[rescue] Solaris 9 sparc install (Was: solaris 9 binaries for Subversion?)

[Mike Spooner]

On Tue, 9 Jan 2018 19:22:21 +0000, David Brownlee <abs at absd.org> wrote:

> Tangentially related - would anyone have a Solaris 9 sparc install ISO
> to hand? I had one back when but I can't seem to locate it any more :(
> I'd like to see how well pkgsrc could build subversion or similar (I
> have a couple of UltraSPARC systems and a sparc classic to hand, plus
> qemu :)
>
> Thanks
>
> David
>

You'll have a job getting Solaris 9 to even install on the SPARCclassic -
S9 requires 128Mb RAM minimum to *install*. And that's not just a
mealy-mouthed "recommend minimum", I've tried installing with less (eg:
112Mb on SS10 and SS20, 96Mb on SPARCclassic), and the installer always
craps out. As soon as you have 128Mb, the install completes.

Strangely enough, once installed S9 will *run* in just 80Mb (although
slowly).

Max supported RAM on SPARCclassic is 96Mb (6 x 16Mb SIMMs), although SIMM
slots 1 and 4 can take double-sided SIMMs (ie: 32Mb each), which would just
get you to the 128Mb barrier.
That particular SPARCclassic hack (ie: using non-Sun double-sided SIMMS to
reach 128MB RAM) is now well-known and works like a charm.

Personally, on the 'classic, I find Solaris 2.5.1 is fastest, S2.6 is
acceptable, but S7 and later are way too heavyweight for it.

-- Mike