Driver:InterPro

Intergraph InterPro

The Intergraph InterPro brand name refers to a range of computers featuring the CLIPPER processor, and running CLIX, a port of UNIX System V release 3.1.

A dual-screen InterPro 2430

Status

The MAME driver for the InterPro is a work in progress, and is currently capable of booting and running the CLIX operating system and some software for the InterPro 2020 configuration. Some other models are capable of booting the diagnostic monitor and disk-based diagnostic utilities, but not yet able to install or run CLIX.

There are some known bugs in the driver at this time that may impact some of the processes described below:

• The driver can't reboot itself from software yet, so when it reaches a point at which a reboot is expected, you must exit and restart the system from MAME instead
• Changing or inserting CD-ROMs after start doesn't work, you must shutdown, exit MAME, and restart with a different CD-ROM image specified on the command line
• Sometimes, the mouse will stop working, typically after switching away and back to the MAME process; the only option is to exit and restart MAME, usually triggering a file system check that will delay the boot sequence
• MAME fast forward works 99% of the time, but very occasionally can lead to failures that haven't been investigated yet

Networking hasn't been tested at all under CLIX, so status is unknown at this point.

Hardware

Models

The InterPro range consists of 5 distinct generations or families, named after gemstones. The system models within each family share a common architecture and features, usually differing only by CPU type and clock speed.

Year	Family	Models	CPU	I/O Processor
1986	Amethyst	32C/100/200 300	C100	80186 80386
1988	Topaz	3000/4000/5000	C300/C300Plus	80386
1990	Emerald	6000/6100/6200/6500 6600	C300/C300Plus C4
1990	Turquoise	2000	C300
1992	Sapphire	2400/6400 2500/2700/2800/6700/6800	C4T C4I

For Emerald, Turquoise and Sapphire systems, the four-digit model number encodes some aspects of the original system configuration, and breaks down as follows.

Position	Purpose	Values
1	Case	2=desktop, 6=minicase
2	CPU	0=C300, 4=C4T, 6=C4, 5/7/8=C4I
3	Graphics	0=none, 3=MMG, 5=GTDB, 4=EDGE-1, 8=EDGE-2
4	Backplane	0=standard, 5/7/9=?

As examples using this encoding, an InterPro 2020 is a desktop C300 system fitted with MMG graphics, while an InterPro 6880 is a minicase C4I system with EDGE-2 graphics. Systems configured without graphics are typically fitted with a serial terminal, and branded InterServe rather than InterPro. This model numbering and branding applies to the system cases, but of course changing graphics options will cause a system's software-identified model number to change.

• InterPro physical configurations
• 

  Cube Electronics Cabinet

• 

  Suitcase Electronics Cabinet

• 

  Lowboy Electronics Cabinet

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  Minicase Electronics Cabinet

• 

  Two-Bay Electronics Cabinet

• 

  InterAct Workstation Dual Monitors

• 

  InterView Workstation Dual Monitors

Cards

SMT094, an EDGE-2 Plus graphics card

A range of approximately 150 installable cards were produced for the InterPro family. The most common and important of these included the system mainboards and several different graphics options, however a range of less common cards supported functions as diverse as video capture, SCSI expansion, networking and a VME bridge. Desktop InterPro systems support the installation of two cards in addition to the main board, in the horizontal plane and stacked vertically, using an interface referred to as CBUS. Larger systems supported either 5 or 12 vertically oriented slots with an interface referred to as SR or SRX, which is physically incompatible with CBUS.

Regardless of type, card names are typically prefixed by the letter M, followed by PCB or SMT (the latter designation indicating a surface-mount board), followed by a 3-digit board type. Boards are also typically marked with a single character revision number and an ECO (engineering change order) level recording hardware-level fixes.

Examples include MPCB963, which is described as "2000 Graphics f/1 1Mp Monitor", and MSMT094, which is an "EDGE-2 Plus Processor f/1 2Mp-FB".

Keyboard

InterPro keyboard

InterPro keyboard layout

Configuration

Machine configuration

Installing CLIX

Preparation

Use the MAME chdman utility to prepare a new CHD for the operating system installation. Various different hard disk capacities should work but have not been extensively tested yet. The actual geometry should not matter at all, but the vendor and model strings are queried by the software and may affect the installation process, and there may be some impact if they do not match existing entries in the delivered CLIX /etc/disktab file.

