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A SPARC makes a little fire

Way back in May of 2018, I was unable to get the SparcStation 1+ to stop returning “Illegal Instruction” errors for any attempt at booting. This made absolutely no sense to anyone I asked about it, and they suggested replacing the PROM battery, because at least then we’d have fewer known-broken parts in the computer. I ignored this advice, and just stuck the computer in a corner with the other broken machines for awhile so it could think about what it did.

Although I wasn’t initially able to find conclusive documentation either way due to the collapse of actual useful search engines, the “ Sun-Managers’ Old System and Software Frequently Asked Questions ” FAQ says this: I figured it would be an adapter plate so that the ZuluSCSI would easily screw into the Sun’s plastic standard hard-drive retainer like any other internal hard drive, but it seems to be designed for use as a front-panel for a computer with 3.5” bays. Find a usable mouse; Find a fuse for the Ethernet, and get it working; Figure out what exactly is going on with SCSI termination power on this system, and what regulates it; In the meantime, put a Berg connector on the ZuluSCSI so I’m not using a phone charger to power it; Bodge a battery onto the NVRAM module so we can have permanent settings and not wait minutes for a memory test every time; Glue the loose plastic part of the keyboard port back in, if that’s even possible; Upgrade the ROM to the same version I used in MAME, and see if that supports the other video card I bought; Figure out how to work OpenLook well enough to write some code.

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