In the last post of this series, I set up NeXTstep on an HP PA-RISC workstation. Today, I’m going to get down to business: configure networking, install system patches, outfit it with developer tools, and install some useful software! As with the previous post, I’ve also made a YouTube video that covers roughly the same topics! If video is your...
It’s been a long time since my last pizzabox post - over a year! There’s been a lot going on in my life but I’m excited that lately I’ve had a lot more free time, which means more time to explore the world of workstations and share with you! I’m also excited announce that I’m trying out YouTube videos - not instead of these posts, but in addition...
In this post, I’m going to go through the process of setting up Apple’s A/UX on a Quadra 610. It’s been a long time in the making - I think I had the hardware for nearly a year before I finally got A/UX running properly! Wait, what is A/UX? I’m not misspelling AIX, the IBM Unix that ran on the Apple Network Server range. It is a hybrid of Unix...
Project status Phase Status Notes Powers on? ✅ Passes firmware self-test? ✅ Working serial console? ✅ standard DB9 Framebuffer works? ✅ OS boots? ✅ Installed Solaris 10 on to a CF/IDE adapter Working GUI? ✅ X Windows and Java Sun Desktop (GNOME) / CDE Working input devices? ✅ Uses USB Pictures sunblade150 front
Project status Phase Status Notes Powers on? ✅ Passes firmware self-test? ✅ Working serial console? ✅ Has a somewhat unusual DB25 socket instead of plug, otherwise standard Framebuffer works? ✅ use DB13W3-VGA adapter OS boots? ✅ Has Solaris 2.6 installed Working GUI? ✅ X Windows and CDE Working input devices?
Project status Phase Status Notes Powers on? ✅ Passes firmware self-test? ✅ Working serial console? ❔ haven’t tried Framebuffer works? ✅ standard VGA plug OS boots? ✅ HP-UX 9.1 installed on a SCSI2SD Working GUI? ✅ X-Windows and VUE Working input devices? ✅ Use HP-HIL peripherals Pictures hp425e front
I haven’t been writing super frequently over the past few months, so I’ve missed introducing a couple of the newest additions to my collection. They’re all from manufacturers that I already have some boxes from, but represent different eras and technology than the boxes I already had. a stack of pizzabox workstations A couple of SPARCs The...
Project status Phase Status Notes Powers on? ✅ Passes firmware self-test? ✅ Boots to firmware prompt Working serial console? ✅ standard DB25-DB9 adapter and null modem cable Framebuffer works? ✅ use 3W3-3BNC adapter and 5BNC-VGA adapter (sync-on-green) OS boots? ❔ Working GUI? ❔ Working input devices? ✅ Uses proprietary DEC...
Over the past few weekends I’ve gone on a bit of an adventure with the SGI Indy. This yak-shave has everything - an OS install, lots of SCSI problems, a completely overkill golang utility, and a happy ending. Since it’s pretty long, I’m gonna dive right in. A disk upgrade It all started with a drive replacement - I got an order of SCS2SDs in and...
My VAXstation 4000 VLC seems to have lived a hard life - when I got it, the plastic was filthy and every groove in the case was caked with black grime. I wouldn’t be surprised if it once lived in some sort of industrial setting - wherever it lived must have been hot because it came with a decidedly non-standard cooling system: Well look at that!...
The HP 9000 workstations’ industrial design inspires me - the 300 series was on my mind the week before I bought my first pizzabox: why did we stop making computers that looked like :( pic.twitter.com/xBYUcnTaIe — cron mom (@sophaskins) July 10, 2017 There’s just something about that densely lined grille - it’s clear that a lot of effort went in...
The Multia feels to me like Digital’s take on a high-end “legacy-free” (at introduction in late 1994) desktop. Its spec sheet includes features unheard of in its contemporaries: a 64-bit RISC processor ECC memory Ethernet networking SCSI2 hard drive high-resolution (1280x1024) monitor support PCMCIA expansion slots A RISC processor, powerful...
There’s been a lot of great stuff happening on my Pizza Box projects the past few weeks - not a ton that’s complete enough to share yet, but stay tuned. This evening, though, I ran in to something surprising that I couldn’t wait to tell y’all - here goes! PowerMac video woes When I first got my PowerMac 6100, I realized I didn’t have the right...
