🚀 go-pugleaf

In comp.sys.sun.hardware you write:

>I just got ahold of a Sparc 2 and I have a few questions about it:

>I checked the motherboard serial no. and it says it's a 501-2505 (e.g.
>a sparc Power uP) what exactly is the Power-uP, and how can I tell if I
>still have it (it seems a little slow)?

Ok, the # 501-2505 SS2 motherboard is actually a # 501-1638 motherboard with
the standard 40 MHz CPU replaced with a Weitek 80 MHz PowerUp CPU.

If you've still got it, the CPU will have a heatsink covering the top of the
ceramic substrate, and the PowerUp logo will be silkscreened in the middle
of it. 

The standard CPU has a plain (non-heatsinked) grey ceramic substrate. 

>Where can I get a Weitek upgrade, and how much does it cost? what
>performance increase can I expect?

Quite a few places have them. I recently sourced a couple of the CPU's
from a local (within Australia) university, but you'll see them advertised
by companies and individuals in the US fairly often in
'comp.sys.sun.wanted' and 'comp.sys.sun.hardware'. 

>Where can I get the memory expansion boards? how much do they cost?
>(i belive they were sbus?)

Not sure about this one. A standard SS2 board can take up to 64 meg of RAM,
and I've never needed to go beyond that.

>Here's a silly one, how do i remove the memory? do I need a special
>tool?

There are special tools, but you don't have to use them. 

I use a right-angled piece of steel wire which I've filed to a point on one
end to lever the SIMM's out, the holes in each end of the SIMM PCB's can be
used as the levering points. A right angled sheet-metal scribing tool can be
used too, but they normally have points on each end, so be very careful not
to poke your eyes if that's what you use.

>I read that the Sparc2 came with an extra fan for the harddrives, mine
>doesn't seem to have one. Was this standard? where was it usually
>located?

You might find that your SS2 board is mounted in a case that originally
housed a 3/80, SS1 or SS1+ board. The genuine SS2 case is slightly
different, and does have an extra fan to complement the one in the power
supply. 

>The only simm's that the sparc2 could take were 1meg's and 4meg's,
>right? if not, what all could they take?

SS2's won't work with 1 meg SIMM's. You need 4 meg, 30 pin, parity SIMM's
that are 80 ns or faster. Make sure each bank is the same speed (preferably
same brand as well, but this isn't quite as important).

Regards,

Craig.

--
            Craig Dewick. Send email to 'cdewick@lios.apana.org.au'
  Point a web browser at 'http://lios.apana.org.au/~cdewick/sun_shack.html' to
    access my archive of Sun information and links to other places. For info 
      about Sun Ripened Kernels, go to 'http://www.zeta.org.au/~craig/srk'