[SunHELP] Sun Netra T1 105 as a workstation?

[Cory Smelosky]

On Fri, 19 Jul 2013, markbenson wrote:

>
> On 19 Jul 2013, at 03:17, Cory Smelosky <b4 at gewt.net> wrote:
>
>> Evening all,
>>
>> Before you say it; I know this is crazy, almost impossible, and not what
> this
>> system was designed for...which is all the more reason for me to try! ;)
>
> My only criticism is the t1 105 is a bit loud. If you don't mind that then
> it's a reasonable box if you can find a PCI framebuffer. Being a single-CPU
> it's not the fastest Solaris bvox the world ever knew but they do a decent job
> with Sol 10. Your biggest issues is RAM, as they use the mezzanine boards, not
> DIMMs.

Loud?!  My microwave oven is louder! ;)

I do definitely need to track down mezzanine boards with more RAM. 64M is 
very tight. ;)

Hmmmmm.  I'll see if I can find a PCI framebuffer.

>
>> Im thinking Id try older Solaris on this...what versions wouldnt be too
>> heavy on this?
>
> 9 or 10 is okay, 9 is probably a better bet. 10's not fast but it's workable,
> although I've never run 10 on mine with a GUI, that will probably take a big
> chunk out of the performance.

I'll give 9 a shot. 7 doesn't seem to like the little Netra. ;)

>
>> As there are no USB ports, my options are: special sun mouse on a Sun frame
>> buffer card (which I am in need of...would need to be PCI.  VGA card
>> preferred) or a SCSI mouse.
>
>
> The T1 105 has no Sun keyboard port. Your options are limited to finding a Sun
> compatible framebufffer with USB ports and I'm not sure they ever existed. The
> unit has 2 serial ports, however, so a serial keyboard and mouse might work
> but you'll have to knock up roll-over adapters for them as the ports are
> RJ-45. Lastly, it has dual ethernet so you may be able to muster a remote X or
> VNC system once it's booted.

True.  Wouldn't be too hard to make a thin client out of say...a raspberry 
pi or similar.

>
> In all honesty they just aren't suited for it. You could pick up an older
> system, like a U5 and a Symbios SCSI card, on eBay or Cragslist or similar for
> next to nothing. It'd be a much better bet IMHO. If you need to rack-mount it
> U5s can be de-plasticed down to a 2 or 3U height IIRC, but you'd need a
> shelf.

I just wanted to convert the Netra for the fun of it.  Beats using a V480 
as a workstation. ;)

>
> --
> Mark Benson
>
> My Blog:
> <http://markbenson.org/blog>
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>
> "Never send a human to do a machine's job..."
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-- 
Cory Smelosky
http://gewt.net Personal stuff
http://gimme-sympathy.org Projects