[rescue] Wanted: VME Sparc, hopefully CM interface card!

[Mike Ross]

Hi,

I'm engaged in a project to restore two Connection Machine CM-2
supercomputers to operational condition. They are, essentially,
glorified coprocessors which do nothing without a front-end system to
bring them up and operate them. There are a couple of options for
this, but the best option by far is a Sun.

The first thing I need is the special VME Connection Machine interface
card. Can I ask anyone and everyone on this list, and everyone they
may know who isn't on this list, to see if they have one - perhaps in
an old server lurking in the corner, or gathering dust on the shelves
of a collector or indeed a dealer? It could be used directly in a VME
Sparc machine, or, I've heard from a couple of sites, it was sometimes
used in a VME expansion chassis attached to an SBUS Sparc machine.
There are photos of the card in the following tweet:

https://twitter.com/eruptionchaser/status/980231562506641411

This is pretty critical as there's only _one_ such card known to still
exist in the world - the one in the above pics! I'm hoping to unearth
another and this list is one of my best hopes. If all else fails, I
will explore cloning or reverse-engineering the functionality of the
card.

The second thing I'll be looking for is a VME Sparc machine, or
possibly an external VME box with VME-SBUS interface, to put it in. A
4/330 would be ideal; that's the machine the above-pictured card
normally resides in. Does anyone have one they would be willing to
part with?

Thanks!

Mike

http://www.corestore.org
'No greater love hath a man than he lay down his life for his brother.
Not for millions, not for glory, not for fame.
For one person, in the dark, where no one will ever know or see.'