Date: Sat, 4 Oct 97 16:46:04 EST From: Dwight McKay (The Moderator) Reply-To: Suns-at-Home@net-kitchen.com Subject: Suns-at-Home Digest V10 #34 To: Suns-at-Home-List Suns-at-Home Digest Sat, 4 Oct 97 Volume 10 : Issue 34 Today's Topics: 1/4" tape drive, FREE 3/50 monitor still available 3/60 console width/height off Are they worth it? (2 msgs) Buying a Sparc for Home OS Tape Copy Program [was: Suns-at-Home Digest V10 #33] Sparc 2 info and OS recommendation wanted st errors on 3/60 Sun equipment for your home! Suns-at-Home Digest V10 #33 +--------------------------------------------------------------------+ | Submissions: suns-at-home \ | | Requests: suns-at-home-request > @net-kitchen.com | | Archives: suns-at-home-archives / | | WWW Archive access: http://www.net-kitchen.com/~sah | +--------------------------------------------------------------------+ ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Date: Thu, 02 Oct 1997 15:30:46 -0400 From: Matthew Harding Subject: 1/4" tape drive, FREE To: suns-at-home@tigger.net-kitchen.com Hi, getting rid of an internal 1/4" sun 150MB tape drive. Free to first one who emails me and IS WILLING TO PAY SHIPPING. I live in Ottawa, Canada. Make arrangements with me to pick it up collect and it's yours. (although 4MB simms for sparc 2s would be appreciated!). cheers, Matthew -- Matthew Harding, Director Tel: 613-566-6212 The KTL Group, Inc. Fax: 613-599-7242 Network and Systems Management Consulting ktlgroup@sympatico.ca - ------------------------------ Date: Sun, 28 Sep 1997 16:32:08 -0700 From: Noel Cragg Subject: 3/50 monitor still available To: Suns-at-Home@tigger.net-kitchen.com I still have a 19" monochrome monitor available for anyone who'd like it. Offer to pay for shipping from my home (Goleta, CA) and it's yours. -- Noel Cragg // 6244 Aberdeen Av // Goleta CA 93117-2002 // 805.964.1892 - ------------------------------ Date: Sat, 27 Sep 1997 11:39:12 -0400 (EDT) From: Daniel Kosack Subject: 3/60 console width/height off To: suns-at-home-list@tigger.net-kitchen.com I've got a 3/60 with PROM v3.0.1. For some reason (it may be something mis-set in NVRAM?) the screen width and height are incorrect. This is very annoying when trying to run vi in the text console, or even doing an ls on a large directory. I do not have this problem on my 3/50's with older PROMs. I've had this problem in SunOS 4.1.1 and NetBSD 1.2. Any help would be greatly appreciated. Please reply to kosack@wam.umd.edu, my school address. Thanks! Dan Kosack kosack@fred.net - ------------------------------ Date: Sat, 27 Sep 1997 12:44:57 -0700 (PDT) From: Anthony Talltree Subject: Are they worth it? To: suns-at-home@tigger.net-kitchen.com >Is it a good idea to buy a used SPARCstation or would I be better off with >a PC clone? It's a matter of tradeoffs. How important are the following to you? o A usable keyboard with shift, ctrl, esc, and ~ keys in sane places o Having to screw around with IRQ's o Being able to reliably use more than 128M of memory o Searching the universe for a device driver for each peice of hardware >I just saw someone advertise a 24-bit VME frame-buffer for a Sun-3 at >$100 (USA). OS support for it? Chances are that one would be stuck either running SunOS 4.1.1x to get support for it, or maybe using it in 8-bit mode under *BSD. I can't say for sure without specifics, but those are my suspicions. >You can pick up a 3/260 or similar that would drive it for >probably less than $200 SS2's without a monitor are in the $250 range these days, though. >I.e. purchase a decent small server, be it a PC or something like a >sparc but with as much CPU speed as you can afford, and then spend as >much as you can afford on a used 24-bit high-end graphics workstation. These days the 24-bit bargains are PC hardware, but one has to work hard to find stuff that does 24 bits over a decent number of pixels at a decent speed. > but if your interest is in graphics the more >modern SGI platforms probably come with better and more interesting >graphics software, Irix remains hostile to getting freeware to compile & run, though. >Solaris 2.6 media is now available for only $100 Only for educational customers under ScholarPAC, I thought. The rest of us pay at least $380 for a desktop. Those prices at http://www.execpc.com/~tkeidl/ seem suspicious to me. Maybe that doesn't include the license. >As far as Applix goes, it's a nice package but too pricey As of 1994 I found it to be pretty horrid. One might speculate that they changed the name from Asterix to try to leave behind its reputation. I don't know what it's like now, but then it was entirely OpenLook (via XView, I think). Bleah. >Don't forget about the sun4c related bugs in Sparc-Linux which cause it to >be much slower than SunOS or NetBSD on _some_ (apparently not all 4c >machines are affected. Could this be the pmeg-thrashing bit? >As far as I understand it, 4.1.3_U1 and 4.1.4 is basically the same except >4.1.4 has a