HP VECTRA XU 6/XXX User Manual

Technical Reference

Manual

Hardware and BIOS

HP Vectra XU 6/xxx PC and HP Vectra VT 6/xxx PC

January 1996

Table of Contents

NOTICE	3
PREFACE	4
CONVENTIONS	5
BIBLIOGRAPHY	5

1 SYSTEM OVERVIEW			6
	EXTERNAL FEATURES			6
	INTERNAL FEATURES			7
	SPECIFICATIONS AND CHARACTERISTIC DATA			7
		PHYSICAL CHARACTERISTICS		8
		ELECTRICAL SPECIFICATION		8
		ENVIRONMENTAL SPECIFICATIONS		9
	DOCUMENTATION			9
		WHERE TO FIND THE INFORMATION		10
2 SYSTEM BOARD 12
	PRINCIPAL COMPONENTS AND FEATURES			12
	DEVICES ON THE PROCESSOR-LOCAL BUS			15
		INTEL PENTIUM PRO (P6) MICROPROCESSOR		15
		CACHE MEMORY		16
		PROCESSOR-LOCAL BUS		17
		OPTIONAL SECOND MICROPROCESSOR		17
		MAIN MEMORY		18
	DEVICES ON THE PCI BUS			19
		SMALL COMPUTER SYSTEM INTERFACE (SCSI)		19
		INTEGRATED DRIVE ELECTRONICS (IDE)		19
		OTHER PCI ACCESSORY DEVICES		20
	DEVICES ON THE ISA BUS			21
		ULTRA I/O CONTROLLER		21
		LITTLE BEN		22
		AUDIO CONTROLLER		22
		SYSTEM ROM		23
		OTHER ISA ACCESSORY DEVICES		23
3 INTERFACE BOARDS AND MASS-STORAGE DRIVES 25
		AVAILABLE VIDEO RESOLUTIONS		25
		VESA CONNECTOR		27
		VIDEO BIOS		27
		ERROR DIAGNOSTICS AND SUGGESTED CORRECTIVE ACTIONS		27
	HP PCI INTEGRATED 10/100 VG INTERFACE			28
		ERROR DIAGNOSTICS AND SUGGESTED CORRECTIVE ACTIONS		29
	MASS-STORAGE DRIVES			29
		HARD DISK DRIVES		29
		FLEXIBLE DISK DRIVES		30

		CD-ROM DRIVES		30
4 HP BIOS			31
	SETUP PROGRAM			31
	BIOS			36
		I/O ADDRESSES USED BY THE SYSTEM*		36
		SYSTEM MEMORY MAP		37
		PRODUCT IDENTIFICATION		37
		BIOS VERSION NUMBER		37
		YEAR OF THE ROM BIOS RELEASE		38
		WEEK OF THE ROM BIOS RELEASE		38
		HP BIOS I/O PORT MAP		39
		ADDRESSING SYSTEM BOARD COMPONENTS		40
5 POWER-ON SELF-TEST ROUTINES 42
	VIEWED ON THE SCREEN			42
	ERROR CODES			44
	SUGGESTIONS FOR CORRECTIVE ACTION			47

NOTICE

Information contained in this document is subject to change without notice.

Hewlett-Packard makes no warranty of any kind with regard to this material, including, but not limited to, the implied warranties of merchantability and fitness for a particular purpose. Hewlett-Packard shall not be liable for errors contained herein or for incidental or consequential damages in connection with the furnishing, performance, or use of this material.

Hewlett-Packard shall not be liable for errors contained herein or for incidental or consequential damages in connection with the furnishing, performance, or use of this material.

Hewlett-Packard assumes no responsibility for the use or reliability of its software on equipment that is not furnished by Hewlett-Packard.

This document contains proprietary information which is protected by copyright. All rights are reserved. No part of this document may be photocopied, reproduced, or translated into another language without the prior written consent of Hewlett-Packard Company.

