@thenetworkinglab.bsky.social
Very excited - delivery came yesterday with an original set of #SunOS 4.0.3 tapes for the #SPARCstation 1! I'll have to repair the broken bands, and here's hoping for no bitrot, or that someone overwrote them over the years 😬
September 30, 2025 at 5:21 PM
Very excited - delivery came yesterday with an original set of #SunOS 4.0.3 tapes for the #SPARCstation 1! I'll have to repair the broken bands, and here's hoping for no bitrot, or that someone overwrote them over the years 😬
And what do you know, Aviator v1.5.1 is compatible with the SunOS 4.1.x releases and it runs great! It's amazingly fast considering it's running on a 20MHz CPU, showing off the GX's power. It was one of the best ways to demo the SPARCstation/GX and was widely used by the sales team at Sun. 6/7
September 3, 2025 at 3:48 PM
And what do you know, Aviator v1.5.1 is compatible with the SunOS 4.1.x releases and it runs great! It's amazingly fast considering it's running on a 20MHz CPU, showing off the GX's power. It was one of the best ways to demo the SPARCstation/GX and was widely used by the sales team at Sun. 6/7
I've recently been experimenting with older OS's on my SPARCstation 1 to try to understand what these machines were like at their time of release (hint: they were great), and I got SunOS 4.1.3 booting on it with the help of a #ZuluSCSI. 5/7
September 3, 2025 at 3:48 PM
I've recently been experimenting with older OS's on my SPARCstation 1 to try to understand what these machines were like at their time of release (hint: they were great), and I got SunOS 4.1.3 booting on it with the help of a #ZuluSCSI. 5/7
They worked with Jensen Huang at LSI to fabricate the ASICs needed to produce this card, and their friendship lead them to founding #Nvidia after leaving Sun. Below is a picture (from eBay) of an original double-width SunGX accelerator showing the 2 large ASICs they had to develop. 3/7
September 3, 2025 at 3:48 PM
They worked with Jensen Huang at LSI to fabricate the ASICs needed to produce this card, and their friendship lead them to founding #Nvidia after leaving Sun. Below is a picture (from eBay) of an original double-width SunGX accelerator showing the 2 large ASICs they had to develop. 3/7
The GX Graphics Accelerator was released for the #SPARCstation 1 and was pretty revolutionary for its time. Below is a pic of the revised single-width version with chips from '92/'93. Curtis Priem (the designer of the IBM PGA accelerator) and Chris Malachowsky designed it, released in 1989. 2/7
September 3, 2025 at 3:48 PM
The GX Graphics Accelerator was released for the #SPARCstation 1 and was pretty revolutionary for its time. Below is a pic of the revised single-width version with chips from '92/'93. Curtis Priem (the designer of the IBM PGA accelerator) and Chris Malachowsky designed it, released in 1989. 2/7
Some type of magnification is definitely required to inspect the pads, and testing is dangerous as always. Be safe! But at least at this point, the PSUs are still repairable and you can save these funny old machines. Happy Computing! 10/10
August 23, 2025 at 10:17 PM
Some type of magnification is definitely required to inspect the pads, and testing is dangerous as always. Be safe! But at least at this point, the PSUs are still repairable and you can save these funny old machines. Happy Computing! 10/10
A quick word on recapping: the IPC/IPX PSU (they use the same model) is pretty easy to do - it has around 10 caps - but the Classic/LX/ZX PSU is a bear. It has 23 capacitors, and many of them are leaking by now, and many of them damage pads on the PCB requiring small bodge wires. 9/10
August 23, 2025 at 10:17 PM
A quick word on recapping: the IPC/IPX PSU (they use the same model) is pretty easy to do - it has around 10 caps - but the Classic/LX/ZX PSU is a bear. It has 23 capacitors, and many of them are leaking by now, and many of them damage pads on the PCB requiring small bodge wires. 9/10
But if you store them upright, it will leak through the vents in the PSU enclosure, and leak onto the motherboard and possibly ruin it, as well. Thankfully I have gotten to these PSUs in time, and the motherboards haven't been affected. 8/10
