Peripherals

The 9845 was designed to use much of HP's standard peripheral equipment of that time. Most peripherals require a dedicated interface, and some need a special option ROM.

Peripherals

Some Common 9845 Peripherals, Namely a 2631 Dot Matrix Printer, a 9845B, a 9874A Digitizer, a 9845C, a 9872A Plotter, a 7906 Hard Disk Cabinet and a 98041A Interface Box (Left to Right) - Note That Even a Voluminous System Like the 9845C Appears Compact Compared to Some of the Peripherals.

Each HP 9845 had been designed to give room inside the mainframe for an internal letter size thermal printer, and two internal cartridge tape drives.

In addition, the modular interfacing concept of the HP9845 offered a wide range of connectivity, including serial (RS-232) and parallel (HP-IB) standard connections. Non-HPGL plotters could be connected with the incremental plotter interface, and almost any other equipment with the generic 16 channel GPIO interface, provided the necessary driver for the device had been available.

The HP 9845 featured four slots for plug-in interface units, which could be extended to up to 10 interfaces with a single 9878A I/O expander, or to 16 interfaces with two 9878A I/O expanders. With each 98034A/B HP-IB interface, up to 15 devices could be connected to that HP-IB bus, so putting it all together, one single HP 9845 was (electrically) capable to control up to 16 non-HP-IB devices or 16 x 15 = 240 HP-IB devices (!) in addition to the built-in peripherals. In fact, due to interface selection codes limited to the range between 1 and 12, up to 12 non-HP-IB or 12 x 15 = 180 HP-IB devices could be addressed (again in addition to the built-in peripherals).

 

Peripheral Architecture

Peripheral Architecture

The I/O architecture of the HP 9845 was generic in the sense that communication to all peripherals was done over the same I/O bus, which again was made available via an I/O backplane at the rear of the HP 9845 mainframe. In fact there were no built-in interfaces (so you will be looking for an RS-232 or centronics connector in vain).

However, once the proper interface was installed, the HP 9845 was electrically ready to communicate with a large number of devices. For integration into the operating systems I/O processes (especially for graphics or mass storage operations), the specific data protocol needed for controlling the device had to be implemented as a "driver" either in one of the system ROMs, in a pluggable option ROM, or in a binary program loadable on run-time. In many cases it is also possible to talk directly from 9845 BASIC through an installed interface to the devices connected to that interface with the generic I/O BASIC commands.

Perihperals

Some More 9845 Peripherals (Top Down / Left to Right: 9831 Dot Matrix Printer, 9885 Floppy Disk Drive, 9883A Paper Tape Reader, 7906 Hard Disk Cabinet with 98041A Interface, 9874A Digitizer, 9875A Cartridge Tape Drive, 9872A Plotter, 9871A Daisy Wheel Printer, 9876A Thermal Paper Printer, 7225A Plotter, 9884A Paper Tape Punch, 9878A I/O Expander)

Listed below are the peripherals which were actually designed in the historical context of the 9845 series. Other peripherals, like the HP 2225A Thinkjet printer, work fine with a 9845, but have no real historical relation to those systems since they have been introduced after 1983.

Generally, the ordering options for peripheral devices and interfaces are not completely consistent. So the options listed below are not universally valid.

Prices are where common introduction prices, but may also differ.

Most images on this page are courtesy hpmuseum.net, which also provides much more additional information on the specific HP peripherals within the Peripheral Products section.

