[rescue] Ross sparcplug

[Jonathan C. Patschke]

On Sun, 4 Aug 2002, Bill Bradford wrote:

> > I just found what I think is a 166MHz hypersparc powered Ross Sparcplug
>
> Good luck getting the support software for it;

What support software?  It really is a fully-independent sun4m-class
workstation in a full-height 5.25" form-factor.  It has an Ethernet port,
a Sun keyboard port, and two serial ports.  It has SCSI (external only, of
course), and can boot unmodified Solaris 7 (and probably later) under its
own power.

The software that Ross shipped was merely an X server and a better serial
terminal emulator than Hyperterminal.

Now, the thing that you -would- have to worry about is the port break-out
board.  There isn't enough room on the back for all the ports, so there
are only three: Power, SCSI, and everything else.  The "everything else"
port is the one to worry about, as it's probably not documented, and the
system is of limited utility without any sort of a console or network
connection.

However, if the breakout board is included, it really is a nice sun4m box
in a tiny form factor.  You get 1 sbus port, 1 mbus port, 4 DIMM slots, 1
SCSI bus, and the usual compliment of sun4m goodness.

-- 
Jonathan Patschke
   > Can you SysAdmins tell me what might go on in a typical day?
   Hours of endless frustration punctuated by moments of sheer terror.
                                 --Saul Tannenbaum (in the Monastery)