Archive-name: sun-hdwr-ref/part1 Posting-Frequency: as revised Version: $Id: $ THE SUN HARDWARE REFERENCE compiled by James W. Birdsall (jwbirdsa@picarefy.com) TABLE OF CONTENTS ================= FILE SECTIONS --------------- -------------------------- part1 TABLE OF CONTENTS INTRODUCTION OFFICIAL HOME OF THIS REFERENCE HOW TO USE THE REFERENCE part2 MODELS SUMMARY Introduction FAQ Sun-1 Family Sun-2 Family Sun-3 Family Sun-386i Family Sun-4 (aka SPARCstation) Family Overview by Model Sun-1 Models Sun-2 Models Sun-3 Models Sun-386i Models Sun-4 (SPARCstation) Models part3 HARDWARE Boards CPUs/motherboards Introduction FAQ Overview by Model Kernel Architectures Listing by Part Number Legend Parts part4 SPARC (MBus) Modules Introduction Model/Part Compatibility Chart Listing by Part Number Legend Parts Memory Video SCSI controllers Non-SCSI disk controllers Tape controllers Communications (serial, Ethernet, etc.) Floating-point/system accelerators Hard drive SCSI converters Backplanes Other Mass Storage SCSI overview Hard drives SMD MFM ESDI IPI SCSI Floppy drives Tape drives Tape formats 9-track QIC-11 QIC-24 CD-ROM Other Keyboards Mice Monitors SPECIAL TOPICS Connector Glossary Board Cross-compatibility Busses SPARC Chips Cardcage Configuration Pinout Summary Ethernet Video Keyboard and Mouse Serial SCSI Diagnostic LED Summary SOFTWARE Boot ROM Compatibility EEPROM Settings SunOS Compatibility Other Operating Systems NetBSD Linux Sun-2 SunOS Tapes Installing SunOS 3.x (and 4.0.x?) SOURCES Bibliography Contributors Other Resources PART NUMBER INDEX INTRODUCTION ============ This is the Sun Hardware Reference, which attempts to provide as much information as possible about older Sun-badged hardware and hardware commonly used with older Sun workstations. Its primary audience is buyers and collectors of used Sun hardware, much of which comes without documentation. THERE IS NO WARRANTY OF ANY KIND on the information in this document. It has been assembled from a variety of sources of varying reliability. Efforts have been made to exclude information known to be incorrect, and to include only information deemed reasonably reliable, but there is no guarantee on any of it, especially since official Sun documents occasionally contradict each other. This document is copyright (c) 1995, 1996, 1997 by James W. Birdsall. You may distribute it freely in unmodified form. THIS DOCUMENT IS A WORK IN PROGRESS. I still have a lot of information which I have not had time to integrate yet. However, I am always looking for more -- if you have documentation for systems or boards not listed here, please let me know! OFFICIAL HOME OF THIS DOCUMENT ============================== The official home of this document is ftp.picarefy.com, available via anonymous FTP in the /pub/Sun-Hardware-Ref directory. My connection to the outside world is slow, so you may want to try one of the sites listed below. It is also available via anonymous FTP from: ftp.netcom.com /pub/ru/rubicon/sun.hdwr.ref ftp.intnet.net /pub/SUN/Sun-Hardware-Ref ftp.chicks.net /pub/unix/sun-hardware IF YOU GOT THIS DOCUMENT FROM ANYWHERE ELSE, IT IS AN UNOFFICIAL SITE! There is no guarantee that this is the latest version (which may contain significant and important changes). If you wish to make the Sun Hardware Reference available on your site, please contact me at jwbirdsa@picarefy.com and I will put you on the mailing list. You will be notified whenever a new version is ready. HOW TO USE THE REFERENCE ======================== This document is broadly divided into a few high-level categories (model summary, hardware, special topics, etc.), each of which is divided into more specific sections and sometimes even subsections. Each section or subsection normally consists of: + an introduction + a FAQ + an overview by model + any special topics related to the subject + a listing by part number So, for example, to find out: + what models can use the same memory, look under "HARDWARE/Boards/Memory/Overview by Model". + about SCSI ID settings, look under "HARDWARE/Mass Storage/SCSI Overview". + how many colors a "cgfour" framebuffer supports, look under "HARDWARE/Boards/Video/Standards". + how to arrange boards in your VME-based machine, look under "SPECIAL TOPICS/Cardcage Configuration" (to find out what VME is, look under "SPECIAL TOPICS/Busses"). + the pinout of your system's serial port, look under "SPECIAL TOPICS/Pinout Summary". + what a xxx-xxxx (e.g. 501-1102) is and details about it, look in the "PART NUMBER INDEX". If there is any information about that part in the Reference, that index will tell you what section to look in (and may at least give you a name for the item even if no other information is known). Once you know the section, check the "Listing by Part Number" under that section. I have attempted to crossreference items as much as possible. So, if you went looking for a serial port pinout under "HARDWARE/Boards/CPUs /Listing by Part Number/xxx-xxxx", you would find a pointer to "SPECIAL TOPICS/Pinout Summary".