System Utilities
There are only a few system utilities available from HP for the 9845. Probably the average user shouldn't be too much concerned about what is happening inside the system. However each delivered system is accompanied by a system exerciser tape, so the user can perform basic diagnostics on his own. There are several exerciser revisions, covering changes in the system configurations and in the peripherals (the latest 9845B/C exerciser tapes are Rev. E).
See the HP PLUS Utilities section for 3rd party software, and also have a look into the Exchange Library section.
HP System Utilities
| Part No. | Title |
| 09845-????? | 9845A System Exerciser |
| 09845-91041 | 9845B System Exerciser |
| 09845-92041 | 9845B/C System Exerciser Tape#1 |
| 09845-92042 | 9845B/C System Exerciser Tape#2 |
| 09845-91031 | 9845B/C Test Binary |
Here is the complete 9845B/C System Exerciser Rev. E, plus the 9845B/C Test Binary (TBIN.BPRG) as 9895A disk image for download:
| 9845 B/C System Exerciser Rev. E (disk version) | 9845BC-System-Exerciser-RevE-TBIN-hpi.zip |
This is a special version which combines all Rev. E tests in one single image. To mount the image, use HPDrive with
hpdrive exerciser.hpi
then connect to the 9845 with an HP-IB cable, and start the exerciser on the 9845 side with
LOAD "AUTOST:H"
Then run the program, select printer output yes/no and choose the desired mainframe, peripheral, interface or memory exerciser. The tests cover basic display, tape, printer and graphics checks (for all three display types), mass storage exercisers for a large number of connected drives, checks for all interface modules and a comprehensive memory test for ROMs and R/W RAM. With ROMREV there is a special system info utility for the identification of system type and installed ROMs.
See the 9845 Installation Operation and Test Manual (09845-93006) for detailed descriptions of the individual tests.
9845 B/C System Exerciser Menu (single disk version)
The 09845-91031 Test Binary cartridge holds a couple of extremely useful in-depth diagnostics, which can even be loaded from tape without working operating system in case a 09845-65520 Test ROM is available, too.
9845 B/C Test Binary Menu
Normally, the Test Binary program ist loaded with
LOAD BIN "TBIN"
If the AUTOST key is latched, the Test Binary automatically starts with a rack test sequence after loading.
See the 9845B/C Service Manual (09845-91030) or the 9845B/C CE Handbook (09845-90039) for detailed descriptions of the individual tests.