Re: SPARCstation rescue giveaway (Was: Kei cars and motorcycles (Was: Rick Dickinson, ZX Spectrum designer, RIP))

[Alan Perry via cctalk]

On 4/30/18 10:20 AM, Eric Christopherson via cctalk wrote:

On Fri, Apr 27, 2018 at 5:40 PM, Alan Perry via cctalk <
cctalk@classiccmp.org> wrote:


I keep them all. Not counting the bad ones in the SS1 and 2, I have 7.

I can send them to you. I don't mind pick up the shipping costs for
something small like that. But the $70 that is it going to cost to ship the
SS20 to its new home is another matter.

alan

On 4/27/18 3:33 PM, systems_glitch wrote:


You can always send me the dead modules and I'll rebuild them
(GlitchWorks == me, my wife sometimes helps with assembly). Whatever you
do, don't throw out the dead NVRAMs -- I'll buy them or pay for you to ship
them or whatever, they're not making more and they're the only solution
that's 100% compatible.

Yeah, the "still works but pukes errors" is the typical symptom of the
newer, slightly incompatible 48T02s in Sun machines. I don't recall if mine
kept accurate time with the newer modules.

Thanks,
Jonathan

On Fri, Apr 27, 2018 at 6:28 PM, Alan Perry via cctalk <
cctalk@classiccmp.org > wrote:

 The ones from Mouser work well enough in every system that I have
 used them in. I still get the IDPROM corrupt message on boot on
 some systems, but it holds the MAC and the systems boot without
 intervention.

 I tried to repair a few and botched most of them. I know that I
 should be using the GlitchWorks stuff, but it has been easier to
 just buy something that I can plug in.

 alan


 On 4/27/18 3:15 PM, systems_glitch via cctalk wrote:

 Don't get the new MK48T02/MK48T08s from Mouser et al, they're
 not fully
 compatible. They will retain NVRAM but the clock part is
 different and
 you'll get an error on that (system won't autoboot). Rebuild
 your old
 NVRAM! I made up some little boards to make the repair cleaner
 and faster
 to do (I had about 50 NVRAMs to repair):

 http://www.glitchwrks.com/2017/08/01/gw-48t02-1
 

 There are other guides for tacking on a coin cell holder
 without cutting
 off the entire top encapsulation, but if you do that, it may
 not fit under
 SBus cards if you're doing it on a system that puts SBus slots
 over the
 NVRAM.

 Thanks,
 Jonathan

 On Fri, Apr 27, 2018 at 6:03 PM, Glen Slick via cctalk <
 cctalk@classiccmp.org > wrote:

 On Fri, Apr 27, 2018 at 1:55 PM, Alan Perry via cctalk
 > wrote:

 - SPARCstation 1. Chassis is intact. It has a bad
 IDPROM; aside from that
   it passes onboard diagnostics. It has 12M memory, no
 HDD now, and a 3.5"
   floppy drive. It has no SBus cards. Aside from the
 IDPROM, it doesn't
   have any issues (but I haven't run an OS on it yet).
 Like the SS2, it
   needs a bath. A small portion of the plastic cover
 over the rear of the
   case is broken off.

 What are these "actual parts expenses"? IDPROMs are
 around $25 on Mouser.
 SCSI HDDs start around $70 shipped on eBay and SCSI2SD
 are $60 plus
 shipping to me plus the SD price. Given the price of
 25 year old HDDs

 with

 a stated service life of 5 years (according to one
 spec sheet that I

 read),

 SCSI2SD looks pretty attractive.

 When you say IDPROM, is that a Dallas built-in battery
 NVRAM type of
 thing? I have an SS1 with a dead NVRAM thing. Are the
 currently
 available versions of those new at Mouser fully
 compatible? Those are
 one of those things that the new versions aren't always fully
 compatible with the old versions for some systems, even
 though they
 are supposed to be.