Centronics® is a U.S. registered trademark of Centronics Data Computer Corporation.

Microsoft®, Windows® and MS-DOS® are registered trademarks of Microsoft Corporation.

Novell® and Netware® are registered trademarks of Novell Inc.

O/S2™ is a trademark of International Business Machines Corporation.

NextStep™ is a trademark of Next Incorporated.

Pentium™ is a trademark of Intel Cor[oration.

SCO UNIX® is a registered trademark of the Santa Cruz Operation.

Solaris™ is a trademark of Sun Microsystems Incorporated.

SoundBlaster™ is a trademark of Creative Technology Limited.

©1996 Hewlett-Packard Company

PREFACE

This manual is a technical reference and BIOS document for engineers and technicians providing system level support. It is assumed that the reader possesses a detailed understanding of ATcompatible microprocessor functions and digital addressing techniques.

Technical information that is readily available from other sources, such as manufacturer’s proprietary publications, has not been reproduced.

This manual contains summary information only. For additional reference material, refer to the bibliography.

CONVENTIONS

The following conventions are used throughout this manual to identify specific elements:

•Hexadecimal numbers are identified by a lower case h. For example, 0FFFFFFFh or 32F5h

•Binary numbers and bit patterns are identified by a lower case b. For example, 1101b or 10011011b

BIBLIOGRAPHY

•HP Vectra XU 6/xxx PC User’s Guide manual kit (D3538A).

•HP Vectra VT 6/xxx PC User’s Guide manual kit (D3539A).

•HP Vectra XU 6/xxx PC and HP Vectra VT 6/xxx PC Familiarization Guide (D3538-90901).

•HP Vectra Accessories Service Handbook - 5th edition (5963-8034).

•HP Vectra PC Service Handbook (Volume 1) - 9th edition (5963-8033).

•HP 10/100 VG Selectable PC LAN Adapters Installation Guide (5963-2665).

•XU/VT Drivers and Documentation CD-ROM (5063-7925).

•Support Assistant CD-ROM.

The following Intel® publication provides more detailed information:

•Pentium Pro Processor Data Sheet (242769-001)

1 SYSTEM OVERVIEW

This manual describes the HP Vectra XU 6/xxx PC andHP Vectra VT 6/xxx PC, and provides detailed system specifications.

This chapter introduces the external features, and lists the specifications and characteristic data of the system. It also summarizes the documentation which is available.

EXTERNAL FEATURES

The following two diagrams show the front and rear views of the HP Vectra XU 6/xxx PC with an “A” model network board. The HP Vectra VT 6/xxx PC is similar, but has no SCSI or LAN connectors.

Empty internal drive shelf

Hard disk drive

Power supply

Up to six accessory boards can be installed

Main memory

Logo

Status panel

Flexible disk drive

Empty front access drive shelves

CD-ROM drive Volume control Headphone jack Microphone jack

Internal speaker grill

Hand-hold recess

Serial ports B and A

Key lock

Mouse connector

Processor fan

Keyboard connector

Voltage selection

switch

MIDI/joystick connector

Power connector

Stereo-in (audio) jack

Power supply fan

Stereo-out (audio) jack

Power supply handle

VESA connector

Parallel port

Display connector

Fast-20 SCSI-2

connector (XU only)

100 Mb/s LAN

10 Mb/s LAN

(XU with "A" model

network board only)

Identification label

INTERNAL FEATURES

Both models of PC are constructed around the Peripheral Component Interconnect (PCI) bus and Industry Standard Architecture (ISA) bus. They are the first members of the HP Vectra PC family to use the Intel Pentium Pro (P6) processor.

Since there is no back-plane, the system board diagram, at the beginning of the next chapter, shows the locations of all the PC’s main field-serviceable components. The components of the system board are described in Chapter 2; the characteristics of the PC’s video, disk and networking devices are described in Chapter 3. The HP BIOS routines are described in Chapter 4; and the Power-On Self-Test routines are summarized in Chapter 5.

