[rescue] The onyx godness

[Jeffrey J.Nonken]

On Fri, 10 Jan 2003 13:31:27 -0800 (PST), you wrote:

> On Fri, 10 Jan 2003, Jeffrey J.Nonken wrote:
>
> > I can't speak for anybody else, but I've got a bunch of PC stuff and two
> > SS20s. It would be nice to add the two Sun boxen to the stack without
having
> > to try to fit two more keyboards and mice into my work area, but all I've
got
> > is a Belkin PS/2 KVM and a limited budget. (And I can't really run the
SPARCs
> > anywhere else, unless I go remote, because I have exactly one monitor in
the
> > house that will support them.)
>
> Serial consoles.

You mean like Telnet/SSH? Or you mean like a VT100 terminal? (Which all
amount
to the same thing in this case.) OK, that gives me text access, I can do that
fine. I don't want to invest in serial terminals (heck, I threw a bunch out
last year, they were just taking up space), and it seems silly to run a
Windows PC with a terminal emulator just to access my Sun box. It also
doesn't
give me a gui. Though I suppose some argument could be made for not needing
one. Then again, some argument could be made for not needing a computer at
all.

>  X over ethernet if you need graphics.

I've heard about that. I don't know how to do it yet.

>  Total cost: maybe $5 for two cables if you don't have them already.

For which?

> What's the point of a graphics head?  The video output you get out of the
> SS20s will probably be inferior in resolution/bpp/speed to what you have
> on a semi-modern PC, you'd probably actually see a speed improvement by
> sending X over the network to a fast X server system for any activity
> other than pure bitblitting.

Um, well, I know nothing about X stuff. Do I have a fast X server system?

> I've built some cute little adapters that use the extra 2 pairs in 4 pair
> UTP for a serial link, this lets you run both network and console over a
> single cable to your host.  Great for simplifying cable snarls and when
> you want to physically mount a machine a distance away.  I think at least
> one vendor is offering something like this commercially with a combo
> terminal server and 100baseT switch.

I can get the serial port up here if I need to. For now I'm using a junk
Windows system for that, running Hyperterminal. Using the CDE text editor
sure
seems easier than using vi, though.


---
A pun is the lowest form of humor -- when you don't think of it first. -Oscar
Levant