On Mon, Oct 02, 2006 at 02:21:36PM -0600, Stephen Ward wrote: > > Thanks for the info and the quick reply. It sounds like I have nothing to > fear. >
I wouldn't go that far. There is still lots of unsupported SPARC hardware. Before you buy anything make sure linux is at least supposed to work on it. http://www.ultralinux.org/ http://www.sun.com/software/linux/compatibility/ultralinux/index.xml I've tried re-purposing Slowaris machines and sometimes it worked, sometimes it didn't. Depending on the processor and motherboard, sometimes only the Debian CD would boot, sometimes only the Gentoo CD would boot. Make sure you have a serial terminal (serial cable, maybe null modem, and minicom). Lot's of servers don't have a video card, and lots of the older workstations have funky Sun video connectors. The Sun Video to D-SUB converters are about $17 online, but serial is virtually free. I believe Sun has all their serial management port pinouts online. But you might have to crimp an RJ connector, or buy an adapter. Oh yeah. DI in Provo used to always have old Mac external SCSI cd drives. That's the most reliable way I've found to boot a Linux install CD on a SPARC machine. We have servers and workstations without internal optical drives. Good luck. Barry Roberts /* PLUG: http://plug.org, #utah on irc.freenode.net Unsubscribe: http://plug.org/mailman/options/plug Don't fear the penguin. */