lot of the patches already applied I ran a 4.1.4 machine for a few months, and had major problems trying to get AMD to be stable. Heck, the machine itself would reboot frequently. The same hardware ran find under 4.1.3_U1.. >I would not recommend a PC/pentium (mainly because I am a Sun bigot ;) ) >over a Sun, unless you want to run the Gates Virus or Linux. Modulo the hassles of messing with the hardware, on x86 hardware I'd go with SunOS 5.6. It's not all that expensive, and it sure beats fighting with the likes of BSD/OS. - ------------------------------ Date: Mon, 29 Sep 1997 11:09:28 -0700 (PDT) From: James Lockwood Subject: Are they worth it? To: Suns-at-Home@tigger.net-kitchen.com > From: woods@most.weird.com (Greg A. Woods) > Subject: Are they worth it? > > I just saw someone advertise a 24-bit VME frame-buffer for a Sun-3 at > $100 (USA). IMHO, a better solution for those that just want 24-bit is to go out and get a GS (cg12) card and a Sparc 1+ or Sparc 2 to stuff it in. Sure, it's not supported in any OS beyond Solaris 2.4, but this really isn't much of a problem. It's a heck of a lot faster than a 3/260 and draws less power. I see GS cards going for $100 fairly frequently. > What you might find both more efficient and useful, as well as a better > learning experience, is to use a server and workstation combination. I'd normally agree, but if the original poster really wants to get into 3D then client-side rendering is essential. Unfortunately, there aren't really any high-performance 3D graphics subsystems cheaply available for Suns (with the exception of the TGX if you can settle for 8-bit and only partial acceleration). -James ============================================================================= James D. Lockwood The Getty Information Institute System Administrator 1200 Getty Center Drive, Suite 300 james@gii.getty.edu Los Angeles, CA 90049-1680 - ------------------------------ Date: Mon, 29 Sep 1997 11:19:05 -0700 (PDT) From: James Lockwood Subject: Buying a Sparc for Home To: Suns-at-Home@tigger.net-kitchen.com > If you don't mind the lack of CPU power, Sparcs are fine. I generally > buy them because it's the cheapest way to get a machine with a nice > 17" colour monitor (I can buy an entire IPX system for considerably > less than a new 17" multisync monitor) and because I really like > the Sun 3 keyboards (which I use on my Sparc systems, too). Ergh, the old type-3 purple-printed keyboards? With the funky slopedown in front? Why? > If you're doing things like 3-d rendering, however, you may be much > happer with a Pentium Pro system, which blows away any Sparc out > there in terms of price/performance. This is changing though, now that the Ultra AX boards (on the low-end uniprocessor side) and the Ultra Enterprise 450 (in the midrange server) have been introduced. The UE450 outperforms comparably priced PC servers (Compaq Proliants & HP Netservers) by a good margin, and the Ultra AX is due for a price cut soon. Sun is finally getting committed to producing machines that are price competitive with the PC marketplace. To be honest, it's the quality of Sun hardware that keeps bringing me back. Most Sun systems are built with a great attention to detail, unlike even "premium" PC's. To put it bluntly, They Just Work. I plug in a Sun, put in any expansion cards, turn it on, and everything works. This is not nearly as big of a deal with a single machine at home, where the owner can play with it for hours getting everything just right, but when you maintain dozens or hundreds of machines it makes a tremendous difference. This is why I just bought a SS10. It was top of the line when it was introduced, and it really shows. Frankly, I'd rather own it than the latest-fanciest-whateverMHz PC on the marketplace, even though new PC's can beat it in performance several times over. -James ============================================================================= James D. Lockwood The Getty Information Institute System Administrator 1200 Getty Center Drive, Suite 300 james@gii.getty.edu Los Angeles, CA 90049-1680 - ------------------------------ Date: Sat, 27 Sep 1997 12:41:19 -0700 From: Kevin Cosgrove Subject: OS Tape Copy Program [was: Suns-at-Home Digest V10 #33] To: Suns-at-Home@tigger.net-kitchen.com Below my signature are two script that will allow you to copy tapes, boot tapes or otherwise. Feed each of the two "begin...end" portions to uudecode and you have these two scripts. G'luck.... _____________________________________________________________________ Pager: (503) 202-3059 Kevin Cosgrove, P.E. Work: (503) 627-3259 Kevin.E.Cosgrove@Tek.COM Home: (503) 646-0716 kevinc@dOink.COM _ , __ ' ) / / ) /-< _ , __o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ubject: Sparc 2 info and OS recommendation wanted To: Suns-at-Home@tigger.net-kitchen.com I recently obtained a Sparc 2 system and at the risk of asking a few FAQs, I am in need of some info: 1) The system