SPECIFICATIONS AND CHARACTERISTIC DATA

Status (Control) Panel

The status (control) panels of the HP Vectra XU 6/xxx PC and HP Vectra VT 6/xxx PC have the following features:

•a power on/off button with integrated on/error status light

•a press-and-hold RESET button

•a hard disk activity light.

PHYSICAL CHARACTERISTICS

System Processing Unit
Weight:	33 lbs (15 kg)
Dimensions:	15.95 inches (D) by 8.27 inches (W) by 16.34 inches (H)
	(40.5 cm by 21 cm by 41.5 cm)
Footprint:	0.91 sq ft (0.085 m2)
Keyboard:	18 inches (W) by 7 inches (D) by 1.3 inches (H), when flat, or
	18 inches (W) by 7 inches (D) by 2 inches (H), when standing
	(464mm by 178mm by 33mm when flat, or
	464mm by 178mm by 51mm, when standing)

ELECTRICAL SPECIFICATION

					Typical per PCI	Typical per ISA
Parameter	Total Rating			Notes	Accessory Slot	Accessory Slot
Input voltage	100-127		200-240	Switch selectable
	Vac		Vac
Input current (max)	6 A		3.15 A
Input power (max)	280 W			Less than 5 W
				when turned off
Input frequency	47 Hz to 63 Hz
Heat dissipation	280 W
Available power	200 W				15 W (max)	15 W (max)
Max current at +12 V	4 A			—	0.2 A	0.2 A
Max current at -12 V	0.5 A			—	0.2 A	0.5 A
Max current at +3.3 V	16 A			Together, these two	These must not	—
				must not exceed	exceed 2.5 A
				145 W*	per slot
Max current at +5V	29 A					1 A
Max current at -5V	0.2 A			—	—	0.2 A
Max current at +5Vst	70 mA			—	—	—

*Since 29 A at 5 V equates to 145 W, it follows that for every 1 A that is required from the 3.3V supply, it is necessasry to reduce the 29 A limit on the 5 V supply by 0.66 A. For example, 3A at 3.3 V plus a maximum of 27 A at 5 V, or 6 A at 3.3 V plus a maximum of 25 A at 5 V.

An attempt to draw too much current (such as a short circuit across edge-connector pins, or an accessory board that is not suitable for these PCs), will cause the overload protection in the power supply to be triggered, and the PC could fail to boot.

ENVIRONMENTAL SPECIFICATIONS

Environmental Specifications (System Processing Unit, with Hard Disk)

Operating Temperature

Recommended

Operating Temperature

Storage Temperature

Over Temperature

Shutdown

Operating Humidity

Storage Humidity

Acoustic noise emission

Operating Altitude

Storage Altitude

+ 40°F to 104° F (+5°C to +40°C)

+59°F to +158°F (+15°C to +30°C)

-40°F to +158°F (-40°C to +70°C)

+122°F (+50°C)

15% to 80% (relative)

8% to 80% (relative)

less than 40 dB in the workplace under normal conditions as defined by DIN 45635 T.19 and ISO 7779

10000 ft (3100m) max

15000ft (4600m) max

Operating temperature and humidity ranges may vary depending upon the mass storage devices installed. High humidity levels can cause improper operation of disk drives. Low humidity levels can aggravate static electricity problems and cause excessive wear of the disk surface.

DOCUMENTATION

The table below summarizes the availability of the documentation that is appropriate to the HP Vectra XU 6/xxx PC and HP Vectra VT 6/xxx PC. Three dots, ‘...’, are used to indicate ‘XU’ or ‘VT’, as appropriate.

Only selected publications are available in paper-based form. Most are available as printable files from the HP regional support servers, or from the Support Assistant CD-ROM.