The collection has grown again! My inability to ignore eBay has resulted in three new additions. IBM RS/6000 Model 250 The IBM RS/6000 lines is one of the few RISC computer lines to survive well in to the 21st century - IBM’s POWER Systems are still available and still the biggest beneficiary of IBM’s chip research. The Model 250 is the last of...
Project status Phase Status Notes Powers on? ✅ Passes firmware self-test? ✅ Front-panel numbers indicate it passes and attempts to boot from network Working serial console? ❌ Haven’t managed to get any signal from its serial ports Framebuffer works? ❌ Mine didn’t come with a framebuffer, but I added an MCA Gt3i framebuffer....
Project status Phase Status Notes Powers on? ✅ Passes firmware self-test? ✅ Working serial console? ❔ Since Windows doesn’t really do serial consoles, have not tried Framebuffer works? ✅ standard VGA cable OS boots? ✅ Windows NT 4.0 came installed on the internal HDD Working GUI? ✅ Working input devices?
Project status Phase Status Notes Powers on? ✅ Passes firmware self-test? ✅ Working serial console? ✅ standard DB9 null modem cable Framebuffer works? ✅ VGA Graphics OS boots? ✅ Came pre-installed with Digital Unix 4.0 Working GUI? ✅ Runs CDE Working input devices? ✅ Uses standard PS/2 peripherals Pictures alphastation...
Project status Phase Status Notes Powers on? ❌ Power supply worked when I got it, but now doesn’t power on. Odor suggests bad capacitors. Passes firmware self-test? ✅ Working serial console? ✅ standard DB25-DB9 adapter and null modem cable Framebuffer works? ✅ use 3W3-3BNC adapter and 5BNC-VGA adapter (sync-on-green) OS boots?...
Project status Phase Status Notes Powers on? ✅ Passes firmware self-test? ❌ NVRAM battery is dead so self-test doesn’t run Working serial console? ✅ standard DB25-DB9 adapter and null modem cable Framebuffer works? ✅ use 5BNC-VGA adapter, displays same as serial console in a nice window OS boots? ❔ Working GUI? ❔ Working...
The SPARCstation was the first pizzabox I was able to connect a serial cable to and turn on. As its self-tests scrolled by (first try!), I had high hopes… y'all pic.twitter.com/jiEKOHn22l — cron mom (@sophaskins) August 15, 2017 …that were quickly dashed - neither of its two internal SCSI hard disks seemed to be able to boot. The SPARCstation...
My SPARCstation 1+ was manufactured in 1989. Over a nearly 30 year lifetime, any number of components could have gone bad: capacitors burst, hard disk motors fail, sometimes the wrong voltage gets attached, etc. A problem that notoriously affects older Sun workstations (including mine!) is NVRAM failure. The NVRAM chips in Sun workstations...
My last post about the Indy was a bit of a downer - I may have learned a lot, but I didn’t get much closer to a usable IRIX desktop. In contrast, this post does end happily. I hope that the screenshots at the end make up for how incredibly long it is. Replacing the hard disk with a microSD card The working disk in my Indy has an OS installed, but...
The pizza delivery folks have been stopping by my house a lot lately, and not just with pineapple and ham! Do Macs really belong here? In “What is a Workstation?”, I declared that “a workstation is a computer system designed to be used by a professional”. In the classic Mac era, Apple targeted three markets: home users, education, and “creatives”...
Project status Phase Status Notes Powers on? ✅ Passes firmware self-test? ✅ Startup chime plays Working serial console? ❌ Macs don’t have serial console capabilities Framebuffer works? ✅ OS boots? ✅ Working GUI? ✅ Working input devices? ❌ Need proprietary ADB peripherals Pictures powermac6100 front
Project status Phase Status Notes Powers on? ✅ Passes firmware self-test? ✅ Startup chime plays Working serial console? ❌ Macs don’t have serial console capabilities Framebuffer works? ✅ DB15-VGA adapter OS boots? ✅ A/UX 3.1 installed on a SCSI2SD Working GUI? ✅ Macintosh Finder and X11 Working input devices? ✅ Uses...
