North Star Horizon 8 Manual

TABLE OF CONTENTS
SAFETY WARNINGS AND PRECAUTIONS ii
CHAPTER IINTRODUCTION l-l
BOA-RE CONFIGURATIONS I-2
CONNECTING PERIPHERALS l-4
Modems I-4
Terminals I—5
Pr: inters 1-6
INSTALLATION OVERVIEW l-8
CHAPTER 2CONFIGURING THE HORIZON MOTHERBOARD 2-l
CHAPTER 3INSTALLING THE RRZ-UP BOARDS 3 -l
CONFIGURE HRZ-UP BOARDS 3-2
INSTALL KR2-UP BOARDS 3-5
CONNECT TEE. HRZ-UP BCARDS 3-6
CHAPTER 4INSTALLING ABACKGROUND BATCH PROCESSOR 4-l
HORIZON 8/16 Earáware Installation i

SAFETY WARNINGS AND PRECAUTIONS
Saf ety DO NOT REMOVE THE COVER FROM the' HORIZON UNTIL
Warnings THE POWER IS OFF', THF FAN bAS STOPPED, AND THE
RED INDICATOR ON II'HE FRONT PANEL HAS COMPLETELY
DIMMED. JJO NOT TURN THE POWER BACK ON UNTIL 3'HE
COVER HAS BEEK REPLACED.
DO NOT INSERT, REMOVE, CONNECT, DISCONNECT, OR
TAMPER WITH ANY CIRCUIT BOARDS, THEIR COMPONENTS,
OR DISK DRIVES WHILE THE POWER IS Z'UPNED ON. lj:O
AVOID THE POSSIBILITY OF ASEVERE SHOCK, DO NOT
TOUCH THE HORIZON'S POWER SUPPLY SECTION WHENEVER
TEE P(MI3R CCRb IS PLUGGED INTO AN AC OUTLET.
precautions Hake sure that the computer's power is off before
insta1liñ¢ or removing circuit boards. This
include"' TÍO and FilO boards as well 3g S-lOO
boards. RemovinC aboard while power is on could
áamaoe components.
To install acircuit board in aHORIZON, hold the
board in one hand while touchino the qrounded
metal chassis of the computer with the other hanG..
This will eliminate any difference in static
potential between the board and the computer.
When removing acircuit beard froR the HORIZON,
grasp the upper edge of the board so that you
do not put excessive strain on the board's
components cir irjure your hands on the pins
on the back of the circuit board. If the circuit
board has ejectors, use them to help remove the
board from its slot.
ii HORIZON 8/16 Hardware Installation

CHAPTER l
INTRODUCTION
Introduction The HORIZON 8/16 multi-user system will
accommodate up to eight users per HORIZON. One 8-
bit HRZ-UP8 or 16-bit HRZ-UP16 board must be
installed for each user.
HORIZCN The HRZ-UP8 (User Processor) board has a4MHZ
Boards Z80A microprocessor with a64K parity RAM and
two serial I/O ports. It is provided with one
HRZ-TIO serial drive board and has space for a
second serial board.
The HRZ-TIO is an RS-232C terminal/printer driver
boaíd that connects either the HRZ-UP8 or the
HRZ-UP16 board to aterminal or aprinter.
The HRZ-UP16 board has an 8mhz 8088-2 micro-
processor with 128K of parity RAM and two serial
I/O ports. It is provided with one HRZ-TIO
serial driver board and has room for asecond
serial board.
The HRZ-384K board is an optional memory board
that can be used with the HRZ-UP16 to increase
memory to 512K per 16 bit user.
The HRZ-MIO is an optional RS-232C modem driver
board that connects either the HRZ-UP8 or the
HRZ-UP16 to amodem.
The Background Batch Processor board is an
optional UP8 board that is configured to serve as
abackground batch processor.
Upgrade An Upgrade Kit is available for earlier
Kit HORIZONS (those with serial numbers below 40,000).
The kit contains all the components necessary to
bring older HORIZONS up to the 40,000 series
level, including anew transformer assembly and
new rear panel.
HORIZON 8/16 Hardware Installation l-l

BOARD CONFIGURATIONS
Number of The maximum number of HRZ-UP8 or HRZ-UPI6 boards
Boards that can be installed in aHORIZON 8/16 system
is summarized below. Refer to the tables that
follow the general guidelines for specific user
and extended memory board allowances.
HORIZON #HRZ-UP8 lorl #HRZ-UP16
(use lesser number if mix)
HORIZONS with
serial numbers
greater than 88*
40,000
HORIZONS with
serial numbers
less than
40,000
oNot upgraded 4 3
oUpgraded 8 8
*Reduce by one for each 384K board. Atotal of
eight board slots are available.
Grounding In order to comply with FCC RFI reg'ílations, North
Spring Star provides aspring (part #03840) as part of
Requirement the Upgrade Kit that grounds the motherboard I/O
connectors to the rear panel. HORIZON 8/16s will
have the spring already installed. This spring is
required only with HRZ-UP16 boards. Contact your
North Star Dealer if you require agrounding
spring.
HORIZON 8/16 Hardware Installation l-2