 My SS1 is also in the Seattle area. If there is much
 demand for those
 it's probably one of those systems I'll never get around
 to doing
 anything with it myself. I also have a 4/110. Those seem
 to be a lot
 less common, and maybe more collectible.


Last year some time I replaced the timekeeper in my first SPARC with one I
ordered off eBay. It's been a while since I tried it in that machine* but,
last I knew, it was slow at keeping time but time was still moving forward,
and it hadn't lost its MAC or hostid. Would that be caused by it being one
of the newer not-100%-compatible ones? Alternately, I read somewhere that

Re: SPARCstation rescue giveaway (Was: Kei cars and motorcycles (Was: Rick Dickinson, ZX Spectrum designer, RIP))

[Eric Christopherson via cctalk]

On Fri, Apr 27, 2018 at 5:40 PM, Alan Perry via cctalk <
cctalk@classiccmp.org> wrote:

> I keep them all. Not counting the bad ones in the SS1 and 2, I have 7.
>
> I can send them to you. I don't mind pick up the shipping costs for
> something small like that. But the $70 that is it going to cost to ship the
> SS20 to its new home is another matter.
>
> alan
>
> On 4/27/18 3:33 PM, systems_glitch wrote:
>
>> You can always send me the dead modules and I'll rebuild them
>> (GlitchWorks == me, my wife sometimes helps with assembly). Whatever you
>> do, don't throw out the dead NVRAMs -- I'll buy them or pay for you to ship
>> them or whatever, they're not making more and they're the only solution
>> that's 100% compatible.
>>
>> Yeah, the "still works but pukes errors" is the typical symptom of the
>> newer, slightly incompatible 48T02s in Sun machines. I don't recall if mine
>> kept accurate time with the newer modules.
>>
>> Thanks,
>> Jonathan
>>
>> On Fri, Apr 27, 2018 at 6:28 PM, Alan Perry via cctalk <
>> cctalk@classiccmp.org > wrote:
>>
>> The ones from Mouser work well enough in every system that I have
>> used them in. I still get the IDPROM corrupt message on boot on
>> some systems, but it holds the MAC and the systems boot without
>> intervention.
>>
>> I tried to repair a few and botched most of them. I know that I
>> should be using the GlitchWorks stuff, but it has been easier to
>> just buy something that I can plug in.
>>
>> alan
>>
>>
>> On 4/27/18 3:15 PM, systems_glitch via cctalk wrote:
>>
>> Don't get the new MK48T02/MK48T08s from Mouser et al, they're
>> not fully
>> compatible. They will retain NVRAM but the clock part is
>> different and
>> you'll get an error on that (system won't autoboot). Rebuild
>> your old
>> NVRAM! I made up some little boards to make the repair cleaner
>> and faster
>> to do (I had about 50 NVRAMs to repair):
>>
>> http://www.glitchwrks.com/2017/08/01/gw-48t02-1
>> 
>>
>> There are other guides for tacking on a coin cell holder
>> without cutting
>> off the entire top encapsulation, but if you do that, it may
>> not fit under
>> SBus cards if you're doing it on a system that puts SBus slots
>> over the
>> NVRAM.
>>
>> Thanks,
>> Jonathan
>>
>> On Fri, Apr 27, 2018 at 6:03 PM, Glen Slick via cctalk <
>> cctalk@classiccmp.org > wrote:
>>
>> On Fri, Apr 27, 2018 at 1:55 PM, Alan Perry via cctalk
>> > wrote:
>>
>> - SPARCstation 1. Chassis is intact. It has a bad
>> IDPROM; aside from that
>>   it passes onboard diagnostics. It has 12M memory, no
>> HDD now, and a 3.5"
>>   floppy drive. It has no SBus cards. Aside from the
>> IDPROM, it doesn't
>>   have any issues (but I haven't run an OS on it yet).
>> Like the SS2, it
>>   needs a bath. A small portion of the plastic cover
>> over the rear of the
>>   case is broken off.
>>
>> What are these "actual parts expenses"? IDPROMs are
>> around $25 on Mouser.
>> SCSI HDDs start around $70 shipped on eBay and SCSI2SD
>> are $60 plus
>> shipping to me plus the SD price. Given the price of
>> 25 year old HDDs
>>
>> with
>>
>> a stated service life of 5 years (according to one
>> spec sheet that I
>>
>> read),
>>
>> SCSI2SD looks pretty attractive.
>>
>> When you say IDPROM, is that a Dallas built-in battery
>> NVRAM type of
>> thing? I have an SS1 with a dead NVRAM thing. Are the
>> currently
>> available versions of those new at Mouser fully
>> compatible? Those are
>> one of those things that the new versions aren't always fully
>> compatible with the old versions for some systems, even
>> though they
>> are supposed to be.
>>
>> My SS1 is also in the Seattle area. If there is much
>> demand for those
>> it's probably one of those systems I'll never get around
>> to doing
>> anything with it myself. I also have a 4/110. Those seem
>> to be a lot
>> less common, and maybe more collectible.
>>
>
Last year some time I replaced the timekeeper in my first SPARC with one I
ordered off eBay. It's been a while since I tried it in that machine* but,
last I knew, it was slow at keeping time but 

