[SunRescue] RE: [Sunhelp] Which SPARCstation is better?

[James Lockwood]

On Wed, 9 Feb 2000, Gregory Leblanc wrote:

> I was actually planning to pull my 2x write 6x read SCSI drive and mount it
> internally on my SS20, after removing both the CD-ROM drive and floppy.  Any
> bad things that might do?

SS5/SS20 came with 2 different chassis, Aurora-1 and Aurora-2.  Aurora-1
have 1/3rd height CDROM and floppy drive bays.  Only the Toshiba XM4101
fits here as far as I know.  Bay covers are purple, there is no notch in
the case lid.

Aurora-2 uses a very slimline floppy bay and a regular 1/2 height CDROM
bay.  Bay covers are white/beige and there is a notch in the case lid to
fit the top of the drive.

Most Aurora-2 systems also have the side vent upgrade installed.

I'd also recommend against using a CD writer as a general purpose drive.
They will be slower due to the heavier read/write head, and suffer more
wear and tear with frequent use.  The MTBF of CD writers is far lower than
that of CD readers and they are much more expensive.  Add to that the fact
that they should have good cooling and airflow and the SS20 case isn't
legendary for either.

> I'd hardly consider onboard ISDN an advantage, but that's just me.  :)  

In Europe it's very helpful, but never caught on in the US to the same
extent.

> You're talking about Creators for the Ultras, right?  I'd love to have
> decent graphics on one of my SPARCs, 8 bit is useless except for text mode
> things, so maybe I'll have to get an Ultra1...

8bpp isn't too bad, really.  Annoying, but I've never really found it a
handicap unless doing image manipulation.

-James