has 32MB of RAM. Am I correct in my reading of the hardware FAQ in that I can upgrade this with standard 30-pin, 9-chip SIMMS? If so, - What is the minimum speed I need? - Can I add SIMMs 4 at a time (as opposed to 8)? - Can I use 1MB SIMMS to go to 36 or 40 MB? - If I can use 1MB SIMMS, which banks mus the 4MB SIMMS be in? 2) What is the recommended OS for this system? I received it with install disks for everything from SunOS 4.1.1 to Solaris 2.2. (I also appear to have 2.3, but the system CD is missing.) It is currently running 4.1.3_U1 (Solaris 1.1 rev B), but I want to do a clean system install. As I see it, I have several choices: Solaris 1.1 Solaris 2.2 (since it's the latest I have) NetBSD OpenBSD Sparc Linux I think I've narrowed it down to NetBSD (with the SunOS shared libraries installed) or Solaris 2.2. I've tentative ruled out Solaris 1.1 becuase of its maturity and Sparc Linux becuase of its immaturity. (Does OpenBSD have the emulation code?) My primary use for the system will be general home Net surfing (possibly also acting as a proxy or firewall to mine and my wife's PCs), general Unix/X hacking, and acting as a SAMBA and Appletalk server. Initially, it will be connected to the net via PPP, but may ultimately have a cable modem connection. Am I correct in assuming that much of the decision is really one of BSD vs. SVR4? Given what I want to do with the system, are there any showstoppers along either path? Thanks in advance... <<>> - ------------------------------ Date: Mon, 29 Sep 97 16:10:24 PDT From: "Jeremy D. Worrells - 4097358" Subject: st errors on 3/60 To: Suns-at-Home@tigger.net-kitchen.com Hi all. I am having some problems with my tape drive. It is an Archive 5945C, 60MB, 1/4" Tape drive with an Emulex controller. I am having some problems with reading and writing. If I try and boot from the drive, I get some strange errors: >b st()install sd(0,0,1) Boot: st(0,0,0)install sd(0,0,1) Invalid Page Bus Error: Vaddr: 0E003800, Paddr: 00001800, Type 0, Read, FC 5, Size 2 at 0x00004012 > If I do it again... >b st()install sd(0,0,1) Boot: st(0,0,0)install sd(0,0,1) Illegal Instruction = 0x494D4953 at 0x00004014 > Here is the output from mt status: moroni# mt -f /dev/rst0 status Emulex MT-02 QIC-24 tape drive: sense key(0x0)= no sense residual= 0 retries= 0 file no= 0 block no= 0 When I do a tar to the tape, it works. When I do a tar tvf to list the files, it works. When I extract the files, they seem to be OK. This is for small groups of files, ~1MB total. For larger directories, like 57MB total, after a while, I get: tar: write error: I/O error Sep 28 19:42:30 moroni vmunix: st0: write failed Sep 28 19:42:30 moroni vmunix: st0 error: sense key(0x3): media error, error code(0x11): hard data error Sep 28 19:42:32 moroni vmunix: st0: filemark write failed Sep 28 19:42:32 moroni vmunix: st0 error: sense key(0x3): media error, error code(0x11): hard data error Does anyone have any ideas? Thanks. Jeremy -- Jeremy Worrells Undergraduate - Computer Science jworrell@nunic.nu.edu National University http://nunic.nu.edu/~jworrell San Diego, California, USA - ------------------------------ Date: Mon, 29 Sep 1997 10:41:57 -0400 (EDT) From: Chris Allred Subject: Sun equipment for your home! To: suns-at-home@tigger.net-kitchen.com With all of the recent discussion about hardware prices and buying advice, I just had to submit this bit of information. I have the following equipment for sale: SPARCstation 2 w/32 MB RAM, 1 GB disk, Weitek SPARCup chip (40 -> 80 Mhz) the following components were bought new 1 year ago: Sun 17" entry color monitor Sun 4X external CDROM Sun microphone II Sun type 5 keyboard and mouse I have all cables, boxes, and Solaris 2.5 media w/docs. $1600.00. If interested or questions, please send an email request. Christopher Allred Advanced Technology Systems, VA allredc@calvin.policy.osd.mil - ------------------------------ Date: Sat, 27 Sep 1997 11:49:17 +0200 (MET DST) From: lukas@design.de (Lukas Wunner) Subject: Suns-at-Home Digest V10 #33 To: Suns-at-Home@tigger.net-kitchen.com Hi, > [1] I don't see many external hard drives advertised _with case_. Would I > be better off buying a shoebox and mounting the drive(s) in it? For that Yes, that would be equivalent. The ELC most likely has a HD50 jack at its back (that's what my SLC has). > matter, is there any problem using newer SCSI-2 drives with this > workstation? Or of using a mix of SCSI-1 and SCSI-2 devices? Nope. The ELC will cope nicely with SCSI-2 drives, albeit only at 5 MB/s. SCSI-1 shouldn't be a problem as well as SCSI is (for the most part) fully upwards/downwards compatible. You can basically hook up whatever exotic SCSI device you want to the machine. Lukas. -- lukas wunner unix, internetworking and security engineer lukas@wunner.de LW26-RIPE http://www.wunner.de/~lukas/ "Nach mir die Stinkwut!" - ------------------------------ End of Suns-at-Home Digest ******************************