[Sunhelp] Newbie Tips

[James Lockwood]

On Fri, 2 Jul 1999, Michael J Radtke wrote:

> 	I just acquired an old Sparq workstation, but I have no idea how
> to get the thing running.  The main problem is that there is no video
> card.  How can I go about getting a really cheap graphics card,
> preferrable on that would work on the old HP 19" BW monitor I have, (with
> 1 BNC connection).  Or, is there a way to remotely access it, (maybe even
> install the OS?) with a PC?  I can't get both on the net at once, but
> maybe there is a way to do it with a direct connection.

The first thing to do is to find out exactly what it is that you have.
Try to find out:

Any model number that may be present either on the front or (usually) on a
sticker on the bottom.  Failing this, find out the approximate case
dimensions and try to describe the case.

Any part numbers that are on the motherboard or ancillary cards.  Look for
long numbers starting with 501 with barcodes next to them.

Any Sparc can use a serial port as a console.  If no keyboard is plugged
in, it should default to using serial port "A" at 9600bps.  Get a
null-modem cable going from your PC to this serial port, run a
communications program (Terminal or somesuch) and see if you can get any
life out of it.

Depending on how capable your monitor is, you may be able to find a cheap
framebuffer to drive it.  Does it require sync to be combined with the
video signal (which I would suspect, given that it's got only one BNC
conenector)?

-James