Alot of this info has been collected from the Sparcbooks Owner's
mailing list. For help subscribing, send "help" to majordomo@gsp.org (this
list is now dead, do not try to subscribe to it. RIP approximately 1999)
IMPORTANT DISCLAIMER: This FAQ is a collection of information
that was collected from personal experience and from various people on
the Internet. IT MAY BE COMPLETELY WRONG! Every attempt
has been made to make sure that it is accurate and up to date, however,
the standard disclaimer of USE AT YOUR OWN RISK applies.
This FAQ has no connection to and is not endorsed by Tadpole/RDI (Tadpole's
lawyers made me say this. However, I find it really interesting that Tadpole/RDI
has a link on their support web site pointing to this FAQ!
Apache refer log: 26/Jun/2003:15:39:51 http://www.tadpolecomputer.com/exec.php?p=serv-helpful
Make of this as you wish, I think that Tadpole is pretty hypocritical.).SPARCbook is a trademark of SPARC International Inc., licensed exclusively
to Tadpole Technology. Tadpole's Notebook Computing Environment and
Save and Resume are trademarks of Tadpole Technology.
Windows, Windows 95, Windows NT and MS-DOS are registered trademarks
of Microsoft in the U.S. and other countries.
Solaris is a trademark of Sun Micro Systems.
All other trademarks used belong to their respective owners.
Notice: Almost all of the links in this page are now dead. This FAQ is now in it's "Sunset" period, the SB3 was great in it's day, but that day is gone.
Editor's note: The SB3 is not totally dead as a test platform. I used my SB3 GX today (6/29/03) to the test the sync rates of a monitor that I wanted to buy (The SB3 GX's graphics card can test monitors at 56, 60, 66, 70, 72, 75, and 76 Hz V sync rates. I'm now the proud owner of a (used) double-wide Sony GDM-90W11 24" monitor).
Editor's note: I own a Sparcbook3 and a Sparcbook3GX.
0a. Where can I get a user manual?
Tadpole has put the Sparcbook 3 User's Guide on-line! It is in pdf format and is available at ftp://ftp.tadpole.com/pub/pdf/s3gxtrmb.pdf
Rave has changed this page recently, so a short list of details is provided here:
Notes on SIMMs:
I think that the 6 was supposed to be 16, but I quoted verbatim.
I guess I may be wrong about the 36x? spec for SIMMs, but they are
what worked for me. I have had people at Tadpole tell me that non-parity
memory works. I don't believe that this is true (but this is just
my opinion).
PLEASE NOTE: There is something strange about trying to upgrade the SB3 to 128M. No one has been able to this so far. Upgrading to 64M is not a big deal, but 128M is (Tadpole must have done something weird for the 128M upgrade). If you are able to make a 128M upgrade work, please drop me a note and tell me what you did.
The Tadpole version does have some add-on's to pause and resume the SparcBook, the Fax program and the PCMCIA drivers but rumour has it that legal owners of Solaris 2.6 can get a copy per FTP.
One can download the additional packages required to let Solaris 2.6 run on your sparc book from: ftp://ftp.tadpole.com/pub/sbu/S3-patches/Solaris_2.6/
The file that contains all of them is: ftp://ftp.tadpole.com/pub/sbu/S3-patches/Solaris_2.6/TTI_Solaris_2.6_packages.tar.Z
How ever this does not include the NCE graphical utilities. These are not around at present times but may be available in the future. (Unlikely for Solaris 2.6 now that Solaris 7 is out.)
The MicroSparc CPU is a SPARC International v8 specification CPU. The
SPEC numbers for the CPUs are:
|
|
SPECint92 | SPECfp92 | SMCC test date |
| 50Mhz MicroSparc |
|
|
|
| 85Mhz MicroSparc-II |
|
|
|
| 110Mhz MicroSparc-II |
|
|
|
6b. Where can I buy the MINI-26 to AUI cable?
