This web page shows an example of the screen that is displayed when a HP 9000 200 computer boots and describes the information that is displayed and how to select the operating system to be loaded on a system with multiple operating systems.
The HP 9816
The HP 9816 was also designated as the HP 9000 216. It was the smallest member of this family and only measured ---------. It did not include any disk drives but it had a built-in 9 inch monochrome monitor, built-in HP-IB and RS-232 ports and 2 expansion slots. The standard keyboard for the 9816 is a itty-bitty number that measured only -----. Fortunately it was only connected by a detachable cable and many user's chose to substitute the massive HP 98203 keyboard meant for the 9000 220 computer. It was literally larger than the computer! The 9816 A came with 128K bytes of memory. The 9816 S included all of the above plus disk based BASIC and a card containing an additional 256K of memory bringing the total memory to 512K but only leaving only one expansion slot open.
The HP 9826
The HP 9826 was also designated as the HP 9000 226. It had a large flat case that measured ------. It had a large keyboard permanently attached to the front of the case. That made it even more awkward to move and locate. It came with a single 5 1/4 inch disk drive, a built-in 7 inch monochrome monitor, built-in HP-IB port and 8 expansion slots. The 9826 A came with 128K bytes of memory. The 9826 S included all of the above plus disk based BASIC and Pascal and 540K bytes of memory.
The HP 9836
The HP 9836 was also designated as the HP 9000 236. It had the same large flat case as the 9826s but added a second 5 1/4 inch disk drive in place on the built in monitor. Like the 9826, it had a large keyboard permanently attached to the front of the case. It also had a detachable but matching 12 inch monitor. It did not include a built-in HP-IB port but had 8 expansion slots. The 9836 A came with 128K bytes of memory. The 9836 S included all of the above plus disk based BASIC, Pascal and BASIC language extensions and two 256K memory boards bringing the total memory to 640K.
The HP 9836 Color Computers
The HP 9836C was built the same as the 9836 A and S but included a 12 inch color monitor and a HP-IB port built in to the main circuit board. The 9836 C came with 128K bytes of memory. It was also available in a S version, the 9836 CS. The CS included all of the above plus disk based BASIC, Pascal and BASIC language extensions and two 256K memory boards bringing the total memory to 640K.
The HP 9000 217
I have not been able to find out if the 9000 217 had a second designation like the other members of this family. The HP 9000 217 is a modular version of the 9816 but does not have a built-in monitor or disk drive. Apparently it was a short lived forerunner of the 9000 220. It has built-in HP-IB and RS-232 interfaces, a HP-HIL keyboard interface, six expansion slots and some other minor improvements. The 9000 217 was introduced in 1985, as best I can tell, but was apparently dropped before 1987 since it was not in the 1987 HP catalog
The HP 9000 220
The HP 9000 220 was a radical departure from the previous 200 series computers. For one thing it was not given a 98xx designation, instead it was designated as the 9920. It was also a completely modular system. The keyboard, CPU box, monitor and disk drives were all separate units. The 220 A CPU box had built-in keyboard and HP-IB port and 128K of memory. Unlike all other members of the 200 series computers, the 220 did not include a beeper. You had to connect an external beeper to a port on the CPU box. The 220 S was considered a development system and added BASIC, Pascal, and BASIC language extensions and the huge 98203 keyboard and an additional 512K of memory. The 220 box were handy in that they gave you no less than 15 expansion slots. The 220 could use a wide variety of monochrome or color monitors depending on which video card added to the system, but most users opted for the 82912 or 82914 monochrome monitors and the HP 98204A Composite Video card. These were the same monitors that were widely used for the HP 86 computers. Another innovation of the 220 computers were the switch to the HP-HIL interface.
HP HIL Interface
The Hewlett Packard Human Interface Loop interface allowed one port to be used for a wide variety of devices to be used for input. Besides a number of different keyboards, these devices included 2, 3 and 4 button mice, graphics tablets, positioning knobs, digitizers, bar code readers, ID modules (software protection dongles), separate numeric keypads and touch screen bezels that can be added to standard monitors. One of the unique features of the HP-HIL was that devices could be daisy chained together. Therefore a number of devices could be connected with only one port. Most HP-HIL devices have two ports, one is marked with a single dot and the other is marked with two dots. HP-HIL cables also have a single dot on one end and two dots on the other end. The end with two dots can only be plugged into a port with two dots and the end with one dot can only be plugged into ports with one port.
The HP 9000 200 Series Disk Drives
Using the built-in HP-IB port, the 9920 could be connected to a number of different disk drives. Some of the supported drives are; 3 1/2 inch disks floppy drives like the HP 9121 and HP 9122, 5 1/4 inch floppy disk drives like the HP 82901 or HP 82902, 8 inch floppy drives like the HP 9885 and HP 9895, 3 1/2 inch hard drives like the HP 9134, even the washing machine sized hard drives like the HP 7908, 7911 and 7912 or units that combined both a floppy and hard drive in one unit like the HP 9133.
Shameless Plug, I like the HP 9000 200s, they're a tinker's dream! Endless variations. If anyone has any of this type equipment that they're no longer using I will give it a good home!