August 23, 2025 at 10:17 PM
But if you store them upright, it will leak through the vents in the PSU enclosure, and leak onto the motherboard and possibly ruin it, as well. Thankfully I have gotten to these PSUs in time, and the motherboards haven't been affected. 8/10
But getting back to the point of all this: all of these lunchboxes have a clamshell construction where the PSU hangs upside down above the motherboard. And *all* of them now have leaky capacitors. This means that eventually, the electrolyte will not only destroy the PSU 7/10
August 23, 2025 at 10:17 PM
But getting back to the point of all this: all of these lunchboxes have a clamshell construction where the PSU hangs upside down above the motherboard. And *all* of them now have leaky capacitors. This means that eventually, the electrolyte will not only destroy the PSU 7/10
But I digress. The Classic had integrated 'cgthree' unaccelerated color graphics, the LX had integrated 'cgsix'/GX graphics with the option for a 1MB VSIMM upgrade, and the ZX was an LX with Sun's very accelerated 'leo'/ZX graphics option. The LX/ZX also had built-in ISDN and digital audio. 6/10
August 23, 2025 at 10:17 PM
But I digress. The Classic had integrated 'cgthree' unaccelerated color graphics, the LX had integrated 'cgsix'/GX graphics with the option for a 1MB VSIMM upgrade, and the ZX was an LX with Sun's very accelerated 'leo'/ZX graphics option. The LX/ZX also had built-in ISDN and digital audio. 6/10
Interesting note: the SPARCclassic was supposed to be called the 'SPARCstation LC' (for 'low cost'), but as they already had models called the SLC and ELC, marketing folks thought it would be confusing. And Apple had the Mac Classic around the same time... 5/10
August 23, 2025 at 10:17 PM
Interesting note: the SPARCclassic was supposed to be called the 'SPARCstation LC' (for 'low cost'), but as they already had models called the SLC and ELC, marketing folks thought it would be confusing. And Apple had the Mac Classic around the same time... 5/10
It got put into these workstations while Sun was having problems getting the SuperSPARC chips built, and they needed low-cost workstations faster than the SPARCstation 2. It gets 26.4/21.0 on SPECint92/fp92, where a 486DX2/50MHz gets 25.7/12.2. But with no L2 cache, these machines are sloowww. 4/10
August 23, 2025 at 10:17 PM
It got put into these workstations while Sun was having problems getting the SuperSPARC chips built, and they needed low-cost workstations faster than the SPARCstation 2. It gets 26.4/21.0 on SPECint92/fp92, where a 486DX2/50MHz gets 25.7/12.2. But with no L2 cache, these machines are sloowww. 4/10
The SPARCclassic, LX, and ZX were their own thing; they are Sun-4m machines, based on the microSPARC CPU. That CPU was originally intended for use in embedded systems like PBXs and RAID controllers or cars. It only has 4KB of instruction cache and 2KB of data cache, very low for a workstation. 3/10
August 23, 2025 at 10:17 PM
The SPARCclassic, LX, and ZX were their own thing; they are Sun-4m machines, based on the microSPARC CPU. That CPU was originally intended for use in embedded systems like PBXs and RAID controllers or cars. It only has 4KB of instruction cache and 2KB of data cache, very low for a workstation. 3/10
First, a bit of background: the SPARCstation IPC and IPX are Sun-4c machines; the IPC is basically a SPARCstation 1+ with a 'bwtwo' black/white graphics, and the IPX is basically a SPARCstation 2, but with 'cgsix'/GX graphics, and 72-pin SIMM slots instead of the 30-pin slots of the SS2. 2/10
August 23, 2025 at 10:17 PM
First, a bit of background: the SPARCstation IPC and IPX are Sun-4c machines; the IPC is basically a SPARCstation 1+ with a 'bwtwo' black/white graphics, and the IPX is basically a SPARCstation 2, but with 'cgsix'/GX graphics, and 72-pin SIMM slots instead of the 30-pin slots of the SS2. 2/10
It's SPARCstation Saturday, so with kind of edutainment, kind of a PSA, here goes:
These are the SPARCstation lunchboxes (minus the ZX, which I'll get to in a minute). If you have one of these, you can probably still save it from an untimely demise. 1/10
