[SPARCbook] maximizing my SPARCbook 3GX

[Justin Haynes]

Perhaps a higher capacity drive would work, and the converter would only see
the lower 8GB?  I'd be very curious, as I'd like to get one of these
converters (if I could only find one?!!), and then to get the SDD.  Even if
it only saw 8GB of 32, It would be handy to have a 3GX that is 1) silent  2)
can do 20MB/sec to and from the disk, and 3) has battery power to keep it
going maybe closer to an hour?  I'm probably just dreaming  for point #3...

-Justin


On Mon, Feb 7, 2011 at 2:38 AM, Mark Wickens <mark at wickensonline.co.uk>wrote:

> On 07/02/11 04:50, Justin Haynes wrote:
>
>> List -
>>
>> I am running OpenBSD 4.8 STABLE on my SPARCbook 3GX with 1.2 GB hard drive
>> and 64 (32x2) MB ram, and I'm interested in expanding it as much as
>> possible.  I've always liked the look and feel of these machines, and
>> would
>> like to use it more often.
>>
>> I'm interested in getting the 2GB Tadpole drive so that I can replace the
>> insides with a larger IDE drive.  Currently I'm using NFS quite a bit. :-)
>> I'm hoping someone on the list may either be willing to part with one or
>> know of a place that still sells them.  I've not found them sold any place
>> I've checked from the various FAQs out there or from any of my searching.
>>
>> I'm hoping I can put in an SSD like this one:
>> http://www.amazon.com/Transcend-32GB-SSD-2-5-Inch/dp/B000T9QRKE .  I'm
>> not
>> sure how these SCSI to IDE converters will behave though.  If they can
>> only
>> handle a certain a capacity, will they only see the first 16GB for
>> instance?  I'm hoping the decreased power consumption might allow the
>> battery to last a bit longer when the unit isn't plugged in.  Also, I
>> expect
>> the fast wide SCSI-II to max out at 20MB/sec.  20MB/sec would be a *vast
>> improvement*
>>
>> Also, I understand this hardware can take 128MB of RAM, but I keep reading
>> unconfirmed reports of it being able to handle 256.  I apologize if this
>> is
>> already in the archives - I didn't find it.  I've already ordered the
>> extra
>> 64 I need to bring it to 128.
>>
>> I was pleased to have Miod's help on the sparc at openbsd list where he told
>> me
>> how to edit the driver file for the Weitek 9100 to support 32bpp.  I
>> recompiled the kernel and now X looks beautiful on the 3GX.
>>
>> I'd like to have USB, but there don't seem to be any 16-bit usb interfaces
>> for Type I,II or III cards.  My Netgear MA401RA works very well as a wifi
>> device.
>>
>> If anyone has any suggestions or pointers, I'd certainly love to hear
>> them.
>>
>> Thanks,
>>
>> -Justin
>> _______________________________________________
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>>
> Hi Justin,
>
> I do actually have an acard scsi to ide converter that I've never tried
> with my sparcbook. It would be nice to replace the noisy internal hard drive
> with something quieter, but I don't think I currently have a spare 2.5" ide
> drive to try. The converter I have is also touted as being more for cdroms
> than hard drives, but there is nothing to say it wouldn't work with a hard
> drive (possibly there is a limit on capacity)?
>
> If I get round to trying it I'll let you know whether it works. I don't
> even have a low capacity 3.5" IDE drive I could try at the moment.
>
> Regards, Mark
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