Re: SPARCstation rescue giveaway (Was: Kei cars and motorcycles (Was: Rick Dickinson, ZX Spectrum designer, RIP))

[Alan Perry via cctalk]

I keep them all. Not counting the bad ones in the SS1 and 2, I have 7.

I can send them to you. I don't mind pick up the shipping costs for 
something small like that. But the $70 that is it going to cost to ship 
the SS20 to its new home is another matter.


alan

On 4/27/18 3:33 PM, systems_glitch wrote:
You can always send me the dead modules and I'll rebuild them 
(GlitchWorks == me, my wife sometimes helps with assembly). Whatever 
you do, don't throw out the dead NVRAMs -- I'll buy them or pay for 
you to ship them or whatever, they're not making more and they're the 
only solution that's 100% compatible.


Yeah, the "still works but pukes errors" is the typical symptom of the 
newer, slightly incompatible 48T02s in Sun machines. I don't recall if 
mine kept accurate time with the newer modules.


Thanks,
Jonathan

On Fri, Apr 27, 2018 at 6:28 PM, Alan Perry via cctalk 
> wrote:


The ones from Mouser work well enough in every system that I have
used them in. I still get the IDPROM corrupt message on boot on
some systems, but it holds the MAC and the systems boot without
intervention.

I tried to repair a few and botched most of them. I know that I
should be using the GlitchWorks stuff, but it has been easier to
just buy something that I can plug in.

alan


On 4/27/18 3:15 PM, systems_glitch via cctalk wrote:

Don't get the new MK48T02/MK48T08s from Mouser et al, they're
not fully
compatible. They will retain NVRAM but the clock part is
different and
you'll get an error on that (system won't autoboot). Rebuild
your old
NVRAM! I made up some little boards to make the repair cleaner
and faster
to do (I had about 50 NVRAMs to repair):

http://www.glitchwrks.com/2017/08/01/gw-48t02-1


There are other guides for tacking on a coin cell holder
without cutting
off the entire top encapsulation, but if you do that, it may
not fit under
SBus cards if you're doing it on a system that puts SBus slots
over the
NVRAM.

Thanks,
Jonathan

On Fri, Apr 27, 2018 at 6:03 PM, Glen Slick via cctalk <
cctalk@classiccmp.org > wrote:

On Fri, Apr 27, 2018 at 1:55 PM, Alan Perry via cctalk
> wrote:

- SPARCstation 1. Chassis is intact. It has a bad
IDPROM; aside from that
  it passes onboard diagnostics. It has 12M memory, no
HDD now, and a 3.5"
  floppy drive. It has no SBus cards. Aside from the
IDPROM, it doesn't
  have any issues (but I haven't run an OS on it yet).
Like the SS2, it
  needs a bath. A small portion of the plastic cover
over the rear of the
  case is broken off.