NOTE: You will still need a transceiver to use with the cable. A 10baseT transceiver should not cost more than $20.00 USD. However, I think that the Tadpole cable has a 10baseT transceiver built into it.
Tadpole
P/N 908030
$75.00
Ultraspec Cables, Inc. 40 Riordan Place Shrewsbury, NJ
07702-4305 USA
Tel: 800-222-5337
(USA only) Tel: (732)-450-1900 www.ultraspec.com
Slimline D26M to D15
(AUI Only) AUI Cables for SPARCstation
Models 4, 5, 10 &
20, SPARCclassic & LX Ethernet port adaptor
Cable (#2610) - 1
foot
$52.00
A-1 Net Inc. 135 Commerce Way Walnut, CA 91789 USA
Tel: (909)595-0450 FAX:
(909)594-7617
Sun Micro SPARC 10
/ AUI SUN-615F 6' HDB26M to AUI DB15F
$18.00 (However this
one has not yet been tried.)
The SUN part number is X981A.
6c. What is the pinout of the MINI-26 to AUI cable?
1 - Transmit Data -
2 - Receive Data +
3 - Collision -
4 - +12V
5 - Not connected
6 - Not connected
7 - Not connected
8 - Not connected
9 - Not connected
10 - +5V
11 - +5V
12 - Not connected
13 - +5V
14 - Transmit Data +
15 - Receive Data -
16 - Collision +
17 - Signal Ground
18 - Not connected
19 - Not connected
20 - Not connected
21 - Not connected
22 - Not connected
23 - Signal Ground
24 - Signal Ground
25 - Not connected
26 - Signal Ground
AUI side
1 - Chassis Ground
2 - Collision +
3 - Transmit Data +
4 - Chassis Ground
5 - Receive Data +
6 - Chassis Ground
7 - Not connected
8 - Chassis Ground
9 - Collision -
10 - Transmit Data -
11 - Chassis Ground
12 - Receive Data -
13 - +12V
14 - Chassis Ground
15 - Not connected
In order to work well with disks you must load the T030004-02 patch. (NOTE: This patch is for Solaris 2.6 ONLY!)
For the Sparcbook3, the compact-50 (?) to mini-50 (Fast SCSI-II) cable is the same as the type used by Apple powerbooks.
To be able to boot off of a CD-ROM, the standard Sun disclaimer applies. The CD-ROM must be "Sun Bootable". This means that it must be able to do 512 byte blocks (most PC CD-ROMs do 2048 byte blocks). Many SCSI CD-ROMS have a jumper to configure for 512 byte blocks.
9b. Can I run PPP on my Sparcbook?
Yes. Solaris comes with a PPP daemon called asppp. However, it is hard to setup and stinks (IMHO). A better solution is pppd (free/open source) from ftp://cs.anu.edu.au/pub/software/ppp/. pppd supports CHAP, MS-CHAP, PAP, SecurID, and clear text authenication.
From ftp://sunsolve.sun.com/pub/patches/
From: ftp://ftp.tadpole.com/pub/sbu/S3-patches/Solaris_2.6/At present it is unknow wether they will be there in the future. Should
you happen to know more. please, please let me know.
UPDATE!! Tadpole/RDI WILL be releasing a Solaris 7 CD for the SB3GX!
The price is $450 USD :( Hopefully this will change.
Do NOT (repeat: NOT) attempt to install the Tadpole add-on packages for Solaris v2.6 on a Solaris 7 installation! (For some this advise may sounds stupid as it seems so obvious to them but at present it is all I can tell about Solaris 7. {I didn't try this myself!!!})
Use of an external CDROM that works fine with Solaris didn't work well with Linux. (But this could be a local problem and not a generic thing.)
Replace the original suncons.c and weitek.c files with the changed ones.
Configure and compile your own kernel. (Don't allow SparcBook 1 support as it will break things for you!)
Edit /etc/inittab to allow a init process on the screen.
Now reboot with the new kernel.
