Hello dear Sun power users I'm andy,from Italy. I would like to make some
experience with the Ultra Sparc "world" but I don't have a lot of money. I
see that there a lot of cheap Sun ultra 5 systems with generally 360mhz 256k
cpu's and 128mb of ram. I would like to buy one ultra 5 and install some
solaris/linux/freebsd and in general *nix system but I don't know if this
configuration (360mhz -256k,128mb,8gb,ati rage 4mb) is enough for making
this...of course I don't need to keep multi-boot so I would install just one
O.S. each time. Could you help me?It's time to change this freak x86 pc
bye bye and thank you!
Andrea

topetto wrote:
> Hello dear Sun power users I'm andy,from Italy. I would like to make some
> experience with the Ultra Sparc "world" but I don't have a lot of money. I
> see that there a lot of cheap Sun ultra 5 systems with generally 360mhz 256k
> cpu's and 128mb of ram. I would like to buy one ultra 5 and install some
> solaris/linux/freebsd and in general *nix system but I don't know if this
> configuration (360mhz -256k,128mb,8gb,ati rage 4mb) is enough for making
> this...of course I don't need to keep multi-boot so I would install just one
> O.S. each time. Could you help me?It's time to change this freak x86 pc
> bye bye and thank you!
> Andrea
>
>

Hi

I have an Ultra10 with 440cpu and 512Mb RAM with a PGX32 PCI graphics
card running Debian Sarge (easy install from CDROM as long as you have
one, download the mini-install iso from the net, boot it and then it
builds the rest via ftp once up and running a minimal system. You can
net-boot etc. but it's not so simple!). The PGX32 will give you 24bit
output at a decent resolution.

An Ultra10 is essentially the same as an Ultra5 except that it's a tower
system. But it has more space (hence runs cooler), and it's easier to
find cheap RAM as the Ultra5 needs "low profile" or remove the floppy etc.

I guess a slower cpu and less RAM would still run (mine had 256Mb for a
bit and was OK), but I'd try to go for the 440 powered machine if you
can. That said, these cpus come up on eBay and you can swop them in. But
of course everyone wants the 440!

None of this will blow away even an old PC in performance terms, but if
you want a dependable, stable box then it's certainly worth considering
and it won't be hopelessly slow either. I use mine as a local webserver
(apache, php4, mysql4 etc.) for development work and it's great...

To give you an idea of cost, I bought my Ultra10/440/256Mb/CDROM for
under £10 on eBay and fitted an old 40Gb IDE hard disk that was lying
around. So trying out the ultrasparc "world" need not cost a lot! Some
people on eBay try to charge a lot more for these old machines, my
advice is watch and wait...

Good luck!
John

>> I have an Ultra10 with 440cpu and 512Mb RAM with a PGX32 PCI graphics
> card running Debian Sarge (easy install from CDROM as long as you have
> one, download the mini-install iso from the net, boot it and then it
> builds the rest via ftp once up and running a minimal system. You can
> net-boot etc. but it's not so simple!). The PGX32 will give you 24bit
> output at a decent resolution.

Hi Jhon,first of all thx for you answer...is the pgx32 the standard video
board of the sun ultra 10 system?

>
> An Ultra10 is essentially the same as an Ultra5 except that it's a tower
> system. But it has more space (hence runs cooler), and it's easier to find
> cheap RAM as the Ultra5 needs "low profile" or remove the floppy etc.
>

> I guess a slower cpu and less RAM would still run (mine had 256Mb for a
> bit and was OK), but I'd try to go for the 440 powered machine if you can.
> That said, these cpus come up on eBay and you can swop them in. But of
> course everyone wants the 440!
> None of this will blow away even an old PC in performance terms, but if
> you want a dependable, stable box then it's certainly worth considering
> and it won't be hopelessly slow either. I use mine as a local webserver
> (apache, php4, mysql4 etc.) for development work and it's great...
>
> To give you an idea of cost, I bought my Ultra10/440/256Mb/CDROM for under
> £10 on eBay and fitted an old 40Gb IDE hard disk that was lying around.

That's the question, I've searched on ebay (.it) but prices are *mad*, I
found one for 150euro! It's really too much... You are lucky living in UK
where maybe there's much more SUN hardware "on sale". In Italy is quite
difficult to find a full functional Ultra 5 system cheaper than 40 euro.


>So trying out the ultrasparc "world" need not cost a lot! Some people on
>eBay try to charge a lot more for these old machines, my advice is watch
>and wait...
Now I found 2 Ultra 5 system with 360 mhz,256k,128mb and 8gb for 50? both
(one is reserved for a friend,curious like me )and I try this workstation
with all the o.s. that I will find,but I remain in touch for an Ultra 10
like yours


> Good luck!
> John
Thank you!Sorry for my "so called" English, have a nice day,
Andrea

Hi

Well first off, your English is far better than my Italian!

PGX32 is a PCI card - I think it's 8Mb rather than the built-in 4Mb so
not exactly a graphics giant but it does the job for a basic display.
There are linux drivers etc. - it's recognised by Debian and Gentoo and
I think I also had a NetBSD up on one of these a while back. Memory is a
bit hazy on this though... But the important point is that the Sun PROM
recognises the PGX32 so you can see what's going on right from boot.

