver and try on your own...
	The Feature Board Project The HP 9845, although really a fast system, never had been designed for multimedia applications. More or less a matter of the right I/O interface module. This project now aims to design and develop that missing interface, of course based on components available at the time of the HP 9845.
	The HP 9845 Emulator Project The HP 9845 was one of the most complex systems of its time. I never would have started with an emulator on my own. But F.Ulivi did. The result is a highly accurate emulation of the HP 9845B Model 100, the 9845C Model 100, also supporting the 9845B Model 200 graphics. All based on the well known MAME framework.