Ian Spruce from Tadpole is working on some of these issue's in his spare time. But as his family just was expanded with a new baby (See also: man baby) he may not have that much time. Thomas M. Roerh wrote the changes in the files stated above.
Rumor has it that RedHat SparcLinux 6.0 will support the Sparcbook 3 series.
NetBSD is actively being ported to the SB3. NetBSD-Sparc version 1.4 works fine on the SPARCbook 3GS and 3GX, and can be installed easily from the distribution CD. However, this version does not support X11, pcmcia, power (microcontroller) management, the internal modem, audio, or ISDN. Thus, you're restricted to a text-only interface, although using a utility like `screen' makes this much less painful; see http://ftp.uni-erlangen.de/pub/utilities/screen/ for the latest version.
If you really want X11 and NetBSD, and if you're not afraid
of a bit more work, NetBSD-current (11 aug 1999 and later) is the answer.
It adds native X11 support and some basic power management functionality
(like powering down the lcd screen when the lid is closed or X11 does a
screenblank). You'll want to follow the instructions on the NetBSD website
for installing the latest sparc binary snapshot, and for compiling the
TADPOLE3GX kernel. A good starting point for this can be found at http://www.netbsd.org/Documentation/current/index.html
but the basic steps are usually something like this:
1. Install the latest release distribution.
2. Download the NetBSD-current source; tarballs
can be found at:
ftp.netbsd.org/pub/NetBSD/NetBSD-current/tar_files/src/.
3. Compile and boot a NetBSD-current TADPOLE3GX
kernel.
4. Download the latest NetBSD-sparc binary snapshot
from:
ftp.netbsd.org/pub/NetBSD/arch/sparc/snapshot/.
The snapshots live in directories
with names of the form YYYYMMDD
which indicate the -current source
from which they were built.
5. Rebuild the entire system from -current source.
The support currently in NetBSD-current will most likely be first available in a real release as of NetBSD-1.5. However, drivers for the currently unsupported devices are appearing quickly; if you continue to track the -current development, you can get device support almost as fast as it appears (pcmcia development is underway).
NEWS UPDATE! Sun has bought Stardivision and is now giving away StarOffice to anyone for any use for FREE! See www.sun.com.
It has been my experience that the battery does not last anywhere near what Tadpole claims. The SB3 can slow it's CPU clock rate down to conserve battery life, however, even with the CPU only running at 25Mhz the best I ever got out of it was 30 mins. The 3GX is even worst since you can't slow down the CPU and it is running at 110Mhz. (Yes, CPU clock speed does make a big difference in how much power the SB uses).
16a. Can I use an external battery with my SparcBook?
Yes. Tadpole sells an external battery that is rated at 12V, 5.7Ah (1.7kg/3.75lbs)
which they claim will last for 5 hours. A simplier/cheaper solution would
be to get a 12V battery and put a barrel connector on it yourself. Plug
the battery into the same socket that you plug the AC adapter into.
WARNING: be SURE to NOT exceed the SB's power spec or you may
damage the input power circuity.
NEW: I have been told that the external battery from Tadpole was
EOL'ed sometime around 1997. If you want an external battery, you
are going to have to make one yourself.
WARNING: I have been told that the pinhole is actually a microphone. I KNOW that this was a reset on my SB3 because I used it, however, this may not be true for newer Sparcbooks. USE THIS PROCEDURE AT YOUR OWN RISK!!!
The above answer is not completely technically correct. You can remove the battery for long periods, however, if you do this, the NVRAM (RTC clock chip) will start using it's built in battery to keep the clock going. IMHO, this is a very bad thing. The NVRAM battery is actually built into the chip, IT IS NOT REPLACEABLE. You have to replace the whole NVRAM chip (or drill out the battery and hook up wires to it). I have just replaced and programmed a NVRAM chip in a really old Sun 3/80 (circa 1989) and it is not for the faint of heart.