People have fitted other PCI cards that are blank until X starts - fine
once you know the machine's all set up and boots fine etc, but not what
you want for experimenting...

Given the prices on your local Italian ebay you describe I'd buy that
machine you've found, and look on ebay in the UK and USA for RAM and
maybe even a 440 cpu - neither of which should cost a fortune and should
have reasonable international shipping costs.

And of course upgrading the HD is simple if/when you decide what OS you
want to run and actually use the machine for something! I think there's
a limit of 120Gb so don't go mad

Good luck,
John



topetto wrote:
>>>I have an Ultra10 with 440cpu and 512Mb RAM with a PGX32 PCI graphics
>>
>>card running Debian Sarge (easy install from CDROM as long as you have
>>one, download the mini-install iso from the net, boot it and then it
>>builds the rest via ftp once up and running a minimal system. You can
>>net-boot etc. but it's not so simple!). The PGX32 will give you 24bit
>>output at a decent resolution.
>
>
> Hi Jhon,first of all thx for you answer...is the pgx32 the standard video
> board of the sun ultra 10 system?
>
>
>>An Ultra10 is essentially the same as an Ultra5 except that it's a tower
>>system. But it has more space (hence runs cooler), and it's easier to find
>>cheap RAM as the Ultra5 needs "low profile" or remove the floppy etc.
>>
>
>
>>I guess a slower cpu and less RAM would still run (mine had 256Mb for a
>>bit and was OK), but I'd try to go for the 440 powered machine if you can.
>>That said, these cpus come up on eBay and you can swop them in. But of
>>course everyone wants the 440!
>>None of this will blow away even an old PC in performance terms, but if
>>you want a dependable, stable box then it's certainly worth considering
>>and it won't be hopelessly slow either. I use mine as a local webserver
>>(apache, php4, mysql4 etc.) for development work and it's great...
>>
>>To give you an idea of cost, I bought my Ultra10/440/256Mb/CDROM for under
>>£10 on eBay and fitted an old 40Gb IDE hard disk that was lying around.
>
>
> That's the question, I've searched on ebay (.it) but prices are *mad*, I
> found one for 150euro! It's really too much... You are lucky living in UK
> where maybe there's much more SUN hardware "on sale". In Italy is quite
> difficult to find a full functional Ultra 5 system cheaper than 40 euro.
>
>
>
>>So trying out the ultrasparc "world" need not cost a lot! Some people on
>>eBay try to charge a lot more for these old machines, my advice is watch
>>and wait...
>
> Now I found 2 Ultra 5 system with 360 mhz,256k,128mb and 8gb for 50? both
> (one is reserved for a friend,curious like me )and I try this workstation
> with all the o.s. that I will find,but I remain in touch for an Ultra 10
> like yours
>
>
>
>>Good luck!
>>John
>
> Thank you!Sorry for my "so called" English, have a nice day,
> Andrea
>
>

A little addition to that:

Within Europe good deals can frequently be had in Germany - but
certainly, UK and US are good too. I bought my Ultra10 locally (NL) from
someone who didn't know anything about it for EUR 25, turned out to be a
440MHz maxed out with 1GB of RAM - that was sheer luck, but all other
components I later installed (Creator3D UPA video card, SunPCI II, that
sort of thing) I bought on eBay. Situation in NL is similar to Italy,
with very little choice or value on ebay.nl, so the Creator3D came from
Germany for EUR 10 and the SunPCI II for USD 25 from the US.

John Reddie wrote:
> Hi
>
> Well first off, your English is far better than my Italian!
>
> PGX32 is a PCI card - I think it's 8Mb rather than the built-in 4Mb so
> not exactly a graphics giant but it does the job for a basic display.
> There are linux drivers etc. - it's recognised by Debian and Gentoo and
> I think I also had a NetBSD up on one of these a while back. Memory is a
> bit hazy on this though... But the important point is that the Sun PROM
> recognises the PGX32 so you can see what's going on right from boot.
>
> People have fitted other PCI cards that are blank until X starts - fine
> once you know the machine's all set up and boots fine etc, but not what
> you want for experimenting...
>
> Given the prices on your local Italian ebay you describe I'd buy that
> machine you've found, and look on ebay in the UK and USA for RAM and
> maybe even a 440 cpu - neither of which should cost a fortune and should
> have reasonable international shipping costs.
>
> And of course upgrading the HD is simple if/when you decide what OS you
> want to run and actually use the machine for something! I think there's
> a limit of 120Gb so don't go mad
>
> Good luck,
> John

Words to the wise, dion_b <dion_b@nospam.no> wrote:

> Situation in NL is similar to Italy,
>with very little choice or value on ebay.nl, so the Creator3D came from
>Germany for EUR 10 and the SunPCI II for USD 25 from the US.

At the moment, Ultra 5/10 are very very cheap here in Germany, there
was a Blade 100 sold for about 100 EUR a few days ago (only one bid).

--
Claus Dragon <clauskick@mpsahotmail.com>
=(UDIC)=
d++ e++ T--
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- Me, lately.