[rescue] Sun 3 keyboard/mouse options?

Mon Sep 11 22:54:09 EDT 2023

My ECL and grayscale monitors both needed caps and had RIFAs hidden inside:

http://users.glitchwrks.com/~glitch/2022/12/31/sun-ecl-monitor

Thanks,
Jonathan

On Mon, Sep 11, 2023 at 10:40 PM, Steve Hatle via rescue <[rescue at sunhelp.org](mailto:On Mon, Sep 11, 2023 at 10:40 PM, Steve Hatle via rescue <<a href=)> wrote:

> You are, of course, correct. What my brain was thinking and what my fingers typed were two different things...
>
> Steve
>
>> [Mouse via rescue](mailto:rescue at sunhelp.org)
>> September 11, 2023 at 9:36 PM
>>
>>>> It appears Sun actually sold an adapter to use the Model 4 keyboard
>>>> on the Sun 3, [...]
>>
>>>> [...] I've also found the pinouts to make my own; I have some 9-pin
>>>> male shells and I'll probably liberate the female DIN-8 connector
>>>> from a trashed keyboard to make the adapter.
>>
>> DE-9s won't be of any use for this; you need a DA-15.  I've made my own
>> adapters often enough, though for using a type-3 keyboard on machines
>> having a miniDIN-8 for keyboard/mouse, rather than the other way
>> around.  But the cable you need is the same except for the sex of the
>> DA-15.  (I take a miniDIN-8-to-miniDIN-8 cable, such as is typically
>> used for type-4 keyboards, and cut it in two, then solder on a DA-15
>> from an electronics parts house like Mouser or DigiKey.)
>>
>>>> I will start small with serial connection first.
>>
>> I would recommend that, definitely.
>>
>>>> Will also need to research how to get this guy net-booted
>>
>> I can help with that; I've netbooted plenty of Suns in my time.  I'd
>> have to run a test to be certain, but I think they RARP for an address,
>> then TFTP for their bootblocks.  Everything after that is up to the
>> TFTPed program; the NetBSD versions I run come with the relevant
>> software, so I would assume any NetBSD version that has sun3 support
>> would do likewise.
>>
>>>> and eventually an install on a drive in the shoebox.
>>
>> That's a relatively easy thing once you have it netbooting (assuming of
>> course that your drive, enclosure, and cable actually work properly).
>>
>> /~\ The ASCII				Mouse
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>>
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>>
>> [Dave McGuire via rescue](mailto:rescue at sunhelp.org)
>> September 11, 2023 at 9:07 PM
>>
>> Yup, Sun sold a similar adapter for the use of a Type 2 keyboard/mouse on a Sun 3. People like to keep their nice keyboards when they upgrade to newer machines. :)
>>
>> -Dave
>>
>> [Steve Hatle](mailto:steve.hatle at gmail.com)
>> September 11, 2023 at 8:47 PM
>> It appears Sun actually sold an adapter to use the Model 4 keyboard on the Sun 3, part numbers are
>>
>> 530-1478
>> 530-1479
>>
>> Same cable, different lengths. I've also found the pinouts to make my own; I have some 9-pin male shells and I'll probably liberate the female DIN-8 connector from a trashed keyboard to make the adapter.
>>
>> I will start small with serial connection first. Will also need to research how to get this guy net-booted and eventually an install on a drive in the shoebox. I'm not holding out hope of getting anything done with the tape drive or tapes.
>>
>> [Mouse via rescue](mailto:rescue at sunhelp.org)
>> September 10, 2023 at 10:59 PM
>>
>>> Lucky me scored a 3/50 at VCFMW this weekend!
>>
>>> Unfortunately, there was no keyboard or mouse with the system. I
>>> quick google didn't turn up any info on options/adapters/etc (though
>>> I've only been home for a while and haven't really dug in yet).
>>
>> Its keyboard is a 1200 baud serial device, just using TTL voltage
>> levels instead of RS-232 voltage levels, and it's a ridiculously simple
>> protocol.  If you can get keyboard events off something else, and
>> they're at even moderately similar, it's relatively easy to generate
>> Sun keyboard protocol.
>>
>> I've heard it said that there are adapters between USB keyboard and Sun
>> keyboard, but if you're looking for that you have to be careful _which_
>> Sun keyboard; you want the Sun-3 or earlier Sun-4 keyboard, the one
>> with the miniDIN-8 connector[%].  You also have to be careful which
>> direction the adapter in question is designed to go: Sun keyboard on
>> USB machine, or the other way around?
>>
>> [%] The -3/50 uses a DA-15, not a miniDIN-8.  But the Sun keyboards
>> that speak DA-15 and the ones that speak miniDIN-8 are compatible
>> enough that you can plug either kind of keyboard into the other kind of
>> machine with nothing but a passive adapter.
>>
>>> Serial is of course an option, and likely how I'll start out once I
>>> get everything cleaned up and inspected.
>>
>> It's what I'd suggest for the first few attempts, certainly.
>>
>> /~\ The ASCII				Mouse
>> \ / Ribbon Campaign
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>> mouse at rodents-montreal.org
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>>
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>> rescue list -
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>>
>> [Steve Hatle](mailto:steve.hatle at gmail.com)
>> September 10, 2023 at 9:50 PM
>> Lucky me scored a 3/50 at VCFMW this weekend!
>>
>> Unfortunately, there was no keyboard or mouse with the system. I quick google didn't turn up any info on options/adapters/etc (though I've only been home for a while and haven't really dug in yet).
>>
>> Serial is of course an option, and likely how I'll start out once I get everything cleaned up and inspected.
>>
>> Hoping the monitor still has it's mojo going, but baby steps...
>>
>> Thanks for any info or advice,
>>
>> Steve
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