HP Workstation x4000

[Scenic]

Hey!

i just wanted to ask if anyone here has one of these (or at least the mainboard of it) and could take a photo of the mainboard.

the reason why i'm asking is that i could get one of those workstations rather cheap (20€ - about 31US$) without CPUs and RAM.
But i'm only interested in the ATX(?)-Case. and that's the point...

i wanna know if i could put a standard ATX mainboard in there or not.
the problem is that i can't find a pic of the board or the case where i could see if it fits (mounting holes for the mainboard).

Patrik

[Scenic]

Re: HP Workstation x4000

hmpf... this 10minutes edit-limit kinda sucks *grr*
---
the only pics i could find... but they don't really help




it looks like a full-sized ATX board.. but i don't wanna waste money on it if it's not
and without CPU(s) and RAM (RDRAM a.k.a. RAMBUS) it's useless for me
both is expensive.. especially the RAM...
256MB -> 26€ (about 40US$)
512MB -> 55€ (about 86US$)
1GB -> 165€ (about 257US$)

O M G

[gdement]

Re: HP Workstation x4000

That does look like an ATX configuration, but like you say it's hard to be sure from the photo.

I don't know that machine, but my older model (1998) HP Kayak XW is not ATX. But this one looks different in several ways: It has normal looking screw positions, the power supply is at the top, and it has a normal power button.

You could have a hassle with the power switch. My HP uses a ribbon cable for the front panel devices, and it's pretty likely they still use one on this x4000. So you'd have to find the appropriate wires and solder a new connector on it.

I tried doing a board swap on an IBM Intellistation (late P2) and ran into the same problem. It had a proprietary power switch connector, so I had to adapt it to a standard connection.

[bgavin]

Re: HP Workstation x4000

I'm working a contract site that has a ton of xw4400 and 4600 workstations. These are quite a bit different that what is shown above.

The xw4400 have a mini-tooler HSF for the processor. They run a modest Conroe type Core2. Heat is OK, performance is typical. Uses HP drivers (also typical).

Unless you get it for a song, I'd pass. You can buy state of the art, high performance boards and processors new for reasonable prices. Old junk isn't worth it unless it comes free.

[zandrax]

Re: HP Workstation x4000

@ scenic: It's a Tyan Thunder i860 motherboard modified for HP, so it's a standard full Atx board. The case is fully functional, but I fear the front panel (power and reset button, ide led and so on) uses not standard plugs so you may have troubles in booting normal atx boards (you have to short power contacts with a screwdriver or put another switch inside the case, both solutions are uncomfortable).
In fact I own a working HP Netserver TC3100 motherboard (an OEM version of the Asus TR-DLS, a dual 370 board) with a 40 pin non standard front panel connector: I installed it into a normal Atx tower, it works but I can only start the board by restarting the os and unplugging the power cable just after that or by netbooting through PXE.
The case may be useful to me if it has the same connector (photos are welcome) though I suspect shipping fee to Italy for a 10 kgs case is way greather than its price

Zandrax

[zandrax]

Re: [OT] The dreaded connector

The dreaded connector is the one named G4_PANEL, aside the "Test" label in the lower right corner:



It's 26 pin, not 40 as I wrote; external dimension are 26 mm (lenght) for 5 mm (height) and pin interspace is about 1.5 mm, so normal jumpers won't fit into.
Fortunately the label covers the "conventional" front panel which is still working: at first I managed to start the board by shortcircuiting the holes of power pins with a pair of paper clips, but it isn't an everyday job. Then I discovered the bios is programmed to boot after a blackout, so I started rebooting the os instead of shutting it down and detaching the power cable immediately after the reboot: my artificial blackout.
I tried to shortcircuit every combination of two neighbour pins without success, the HP site has a lot of documents except the panel connector pinouts and, morever, I still miss the reset button and the hdd led (I watch it to detect when the os is idle: memory of old Dos boxes?): it would be nice to know if the X4000 panel connector is phisically the same, but photos aren't so detailed and Scenic doesn't own the case nor he has seen it yet.

Zandrax

[gdement]

Re: HP Workstation x4000

Unless you get it for a song, I'd pass. You can buy state of the art, high performance boards and processors new for reasonable prices. Old junk isn't worth it unless it comes free.

Not sure about this particular board (and he's only interested in the case anyway), but generally speaking, the nice thing about old high end workstations is that they're very reliable. In most cases the RAM is also cheap because there's a glut of old registered memory that companies liquidate, and very few end users who have a use for buying it (Rambus is obviously expensive though). If you don't need multi-GHz speed for the application, then these old trucks are nice to have because they just keep working. My old Kayak will probably live longer than I do. Even the old 9GB hard drive is still good, while newer IDE drives I plugged into it at various times have died.

[gdement]

Re: [OT] The dreaded connector

Fortunately the label covers the "conventional" front panel which is still working

If the conventional solder pads still work, then couldn't you find the corresponding pins on the ribbon connector with a multimeter?

[Scenic]

Re: HP Workstation x4000

@ zandrax: you could solder those pins of the original front panel connector (under the sticker) in and simply use them.

did something similar on another OEM board (Fujitsu-Siemens AFAIR).
had a propritary connector for the front panel and the original one was under a
sticker and still working. so i soldered the needed pins in there and it works fine



BTW: you can use the WOR (Wake On Ring) connector to power up most of those boards (at least if there's an option in the BIOS to activate it)

shorting these 2 pins will power up the board as a usual power button would do..
the only problem could be that it's not soldered in on your board...



