destiny (Sun SPARCEngine Ultra AXi)
Summary
TODO
Notes
TODO
Hardware
| Make | Sun |
| Year | 2000 |
| Model | SPARCEngine Ultra AXi |
| Chassis | - |
| Power Supply | - |
| Processor | 440 MHz UltraSPARC IIi |
| Memory | |
| Ports | |
| Graphics | |
| Storage | |
| Display | |
| Int. Peripherals | |
| Ext. Peripherals | |
| Dimensions | |
| Length/Depth | |
| Width | |
| Height/Thickness | |
| Weight | kg (lbs oz) |
Software
| Operating System | |
| Unique applications |
Links
Log
As-Is motherboard with CPU and RAM
I got this board as-is. It appeared in ok condition, had a dusty heatsink, and a couple sticks of RAM.
The seller said:
- Part of a Tatung COMPStation TWS-3500 (also known as U10S)
- It did not recognize drives on last boot, which they attributed to NVRAM battery failure
- They removed the NVRAM module
Here's some auction photos:
The module loss is a bit annoying since it could be modified with an external battery. Initially I thought that might mean the BOOT PROM was lost, but it is in a separate flash chip. I searched for a PROM image before I understood that, and managed to find one in my sun-info archive. It is patch 116753-01. It contains AXi.OBP.3.10.13 which could still be handy.
Looking through my parts I seem to have bought 2 pieces when I fixed up the Ultra 60. So maybe I already have a good spare, or I can just rebuild the old one from that machine with a coin cell holder.
Other things I'm going to need for the build:
- A case. Full ATX cases can be quite big so I'm looking for something compact, or at least with some cool retro credibility.
- I might go rack mount, and use a vertical 2U wall mount. It has to have horizontal card brackets for full height cards.
- $145 RackChoice 2U (amazon)
- $60+56 450mm 2U Chassis (aliexpress)
- $151+13 iStarUSA D-200SEA-RD
- Other ATX cases I think I would like:
- Sun Ultra 20/40/24/27 (x86-64 systems, standard ATX)
- Something from the Pentium II/III era, like a Compaq or Dell tower.
- Something desktop form factor. I liked some of the HP Kayak workstations.
- I might go rack mount, and use a vertical 2U wall mount. It has to have horizontal card brackets for full height cards.
- Power supply, 250W or more
- More RAM.
- The Enterprise services FE handbook has useful info on RAM compatibility. It calls for:
- DRAM, EDO, Buffered, 10 or 11-bit Column Address, 3.3V, 60ns, 72-bit, 168-pin DIMMs
- 11-bit column address DIMMs are only supported in pairs 0 and 2, and then pair 1 and 3 cannot be used
- Up to 1GB total
- The Enterprise services FE handbook has useful info on RAM compatibility. It calls for:
- SCSI DVD drive
- USB card
- Maybe an audio card
- Some PS/2 ports on a slot panel (the board has headers for PS/2 keyboard and mouse)
I already have a couple extra video cards in my Ultra 60 so one of those will probably be used.
If you're looking for compatible hardware, Sun used to maintain a nice list in this SPARCengine Ultra AXi Third Party Products page.
There is also a third party Solaris 8 Sound Blaster driver at http://www.bolthole.com/solaris/sbpci/.