	Regional Support				Support Assistant
Title	Servers				CD-ROM		Paper-based
Line of HPVectra 6/xxx PC:	XU		VT	XU		VT	XU		VT
HP Vectra ... 6/xxx User’s Guide	yes		yes	yes		yes	D3538A		D3539A
Optimizing Performance Guide	yes		no	yes		no			no
HP Vectra XU/VT 6/xxx		yes			yes		D3538-90901
Familiarization Guide
HP Vectra XU/VT 6/xxx Technical		yes			yes			no
Reference Manual
HPVectra PC Service Handbook	yes		yes	yes		yes	5963-8033
(9th Edition)
HPVectra Accessory Service		yes			yes		5963-8034
Handbook (5th Edition)
Network Administrators Guide	WinHelp,		not	yes		not	no		not
	HTML and		applicable			applicable			applicable
	text
	formats
HP 10/100 VG Selectable PC LAN	yes		not	yes		not	5963-2665		not
Adapters			applicable			applicable			applicable
Matrox MGA Millennium		no			no*			no

*Available on the XU/VT Drivers and Documentation CD-ROM

WHERE TO FIND THE INFORMATION

The table below summarizes the availability of information within the documentation:

						Technical
			Performance	Familiarization	Service	Reference
	User Guide	User Online	Guide	Guide	Handbook	Manual
		Introducing the PC
Product features	Key features	Exploring		New features	Exploded	Key features
				Vectra PC	view
				comparison	Parts list
Product model				Product range	Product	Product
numbers					range	range
					CPL dates
		Using the PC
Connecting cables	Keyboard, mouse,
and turning on	display, network,
	printer, power
Finding on-line	Finding READ.MEs
information	and on-line
	documentation
Environmental	Setting up the PC	Working in
		comfort
Formal documents	License agreement	License
	Warranty information	agreement
		Upgrading the PC
Opening the PC	Full details
Supported	Full PN details			Full PN details	Full PN
accessories					details
Installing	How to install		Why to install	New procedures
accessories
Configuring	Installing drivers	Configuring
devices		peripherals
Fields and their	Key fields			New fields		Complete
options within						list
Setup
		Repairing the PC
Troubleshooting	Basic			Repair policy	Service	Advanced
					notes
Technical	Basic		Advanced	Basic		Advanced
information
System board	Jumpers, switches			Jumpers,	Jumpers,	Jumpers,
	and connectors			switches and	switches	switches
				connectors	and	and
				How to replace	connectors	connectors
						Chip-set
						details
BIOS	Basic details			New features		Technical
						details
						Memory
						maps

Power-On Self-	Key error codes and			New features		Error codes
Test routines	suggestions for					and
(POST)	corrective action					suggestions
						for
						corrective
						action
						Order of
						tests
Vectra diagnostic				New features		Technical
utility						details
Peripheral Devices
Display User’s	Setting up and
Guide	configuring
Disk drive User’s	Setting up and
Guide	configuring
Audio User’s	Setting up and
Guide	configuring
LAN	Setting up and
Administrator’s	configuring
Guide

2 SYSTEM BOARD

The next chapter describes the video, disk and network devices which are supplied with the PC.

This chapter describes the components of the system board. An overview of the system board is first given. Then the components of the Processor-Local Bus, the PCI Bus and the ISA Bus are described in more detail.

PRINCIPAL COMPONENTS AND FEATURES

The system board contains the following components:

PGA ZIF sockets

Each processor is packaged in a 387-way pin-grid-array (PGA), which is seated on the system board in a zero-insertion-force (ZIF) socket. The HP Vectra XU 6/xxx PC has two such sockets: the top one is occupied by the Pentium Pro (P6) processor; the bottom one is empty, and can be filled with an optional second Pentium Pro processor. The HP Vectra VT 6/xxx PC has one socket, occupied by the Pentium Pro processor, with no option for fitting a second Pentium Pro processor.