Printers

  Product No. Opt. Description Required Interface Required ROMs Retail
Click to enlarge 2601A 826 Daisywheel Letter Quality Printer (diverse print wheels available) 98036A Opt. 445   $3,950
  26010D   Dual-bin Sheet Feeder for 2601A     $2,290
Click to enlarge 2608A 845 Dot Matrix Line Printer (HP-IB) 98034A/B (Revised)   $9,900
Click to enlarge 2631A 845 180 CPS Impact Printer (HP-IB) 98034A/B (Revised)   $3,150
Click to enlarge 2631B 845 180 CPS Impact Printer (HP-IB) 98034A/B (Revised)   $3,950
    009 European Character Set     $150
Click to enlarge 2631G 845 180 CPS Graphics Impact Printer (HP-IB) 98034A/B (Revised)   $4,900
    009 European Character Set     $150
Click to enlarge 2635A/B   Printing Terminal (HP-IB) 98036A Op. 445   $3,950
  2671A   Thermal Printer 98034A/B (Revised)   $1,195
Click to enlarge 2671G   Thermal Graphics Printer 98034A/B (Revised)   $1,495
Click to enlarge 2673A   Intelligent Graphics Printer 98034A/B (Revised)   $2,195
Click to enlarge 7310A   Thermal Graphics Printer     $5,250
Click to enlarge 9866A   Thermal Printer 98032A Opt. 466   $2,975
Click to enlarge 9866B   Thermal Printer 98032A Opt. 466   $4,800
Click to enlarge 9871A 045 Character Impact Printer 98032A Opt. 471   $4,100
    001 Character Impact Printer (HP-IB) 98034A/B (Revised)    
Click to enlarge 9876A 035 Thermal Graphics Printer (HP-IB) 98034A/B (Revised)   $4,725
    001 8-bit Parallel Interface 98032A Opt. 476    
    003 Metric Paper and 5041-1503 Spacer      

Note: Although not required for normal text operation, full text capabilities generally require an I/O option ROM. Graphics printing on 2631G, 9876A and 2608A generally requires a Graphics option ROM installed.

Plotters

  Product No. Opt. Description Required Interface Required ROMs Retail
Click to enlarge 7220C/T   Eight-Pen Plotter (HP-IB)     $5,300
Click to enlarge 7221C/T   Eight-Pen Plotter (HP-IB)     $5,300
Click to enlarge 7225A   Graphics Plotter (HP-IB) 98034A/B (Revised) Graphics ROM Rev. B or later $2,200
Click to enlarge 7225B   Graphics Plotter (HP-IB) 98034A/B (Revised) Graphics ROM Rev. B or later $2,450
  17600A
17601A
17602A
17603A
17604A
  Personality Module for 7225B (required)     $150
$750
$200
$750
$900
    001 100 VAC Primary      
    002 120 VAC Primary      
    003 220 VAC Primary      
    004 240 VAC Primary      
  7240A   Plotter/Printer     $5,200
Click to enlarge 7245B 045 Plotter/Printer (HP-IB) 98034A/B (Revised) Graphics ROM Rev. B or later $6,200
Click to enlarge 7470A   Graphics Plotter     $1,550
Click to enlarge 7580A 002 Drafting Plotter (HP-IB) 98034A/B (Revised) Graphics ROM Rev. B or later $15,450
    045 For 9845B 98034A/B (Revised) Graphics ROM Rev. B or later  
    145 For 9845C 98034A/B (Revised) Graphics ROM Rev. B or later  
Click to enlarge 7585A   Drafting Plotter     $22,750
Click to enlarge 9872A/B/S   Four-Pen Plotter (HP-IB) 98034A/B (Revised) Graphics ROM $4,200
Click to enlarge 9872C 045 Eight-Pen Plotter (HP-IB) 98034A/B (Revised) Graphics ROM Rev. C or later or Enhanced Graphics ROM Rev. A or later $5,800
Click to enlarge 9872T 045 Eight-Pen Plotter (HP-IB) 98034A/B (Revised) Graphics ROM Rev. C or later or Enhanced Graphics ROM Rev. A or later $7,900

