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Cannot find any documentation on this computer, need some help identifying it. I am pretty sure this is some kind of print server and the date on the parts is 1989.

Pic1 Pic2

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  • books.google.se/…
    – UncleBod
    Aug 12, 2019 at 16:55
  • 1
    Years ago we had this super workhorse printer connected to our Novel Netware 2.3a network. Netware was a seriously powerful business centralized OS capable of several protocols Eithernet, Gateway Net, etc... The paper tray capacities were 250/250/1500 For us it was business critical and we consistently ran 300,000 copies a month thru it. We had the direct pager number of our assigned tech support specialist and our maintenance contract was for 24/7/365. I believe the OS was a modified version for CPM mixed with Unix and Assembler. We created all of our documents using direct placement coordina Aug 9, 2022 at 0:34

2 Answers 2

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It looks like you have the control unit (probably including the hard disk, etc.) for a high-end Xerox 3700 laser printing system:

enter image description here (image source)

The "3700" on the front of the unit and "Product Code M75" on the label both match this product safety data sheet for a "3700 (ESS only)." The unit is described as 54/27/41 cm in width/height/depth, which is about the size of that terminal/control unit on top of the main unit in the picture above.

Documentation Sources

This did a lot more than what you would normally think of even an "intelligent" printer doing today; for example you could [design forms] for it that the printer could locally merge with fill-in data and print for you. Thus, there would have been a lot of manuals for the various hardware and software capabilities; you need to specify more specifically what you're looking for.

Watch out, by the way, for various search results saying things like "Xerox Laserjet 3700 Repair Service Manual User Guides PDF, ePub eBook"; these are the usual "pay to get a free manual" sites that have worked to bump their search engine rankings, but the actual manual they provide appears to be for the HP LaserJet 3700, a completely different product. Xerox never used the term "Laserjet" for any of their products; it's an HP trademark.

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I was the Principal Technical Consultant on the Xerox 2700/3700 and 4235 (follow on product). It is the ESS (Electronic Sub System) of a Xerox 3700 LPS (Laser Printing System) printing at 24 ppm. The ESS receives print jobs from a host computer, and transforms them to dots on a page that the RIP (Raster Image Processor) in the printer converts to the printed page. The device you are posting will only work when connected to the printer part, and can not serve any other printer. I wish I has one of them today, wonderful system, I remember exactly how each board in the ESS worked and why. Phil Shaw (above) is right about the CP/M file format, but the rest is proprietary Xerox hardware made on 777 S. Aviation Blvd. El Segundo. USA. Software was written in a variant of C++ and Assembler.

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