Ever heard of an HP 44A (71B look-alike)

[rprosperi]

(12-28-2015 12:36 AM)locore Wrote:  Regarding the 71B, it fails to power on with batteries or charger. I don't see anything unique on the front, but the back has a handwritten label and the serial number scratched out. Original owner was an HP engineer in Corvallis; no idea if there is anything special about it. Included in the picture is the sole module that was in it; unmarked.

The cap is interesting - possibly added to retain memory when moving the module between machines, which implies it's a RAM module (and so empty now).

But try inserting this module into the other working machine and check VER$, it may shed light on what it is, if it's an EPROM or ROM. Check MEM before and after inserting to see if size changes, which would confirm it's a RAM module. FREE :PORT(n) to separate it from main ram so you can remove it without disturbing what's in main RAM.

Assuming it is a RAM module, try a quick test to verify the purpose of the cap: once you have FREE'd it, copy any file to that port, then remove the module, wait 30 seconds and plug it back in. CAT :PORT(n) will reveal the file if it's still there, otherwise it will have been added to main ram again.

Prior to release and formal name change, HP did indeed share some machines at PPC labeled HP-44, however as I did not actually see them, don't know if there was an "A" in the name. As noted above, very odd suffix for the time, unless it was an internal project thing, though unlikely they'd make one that pretty for internal use. Odd indeed.