Just a few words about my Sparc-collection, for the curious
amongst you… ;-)
Currently, I own:
- SPARCstation 1, 1+, 2
- All former Sun4-Zoo machines - still waiting for some TLC…
- SPARCstation IPC
- The "smallest" of the lunchbox SPARCstations - and another former
Sun4-Zoo machine.
- SPARCstation IPX (2x)
- At the moment, they're not doing anything - and both need a new
NVRAM.
I actually wrote my final thesis on one of
those! Lunchbox SPARCS are just sooo cute! ;-) Maybe, one
day, I take the time to dust one of these off and install some
version of SunOS on it - for old times' sake…
- SPARCstation Classic
- This one I got for free in March 2010 from someone in a nearby
town together with an UltraSPARC 1.
- SPARCstation Classic Xterminal
- The X-Terminal version of the SPARCstation Classic. Acquired in
December 2010 and still waiting for some attention.
- SPARCstation LX
- Another lunchbox. I had one of these before (even with a VSIMM)
and later regretted a bit that I sold it. When Peter Koch gave away
his Sun4-Zoo machines, he originally intended to keep this one.
In the end, he did give it to me anyway - which made me very happy!
- SPARCstation ELC
- Also a former Sun4-Zoo machine. Basically a SPARCstation IPX in
one case with a 17" black and white monitor. This machine is
probably one of the first to see some action - I would like to have
it netboot e.g. OpenBSD, just because I like the concept…
- SPARCstation 4/110, 5/110
- More former Sun4-Zoo machines. While I have owned SS4/110 before,
I never had a SS5/110 - until now.
- SPARCstation 5/170 (2x)
- I had two of those before, one even with an S24 AFX frame buffer. Again,
those got sold at some point. As the 170MHz SS5 is a bit special (it uses
a "TurboSparc" CPU instead of the "microSparc" of the other SS5), I very
much wanted to add one to the collection again. In November 2010, I
got lucky: When I bought a Solaris 9 package from someone, I got a SS5
with it for free. From the outside, it was also a SS5/110 - but on the
inside, I found a SS5/170 motherboard. Joy!
In August 2011, I was able to acquire a second SS5/170 - and this
time, it even came with the S24 frame buffer, which my original
SS5/170 had - even more joy!
- SPARC Xterminal 1
- One of the last machines I got from the Sun4-Zoo. Also still waiting for TLC…
- SPARCstation 10/SPARCserver 10
- The SPARCstation 10 "of course" also comes from the Sun4-Zoo. So I did get
a SS10 in the end - complete with speaker-box!
The SPARCserver 10 I got in August 2011. While I originally did not
want to collect servers, this machine is so close to the workstation
version and - even more importantly - it came with two ROSS CPUs and
a bunch of RAM, so I just could not resist…
- SPARCstation 20
- It has two SM71 CPUs and a 8MB VSIMM. I used it to experiment
with Aurora Sparc Linux, however, unfortunately Sparc Linux does
not support SMP under kernel 2.6.x. Hence, this machine is waiting
for a new purpose - probably some "retro" Solaris or SunOS
installation just for the fun of it.
- Javastation 1
- Acquired in September 2011. This is "Mr. Coffee" - the first generation
Javastation.
According to the stikkers, this particular machine was a demo
machine owned by Sun themselves. It seems to be operable,
however, unfortunately no JavaOS came with it. So far, I hve not yet
decided what to do with it…
- Ultra 1/170
- The second of the two machines I got for free in March 2010.
Originally, I intended to pass it on, but then the NVRAM died and
the Sun4-Zoo machines arrived, so I decided to keep it for
completeness.
- Ultra 1E/170
- This U1 was part of the Sun4-Zoo and has a Creator frame buffer.
- Ultra 2
- This one also comes from the Sun4-Zoo. While I already owned
an Ultra 2 clone, I fancied owning an "original" as well.
Fortunately, Peter had one for me, with two UI/200MHz CPUs. It came
with a dead NVRAM, but that has been fixed.
- Solair Ultra 2 ("agnes")
- An U2 clone. It's virtually identical to a 'real' U2 -
only the case is different. This one came with two 360MHz
UltraSPARC II CPUs, which I found interesting, as these CPUs
are not officially supported in Sun's U2. Works flawlessly,
though, making it my second main Aurora box. This one has a
Creator frame buffer as well - and a Sun Video card, which is
why it will become a dual boot machine (with Solaris 10) at
some point. Pictures of this machine can be seen in the
DTK
Station U-2 gallery.
- Ultra 5/400
- I had several of these before, but sold them, as I found the U10
(which is basically the same machine) sufficient. But I brought one
back from the Sun4-Zoo for completeness and for spare parts.
- Ultra 10/440 ("tiffany")
- One of the two U10 that were taking turns at doing duty as
firewall/webserver/fileserver. They got replaced by a dual PIII/550
eventually - more performance and less energy consumption…
The U10/440 now got a Creator 3D Series 3 card and is now used as
an experimental machine (currently trying Ubuntu 9.04 Sparc).
- Tatung COMPstation U10 ("shawn")
- Another U10 - well, sort of. Based on the AXi board, this
machine is a lot more interesting than an actual U10 - it's a
"U10 done right[tm]"… Mine has a Creator 3D Series 3 and a
440MHz UltraSPARC IIi CPU. It's one of my main Aurora
machines. It was down for a while due to a dead NVRAM, but this got
solved permanently using a soldering iron… The procedure is shown in
Fixing your Sun
NVRAM for a M48T02 NVRAM used in older Suns. However, this
applies to the M48T59Y that is used in e.g. U5/U10/AXi as well. I
have made a few pictures of the modification of my AXi which can be
seen in the
NVRAM AXi
gallery.
- Ultra 60 ("gytha")
- The "crown" of my personal SPARC collection (as the newer machines
are still unaffordable for me at the moment), with two 450MHz
UltraSPARC II CPUs, two Creator 3D Series 3 frame buffers a
SunPCI card and a bunch of RAM. This is my main Solaris box.
There are still some machines I would like to add to my collection if
I get the chance (and if budget permits…):
- SPARCstation SLC
- SPARCstation Voyager (yeah, I know, fat chance - a man can dream,
can't he?)
- Javastation-NC "Krups"
- Ultra 30
- Ultra 80
- maybe a SPARCsystem 6xx?
Below a list of Suns I have owned in the past and have sold or given away.
Funny enough, with the recent additions to my collection, I now own
most of them again…
- Solair WS19L
- Well, that's what it says on the case… It is a
SPARCstation 10 clone - so I got one after all… I actually decided
against getting one when I got the SS20, but I got the SS10
together with a Solair Classic+ for free - and couldn't resist.
It successfully refused to have Aurora Sparc Linux 2.0
installed on it, so I ended up installing OpenBSD, which worked
like a charm. This machine has done duty as a scanner server until
the hard drive failed. A while later, I have given it away and by
coincidence, it ended up with an OpenBSD developer…
- Ultra 10/333
- The other of the two machines that were taking turns at doing duty as
firewall/webserver/fileserver before being replaced by a dual
PIII/600.
- SPARCstation 2
- SPARCclassic
- Solair DTKstation/Classic+
- SPARCstation LX
- SPARCstation 4/110
- SPARCstation 5/85 (this was actually a Sparc 5 upgrade board
in the case of a SPARCstation 2)
- SPARCstation 5/170 (2x)
- Ultra 1
- Ultra 5 (360 and 400)
I'd have loved to keep them all, but unfortunately, neither
space nor money allow this…