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GLOSSARY

There are a lot of different codewords and jargon involved with HP hardware. This page attempts to help. Further help can sometimes be found in the Hardware Database where a lot of codenames are used.

Artist

GSC Graphics Accelerator

ASP

Host bus adapter used in older workstations. The predecessor to Lasi.

Astro

Integrated Runway to Ropes bridge, Memory controller, and IOA.

Bravehawk

The PA-8200 based K class servers.

CIO

Channel I/O. The predecessor to HP-PB.

Crayon

Also a graphics thingy (thanks to Martin Petersen for this answer)

Cujo

Dino with a 64-bit data path. Doesn't support dual address cycle.

Dino

GSC to PCI Bridge. Integrated PS/2, Serial port, and fire extinguisher.

ELF

Executable & Linking Format. Linux/PA-RISC executables & libraries all use this format. HP-UX uses it for 64-bit executables.

Elroy

Ropes to PCI Bridge. Used in current B/C/J/L/N-class machines. Supports 4X PCI and dual address cycle.

EPIC

Excalibur PCI-bus Interface Chip. Integrated IOA. Used in V-class.

Gecko

The codename for the 712 series of workstations.

GSC

HP proprietary bus. Initially used for I/O, but PA-7100LC & PA-7300LC processors connect directly to the GSC bus. GSC comes in several variants:

GSC-1X: The original GSC bus implemented on PCX-L and used in the Gecko, Mirage and Electra computers. Peak Bandwidth 142MB/s w/DMA, 106 MB/s with PIO writes.
GSC+: Enhancements added for KittyHawk/SkyHawk (U2 chip) that allow for pending transactions. GSC+ enhancements are orthogonal to the GSC-1.5X and GSC-2X enhancements. Aka "Extended GSC" or "EGSC".
GSC-1.5X: GSC-1X with an additional variable length write transaction.
GSC-2X: GSC-1.5X with a protocol enhancement to allow data to be sent at double the GCLK rate (Peak bandwidth = 256 MB/s)

Harmony

Lasi sound device

HIL

Human Interface Loop. A HP proprietary interface for connecting I/O devices like keyboards, mice or tablets.

HPMC

High Priority Machine Check. Fatal system error. PDC saves machine state in the PIM.

HP-PB

Hewlett Packard-Precision Bus. HP proprietary I/O bus. Aka NIO.

IOA

IO Adapter. Aka "I/O MMU". Generally handles I/O coherency.

Kittyhawk

The PA-7200 based K class servers.

Lasi

An integrated IO controller (serial, parallel, SCSI, PS/2 keyboard and mouse) found in many workstations.

LPMC

Low Priority Machine Check. Generally a recoverable system error.

Mirage

The codename for the later series of 715 workstations.

Mohawk

The PA-8000 based K class servers.

Mongoose

The EISA bus adapter found in 715/720/725/730/735/750/755 machines.

Nova

The codename for the F, G, H and I class servers.

NIO

See HP-PB

PDC

Processor dependent code. Machine specific assembler code from flash memory or ROM.

PIM

Processor Internal Memory. Machine state is saved here for HPMC, LPMC, and TOC's. See PDC_PIM in "PDC Procedures" chapter of PA I/O ACD.

Runway

PA-7200, -8000, -8200, -8500 processors connect directly to the Runway bus.

SAGA

EPIC with a 64-bit data path. Doesn't support dual address cycle.

Scorpio

The codename for the earlier series of 715 workstations.

SGC

Systems Graphics Connect.

Snakes

The original HP workstations; the 705, 710, 720, 730 and 750.

SOM

Spectrum Object Format. This is the executable & library format used by HP-UX for 32-bit executables. Spectrum was the codename for PA-RISC.

STI

Standard Text Interface.

SuckyIO

National Semiconductor PC87560UBD, aka "SuperIO". Provides IDE, USB 1.1, Floppy Disk Controller, parallel port, 2 serial ports, UIR (infrared), etc. But since National denies the existence of this chip and HP was the only client for this buggy PoS, the name "SuckyIO" has stuck.

Summit