VRM sockets

The voltage regulator module (VRM) is capable of supplying a voltage of 1.5 V to 3.5 V. This voltage is selected automatically, and depends on the needs of each processor. For instance, the 150 MHz Pentium Pro requires 3.1 V, whilst the 200 MHz version requires 3.3 V. There are two VRM sockets on the HP Vectra XU 6/xxx PC (one of which is already occupied), and one on the

HP Vectra VT 6/xxx PC.

Accessory Slots

There are three accessory slots on the PCI bus, two on the ISA bus, and one that lies on either bus. Thus there are four PCI accessory sockets, and three ISA bus accessory sockets. The top PCI bus slot is already occupied by the Matrox MGA Millennium video controller. On the

HP Vectra XU 6/xxx PC, the second PCI slot is also already occupied, by the HP PCI Integrated 10/ 100 VG Interface. (These two boards are described in the next chapter).

System Board Switches

The first three of the system board switches set the configuration for the PC, as summarized in the table below. The next two set the frequency of the Processor-Local bus, and the last three the ratio of processor-frequency to Processor-Local-bus-frequency.

Switch:	Function:	OFF (default)	ON
1 - CONFG	Retain or clear the configuration which is stored in EEPROM	Retain	Clear
2 - PSWRD	Enable or clear the User and System Administrator Passwords	Enable	Clear
	which are stored in EEPROM
3 - SECURE	Security mode prevents changes to the PC’s configuration with	Disable	Enable
	the Setup program
4, 5, 6, 7, 8	Processor bus frequencies (see the table on page 15)

Wavetable Interface Connector

This is used when installing a Creative Labs wavetable accessory board that operates with the integrated SoundBlaster audio interface.

Main Memory Module Sockets

There are eight main memory module sockets, arranged in four banks(A to D). One bank is already occupied by the pair of double interline memory modules (DIMMs) that contain the 16 MB of memory that is fitted as standard on all models of the PC.

SCSI Controller and Connector

An Ultra SCSI controller, on PCI bus of the HP Vectra XU 6/xxx PC, supports Fast-20 SCSI-2. Internal and external connectors are provided.

IDE Controller and Connector

The Enhanced IDE (EIDE) controller chip can be found next to the IDE connectors. Connected to the PCI bus, it has IDE-Master capability. It has two channels, each capable of supporting two devices: a primary channel (recommended for EIDE, or IDE, hard disk drives, using the grey connectors); a secondary channel (recommended for EIDE, or IDE, CD-ROM drives, using the red connectors).

Ultra I/O Chip

The Ultra I/O chip is located just slightly above and to the right of the ISA slots. It is a combined controller on the ISA bus for the flexible disk drive connector, and for the one parallel and two serial communications ports.

Audio Chip

The SoundBlaster 16 chip is located to the right of the Ultra I/O chip, near the bottom right hand edge of the board. This provides the audio interface, and is driven from the ISA bus.

Chip-Set

The Intel 82450KX chip-set comprises eight chips. Six of them are concerned with controlling memory accesses, and are located below the memory module sockets. These are the four datapath units, the memory controller chip, and the Mem/PL bridge chip. They are described in the sub-section of this chapter entitled “Main Memory”. The remaining two chips are the PL/PCI bridge chip, which is described in the section entitled “Devices on the PCI Bus”, and the PCI/ISA bridge chip, which is described in the section entitled “Devices on the ISA Bus”.

Gold Capacitor

A Gold Capacitor is provided instead of a battery, and can store enough energy to power the CMOS configuration memory for over a week after the mains power has been disconnected.

Architectural View

The following block diagram gives an architectural view of the HP VectraXU 6/150 PC. The next section describes the devices on the system board which are associated with the Processor-Local (PL) bus. The section after describes the devices on the system board that are associated with the Peripheral Component Interconnect (PCI) bus. The final section describes the devices on the system board that are associated with the Industry Standard Architecture (ISA) bus.

