[rescue] cctalk Digest, Vol 130, Issue 26

[Earl Baugh]

> Hoping to bring some knowledge out of the woodwork here...I have
> acquired what is, in any case, quite a relic, but I suspect there is
> much more to learn about it:
>
> http://silent700.blogspot.com/2014/06/leads-always-follow-them.html
>
> In short, I stumbled upon a Sun-1.  It's the rackmount version, the
> 1/150, but it has a strange model name on the ID plate which appears
> to be "RM-CC" or "RM-0C."  It has a very early serial number but I
> can't determine if that was its first number or the result of an
> upgrade or refurb.  It appears to contain a Sun-2 CPU board so,
> according to what I've read, should be ID'd as a 1/150U.  I've read
> nothing about re-assigning a serial, however.
>
> I was told that Sun-1 serial numbers began at 013, due to there being
> 12 employees at the time.  Again, I have no idea if this machine's
> serial number is original or not.  It was sold to the University of
> Chicago, who I believe were among the first purchasers of Sun
> products.  They are said to still have S/N 13 (in theory the "first"
> Sun made) in their posession but I have no first-hand knowledge.
>
> I am supposed to be put in touch with the original curator of this
> machine, from which I hope to learn a lot more about its history.  For
> now, enjoy the pics and please share whatever info you may have...
>
> - jht
>
>
>
Well after the obligatory "you suck" :-), I'd have to say a big CONGRATS on
that find!  I've been looking for a Sun 1 for over 20
years.   According to all of the info I have found (and early experience
with Sun 3's when they were "new") it's not uncommon for
Sun-2 boards to be in Sun 1's.  Sun sold upgrades to their 1's, 2's, 3's
which resulted in you finding a previous generation system
with newer generation boards (depending on compatibility.. you might just
find a CPU board had been upgraded.. maybe I/O cards, etc.).  There are
MultiBus to VME adapters as well (got some boards mounted that way).

It was also common to find some Sun's with upgraded CPUs from the same
generation (i.e. a Sun 3/110 board in a Sun 3/140
chassis).   So, going from just serial numbers, and/or part numbers, the
best I'd say you'd find would be what generation the various components
came from.   That's where I normally start.   Then the job is to see if you
have enough parts to reconstruct an "original" of a particular model.   For
example, I've not found an original Sun 3/110 chassis, but do have a
3/140... which had a 3/110 board in it.   A 3/110 was the first Sun I used,
and I've been looking for a chassis a long time as well.

Parts for the Sun 2 and earlier seem to be few and far between.  It took me
8 years to find a front panel for my 2/120.  And it wasn't until earlier
this year that I got enough spare parts to begin the restoration.... but
now I have 2 sets of boards, 2 power supplies, 3 backplanes, etc., where
some are known bad.  But I expect to end up with some spare parts... I've
not decoded all of the part numbers I have to determine where they all
originally came from....but if I have Sun 1 spares, we can chat :-)

I also have Sun FEH handbook info that goes back to the Sun 1 generation.
 I can't say I have complete docs on the Sun 1, but given I got these from
a long time and fairly early Sun tech, I suspect I have relatively good
coverage.  In some areas they were obviously updated by "update" docs which
throw off page numbers, etc.    But they've definitely been useful for me
as I work on my older Suns.


Earl