Winchester Disk Drives

  Product No. Opt. Description Required Interface Required ROMs Retail
Click to enlarge 7910H 045 Winchester Fixed Disk Drive (12 MByte) 98034A/B (Revised) Mass Storage ROM Rev. C or later $8,350
Click to enlarge 9133A   Combo Winchester Fixed Disk Drive (4.6 MByte) 98034A/B (Revised) Structured Software Systems Mass Storage ROM  
  9134A   Winchester Fixed Disk Drive (4.6 MByte) 98034A/B (Revised) Structured Software Systems Mass Storage ROM $4,500
Click to enlarge 9135A   Combo Winchester Fixed Disk Drive (4.6 MByte) 98034A/B (Revised) Structured Software Systems Mass Storage ROM $5,500
Click to enlarge 9133B   Combo Winchester Fixed Disk Drive (9.6 MByte) 98034A/B (Revised) Structured Software Systems Mass Storage ROM  
Click to enlarge 9134B   Winchester Fixed Disk Drive (9.6 MByte) 98034A/B (Revised) Structured Software Systems Mass Storage ROM $4,500
Click to enlarge 9133XV   Combo Winchester Fixed Disk Drive (14.5 MByte) 98034A/B (Revised) Structured Software Systems Mass Storage ROM  
Click to enlarge 9134XV   Winchester Fixed Disk Drive (14.5 MByte) 98034A/B (Revised) Structured Software Systems Mass Storage ROM  

Note: floppy disks in combo drives are generally emulated as 82902M and can be used as such.

Cartridge Disk Drives

  Product No. Opt. Description Required Interface Required ROMs Retail
Click to enlarge 7905A   Combo Hard Disk Drive (5 MByte Fixed and 10 MByte Removable) 98041A Mass Storage ROM Rev. B or later $8,975
Click to enlarge 7906M 102 Cartridge Disk Drive Master (20 MByte) 98041A Opt. 045,
12745B/13037A Disk Controller
Mass Storage ROM Rev. B or later $18,175
  7906S   Slave (20 MByte)     $13,000
7920M 7920M 102 Cartridge Disk Drive Master (50 MByte) 98041A Opt. 045,
12745B/13037A Disk Controller
Mass Storage ROM Rev. B or later $20,175
  7920S   Slave (50 MByte)     $15,000
Click to enlarge 7925M 102 Cartridge Disk Drive Master (120 MByte) 98041A Opt. 045,
12745B/13037A Disk Controller
Mass Storage ROM Rev. B or later $23,225
  7925S   Slave (120 MByte)     $17,850
 

7925T

  Two slaves (120 MByte/slave)     $31,450
Click to enlarge

7933H

  CS/80 Fixed Disk Drive (404 MByte) 98034A/B (Revised) Mass Storage ROM Rev. C or later $26,150
Click to enlarge 7933G   CS/80 Fixed Disk Drive Bundle (3x404 MByte = 1.212 GByte)     $63,560
Click to enlarge

7935H

  CS/80 Cartridge Disk Drive (404 MByte) 98034A/B (Revised) Mass Storage ROM Rev. C or later $28,070
Click to enlarge

7935G

  CS/80 Cartridge Disk Drive Bundle (3x404 MByte = 1.212 GByte) 98034A/B (Revised) Mass Storage ROM Rev. C or later $74,000

Disk/Tape Drives

  Product No. Opt. Description Required Interface Required ROMs Retail
Click to enlarge 7908P   CS/80 Integrated Disk/Tape Drive (16.5 MByte) 98034A/B (Revised) Mass Storage ROM $9,900
Click to enlarge 7911P   CS/80 Integrated Disk/Tape Drive (28.1 MByte) 98034A/B (Revised) Mass Storage ROM $14,500
Click to enlarge 7912P   CS/80 Integrated Disk/Tape Drive (65.6 MByte) 98034A/B (Revised) Mass Storage ROM  