DEVICES ON THE PROCESSOR-LOCAL BUS

The following subsystems are associated with the Processor-Local bus:

•Intel Pentium Pro (P6) microprocessor

•cache memory

•optional second microprocessor (HP Vectra XU 6/xxx PC only)

•main memory.

INTEL PENTIUM PRO (P6) MICROPROCESSOR

Apart from the two levels of cache memory, contained within the processor’s single integrated package, the other new features of the Pentium Pro are:

•three-way super-scalar pipeline (versus two for the Pentium)

•five execution units (versus three for the Pentium)

•12 stage super-pipeline (versus 5 stage pipeline for the Pentium)

•dynamic, out-of-order, speculative execution

•16-state, dynamic multiple branch prediction

•split-transaction bus

•register renaming.

Although it is not pin compatible with the Pentium, the Pentium Pro is backward code-compatible. Software written for previous HP Vectra models will run on the Pentium Pro-based HP Vectras. However, only 32-bit programs execute faster. 16-bit programs might even only execute at the speed that would have been attained by an equivalent 80486-based system.

Many techniques have been adopted to accelerate the throughput of the instruction-pipeline of the Pentium Pro over that of the Pentium. Firstly, it is super-pipelined: the individual operations of the Pentium pipeline have been broken down into many sub-operations, leading to a much longer pipeline of smaller operations. Secondly, it is super-scalar: the five execution units are completely independent; not only can they have instructions issued to them asynchronously of each other, but they can complete their execution asynchronously of each other, too.

Since instructions can complete asynchronously, it is possible for a simple instruction to complete before a complex one which precedes it. This is the first of two ways in which the Pentium Pro manifests out-of-order instruction execution. The second way follows as a direct result of the speculative execution feature: whilst a time-consuming instruction is still awaiting completion, the processor gets on with executing instructions that were fetched after it, on the speculation that they will probably be needed next.

Related to this, the Pentium Pro incorporates an even more elaborate (and more accurate) 16state dynamic branch prediction mechanism than the one which is used on the Pentium. This allows the processor to speculate as to which instructions will be needed following a conditional branch, based on past behavior at the branch.

A module, known as the re-order buffer (ROB), handles the out-of-order completion of instructions, and the cases where speculative execution proves to have been wrong (a misprediction by the branch prediction unit, for example).

System Board Switch Speed Settings

Like the Pentium and 80486 DX2 processors, the Pentium Pro uses internal clock multiplication. For example, the Pentium Pro 150 MHz processor multiplies the 60 MHz system clock by 2.5. Switches 4 and 5 on the system board switch bank set the frequency of the Processor-Local bus. Switches 6, 7 and 8 set the clock multiplier ratio. The relationship of the switch settings to Processor-Local bus and processor frequencies is summarized in the following table:

Switch 4	Switch 5	Processor	Switch 6	Switch 7	Switch 8	Frequency	Processor
		Local Bus				Ratio	Frequency
		Frequency				Processor :
						Local Bus
Off	Off	66 MHz	Off	Off	Off	2 : 1	133 MHz*
On	Off	60 MHz	On	Off	Off	2.5 : 1	150 MHz
Off	Off	66 MHz	On	Off	Off	2.5 : 1	166 MHz
On	Off	60 MHz	Off	On	Off	3 : 1	180 MHz
Off	Off	66 MHz	Off	On	Off	3 : 1	200 MHz

*The 133 MHz PentiumPro processor is not supplied in any of the Vectra models. This information is provided for completeness only.

CACHE MEMORY

There are two integrated circuits sealed within a single Pentium Pro package. One of these contains the Level-2 (L2) cache memory chip; the other contains the processor, which includes two banks of Level-1 (L1) cache memory.

Each L1 cache memory has a capacity of 8 KB, and is set-associative. The L2 cache memory has a capacity 256 KB, and is four-way set-associative.

Data is stored in the cache memories in lines of 32-bytes (256 bits). This involves two consecutive transfers of 128-bits with the main memory.