Science Fair Project Encyclopedia
SPARCstation 1
The SPARCstation 1 (or Sparc 4/60. Sun4c architecture) is a SPARC-based SunOS computer sold by Sun Microsystems from April 1989 (end of Sun support was 1995). A workstation, the computer was designed for ease of production with heavy integration in a distinctive slim enclosure (a square 3 inch high "pizza box"). It was designed to compete in the market with high-end PCs or Macs and sold for between $8,995 (no hard disks) and around $20,000. In the first year around 35,000 units were sold.
The computer was based around a LSI Logic RISC CPU running at 20 MHz, with a Weitek 3167 (or 3170) FPU coprocessor, it was the second Sun computer to use SPARC architecture. The system could support a maximum of 64 MB of RAM (shipped with 8 MB) and came with either one or two 104 MB SCSI-2 hard disks and a single 1.44 Mb or 720 KB floppy drive. The motherboard offered three SBus slots and had built-in AUI ethernet and 8 kHz audio. The basic display ran at 1152x900 in 256 colours, monitors were 16 to 19 inch greyscale or colour.
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Memory
The SPARCstation 1 takes 30 pin SIMMs in groups of four. It can take either 1Mb or 4Mb SIMMs as long as the size is consistent within a bank. There are a total of four memory banks, which can give a total of 64Mb of memory. The memory bank nearest the floppy disk drive should be filled first. If not, the Openboot BIOS will hang while memory checking.
Disk drives
The SPARCstation 1 has space for up to two hard drives and one floppy drive internally. The machine will take any 50 pin SCSI hard drive, but the Openboot BIOS will not boot from any partition which starts or ends after 1024Mb. the floppy drive is unusual in that it has an electromechanical eject mechanism rather than the conventional eject button, and therefore must be ejected by the operating system or Openboot. The machine can connect to any SCSI CD drive, via either the SCSI connector on the back or by connecting it to any spare internal SCSI connector via a 50 pin cable.
NVRAM
The SPARCstation 1 uses a M48T02 Battery backed up RTC with RAM chip. Basically this handles the real time clock and the bios parameter storage. The only problem with this chip is that the battery is internal. This means you have to replace the whole chip when it runs out. As Sparcstation 1's are now older than the battery lives of the chip, a substantial number these boxes will now refuse to boot.
Operating systems
The SPARCstation 1, 1+, IPC and SLC can take the following Operating systems:
SunOS 4.0.3 through 5.7
Linux (Although modern versions may have trouble with the limited amount of memory in these machines)
NetBSD - All versions
OpenBSD - All versions.
Related computers
The SPARCstation 1+ (4/65) pushed the CPU to a 25 MHZ LSI L64801, upgraded the coprocessor to a Weitek 3172 and installed a new SCSI controller.
The SPARCstation IPC is a version of the SPARCstation 1+ in a lunchbox style case and onboard video.
The SPARCstation SLC is a version of the SPARCstation 1+ built into a monitor cabinet.
The SPARCstation 2 is the machine's successor and was released in 1990.
External links
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