What are these "actual parts expenses"? IDPROMs are
around $25 on Mouser.
SCSI HDDs start around $70 shipped on eBay and SCSI2SD
are $60 plus
shipping to me plus the SD price. Given the price of
25 year old HDDs

with

a stated service life of 5 years (according to one
spec sheet that I

read),

SCSI2SD looks pretty attractive.

When you say IDPROM, is that a Dallas built-in battery
NVRAM type of
thing? I have an SS1 with a dead NVRAM thing. Are the
currently
available versions of those new at Mouser fully
compatible? Those are
one of those things that the new versions aren't always fully
compatible with the old versions for some systems, even
though they
are supposed to be.

My SS1 is also in the Seattle area. If there is much
demand for those
it's probably one of those systems I'll never get around
to doing
anything with it myself. I also have a 4/110. Those seem
to be a lot
less common, and maybe more collectible.

Re: SPARCstation rescue giveaway (Was: Kei cars and motorcycles (Was: Rick Dickinson, ZX Spectrum designer, RIP))

[Alan Perry via cctalk]

On 4/27/18 3:03 PM, Glen Slick via cctalk wrote:

On Fri, Apr 27, 2018 at 1:55 PM, Alan Perry via cctalk
 wrote:

- SPARCstation 1. Chassis is intact. It has a bad IDPROM; aside from that
  it passes onboard diagnostics. It has 12M memory, no HDD now, and a 3.5"
  floppy drive. It has no SBus cards. Aside from the IDPROM, it doesn't
  have any issues (but I haven't run an OS on it yet). Like the SS2, it
  needs a bath. A small portion of the plastic cover over the rear of the
  case is broken off.

What are these "actual parts expenses"? IDPROMs are around $25 on Mouser.
SCSI HDDs start around $70 shipped on eBay and SCSI2SD are $60 plus
shipping to me plus the SD price. Given the price of 25 year old HDDs with
a stated service life of 5 years (according to one spec sheet that I read),
SCSI2SD looks pretty attractive.


When you say IDPROM, is that a Dallas built-in battery NVRAM type of
thing? I have an SS1 with a dead NVRAM thing. Are the currently
available versions of those new at Mouser fully compatible? Those are
one of those things that the new versions aren't always fully
compatible with the old versions for some systems, even though they
are supposed to be.


Yes.

The better option is to repair the NVRAM to use a replaceable battery. 
As noted elsewhere, the new ones on Mouser aren't completely compatible, 
but they work good enough in my experience with the lunchbox systems and 
SS5/20s.




My SS1 is also in the Seattle area. If there is much demand for those
it's probably one of those systems I'll never get around to doing
anything with it myself. I also have a 4/110. Those seem to be a lot
less common, and maybe more collectible.


I don't think there is much demand. The SS5s and 20s that I got from 
Pete's place were claimed quickly. No takers yet for the SS1 or SS2. If 
there ends up being no takers, I will still refurb them and make them 
into nice running systems.


alan

Re: SPARCstation rescue giveaway (Was: Kei cars and motorcycles (Was: Rick Dickinson, ZX Spectrum designer, RIP))

[systems_glitch via cctalk]

You can always send me the dead modules and I'll rebuild them (GlitchWorks
== me, my wife sometimes helps with assembly). Whatever you do, don't throw
out the dead NVRAMs -- I'll buy them or pay for you to ship them or
whatever, they're not making more and they're the only solution that's 100%
compatible.

Yeah, the "still works but pukes errors" is the typical symptom of the
newer, slightly incompatible 48T02s in Sun machines. I don't recall if mine
kept accurate time with the newer modules.

