[rescue] New SPARCStation 10 owner, needs help with some issues though.

[Dave McGuire]

On 02/04/2016 12:33 PM, CLIFFORD HAIGHT wrote:
> In December I picked up at SPARCstation 10 for $5 plus shipping as an impulse
> purchase.
> I picked this up for the purposed as an automation server after nostalgia
> looking back at using a SPARCStation back in the mid 90's that was used as BBS
> for our high school.
> 
> It didn't have a hard drive and the NVRAM had gone bad.   Since I have
> upgraded the SM41 to SM61, replaced the NVram, put in a 1gb had disk with
> SunOS 4.1.4 and added a 64mb of ram...

  Very nice!  Great machines.

> Now onto the issues...
> 1) Solaris drivers for GPIB-SCSI-A and SB-GPIB.    I am using SunOS 4.1.4
> initially because National Instruments only provides drivers for SunOS 4 from
> their website.     There was drivers produced for Solaris 2+ but they where
> for purchase.    I have tried to buy these drivers from NI but unfortunately
> they don't sell them anymore and won't provide them.    Does anyone know of
> where I can find them or a source for them?

  I have that.  See my off-list message.

> 2) SunOS 4.1.4 patches, what patches are available for SunOS 4 and were can
> they be found?   I would like to be able to connect my sparcstation to a
> network but this has issues, I having issues software and hardware wise in
> this department.
> Optionally any critical fixes I should now about?   Is there a package
> management system on SunOS 4 and/or binary repositories?

  First of all you'll probably want to grab resolv+, so you'll have
useful DNS support without having to deal with the YP brain-damage.

> 3) I am having a hardware issue with the onboard NIC.    On the hub I show a
> connection but on the sparcstation OBP shows no connection.   Any ideas on
> troubleshooting/repairing?

  Remember, "link" indication on TP Ethernet interfaces only looks at
the receive pair, so to have a good "link", the link indication must be
positive on both ends.  I'd check the cable first.

               -Dave

-- 
Dave McGuire, AK4HZ
New Kensington, PA