@ topic: i'm gonna buy this x4000 workstation in a few days... i'll see if everything works as expected

oh.. and @bgavin: i'm just interested in the ATX case and its (465W Delta Electronics) PSU.. the board that comes with it is useless for me
(because of the extremely expensive RDRAM/RAMBUS and the Socket 603 Xeon CPUs) and i'm gonna
sell it on ebay later or keep it and try to get some RDRAM for it cheap...

short:
interested in the real solid ATX case (just look at the 2nd pic in post #2) and the PSU, not the rest that comes with it..

zandrax.. the original auction has ended... but the seller started a new one..

shipping to italy would be 25€ insured.

Original link (ebay.it)
http://cgi.ebay.it/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?...m=290240302214

original link (ebay.de)
http://cgi.ebay.de/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?...m=290240302214

and ebay.com
http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll...m=290240302214

Google Translation:
http://66.102.9.104/translate_c?hl=d...742.m153.l1262

Babelfish translation:
http://66.196.80.202/babelfish/trans...742.m153.l1262


edit2: BTW: you could also try to solder in the second IDE port (under the label with the barcode) as the original Asus board has it and it seems that there are no surrounding components missing (except the IDE port itself)

[Scenic]

Re: HP Workstation x4000

hmpf.. 10min. edit limit again

just wanted to add this pic to the "edit2" text ..

[zandrax]

Re: HP Workstation x4000

Thanks Scenic for pictures and links: well, I know the conventional panel pinout (it's written in the TR-DLS manual and silkscreened on the board) and I could/should solder connectors on it, but I don't want to: I suck at soldering and everything I have tried to repair (remotes, headphones, radios) has never come back to life The board works almost fine (except for the panel issue and a cpuid message at every boot) so I simply don't want to wreck it.
The case: a sturdy case with a server psu is worth 40 euro, cheap ones cost at least 20 and their psus aren't good enough for feeding an halogen lamp. But, already owning a case with a server psu, my main reason for buying it is the panel connector: if I manage to have the normal connector soldered, maybe by a friend more skilled than me, I'll use my case otherwise I have to know if the x4000 case has the same connector before buying.

Zandrax

[Scenic]

Re: HP Workstation x4000

well.. we'll see if it has the same connector...
meaning i will buy one of those..

and BTW: have you tried the Wake On Ring thingy..?

[gdement]

Re: HP Workstation x4000

One other minor point - you may need a Torx screwdriver, at least that's what my HP requires. It's nice though, because torx screws work way better than philips head IMO.

[zandrax]

Re: HP Workstation x4000

well.. we'll see if it has the same connector...
meaning i will buy one of those..

Thanks.

and BTW: have you tried the Wake On Ring thingy..?

Right now: the WOR connector is still there, but there isn't its bios setting, only WOL; shorting it doesn't do anything at all so I suspect the crippled Phoenix-HP bios is different from the Award one used by Asus.
I could flash the Asus bios but there are some differences between boards: eg. the original TR-DLS has a switch for FSB selection while mine hasn't, the 8 pin switch in the original board act as a multiplier switch and as a external speaker / onboard buzzer selection while the switch on mine has only clear cmos and reset password settings (multiplier and buzzer pins seems unconnected). I'm going to ask my firend if he's able of soldering the panel connector, at least the power and the hdd led pins: I'll get you updated.

Zandrax

[Scenic]

Re: HP Workstation x4000

well.. the beast arrived...

got 8x 64MB PC800 RDRAM (Rambus) rather cheap on ebay too (9€ + Shipping)
and 2x 1.7GHz Xeons with heatsink and fan for 17€

System is running fine.. but it's a little noisy because of those 6 fans inside of it
at least they are temperature and load-controlled... so they're not running at full speed all the time..

unfortunately the front panel connector is different from xandrax' one..
i made some pics of it and the front panel PCB but i'm in a hurry right now so i'll post them later..

ah.. and guess what? the 2 FuhYin caps on the Memory PCB were popped

[kc8adu]

Re: HP Workstation x4000

change out all the nichicon hn/hm too.

[Scenic]

Re: HP Workstation x4000

i hope you dont mean those tons of caps in the VRM area with that...

dunno if they are HM/HN...

smaller caps are all rubycon ZL as far as i can see...

and BTW:

http://www.sysprofile.de/id71517

[Scenic]

Re: HP Workstation x4000

i disassembled the whole machine today...

all caps on the mainboard are either Rubycon ZL (mostly in the VRM area)
or Rubycon YXG (all over the board)

and a few Nichicon PW around the cpu sockets.


on the MEC there are 4 YXG's right next to where the blown FuhYin's were and 3 (of 4 ?!) Rubycon MBZ next to the mainboard connector.

not a single HM or HN on this board...

[kc8adu]

Re: HP Workstation x4000

i disassembled the whole machine today...

all caps on the mainboard are either Rubycon ZL (mostly in the VRM area)
or Rubycon YXG (all over the board)

and a few Nichicon PW around the cpu sockets.


on the MEC there are 4 YXG's right next to where the blown FuhYin's were and 3 (of 4 ?!) Rubycon MBZ next to the mainboard connector.

not a single HM or HN on this board...

lucky you!
i have been getting a ton of those in here with hn/hm and fuh yin blown.
most owners tell me to do a full rebuild as they intend to keep it till it turns to dust.

[zandrax]

Re: HP Workstation x4000

Thank you Scenic for all info: I'll ask my friend to make the normal panel of my TR-DLS mobo working again.
Now you've a real workstation for few bucks, keep an eye on power consumption

Zandrax