Flexible Disk Drives

  Product No. Opt. Description Required Interface Required ROMs Retail
Click to enlarge 9885M 045 Flexible Disk Drive Master (0.5 MByte) 98032A Opt. 485 Mass Storage ROM Rev. A or later $4,000
Click to enlarge 9885S   Flexible Disk Drive SLave (0.5 MByte)     $2,750
Click to enlarge 9895A   Dual Flexible Disk Drive (2.36 MByte) (HP-IB) 98034A/B (Revised) Mass Storage ROM Rev. C or later $6,830
    045 HP Flexible Disk Utilities      
    145 IBM Flexible Disk Utilities     $525
    010 Single Drive with Controller 98034A/B (Revised) Mass Storage ROM Rev. C or later $4,750
    011 Single Drive without Controller     $3,750
    012 Dual Drive Slave without Controller     $5,500
Click to enlarge 82901M   5.25" Dual Floppy Disk Drive (Master) 98034A/B (Revised) Structured Software System Mass Storage ROM $2,500
  82901S   5.25" Dual Floppy Disk Drive (Slave) 98034A/B (Revised) Structured Software System Mass Storage ROM $2,200
Click to enlarge 82902M   5.25" Single Floppy Disk Drive (Master) 98034A/B (Revised) Structured Software System Mass Storage ROM $1,500
  82902S   5.25" Single Floppy Disk Drive (Slave) 98034A/B (Revised) Structured Software System Mass Storage ROM $1,300
Click to enlarge 9121D   3.5" Dual Floppy Disk Drive 98034A/B (Revised) Structured Software System Mass Storage ROM $1,750
Click to enlarge 9121S   3.5" Single Floppy Disk Drive 98034A/B (Revised) Structured Software System Mass Storage ROM $1,185

Note: floppy disks in combo drives are generally emulated as 82902M and can be used as such.

Miscellaneous

  Product No. Opt. Description Required Interface Required ROMs Retail
  12050A   Fibre Optic HP-IB Link 98034A/B (Revised) I/O ROM  
Click to enlarge 37201A   HP-IB Extender 98034A/B (Revised) I/O ROM $1,840
Click to enlarge 37203A   HP-IB Extender 98034A/B (Revised) I/O ROM $1,310
Click to enlarge 37212A   Modem (2400 bps)     $1,046
Click to enlarge 1350S   Graphics Display System 98034A/B (Revised) I/O ROM $3,000
  1351S   Graphics Display System 98034A/B (Revised) I/O ROM  
Click to enlarge 7260A 045 Optical Card/Mark Reader 98032A Opt. 469   $6,936
Click to enlarge 7970E 826 9-Track Magnetic Tape 98041A Opt. 045 Device Driver in Binary Program $15,000
Click to enlarge 9111A 045 Graphics Tablet (for 45B) 98034A/B (Revised) I/O or Graphics ROM $2,050
    145 Graphics Tablet (for 45C) 98034A/B (Revised) I/O or Graphics ROM  
Click to enlarge 9869A 045 Optical Card Reader 98032A Opt. 469 I/O ROM  
Click to enlarge 9874A 045 Digitizer 98034A/B (Revised) I/O or Graphics ROM $9,500
Click to enlarge 9875A 045 Cartridge Tape Unit 98034A/B (Revised) I/O ROM $2,750
    001 Cartridge Tape Unit Second Drive      
Click to enlarge 98775A   Light Pen      
  98776A   RGB Interface      
  98777A   Camera Attachment      
Click to enlarge 9878A 045 I/O Expander (increases number of slots from 4 to 10) Built-in   $1,700
  9883A   Paper Tape Reader 98032A Opt. 483 I/O $2,510
Click to enlarge 9884A 045 Paper Tape Punch 98032A Opt. 484 I/O $4,620

Note: The 9111A included a beeper, which could be programmed in frequency, duration and amplitude via a special HPGL Beep instruction (see the 9111A Programming Manual for details). In other words, the 9111A was not only a graphics tablet, but also an early sound board. However, as far as I know, there never had been a game or application which made use of this feature...

Peripherals