Thanks,
Jonathan

On Fri, Apr 27, 2018 at 6:28 PM, Alan Perry via cctalk <
cctalk@classiccmp.org> wrote:

> The ones from Mouser work well enough in every system that I have used
> them in. I still get the IDPROM corrupt message on boot on some systems,
> but it holds the MAC and the systems boot without intervention.
>
> I tried to repair a few and botched most of them. I know that I should be
> using the GlitchWorks stuff, but it has been easier to just buy something
> that I can plug in.
>
> alan
>
>
> On 4/27/18 3:15 PM, systems_glitch via cctalk wrote:
>
>> Don't get the new MK48T02/MK48T08s from Mouser et al, they're not fully
>> compatible. They will retain NVRAM but the clock part is different and
>> you'll get an error on that (system won't autoboot). Rebuild your old
>> NVRAM! I made up some little boards to make the repair cleaner and faster
>> to do (I had about 50 NVRAMs to repair):
>>
>> http://www.glitchwrks.com/2017/08/01/gw-48t02-1
>>
>> There are other guides for tacking on a coin cell holder without cutting
>> off the entire top encapsulation, but if you do that, it may not fit under
>> SBus cards if you're doing it on a system that puts SBus slots over the
>> NVRAM.
>>
>> Thanks,
>> Jonathan
>>
>> On Fri, Apr 27, 2018 at 6:03 PM, Glen Slick via cctalk <
>> cctalk@classiccmp.org> wrote:
>>
>> On Fri, Apr 27, 2018 at 1:55 PM, Alan Perry via cctalk
>>>  wrote:
>>>
 - SPARCstation 1. Chassis is intact. It has a bad IDPROM; aside from
 that
   it passes onboard diagnostics. It has 12M memory, no HDD now, and a
 3.5"
   floppy drive. It has no SBus cards. Aside from the IDPROM, it doesn't
   have any issues (but I haven't run an OS on it yet). Like the SS2, it
   needs a bath. A small portion of the plastic cover over the rear of
 the
   case is broken off.

 What are these "actual parts expenses"? IDPROMs are around $25 on
 Mouser.
 SCSI HDDs start around $70 shipped on eBay and SCSI2SD are $60 plus
 shipping to me plus the SD price. Given the price of 25 year old HDDs

>>> with
>>>
 a stated service life of 5 years (according to one spec sheet that I

>>> read),
>>>
 SCSI2SD looks pretty attractive.

 When you say IDPROM, is that a Dallas built-in battery NVRAM type of
>>> thing? I have an SS1 with a dead NVRAM thing. Are the currently
>>> available versions of those new at Mouser fully compatible? Those are
>>> one of those things that the new versions aren't always fully
>>> compatible with the old versions for some systems, even though they
>>> are supposed to be.
>>>
>>> My SS1 is also in the Seattle area. If there is much demand for those
>>> it's probably one of those systems I'll never get around to doing
>>> anything with it myself. I also have a 4/110. Those seem to be a lot
>>> less common, and maybe more collectible.
>>>
>>>
>

Re: SPARCstation rescue giveaway (Was: Kei cars and motorcycles (Was: Rick Dickinson, ZX Spectrum designer, RIP))

[Alan Perry via cctalk]

The ones from Mouser work well enough in every system that I have used 
them in. I still get the IDPROM corrupt message on boot on some systems, 
but it holds the MAC and the systems boot without intervention.


I tried to repair a few and botched most of them. I know that I should 
be using the GlitchWorks stuff, but it has been easier to just buy 
something that I can plug in.


alan

On 4/27/18 3:15 PM, systems_glitch via cctalk wrote:

Don't get the new MK48T02/MK48T08s from Mouser et al, they're not fully
compatible. They will retain NVRAM but the clock part is different and
you'll get an error on that (system won't autoboot). Rebuild your old
NVRAM! I made up some little boards to make the repair cleaner and faster
to do (I had about 50 NVRAMs to repair):

http://www.glitchwrks.com/2017/08/01/gw-48t02-1

There are other guides for tacking on a coin cell holder without cutting
off the entire top encapsulation, but if you do that, it may not fit under
SBus cards if you're doing it on a system that puts SBus slots over the
NVRAM.

