> Those 3GXs do not like to be left on all the time.  I loved mine,
> and it cooked itself to death.  Do a quick search -- you'll find
> lots of 'net lore about these things and their overheating problems.

I've been following the sparcbook@sunhelp.org mailing list for over a
year, and you're the first person who has said his sparcbook
overheated.  I have heard a lot of people blabbering like farmers
squatting in the dirt about how them machines is hotter 'n a hog's
anus.  I've heard extensive boasting about ridiculous makeshift fans,
muffin fans, radiating stands, PC card fans, swiveling room-fans, and
and other paraphanalia that 'mercans ``like to keep pointed at'' their
Sparcbooks.  But I've heard nothing that convinces me this lore is
anything but lore, except for one case of TFT damage from, IIRC, a
Linux user who left the lid shut.  

IIRC the manual does suggest keeping the lid mostly-open and using the
flip-down legs to keep the case's bottom free in the air, unless the
machine is suspended, but it does not suggest floating the magnesium
case in infinitesimal contact with a bath of subzero fluorinert, or
any of the other chicken-waving nonsense that sparcbook@sunhelp.org
subscribers are mouthrunning about.

I've heard other lore that the machines contain a thermal cutout which
makes overheating impossible, but this is just a rumor.  I've also
heard that Todd Vierling's SB3GX did NetBSD builds for several months
without incident.  So did mine, with no fans.

so, I'd be very interested to hear the specifics of your experience.
What OS?  What lid-position?  What CPU-load?  On what surface was the
machine setting?  And, finally, what were the symptoms of the damage?

Thanks.


FWIW, 100BaseT over PC Card is probably not the best plan-of-the-week,
even if the SB3GX's PC Card slots had a NetBSD driver.  Most 100BaseT
cards are CardBus.