Long SUMMARY: 3/60->Sparc upgrade experiences

[John Valdes]

Hello all,

First, my apologies for the delay in posting this summary to those who
asked for one.

Some weeks ago, I asked this list:

>We have a Sun 3/160 which we are thinking of upgrading to a Sparc.  Has anyone
>done this?  What have been your experiences, good and/or bad?  Exactly what
>type of Sun will the 3/160 become after the upgrade?  (I realize the upgraded
>CPU is a 4300; I want to know if the Sun will be 4/370 or 4/380 or whatever).
>Also, any comments as to which of the following boards/peripherals will/will
>not work in the upgraded Sun will be appreciated:
>
>CURRENT CONFIGURATION: Sun 3/160C (Office Pedestal) w/
>
>Board Name                               Sun Part #     Slot #   will work?
>----------                               ----------     ------   ----------
>
>Sun 3/160 CPU                             501-1208         1         no
>Sun 4MB Memory Board                      501-1132         2         
>Helios MSV-8 Memory Board (8MB)           --------         3         
>Sun-3 color graphics board (cgtwo)        501-1116         4         
>Sun FPA                                   501-1105         5         no
>CPC TapeMaster 1/2" Tape Controller       501-1156         7         no
>Xylogics 7053 SMD disk controller         501-1249         8         
>Systec VPC-2200 printer controller        501-1054         9         
>Sun GP+ graphics processor                501-1139        10         
>Systec MTI-1600 (ALM-1)                   501-1165      11 & 12      no
>
>
>PERIPHERALS:
>
>Hitachi 19" Color Monitor, Sun Part# 365-1000-01 (?)
>Fujitsu M2351 Eagle SMD drive (2)
>Fujitsu M2382K SMD drive
>CDC 92181 1/2" Tape drive (Keystone) (may be replaced with a CDC 92185)
>
>
>Obviously the CPU and the FPA will not be needed, but how about the memory? (My
>guess is no--won't work.)  I'm aware that the TapeMaster controller will no
>longer work (we were planning to get a dual-density 1/2" tape controller
>anyway--any recommendations?) as will not the ALM-1.  Will the 7053 still work?
>Any restrictions on it or the SMD drives as far as booting is concerned?  I'm
>also aware that we'll need an upgraded power supply and fan assembly (the
>serial # for the 3/160 begins with 624C...).  Finally, does the upgraded CPU
>board come with a SCSI interface?

Of all those who responded (~20), none had any bad experiences; most said
the upgrade was fairly smooth.  The upgrade is essentially a swap the cpu
boards; the old Sun3 CPU is replaced with a 4300 CPU (the same CPU that
comes with in the 4/330).  A 3/160 will become a 4/360, while a 3/180 will
become a 4/380.  However, one respondent (Peter Hill) warned that no one
outside of Sun would know what these model numbers mean, so when talking
with third-party folks, tell them it's a 4/330 (and be specific about card
sizes).

The (re)usability of boards is as follows:

Board Name                               Sun Part #       will work?
----------                               ----------       ----------

Sun 3/160 CPU                             501-1208            no
Sun 4MB Memory Board                      501-1132            no
Helios MSV-8 Memory Board (8MB)           --------            no
Sun-3 color graphics board (cgtwo)        501-1116             ?
Sun FPA                                   501-1105            no
CPC TapeMaster 1/2" Tape Controller       501-1156            no
Xylogics 7053 SMD disk controller         501-1249            yes
Systec VPC-2200 printer controller        501-1054          probably
Sun GP+ graphics processor                501-1139             ?
Systec MTI-1600 (ALM-1)                   501-1165          perhaps

I received conflicting responses on whether the cgtwo video board and GP+
would work.  Some said they wouldn't, while others said they would,
although kernal support for them may be dropped.  (The OS4.1 sun4 GENERIC
kernal config file lists these.)  Similarly, one respondent said the
VPC-2200 should work, but may lose kernal support.  Another respondent had
this to say about the ALM-1:

>We have tested ALM1 boards in a 4/300 system.  Sun says it wont work because
>it is in the VME-->Multibus adapter.  They are trying to do away with those,
>as they sometimes get confused on the faster VME machines (Sun 4/XXX).

(As a side note, the ALM-2 from Sun provides 16 serial lines plus one
Centronics compatible parallel port.  This may be a better alternative
than the ALM-1/VPC-2200 combination.)

The Xy7053 works fine (as do its other incarnations), but the TapeMaster
controller is definitely no good.  A Xylogics 472 should work after the
upgrade; however, Sun no longer supplies this (or any other VME) 1/2" tape
controller, so this would have to be purchased elsewhere.  (In response to
a separate inquiry to this list, I was told that NCR makes a Pertec to
SCSI tape interface--the tape drive could then be connected to the SCSI
interface on the 4300 board.)

The peripherals are fine as long as there's a controller/interface for
them.

Other notes:

+ The 4300 CPU Board comes with the following connectors:

    o Keyboard/mouse connector (DIN-8, female)
    o four serial ports (one DB-25, three DB-9, all female)
    o Ethernet connector (thick)
    o SCSI connector (50-pin micro D)

+ The 4300 CPU Board comes with eight SIMM slots (one bank) which can hold
  either 1Mx9 or 4Mx9 SIMMs.  Note that the SIMMs need a parity bit, and
  that all eight SIMMs must be the same capacity.  Hence, the upgrade ships
  with either 8MB or 32MB.  Extra memory can be added by using a separate
  memory board ($$).  I believe that the speed of the SIMMs must be 80ns or
  faster.

+ The fan assembly ("cooling kit") upgrade apparently is a new CPU box; to
  quote Peter Hill again:

     >We didn't need the new power supply, but we did need the "cooling kit,"
     >according to Sun.  Our Sun CE screamed when he saw this.  It's a new
     >CPU box with extra holes drilled in it.  The old backplane, power
     >supply, etc. have to be transferred to the new box.

+ Another upgrade option (from Kerien Fitzpatrick via sun-managers):

     >Purchase a SPARCengine 2 (CPU board from a SPARCstation 2).
     > 
     >Purchase a Solflower wrap-around board that allows you to install the
     >new board into your existing 3/160 cage.  You could then sell/retain
     >your 3/160 CPU.  Memory addition to 64Mb is cheap...just add 4Mb SIMMs
     >to the SPARCengine 2.
     > 
     >Cost of the SPARCengine 2 is $10K list.  The Solflower board goes for
     >somewhere under $3K.  The SPARC 2 outperforms the 4/300 significantly.
     >You also have Sbus slots available.

Thanks to all those responded:

Curt Freeland
Sven Mattisson
Joel Shapiro
David Hucaby
Jim van Keulen
Russ Poffenberger
John DiMarco
David G. Hough
V. Krishna
Dan Razzell
Peter Hill
Don Schaefer
Vince Westin
Kevin Sheehan
Joe Habermann
Tom Reed

If you are interested in the replies I received, send me a note, and I will
forward them to you.

John Valdes
University of Chicago                    INTERNET:  valdes at geosun.uchicago.edu