Tektronix TekXPress XP338

System Specifications

• CPU: IDT 79R3052E (MIPS R3000 embedded core. Big endian)
• RAM: 4MB standard, upgradeable to 52MB (mine has 16MB)
• Peripherals:
  • 1x Ethernet Port (AUI and UTP) -- AMD AM79C98 Chipset
  • 2x Serial Ports -- Philips SCC2692 Dual UART chipset
  • 1x "ERGO" Port (Combined Monitor, Keyboard, Mouse -- see below)
• Video Chipset: Texas Instruments 34020 (main chip: TI 34020AGBL-40, RAMDAC: Brooktree BT458LPJ135)

Note: Many of the eratta docs for the listed chips are in PDF format.

The "ERGO" Port

This port combines the keyboard, mouse and monitor into one single port. The "ERGO Cable" that plugs into this port, provides 3 BNC connectors for the video (this box uses Sync-on-Green like [SGI|ULOS/Hardware/RISC/MIPS/SGI] boxes do), and two PS2 sockets for the keyboard and mouse.

Parts Required:

• 2x PS/2 Sockets: You may be able to purchase these -- I grabbed a dead ATX motherboard and took to it with a hacksaw.
• 1x DB15 female plug.
• 1x VGA 15pin female plug.
• About 30cm of cable (I used some headphone wire for the video signal wires, and a bit of CAT5e for the keyboard & mouse)

The wiring looks like this:

Notes:

• If you hacked the PS/2 sockets off a motherboard like I did, you might find that the sockets share common Ground and +5V rails. (that is, a tracks connect pin 5 and pin 2 of both sockets together) This is okay.
• If you'd prefer to use BNC connections, then do so. It should be possible to substitute a BNC socket for each pair of connections on the VGA plug.

Links

• Page on AtomicDOC Wiki: http://atomicdoc.hopto.org/index.php/ULOS/Hardware/RISC/MIPS/Tektronix