[SPARCbook] tadpole question

[Ian Spray]

On Mon, 26 Feb 2001 03:47:40 -0500, "Mike Nicewonger"
<twmaster at twmaster.com> wrote:

> Yepper,
> 
> The silly little squarish plug that looks like (but isn't) an old MAC SCSI
> is it. I think I have found one but I'm still awaiting word whether they
> did find it or not.
> 
Be careful here - the P1000 and the S3 range might have similar looking
plugs, but don't just swap one cable for another.  On the (admittedly few)
P1000's I've played with, the square connector is the external floppy
interface, and the only SCSI connectors are deep within that really long
(2.5"-ish) connector D shape connector in the middle of the rear (no, I'm
not going to count the pins right now - once you see it, you'll know what I
mean).

> For the brave there is a picture and pinout in the SparcBook user guide
> PDF.
> 
Which shouldn't be applied to the P1000, 'cos it's not a SPARCbook :)  The
rear of the P1000 goes (from left to right, looking at the rear):

* 12v DC power (yes, the S3/GX/P1000 power supplies can be interchanged
  without any problems)
* Floppy connector
* Headphone output
* VGA connector
* Docking station connector
* Parallel port
* PS/2 mouse port

Things that might be useful to know:

* The only way to get SCSI devices connected to the unit is via a docking
  station (unit the size of a MIDI tower PC, with motors and other whizzy
  things, like floppy, CDROM, extra removeable drive bay) or via a mini-dock
  unit, which clips into the back of the P1000 via the two 'screw' holes
  either side of the long connector.  No, I don't know of a source for
  either device :(
* The PS/2 mouse port doesn't take a PS/2 keyboard
* There is a D-Link Parallel interface that I _think_ is called the DE620
  that Linux does recognise and use - I'll check up on the exact model if
  anyone's that interested - and you can do a network load via this.  It's
  not quick, though...
* You _might_ be able to get the Linux system to boot up via any old NE2000
  (or installer supported PCMCIA network card) if you go into the BIOS and
  make sure that PCIC compatibility is enabled.  I've had mixed success with
  this route.
* As it takes 2.5" SCSI drives, you could take the drive out of it's plastic
  housing and put it into a desktop machine via an adaptor cable.  Might
  have some fun making sure that the right set of drivers for the P1000 are
  loaded, but there's no electrical/mechanical problem with this method (the
  drive case plastics do take a while to get the knack of opening)
* Getting X configured is a whole lot easier if you look at the (outdated
  but accurate) info on the tadpole.com website
* Don't run it on CPU intensive tasks wearing shorts with the unit resting
  directly onto bare legs (unless you're the sort of person who enjoys
  putting out candles by pinching the flame...)


HTH,

-- 
Ian Spray          :  Software Engineer     :  Tadpole-RDI
iws at tadpole.co.uk  :  +44 (0) 1223 428 224  :  http://www.tadpole.com/