Thanks,
Jonathan

On Fri, Apr 27, 2018 at 6:03 PM, Glen Slick via cctalk <
cctalk@classiccmp.org> wrote:


On Fri, Apr 27, 2018 at 1:55 PM, Alan Perry via cctalk
 wrote:

- SPARCstation 1. Chassis is intact. It has a bad IDPROM; aside from that
  it passes onboard diagnostics. It has 12M memory, no HDD now, and a 3.5"
  floppy drive. It has no SBus cards. Aside from the IDPROM, it doesn't
  have any issues (but I haven't run an OS on it yet). Like the SS2, it
  needs a bath. A small portion of the plastic cover over the rear of the
  case is broken off.

What are these "actual parts expenses"? IDPROMs are around $25 on Mouser.
SCSI HDDs start around $70 shipped on eBay and SCSI2SD are $60 plus
shipping to me plus the SD price. Given the price of 25 year old HDDs

with

a stated service life of 5 years (according to one spec sheet that I

read),

SCSI2SD looks pretty attractive.


When you say IDPROM, is that a Dallas built-in battery NVRAM type of
thing? I have an SS1 with a dead NVRAM thing. Are the currently
available versions of those new at Mouser fully compatible? Those are
one of those things that the new versions aren't always fully
compatible with the old versions for some systems, even though they
are supposed to be.

My SS1 is also in the Seattle area. If there is much demand for those
it's probably one of those systems I'll never get around to doing
anything with it myself. I also have a 4/110. Those seem to be a lot
less common, and maybe more collectible.

Re: SPARCstation rescue giveaway (Was: Kei cars and motorcycles (Was: Rick Dickinson, ZX Spectrum designer, RIP))

[systems_glitch via cctalk]

Tip on replacement hard drives: you can use a SCA drive with an adapter
inside some Sun boxes, or my personal favorite, a Sun "UniDisk" enclosure
with a SCA drive inside. SCA drives are really cheap, even for big ones
(they go up to 300 GB), and you can still get some of the later production
drives with 0 hours on them. You'll usually need to create a partition less
than 1 GB within the first 1 GB of the drive, or your Sun won't be able to
boot it. Larger partitions after that are OK.

Thanks,
Jonathan

On Fri, Apr 27, 2018 at 6:15 PM, systems_glitch 
wrote:

> Don't get the new MK48T02/MK48T08s from Mouser et al, they're not fully
> compatible. They will retain NVRAM but the clock part is different and
> you'll get an error on that (system won't autoboot). Rebuild your old
> NVRAM! I made up some little boards to make the repair cleaner and faster
> to do (I had about 50 NVRAMs to repair):
>
> http://www.glitchwrks.com/2017/08/01/gw-48t02-1
>
> There are other guides for tacking on a coin cell holder without cutting
> off the entire top encapsulation, but if you do that, it may not fit under
> SBus cards if you're doing it on a system that puts SBus slots over the
> NVRAM.
>
> Thanks,
> Jonathan
>
> On Fri, Apr 27, 2018 at 6:03 PM, Glen Slick via cctalk <
> cctalk@classiccmp.org> wrote:
>
>> On Fri, Apr 27, 2018 at 1:55 PM, Alan Perry via cctalk
>>  wrote:
>> >
>> > - SPARCstation 1. Chassis is intact. It has a bad IDPROM; aside from
>> that
>> >  it passes onboard diagnostics. It has 12M memory, no HDD now, and a
>> 3.5"
>> >  floppy drive. It has no SBus cards. Aside from the IDPROM, it doesn't
>> >  have any issues (but I haven't run an OS on it yet). Like the SS2, it
>> >  needs a bath. A small portion of the plastic cover over the rear of the
>> >  case is broken off.
>> >
>> > What are these "actual parts expenses"? IDPROMs are around $25 on
>> Mouser.
>> > SCSI HDDs start around $70 shipped on eBay and SCSI2SD are $60 plus
>> > shipping to me plus the SD price. Given the price of 25 year old HDDs
>> with
>> > a stated service life of 5 years (according to one spec sheet that I
>> read),
>> > SCSI2SD looks pretty attractive.
>> >
>>
>> When you say IDPROM, is that a Dallas built-in battery NVRAM type of
>> thing? I have an SS1 with a dead NVRAM thing. Are the currently
>> available versions of those new at Mouser fully compatible? Those are
>> one of those things that the new versions aren't always fully
>> compatible with the old versions for some systems, even though they
>> are supposed to be.
>>
>> My SS1 is also in the Seattle area. If there is much demand for those
>> it's probably one of those systems I'll never get around to doing
>> anything with it myself. I also have a 4/110. Those seem to be a lot
>> less common, and maybe more collectible.
>>
>
>