The SCSI INQUIRY response string (defined by the IDNT meta-data tag in the CHD) should consist of an 8 character vendor name, 16 character model number, and 4 character version number, all left justified and padded with spaces.

chdman createhd -o ip2000.chd -chs 1574,7,70
chdman addmeta -i ip2000.chd -t IDNT -vt "MAXTOR  LXT-340S        1.00"

Rebuild Utility

Start the MAME ip2000 driver with the Turquoise "rebuild" floppy disk in the floppy drive, the hard disk connected, and the first system software CD-ROM in the CD-ROM drive. Make sure you have the MAME user interface enabled so you are able to switch floppy disks later in the process.

mame ip2000 -flop rebuild:boot_clipper -hard ip2000.chd -cdrom iss:disc1

If sound is enabled, you should hear two beeps as the keyboard is initialised, and then see I/O system monitor boot message, followed by the "blue screen" utility program.

1. Use the mouse to select the Utility button, and from the Utility home page, select the Rebuild Utility button.
2. Under Step 1, select the Default button to create a default partition table on the hard disk. If you wish, you can examine and modify this default partition table by navigating back to the Utility home page, and using the Disk Partitioning Utility to make changes before loading the rebuild media.
3. Once the partition table has been created, re-enter the Rebuild utility page if necessary, and use the MAME in-emulation menu to load the rebuild:20x0_root2 floppy disk image, then select the Load button under Step 2 and hit Enter.
4. The utility should indicate progress on screen, and prompt you to repeat the process for floppy root images 3 and 4 in sequence.
5. After the rebuild media has been loaded, select the Boot button to enter the rebuild environment.

If you need to restart MAME at any point after the rebuild media has been installed, you can repeat the steps above (that is, boot from the rebuild:boot_clipper floppy, and enter the Rebuild Utility), and then proceed directly to Step 3.

• 

  I/O System Monitor

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  Blue Screen

• 

  Rebuild Utility

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  Load Rebuild Media

Rebuild Environment

After a few seconds, you should see the initial CLIX boot messages, and shortly after see the "Welcome to Rebuild" text-based user interface.

1. Use the key bound to the keypad minus key to continue, and then press Enter to select the Rebuild all menu option.
2. Use the key bound to PF3 to save the file system settings, and the rebuild environment should begin to rebuild the root and usr file systems; this process may require around 5 minutes to complete.
3. Use the arrow keys to navigate to the Load Software option, press Enter to proceed, select the Local CD/ROM option, and hit Enter when prompted to insert a newprod CD/ROM.
4. Once the newprod utility has launched, press "a" to auto-select all the necessary software, and "u" to begin the installation process. The process will prompt for a variety of installation options; generally defaults are acceptable, but may be changed at your own discretion. This process normally requires at least 30 minutes to complete.
5. Once software installation is complete, accept the prompt to remove the rebuild environment, press PF1 to cancel from the Download software menu option, and select the Reboot option. Once the "System reboot in progress" message is displayed, exit MAME.

• 

  Rebuild Welcome

• 

  Rebuild File Systems

• 

  Software Installation

Boot CLIX

Once the system rebuild process is complete, the I/O System Monitor, blue screen utilities, and the CLIX operating system itself should be able to be booted directly from the hard disk. In most cases, the ISS disc1 CD-ROM should also be mounted to permit the installation of additional optional software packages.

mame ip2000 -hard ip2000.chd -cdrom iss:disc1

At the initial boot into CLIX, the system will automatically launch the Distributed System Management (DSM) utility, and begin the First-time System Setup process to configure TCP/IP networking and some other key settings. This utility can be operated by selecting the menu options, responding to configuration prompts and using the PF keys to toggle options, save choices or exit the program. Once complete the system should be restarted again and the standard CLIX environment is ready for use.

At the first start of the standard CLIX environment, and depending upon the options applied in DSM, the root password may have been automatically expired. The simplest way to reset it is to expand the Console icon, and log in using that window. This will enable the root password to be reset, after which the "Workstation User" window of the screen manager may be used normally.

Note: EnvironV uses the middle mouse button as the standard "action" button, while the left button is normally used to open menus and the right button used to cancel an operation.

• 

  Distributed System Management

• 

  CLIX EnvironV Screen Manager