These are the SPARCstation lunchboxes (minus the ZX, which I'll get to in a minute). If you have one of these, you can probably still save it from an untimely demise. 1/10
August 23, 2025 at 10:17 PM
It's SPARCstation Saturday, so with kind of edutainment, kind of a PSA, here goes:
These are the SPARCstation lunchboxes (minus the ZX, which I'll get to in a minute). If you have one of these, you can probably still save it from an untimely demise. 1/10
These are the SPARCstation lunchboxes (minus the ZX, which I'll get to in a minute). If you have one of these, you can probably still save it from an untimely demise. 1/10
Finally, a few factoids about this CD-ROM. It's a single-speed CD - 150KB/sec, aka 'slow as molasses'. It also uses a caddy that you have to put the CD into. If you've got one of these hanging around, please at least remove its capacitors before they do even more damage. Happy computing! 9/9
July 12, 2025 at 6:23 PM
Finally, a few factoids about this CD-ROM. It's a single-speed CD - 150KB/sec, aka 'slow as molasses'. It also uses a caddy that you have to put the CD into. If you've got one of these hanging around, please at least remove its capacitors before they do even more damage. Happy computing! 9/9
After a lot of very clumsy soldering later, all the caps are replaced, and a quick test with a SPARCstation IPX and a Solaris 2.5.1 CD shows that it boots! As some of the ICs seem to have 1992 date codes on them, it just feels good to rescue this 33-year-old from the e-waste pile. 7/9
July 12, 2025 at 6:23 PM
After a lot of very clumsy soldering later, all the caps are replaced, and a quick test with a SPARCstation IPX and a Solaris 2.5.1 CD shows that it boots! As some of the ICs seem to have 1992 date codes on them, it just feels good to rescue this 33-year-old from the e-waste pile. 7/9
And that IC? It only said '3763' on top - a bit of searching later it turns out it's an MB3763 motor driver. Thankfully, used replacements are available online! 6/9
July 12, 2025 at 6:23 PM
And that IC? It only said '3763' on top - a bit of searching later it turns out it's an MB3763 motor driver. Thankfully, used replacements are available online! 6/9
So the caps are bad; they're a mix of 16V 47μF and 10μF caps.They don't look too bad from the top, but removing them reveals the horrors that lie beneath. And that IC? the leaky cap next door had corroded one of its legs (it fell off after taking the picture) and destroyed the underlying pad. 5/9
July 12, 2025 at 6:23 PM
So the caps are bad; they're a mix of 16V 47μF and 10μF caps.They don't look too bad from the top, but removing them reveals the horrors that lie beneath. And that IC? the leaky cap next door had corroded one of its legs (it fell off after taking the picture) and destroyed the underlying pad. 5/9
Tearing it apart 2 years later reveals the main logic board - at first glance looking ok, but on closer inspection...what is going on here at this IC next to these caps? 4/9
July 12, 2025 at 6:23 PM
Tearing it apart 2 years later reveals the main logic board - at first glance looking ok, but on closer inspection...what is going on here at this IC next to these caps? 4/9
I'd been looking for one for ages, and this looks like a *very* early CD-ROM - it's a Sun X559A 'SunCD', containing a Sony CDU-8012 single-speed CD-ROM drive, originally made for the Sun-4 computers (predating the SPARCstation 1 !), 2/9
July 12, 2025 at 6:23 PM
I'd been looking for one for ages, and this looks like a *very* early CD-ROM - it's a Sun X559A 'SunCD', containing a Sony CDU-8012 single-speed CD-ROM drive, originally made for the Sun-4 computers (predating the SPARCstation 1 !), 2/9
Restoring an original SunCD Drive, a thread:
So it looks like I bought this beauty back in 2023, in a combo with a SPARCclassic, 1/9
So it looks like I bought this beauty back in 2023, in a combo with a SPARCclassic, 1/9
July 12, 2025 at 6:23 PM
Restoring an original SunCD Drive, a thread:
So it looks like I bought this beauty back in 2023, in a combo with a SPARCclassic, 1/9
So it looks like I bought this beauty back in 2023, in a combo with a SPARCclassic, 1/9