Sun Microsystem Sparcstation 4 (sun4m)

Background on the machine

This is one of the most difficult machines I had to work with. From it’s mind-boggling DB13W3 display output, to its special RAM format, this machine is just headaches after headaches. I always wanted an exotic computer, being drawn to esoteric CPU architectures, so when this machine appeared on Facebook Marketplace, I had to have it.

Current usage

With my boyfriend, we are trying to put back some life into it. After running some on-board diagnostics, it seems we have some issues with the video circuitry so that might explain why we cannot have any display. After installing the ‘new’ hard-drive, we’ve been able to install OpenBSD on the system. It boots fine, but of course it’s really slow and we don’t have any graphics. We installed the OS with an external CD-ROM drive connected through SCSI, and because no display, we used a serial console to proceed with the installation. We’ve been able to connect the machine on the internet, and even establish an SSH connection. We tried to boot up a remote X11 session without luck so far.

But we might not need a remote X11 session anymore! I’ve been able to find a used video adapter for the Sun, one that uses the SBUS. It’s no 4090Ti, but it’s more than enough to acheive my ultimate goal, run CDE! CDE for those who don’t know, is a Unix desktop (just like Plasma, or Gnome) that was popular in the 90s on Unix workstations. CDE means Common Desktop Environment, and it has a pleasing aesthetic. So! All of that was possible, thanks to a seller of old Sun parts in California. I ordered the 8-bit graphics adapter, and now I have a working screen! This card still outputs on a DB13W3, but to my surprise, the first screen I plugged in it worked! I also ordered a BlueSCSI, hoping that I could replace the aging spinning rust by a faster flash storage. I don’t have all the required adapters to plug the BlueSCSI in the Sun (SCSI connectors are a mess!) but I will get there eventually. There’s only one thing left that I would like to change, it’s the ram. With only 26mb of Ram, it’s easy to saturate it. Because of the low memory, I cannot get the lastest compatible version of Solaris on the machine. But Ram seems to be harder to find. SparcStation 4/5 has some special DIMM sockets, so finding a fitting module could prove difficult.

It’s alive!: It’s alive! The famous Common Desktop Environment!: The famous Common Desktop Environment!

Specs

Upgrades