Project status Phase Status Notes Powers on? ✅ Passes firmware self-test? ✅ Startup chime plays Working serial console? ❌ Macs don’t have serial console capabilities Framebuffer works? ✅ DB15-VGA adapter OS boots? ✅ Has System 7.5(?) installed on internal HDD Working GUI? ✅ Macintosh Finder Working input devices? ❌ Need...
Project status Phase Status Notes Powers on? ✅ Passes firmware self-test? ✅ out-of-the-box needs keyboard to pass POST Working serial console? ❔ theoretically possible to enable keyboard-less boot, but haven’t tried Framebuffer works? ✅ standard VGA plug OS boots? ✅ HP-UX 10.20 installed on a SCSI2SD Working GUI? ✅ X-Windows and...
Once the power supply was in order, my next focus was booting it to a usable state. I ran into quite a few stumbling blocks along the way - this post doesn’t end with a 4Dwm desktop (though a future one will!). Broken hard drive The first issue was the scraping and grinding sound coming from one of the hard drives! On boot, it sounded like one of...
When I first got the Indy, it seemed to work. When I pushed the power button, it played the startup jingle when connected to a monitor, it gave output! (complaining about the lack of keyboard) the light on the front of the case would cycle between red and green, before stabilizing on green A few weeks later, I got the right serial cable to...
Just over a month ago, late at night I was engaging in one of my favorite hobbies, “reread computing history articles on Wikipedia”. omg I think my calling in life might be to collect a wide array of "pizza box" workstations — cron mom (@sophaskins) July 18, 2017 I’m…perhaps not known for having incredibly good self control, so some eBay...
Project status Phase Status Notes Powers on? ✅ Passes firmware self-test? ✅ Working serial console? ✅ Has a somewhat unusual DB25 socket instead of plug, otherwise standard Framebuffer works? ✅ use DB13W3-VGA adapter OS boots? ✅ I’ve installed Solaris 2.5 to the two internal disks Working GUI? ✅ X Windows and CDE Working...
Project status Phase Status Notes Powers on? ✅ Original Nidec power supply worked out-of-the-box, but later had capacitor failure. Replaced with a new Sony power supply. Passes firmware self-test? ✅ Working serial console? ✅ mini-DIN 8 - DB25, DB25-DB9, null modem adapter Framebuffer works? ✅ 13W3-VGA adapter (sync-on-green) OS...
Project status Phase Status Notes Powers on? ✅ Requires shorting pins on the DB19 monitor jack as soft power-on Passes firmware self-test? ✅ Working serial console? ❔ Enabling a serial console requires direct access to enable Framebuffer works? ✅ DB19-VGA cable OS boots? ✅ Has OPENstep installed on internal HDD Working GUI? ✅ ...
Project status Phase Status Notes Powers on? ✅ Passes firmware self-test? ✅ Working serial console? ✅ “S3” switch needs to be in “up” position; use MMJ-DB9 adapter (DB25 port doesn’t run a console) Framebuffer works? ✅ use DB3W3-3BNC adapter and 5BNC-VGA adapter (sync-on-green) OS boots? ❌ attempted to boot from OpenVMS install...
I know I’ve been stringing you all along for a bit - I’ve acquired a handful of workstations, some electronic components, some adapter cables, and I’m excited to get my hands dirty and show y’all the restoration process. Before we get to that, I want to explain one of my goals from the welcome post a bit more in depth. Restoration Most of the...
If this project is about restoring pizzabox workstations, I have some defining of terms to do. A workstation sometimes means the desk where you work; a pizzabox normally contains a delicious tomato, crust, and cheese combination. For my project, though: A workstation is a computer system designed to be used by a professional. It runs specialized...
Well hello! This is the pizzabox.computer project - my project to restore “pizzabox” workstations. My goals are to: collect pizzabox workstations from a variety of manufacturers - if possible, from both before and after the move from Motorola 68000 series CPUs to RISC CPUs restore those workstations to be usable with modern peripherals (I don’t...