[rescue] Ultra 1 newbie q'ns

[Lionel Peterson]

>From: Magnus <magnus at yonderway.com>
>Date: 2006/12/19 Tue PM 01:40:30 CST
>To: The Rescue List <rescue at sunhelp.org>
>Subject: Re: [rescue] Ultra 1 newbie q'ns

>Yuri K wrote:
>
>> 1. Do I have enough RAM to play and learn Solaris 9?
>
>Yes, per http://www.sun.com/software/solaris/9/specs.xml

You'll function, but you'll want more - but even if you quadruple the RAM, an Ultra 1 is still a fairly slow machine (by current n-Gigahertz standards), BUT, it is a fine place to start learning.

I would caution you to avoid spending any real money on the machine... By this I mean, a few dollars to get some RAM is great, but before you spend more than say, $25 on an enhancement to your Ultra 1, consider waiting and getting a bigger system (preferably PCI instead of SBUS) for a few dollars more...

>> 2. Where shall I search for docs on hard and soft please?
>
>http://docs.sun.com/app/docs/prod/solaris.9#hic
>http://www.amazon.com/Solaris-9-Dummies-Dave-Taylor/dp/0764539698/yonderway

There once was a book called "Learning Solaris" that the author couldn't really sell (though I bought a copy), eventually he made it available as a PDF, and it may still be out there... Carefully worded gogle searches can be quite helpful as well.

>> 3. Are 9.1 GB HDDs big enough?
>http://www.sun.com/software/solaris/9/specs.xml
>"600 MB for desktops; 1 GB for servers"

A full install of the O/S should take less than 4 Gig, and you may want to locate the Companion Software CD for Solaris 9 as well, it has a lot of nice little tools that have been "blessed" by Sun.

>> 4. And if I get to like it where I can get more of this? Are the SUN
>> dumpsters color coded or is it a Moon-phase therapy?

Drop me a note - I lost my head and got about 30-40 Sun systems I can't seem to _give_ away. University surplus sales are also a great place to get Sin kit - my local University sells Sun hardware for $5 or $10/system, depending on the case size (Ultra 60s and E250 are $10, Ultra 1, 5, and 10s are $5/each).

What do you have for a framebuffer - is it a "Creator" card or an SBUS card? The Creator cards are much better for desktop/GUI work, the SBUS cards (like the TGX) are absolutely fine for command line work, but will only display 256 colors and are slow (by comparison).

Feel free to follow-up with more questions as they come to you...

Lionel