Re: Deb on Sparc Station 5
On Monday 08 Aug 2005 10:35, Mark Morgan Lloyd wrote:
> Hartwig Atrops wrote:
> > Hi John.
> >
> > On Saturday 06 August 2005 23:26, you wrote:
> > > On Saturday 06 Aug 2005 08:55, Hartwig Atrops wrote:
> >
> > ...
> >
> > > The ss5's don't come with a floppy or CD drive, but I do have a SCSI CD
> > > burner attached to one of my amd boxes. How do I get round the openboot
> > > password to tell it to boot from the CD?
> >
> > External SCSI CD? You can attach it to the SS5. Openboot password? Are
> > you shure? I have never seen a machine with an openboot password (I think
> > there is an option to have a password - cannot check at the moment).
> > Usually you will get the openboot prompt. Type in "boot cdrom" - it will
> > boot from CD (drive needs to be jumperd as SCSI ID 6).
SCSI is an internal one. I tried plugging it in but being new to this
architecture I don't know how to tell it to look look for the CD ROM.
I have 16 of these machines coming. Got 1 to play with at the moment but it
won't finish booting. Stops while it looks for an ip from dns server. From
what I have been told they used to belong to Wolverhampton university. I
figured it would be easier to load a new OS. I decided on Deb as they do an
Intel version that I could load onto one of my other machines to get used to
how Deb does things.
>
> Otherwise easy to boot over LAN (needs rarpd and tftpd), although I've not
> tried a complete installation like that (needs NFS?).
>
> Writing as another tyro, I've seen at least one SPARCserver with a
> password. I believe that Doctrine is to perform some 'orrible hack which
> involves plugging the NVRAM device with power applied, but it's /far/
> easier to find somebody with a device programmer and copy a clean one.
When I go into the open boot it asks for a password.
>
> > > I have got 15 more of these plus a mass storage server coming. The
> > > monitors are 17" and very good quality. Any one know where I can get a
> > > gender bender that allows me to use some of them on IBM compatible VGA
> > > video cards?
> >
> > The old Sun monitors are fixed frequency monitors. Bad luck, I would say.
>
> As I understand it the monitors expect a composite sync on the green signal
> rather than it being split out PC-style, although in some cases there are
> hardware mods which will make them work. Looked at the other way- i.e.
> using a PC monitor on a Sun- I've had mixed results using an adapter: some
> work intermittently, others not at all. To my surprise an NEC MultiSync
> LCD1860NX works fine on SPARCserver/SPARCstation, other LCDs may also be
> worth trying.
I would like to use some of the spare monitors on my Intel boxes as they won't
be used on the SS5's
>
> Another thing to take into account is that if run without a keyboard Suns
> tend to use the first serial port as their TTY. You might need to tie RxD
> with a resistor to prevent a break on this since otherwise it has the same
> effect as STOP-A.
I have got keyboards and mice for all the SS5's
>
> Running older machines is great as a learning exercise, but they tend to
> run warm. I'm currently going through power consumption as a housekeeping
> exercise and find that a SPARCstation 20 takes something like 135W at the
> login prompt, compared with 35W on a PC. I can't provide comparable figures
> for an Ultra, however in general BogoMIPS per Watt has improved
> dramatically over the last few years and probably that also applies to
> overall system throughput.
Do you think it might be better to rob the memory out of half the boxes and
use in the other half. When I turn on all my network the local power station
has to fire up another generater to keep up ;-)
>
> --
> Mark Morgan Lloyd
> markMLl .AT. telemetry.co .DOT. uk
>
> [Opinions above are the author's, not those of his employers or colleagues]
--
Guy Fualks - The only man to enter the houses of Parliament with honest
intentions, (he was going to blow them up).
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