Upgrade your HP 9000/400t to a 425t or 433t

This information tells you how to upgrade your HP 9000 series 400 workstation to a 9000/425 or 433. The difference is a 25 or 33 MHz 68040 processor instead of a 50 MHz 68030 microprocessor (about a 2 to 3 times increase in performance for most tasks).

This page gives instructions for upgrading the motherboard in a "tower" case (i.e. 400t).

1. Make sure you compile a new kernal or have the generic kernal installed. If you only have a HP400 kernal installed, then your machine will not boot when you upgrade it.

2. Get the following parts:
   • Motorola 68040 microprocessor
   • Oscillator clock (you probably already have a 50 MHz oscillator installed, so you'd only need one if you plan to upgrade to a 433, for which you'd need a 66 MHz crystal, i.e. two times the 68040 bus speed). If you already have a 50 MHz oscillator installed, it would be on the left side, partially obscured by the L-Board, in location UK19
   • Spare EEPROM, programmer, and image

3. Use the image file to create an EEPROM that will boot a 68040 machine. I can't give details here, since I don't know what equipment you have. And before you ask, I can't burn it for you, I had to send mine out to a friend.

4. Remove the video card and place somewhere safe.

5. Open the cover and remove motherboard. This involves:
   1. Remove stand (if present), two big screws
   2. Snap off faceplate
   3. Lift cover up and slide back
   4. Unplug all the cables attached to the motherboard (and remember where they go)
   5. Remove the memory. These are the boards in the bank of sockets at the rear of the motherboard (MEM 0A thru MEM 3B)
   6. Squeeze the latches at the front of the motherboard and slide it out the front of the case

6. Remove the 68030 daughterboard (also called an L-Board). This is the rather large PCB held in by 5 screws in the center of the motherboard. Be sure to carefully remove it from the socket on the left side. In case you're curious, the chip labeled SC414075RC50 is actually a 50 MHz 68030, for some reason the part number does not contain "68030"

7. Remove the EEPROM. The EEPROM is located on the right side, in location UH06 (under where the L-Board was).

8. Insert the new EEPROM. Pin 1 (notch) goes where the white square on the motherboard is located.

9. Insert the new oscillator. Pin one (squared off corner) goes where the white square on the motherboard is located. This is located on the left side of the motherboard, in location UK19.

10. Insert the new 68040. Pin one (triangle on corner of chip) goes in location A1 of the socket at location UK16

11. Reinsert your RAM. Be sure it's oriented correctly before applying undue amounts of force.

12. Move the 33/25 jumper if necessary (see description of chipsets). This is located on the left side in the middle, at W001. The right and middle pins jumpered are 33, the left and middle pins jumpered are 25. Note that NetBSD uses this jumper position to determine whether your machine is a 425 or 433, not the speed of the processor.

13. Just so you know, the large block of 8 jumpers selects the AUI (thick) or 10Base-2 (thin) ethernet ports on the back of the board. Placing the block on the side closest to the BNC (coax) selects thin, and placing the block on the side closest to the DB15 selects the thick. This is jumper block W002.

14. Reassemble your workstation.

15. Fire it up. If it doesn't work, you still have all the parts necessary to return your system to its original state (i.e. 50 MHz 68030).

16. If you feel like living dangerously, you can probably overclock your 68040.

17. Enjoy significantly faster performance.