[rescue] Sparc Classic Resurrection for Newbie

[Joshua Johnston]

I'd like to again thank everyone for responses.  I'd reply individually,
but then this thread would probably double or even triple in size given
my average level of verbosity.  So I'll try and cover what I can, and if
I miss anything, oops.  Several responders actually came back with some
great thoughts and observations that I intend to make full use of as
soon as I get a console serial link established.  

Given the responses I've gotten, I've decided that some form of BSD is
definitely going to be what I work with considering the low amount of
RAM on the machine.  I'll most likely be going to school (where I have
access to a T1 with my laptop) and get a disc burned, or actually taking
the Sparc in to hook up to the network there, and see if I can find a
good source to get BSD to install VIA network.  One depressing limiting
factor in all this is the fact that I only have a modem line at home
(the wonderful "perk" of rural life) and any major downloading has to be
done elsewhere.  

I discovered that I have 540 megs of hard drive to work with, if the
drive is good, and two external 100 meg drives that should format just
fine once I get a system going to work with.  However, a few things just
haven't quite 'clicked' into full clarity yet.

Being a long time Linux tinkerer, I understand the RTFM nature of people
to questions like mine, so I can see why some people would come back
with suggestions of just hitting a website like FreeBSD in order to get
going.  Unfortunately, these sites really don't seem to help all that
much without knowing a few things about the machine that some of the
help I received here was able to let me find out.  Now that I have a bit
more of a grip on just what I have, and the fact I shouldn't try and put
Solaris on it (my first intention) I think I can do a lot more with BSD.
I fully hope that by the end of this coming week, I'll have the Classic
up and running.  Unfortunately, I do have a few snags left to be worked
out.

I need to find out if I can use a SCSI CD-ROM drive that's installed in
a separate machine but connected to the Sparc SCSI bus as a way to
install the software.  I ask this, because I don't have anything for a
SCSI drive other than my Macintosh Quadra's 2x SCSI CD-ROM drive (which
should read the 512 size chunks, I think) and that's an internal device
for that machine.  Neither of my external SCSI drives are in a case that
appears moddable to take the drive.  If I can do that, and the drive
will boot, I should be all set for that.  

I also have a question about the serial port on the Sparc.  Will I need
to use a null modem adapter or will a standard cable work?  As it stands
now, I'll be messing around with a few adapters in order to get the
machine talking with one of my PC's.  

And almost my last question to date, I'd like to know if there's a limit
anyplace in the Sparc preventing it from using an 8G SCSI drive?  I got
an old SCSI-2 -full height- drive, and if I can find a casing someplace
that'll let me connect it to the Sparc, that'd make a much nicer
solution.

And here it is, hopefully the last question I'll have before I get the
Sparc install process rolling... Is there anyplace I can get a 100Mbit
network adapter?  The built in RJ45 is only a 10Mbit, and I'd like to
bring that up.  I did see a few S-Bus cards on eBay, but I don't know
what ones will or won't work with the Sparc running BSD.  Being used to
the sketchy predictability of Linux driver support, and not sure just
what's been done with BSD, if anyone has suggestions I'd appreciate
them.

Again, thanks for all the responses, and I hope I'm not coming across
like a total moron.

- Josh