Re: SPARC packages availability for 9.0 and install report

[Romain Dolbeau <romain%dolbeau.org@localhost>]

Le mar. 5 mai 2020 à 12:16, Riccardo Mottola
<riccardo.mottola%libero.it@localhost> a écrit :
> I sucesfully installed NetBSD 9.0 on a SparcStation 20 (nothing
> exciting, single CPU, no cache, since the nice HyperSPARC Dual CPU with
> Cache "fried" giving errors at boot... I think the cache/cache
> controller is gone) [*]

Tough luck, HyperSPARC modules are quite rare by now, and I don't
remember cache being a weakness :-(
On the other hand, most of my SM71 have cache issues and are dead.

Do yourself a favor - try to get a couple of SM61 for the SS20. They
will be much faster than any non-cached module, compatible with every
OS, and there's still some to be found. And they are a whole lot more
reliable than the SM71. SM81 are too hot for my taste (and rare, as
well).

Of course if you want to compile a lot and have maxed out memory, you
could try for a pair of SM512 to get four CPUs...

> So well, solution was to get another drive, dump miniroot on it.... and
> I was finally able to work.

Very old hard drives will be unreliable; newer SCA drives will fit an
SS20 but may run too hot.

The solution I tried yesterday after I saw your message was to move my
SCSI2SD V5 (with a new SD card) from my IPX to the CDROM connector in
a SS20 (I have a SCA drive with Sol7 that I didn't want to erase),
works just fine, it's running 'cvs -q -z2 -d
anoncvs%anoncvs.NetBSD.org@localhost:/cvsroot checkout -r pkgsrc-2020Q1 -P
pkgsrc' right now :-) (it's not fast...).

Cordially,

-- 
Romain Dolbeau