On Mon, 14 Aug 2000, Michael Lorenz wrote:

> > - when i switch it on i got this sound 'i o o i i i o'
> > 'i' is a high sound
> > 'o' is a low sound
> Can't say anything about this.

As far as I know, this is very unusal.  The docs I've read through for
series 300 machines never described in detail what various beeps are
because they usually signify a hardware problem and refer you to HP.

> > can i do something with that computer ?
> Anything that a UN*X workstation can do :-)
> Maybe some low end server since the CPU power isn't exactly comparable
> to todays standards. ( a 50MHz MC68030 with 68882 FPU )

Certainly enough for a webserver.  I had my 400s (same cpu) up for 6
months before rebooting to install a new kernel.  During that time it
served out 200 GB of webpages.

> > (i don't have any manuals)
> You should find lots of info on the NetBSD/hp300 pages

http://www.netbsd.org/Ports/hp300/faq.html and the pages it references.

> > is it possible to access to the firmeware throught the serial port ?
> definitely yes, maybe with some obstacles

Absolutely.  For a series 400 machine, you need a HIL keyboard to set up
the serial console.  For earlier 300 series machines, there's a DIP switch
on the interface board to select serial console.  There are reports that
for your generation of machine, merely removing the framebuffer (the card
with the 3 BNCs) will default to the serial port.  Otherwise, see:
<http://www.netbsd.org/Ports/hp300/faq.html#serialconsole400>

Good luck,
  -- MW