[geeks] Ultra 10 "upgrade"

[Lionel Peterson]

Hello all,

Just wanted to share this link I found, regarding a fellow that turned an Ultra 10 (apparently with a UPA framebuffer as I read his Blog posting) into a "modern" PC.

Link: http://blogs.sun.com/tiger/entry/convert_an_ultra_10_to

I am amazed at the near complete lack of specificity in his posting - i.e. "what size MB did he use?", "are there any MBs that use the same holes as the original Sun MB?", etc.

What isn't obvious is that all the cables have to be run into the cabinet, and connected to the unsupported connectors across the top of the installed MB (at least I didn't get it the first time I read the posting).

I honestly don't see the point of this - as I read it he spent $250 on pieces to build a computer, but did all this work to have a shoddy collection of wires run through the PCI slot covers to a board installed in an old case. I'm not one to swoon about the violation of an Ultra 10, but if you're going to rip it apart, I'd think you'd want it to look good. Really, the fellow should have just said:

<imaginary hack>

Take an Ultra 10 and remove the CD-ROM, floppy, HD and P/S.

Buy a $20 case, MB, CPU, RAM, keyboard, mouse and 20 pin PS to 24 pin MB adapter cable (if needed).

Install Sun P/S, HD, floppy, and CD-ROM in new case.

Install CPU, RAM on MB.

Install MB in case, connectng all cables.

Power up, install Solaris x86 10 11/06 and enjoy!

</imaginary hack>

But hey, that's me - he actually did something, and that gets him way more geek points than my "theoretical" effort...

Lionel