BOARD CONFIGURATIONS
(cont.)
Board This is a more detailed table. It shows the
Planning specific board combinations that can be
Table configured in any HORIZON 8/16 system
Maximum numbers are shown in the table. Por
example, "4" indicates that 4, 3, 2, lor O
boards of that type could be used.
NUMBER OF BOARDS
HRZ-UP8 HRZ-UP16 HRZ-348K
HORIZON BELCW 4 O O
SN 40,000-- 2lO
NOT UPGRADED l2O
I2 O
1ll
O 3 O
O 2 l
HORIZON with sn Any combination up to
40,000 AND UP; 8boards total.
OR HORIZON WITH
SN BELOW 40,000
--UPGRADED
HORIZON 8/16 Hardware Installation l-3

CONNECTING PERIPHERALS
Modems
Introduction When connecting any peripheral device to your
HORIZON, be sure to consult its installation
manual for configuration instructions.
Modems Modems are connected via MIO boards, which in turn
are connected to the user processor board (HRZ-UP8
or HRZ-UP8). The North Star factory-configured MIO
is compatible with typical asynchronous modems
such as the Bell 212. See the HORIZON 8/16
Technical Manual for jumper description
requirements.
l-4 HORIZON 8/16 Hardware Installation

CONNECTING PERIPHERALS
TerÚLna18
User Any standard asynchronous type terminal will work
Terminals with the HORIZON 8/16 multi-user system. The
standard settings for user terminals are:
o9600 baud
o8bits
oNo parity
oIstop bit
oFull duplex
Customization of terminal characteristics such as
cursor positioning is done in applications soft-
ware. For this reason, the system will be easier
to manage if all the terminals are the same type.
However, this is not ahardware requirement of the
8/16 system.
Server The ZPB board irj the HORIZON is called the server
Terminal for the system. The server handles the system-
level I/O and memory usage.
Nq AMiccitM Fermin1R1 As n£j=a on this system to
function as aserver in the standard configuration.
Any user terminal becoTr!es the server by entering
the SERVER command. Since no dedicated terminal
is used, both motherboard serial ports are avail-
able for printers.
Note: If you customize the system from the
original distribution copy, you may need a
dedicated server. If the system is reconfigured to
use aseparate server, the server terminal must be
connected to the left serial port on the HORIZON
motherboard. The server terminal is configured the
same way as shown above for user terminals.
HORIZON 8/16 Hardware Ínstallation l-5

CONNECTING PERIPHERALS
Printers
Printers To connect aprinter, you must know:
oWhether it is aparallel or serial printer.
oIf you have aparallel printer, it must be
connected to the motherboard parallel port.
North Star has cables available for parallel
printers. These cables use the most signi-
ficant bit (bit 7) for the strobe line.
NOTE: HD-18 hard disk systems CáññQt use a
parallel printer under TurboDOS.
oIf you have aserial printer,
-What is its baud rate?
If connected to the motherboard, the baud rate
is fixed by the motherboard header. The
headers shown in the "Configuring the HORIZON
Motherboard" procedure set the left serial
port (port O) for 9600 baud and the right
serial port (port l) for 1200 baud. (Port O
is intended for typical data word proces'4ng
requirements and will generally work with
serial dot matrix printers. Port lis
intended for typical daisy wheel or letter
quality printers.)
-What is its protocol?
If the printer has hardware handshaking, on
which RS-232 line does it handshake? (The
standard is DTR, pin 20.)
If the printer has software handshaking, is it
ETX/ACK or XON/XOFF?
Refer to the chart on the next page to see if you
have to change anything in the system in install-
ing your printer or printers.
See Also HORIZON Computer System Manual for wiring the
motherboard for other printer configurations.
l-6 HORIZON 8/16 Hardware Installation

CONNECTING PBRIPHKRALS
(cont.) Printers
Printer Following is achart for planning printer
Installation installation.
Guide
PRINTER INSTALLATION GUIDE
SERIAL
PARALLEL SOFTWARE PROTOCOL
HARDWARE
HANDSHAKE XON-XOFF ETX-ACK
MOTHER- Motherboard Standard serial
BOARD only. header selects Standard serial
Requires DTR -- change header okay.
special if required.
cable.
Cannot be
used with Baud rates set in hardware, by
HD-18. baud rate header.
FACTORY *Left port (O) *Right
STD. MBD. 9600 baud port(1)
CONFIG. DTR 1200
baud
USER None -- Standard TÍO
PROCESSOR Motherboard jumper selects Standard TÍO
BOARD only DTR -- change jumpers okay.
{UP) if required.
FACTORY 9600 baud
STD. UP -- DTR **
CONFIG.
*These printers are compatible with the standard hardware
configuration but must be installed in the software. Run
the CONFIG program to specify the type of printer (CTS/DTR,
ETX/ACK, XON/XOFF) for each port.
HORIZON 8/16 Hardware Installation l-7