Re: SPARCstation rescue giveaway (Was: Kei cars and motorcycles (Was: Rick Dickinson, ZX Spectrum designer, RIP))

[systems_glitch via cctalk]

Don't get the new MK48T02/MK48T08s from Mouser et al, they're not fully
compatible. They will retain NVRAM but the clock part is different and
you'll get an error on that (system won't autoboot). Rebuild your old
NVRAM! I made up some little boards to make the repair cleaner and faster
to do (I had about 50 NVRAMs to repair):

http://www.glitchwrks.com/2017/08/01/gw-48t02-1

There are other guides for tacking on a coin cell holder without cutting
off the entire top encapsulation, but if you do that, it may not fit under
SBus cards if you're doing it on a system that puts SBus slots over the
NVRAM.

Thanks,
Jonathan

On Fri, Apr 27, 2018 at 6:03 PM, Glen Slick via cctalk <
cctalk@classiccmp.org> wrote:

> On Fri, Apr 27, 2018 at 1:55 PM, Alan Perry via cctalk
>  wrote:
> >
> > - SPARCstation 1. Chassis is intact. It has a bad IDPROM; aside from that
> >  it passes onboard diagnostics. It has 12M memory, no HDD now, and a 3.5"
> >  floppy drive. It has no SBus cards. Aside from the IDPROM, it doesn't
> >  have any issues (but I haven't run an OS on it yet). Like the SS2, it
> >  needs a bath. A small portion of the plastic cover over the rear of the
> >  case is broken off.
> >
> > What are these "actual parts expenses"? IDPROMs are around $25 on Mouser.
> > SCSI HDDs start around $70 shipped on eBay and SCSI2SD are $60 plus
> > shipping to me plus the SD price. Given the price of 25 year old HDDs
> with
> > a stated service life of 5 years (according to one spec sheet that I
> read),
> > SCSI2SD looks pretty attractive.
> >
>
> When you say IDPROM, is that a Dallas built-in battery NVRAM type of
> thing? I have an SS1 with a dead NVRAM thing. Are the currently
> available versions of those new at Mouser fully compatible? Those are
> one of those things that the new versions aren't always fully
> compatible with the old versions for some systems, even though they
> are supposed to be.
>
> My SS1 is also in the Seattle area. If there is much demand for those
> it's probably one of those systems I'll never get around to doing
> anything with it myself. I also have a 4/110. Those seem to be a lot
> less common, and maybe more collectible.
>

Re: SPARCstation rescue giveaway (Was: Kei cars and motorcycles (Was: Rick Dickinson, ZX Spectrum designer, RIP))

[Glen Slick via cctalk]

