Alpha/Linux Wiki

The Personal Workstation (PWS) series was code-named Miata. ¹⁾ The a-series models run Windows NT and the au-series Tru64 UNIX and OpenVMS; the models are named for their clock speed, such as the 433a, 500a, 500au, and 600au. ²⁾ All Miata systems use the EV56 (21164A); none were built with the EV5. ³⁾

The following describes the later "Enhanced" 500 and 600 MHz models. ⁴⁾

• 500 or 600 MHz 21164A with an optional 4 MiB cache
• 21174 (Pyxis) core logic, the same as on the 164LX, 164SX, and 164UX ⁵⁾
• Three DIMM banks (six slots), 1.5 GiB maximum
• Five I/O slots: two PCI and three PCI/ISA. The two 64-bit PCI slots are in front of a built-in PCI-to-PCI bridge, and the remaining three 32-bit slots are behind it ⁶⁾
• Onboard QLogic Wide UltraSCSI adapter (on the Enhanced models only, see below)
• Onboard 16-bit audio, an ES1888 compatible with the Sound Blaster Pro, not supported under OpenVMS ⁷⁾
• 10/100BaseT Ethernet, twisted pair, with ThinWire optional
• Short tower with six storage bays: two 3.5-inch disk bays, a floppy bay, a dedicated 5.25-inch CD-ROM bay, and two further removable media bays
• 300 W power supply

The first user manual, from October 1996, describes the same chassis with 10Base2 Ethernet (10BaseT optional), a different mix of five option slots, and the CPU in a ZIF socket. ⁸⁾ The cache is a customer-installable option; the 433 a-series cache kit is a single 2 MiB module. ⁹⁾

The a-series and au-series differ mainly in firmware and SCSI adapter. The original Classic (MX5) boards have no onboard SCSI; on them the a-series has an Adaptec card and the au-series a QLogic ISP1040A card, the KZPBA-CA. ¹⁰⁾

There are two generations of the Miata: the original MX5, with a CMD646 IDE controller, and the later Miata GL, with a Cypress 82C693 IDE controller. ¹¹⁾ The Miata GL also has an onboard QLogic SCSI controller, although the model numbers do not indicate which generation a system is. ¹²⁾ Compaq's catalog calls the later models "Enhanced" and the earlier ones "Classic Digital Personal Workstations (DPW without onboard SCSI)"; a classic machine could be upgraded to an enhanced one with a new motherboard and riser. ¹³⁾

The flash holds both SRM and AlphaBIOS. ¹⁴⁾ The last SRM version is V7.2-1 (see Final versions). Some firmware versions, including 5.1, are strict in identifying PCI devices and may not accept every revision of a retail QLA1040 as a KZPBA-CA. ¹⁵⁾

Current kernels support the Personal Workstation, with CONFIG_ALPHA_MIATA or a generic kernel, booted from the SRM console with aboot. ¹⁶⁾

• The CMD646 IDE controller of the MX5 uses the pata_cmd64x driver, and the Cypress 82C693 of the Miata GL pata_cypress. ^{17) 18)}
• The onboard QLogic SCSI controller uses the qla1280 driver, which loads its firmware from linux-firmware. ¹⁹⁾
• The kernel initializes the ES1888 sound chip at boot. ²⁰⁾ The ES1888 is handled by the ALSA snd-es18xx driver. ²¹⁾
• The graphics options in Compaq's catalog were the ELSA GLoria Synergy, the PowerStorm 300 and 350, and the PowerStorm 4D51T; ²²⁾ which of them Linux drives is listed under Other Hardware: Graphics.
• For a serial console on COM1, see Using the SRM Console: Serial console.

• DMA bug: on early MX5 boards the 21174 corrupts DMA transfers that cross a page boundary on the primary PCI bus, where the onboard IDE controller sits. The workaround is an add-on IDE controller in a free 32-bit PCI slot rather than a 64-bit slot. Miata GL boards carry a factory hardware fix. ²³⁾ See also Personal Workstation 64-bit Slots.
• Battery: the console settings are kept by a CR2032 coin cell. When it dies, the machine starts in AlphaBIOS instead of SRM, and the console settings must be entered again; see Switching to SRM. ^{24) 25)}
• Power supply: the 300 W supply is a standard ATX unit, and easy to replace. ²⁶⁾ The system is quiet enough for use on a desk. ²⁷⁾

The first two models, the Personal Workstation 433a and 500a, were announced on 8 January 1997 for Windows NT, shipping with Windows NT Workstation 4.0 and FX!32 factory installed. ²⁸⁾ Digital sold the Personal Workstation in Intel (i-series) and Alpha (a-series) forms in the same enclosure. ²⁹⁾

The following sources conflict with each other or with the account given above. They are listed here for further investigation.

• Personal Workstation maximum memory
  • Compaq DPW Enhanced a-Series & au-Series, September 2000, p. 1: "Three DIMM banks (six slots) (1.5 GB maximum)"
  • "Re: PYXIS machine checks w/ 1.5GB RAM", Jay Estabrook, axp-list, 29 Mar 2001: "I've heard that someone stuck 3GB into a MIATA and it was fine. And the MIATA internal doc I have even talks about 6GB (!)"