[geeks] What a difference a visit to the spare parts bin makes...

[Mark Benson]

On 20 Aug 2006, at 03:31, Lionel Peterson wrote:

> ... remebering I had some left over bits in the basement, I pulled  
> out a 333 MHz CPU and 4x 128 Meg DIMMs, and the machine is a fair  
> bit faster. Next I'll upgrade the HD to something of a more recent  
> vintage (7200 RPM, 8 Meg buffer), making it a more satisfying  
> machine...
>
> The graphics on this box are a bit weak - the standard desktop  
> graphics (JAVA Desktop) look quite grainy - this box may make a  
> better "utility box" than my Ultra 10, as it has the (relatively)  
> improved Series 3 graphics, and since it is more of an install  
> image server and low-volume FTP server, this is more than adequate.

You can make a tidy desktop out of the U5 *if* you're willing. You  
need a Symbios (or other Sun compatible) SCSI card that supports  
booting, a pair of good U160 SCSI drives, an IDE DVD ROM and a decent  
PCI Framebuffer card. Install all that, along with what you have and  
it makes quite a storming little Solaris 10 box. If you  are really  
feeling enthusiastic the 440MHz CPU from the Ultra 10 will fit the  
U5, but on one that early you may need a PROM flash upgrade (I forget  
the version). I did all of that (except the Framebuffer - I still  
need to grab one of those) on mine and it's turned it from an ugly  
slug in Solaris 10 to a fairly usable box.

-- 
Mark Benson

My Blog:
<http://mdblog.68kmac.org>
68kMac.org:
<http://www.68kmac.org>

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