I believe that the largest true SCSI notebook disk drive made was 1.2G. If you see a SCSI notebook disk drive bigger than 1.2G, it probably has the converter in it.
NEW! A company call Mac Components Engineered is selling IDE
disk with the converter on them! A 3.2G
disk cost $349. They are at http://www.powerbook1.com/pbharddrives.html#scsi
24. Is the Sparcbook Y2K compliant?
Yes, the entire SB 3 series is Y2K compliant. The Sparcbook 1 and 2 series are not. This means that the *hardware* is compliant. Solaris 4.1.3, 2.5, 2.5.1, and 2.6 require software patches for compliance (don't know about 2.7 aka Solaris 7). And, of course, the particular applications that you use may require patches.
This is a huge subject covered by other FAQs. Two of the best (free/open source) security programs are tcp_wrappers ftp.porcupine.org/pub/security/index.htmland ipfilter http://coombs.anu.edu.au/~avalon/ip-filter.html.
tcp_wappers is a simple and easy to use program. It is not as thorough as ipfilter, but it protects your computer from the most common Internet programs like telnet, rlogin, ftp, etc. You only need to modify your /etc/inet/inetd.conf file for it to work. You then create a /etc/hosts.allow and /etc/hosts.deny files to control access to your computer.
ipfilter is quite complex and if you are not familiar with networking protocols, this program is probably not for you. It is as good (or better) as any commercial firewall package on the market. However, you need to understand tcp port numbers and the way that inet works to use it. ipfilter installs a small kernel driver that intercepts all ip packets and filters them based on a rule set that you supply. A small sniplet of my rule set is:
block in log quick from any to any with ipopts
block in log quick proto tcp from any to any with short
# the FINAL rule (amazingly this goes first)
block in log all
block out log all
# Computers at work
pass in from x.x.x.0 mask 255.255.255.0 to any
Well, you get the idea...
More security info is at http://www.cert.org, http://www.rootshell.com, http://www.sunhelp.com, and http://fixsolaris.sunhelp.org
26. My machine doesn't have a compiler!
UNIX systems rarely come with compilers now a days. /usr/ucb/cc is only a wrapper for a compiler. You can buy the SparcWorks C compiler from Sun for around $1500 or get the de facto standard GNU C and C++ compilers from http://www.sunfreeware.com. Most of the software that you will find on the Internet was built using the GNU C compilers. The GNU compilers are called gcc (for C) and g++ or c++ or CC (for C+) (C+ only became an ANSI standard in 1998).
27. Where do I get software from?
The Internet of course! And all of the big software vendors support Sparc/Solaris. The Sparcbook 3GX is equivalent to a Sparc 5 (110Mhz). Anything that will run on a Sparc4/5/10/20 (and 1000/2000 (sun4d arch) as well as 32 bit apps that run on the entire UltraSparc series (E3000-E10000 (sun4u arch))) will run on a SB 3 series notebook. Your speed/mileage may vary :)
Also, most of the software used on Linux was orginally written on Sun computers. Almost everything that runs on Linux will run on Solaris (source capatible). I quite often use my RedHat and Slackware CDs for source code to build programs on my Sparcbook3GX.
28. PCMCIA Devices that have been found to work with the Sparcbook.
30. Is it ok to leave the SB3 running with the top closed?
NO! Don't do this! The LCD is very heat sensitive and the SB3 can get rather hot when it's running. People have reported that the screen became distorted and blotched when they have done this. However, leaving the SB3 off for a couple of days seems to allow the LCD to return to *almost* normal.
31. Just how hot can the SB3 get?
During long compile jobs like rebuilding the entire X11 distribution or gnome, the SB3 can get very hot. It would be a good idea to take precautions to keep the SB3 cool if you are planning on doing a build like this. The MicroSparc II CPU is located in the center and underside of the motherboard. Some people have put their SB3 on two stacks of books and pointed a fan at the bottom of the SB3 to keep it cool during long builds. Note: The SB3s do have a thermal circuit that will shut them down if they get too hot.