[SunHELP] Sun Netra T1 105 as a workstation?

[Peter Stokes]

Hi Cory

On 19 Jul 2013, at 08:28, "Cory Smelosky" <b4 at gewt.net> wrote:

> 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.

I would not waste time looking for a frame buffer card, just go for serial
port and use remote Xwindow or VNC, pretty straight forward.
>
>>
>>> 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. ;)

You should be ok for 2.5.1 through to 10, but 64mb is way too little in
reality, suggest a couple of 128 or 256 boards, max is 1024Mb, but you will
need 512 or the specific 4 x 256 stack. I have some if you are stuck, but I am
in the UK, so may not be most economic solution.
>
>>
>>> 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. ;)

That is for sure given the power consumption.....

Peter