On Fri, Apr 27, 2018 at 1:55 PM, Alan Perry via cctalk
 wrote:
>
> - SPARCstation 1. Chassis is intact. It has a bad IDPROM; aside from that
>  it passes onboard diagnostics. It has 12M memory, no HDD now, and a 3.5"
>  floppy drive. It has no SBus cards. Aside from the IDPROM, it doesn't
>  have any issues (but I haven't run an OS on it yet). Like the SS2, it
>  needs a bath. A small portion of the plastic cover over the rear of the
>  case is broken off.
>
> What are these "actual parts expenses"? IDPROMs are around $25 on Mouser.
> SCSI HDDs start around $70 shipped on eBay and SCSI2SD are $60 plus
> shipping to me plus the SD price. Given the price of 25 year old HDDs with
> a stated service life of 5 years (according to one spec sheet that I read),
> SCSI2SD looks pretty attractive.
>

When you say IDPROM, is that a Dallas built-in battery NVRAM type of
thing? I have an SS1 with a dead NVRAM thing. Are the currently
available versions of those new at Mouser fully compatible? Those are
one of those things that the new versions aren't always fully
compatible with the old versions for some systems, even though they
are supposed to be.

My SS1 is also in the Seattle area. If there is much demand for those
it's probably one of those systems I'll never get around to doing
anything with it myself. I also have a 4/110. Those seem to be a lot
less common, and maybe more collectible.

SPARCstation rescue giveaway (Was: Kei cars and motorcycles (Was: Rick Dickinson, ZX Spectrum designer, RIP))

[Alan Perry via cctalk]

I wrote:
>... yesterday I managed to take the two SPARCstation 20s that I gotfrom
>Pete's and make one working dual-processor SS20. I alsopassed on one of
>the SS5s to its new owner. The person who originally spoke up for the
>SS20 has not responded to subsequent e-mail, so it may be available. I
>will also have a SS1 and SS2 available, but I need to order more IDPROMs
>before I can finish refurb'ing them.

An update - The person who spoke up for a SS20 responded this morning and
the one that I put together from the two broken ones from Pete's will soon
be on its way to its new home.

What I have left to give away are:

- SPARCstation 20 chassis. No top cover. The front left corner plastic
 cover is missing and the front right plastic cover has broken tabs and
 won't stay on. It has a working power supply and a motherboard that the
 firmware reports "replace motherboard" during diagnostics. It has no
 MBus (processor) or SBus cards nor any memory. It has the HDD backplane,
 cabling for the HDD and optical drive, and the drive cooling fan.

- SPARCstation 2. Complete and boots into SunOS 4. It has 48M memory, a
 Sun207 (nominal 207M) HDD, and a 3.5" floppy drive. It also has an extra
 SCSI SBus card (501-1759) and a GX CG6 frame buffer, dual-slot SBus card
 (501-1645). It has a bad IDPROM and the case needs to be cleaned. It has
 its hostname "smoked" written all over it; I don't know if there is a
 story that goes with that.

- SPARCstation 1. Chassis is intact. It has a bad IDPROM; aside from that
 it passes onboard diagnostics. It has 12M memory, no HDD now, and a 3.5"
 floppy drive. It has no SBus cards. Aside from the IDPROM, it doesn't
 have any issues (but I haven't run an OS on it yet). Like the SS2, it
 needs a bath. A small portion of the plastic cover over the rear of the
 case is broken off.

If you want one of these, the systems themselves are free. I just want
shipping costs and actual parts expenses (i.e., IDPROMs, HDDs, etc.). The
22x22x6 box that they fit in costs $15 (when bought one-at-a-time). I
haven't weighed a SS1/2, but the boxed SS20 weighed 30 lbs. The ship-from
zip is 98110. If you are local to Puget Sound, I will deliver.

What are these "actual parts expenses"? IDPROMs are around $25 on Mouser.
SCSI HDDs start around $70 shipped on eBay and SCSI2SD are $60 plus
shipping to me plus the SD price. Given the price of 25 year old HDDs with
a stated service life of 5 years (according to one spec sheet that I read),
SCSI2SD looks pretty attractive.

If no one chimes in NOW and says that he wants one to refurb himself, I
will start refurb'ing the SS1 and 2.

alan