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Stardate: 20241103.1944
Location: The Lab
Input Device: Sun Microsystems Ultra 10
Audio: Beepy Sun Type 6 keyboard, system fans.
Visual: Solaris 10 / CDE
Emotional: Accomplishment.
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RetroChallenge 2024 has ended and I enjoyed my time revisiting old
Sun hardware. Events like RC2024 help me to go back to how I used
to personally compute. There hasn't been too many special projects
where I would need these types of devices, but I do enjoy the
opportunity to revisit and further my adventures with old
friends...are friends electric?
This round, I worked with my Sun Microsystems Ultra 10 workstation
(voltesv), with Sun Type 6 keyboard and attached Sun Crossbow
mouse, Samsung SyncMaster 900NF 19" CRT, and Cambridge SoundWorks
powered desktop speakers (Model# SBS36B.) This system still runs an
old install of Solaris 10 from 2005 and has not been patched or
anything. I'm not really sure what options there are for patching or
installing software and I have not been motivated to find out, so I
run as is and find workarounds as needed.
The NVRAM battery issue is still an issue and will remain for the
time being. I have grown accustomed to "Invoking the Incantation
of HostID from the ether," as a pre-personal computing ritual prior
to interfacing with voltesv. Just as long as I have my cheatsheet.
I am also hesitant in putting m0ar monies into this workstation
since I am still not currently gainfully employed.
In addition to the Ultra 10, I included a headless Sun Microsystems
Netra X1 server (grendizer, rackmounted 1U form factor.) This
system was running FreeBSD v9.2 and was wiped to finally run
OpenBSD v7.6, which is the latest.
Several days were spent with unplanned Installfest 2024,
researching OS options for both systems and attempting
installations on both grendizer and voltesv. Grendizer ended up
with OpenBSD and voltesv with Solaris 10 (no change.)
Several network configurations were also attempted, eventually
having voltesv attached to grendizer via crossover ethernet cable
to grendizer's second network interface and grendizer attached to
the local network switch on its first network interface. There is
also a connection from the LOM/Console port of grendizer to the
9-pin serial port of voltesv. I made an ASCII map on the RC2024
page. [1]
I was also able to revisit spawning remote X applications to CDE
without having to use X11 forwarding on ssh. I haven't messed with
doing things like this in ages. Voltesv only runs ssh1 and
grendizer does not like ssh1, so I would add grendizer to xhost on
voltesv, open the console terminal for grendizer on voltesv, export
the display to voltesv on grendizer, and launch xterm, xload, etc.
Recent noise was heard in passing about X11 going away and Wayland
taking its place, but I haven't really looked into it. I wonder
if/how that would affect old systems like voltesv...but I digress.
For RetroChallenge 2024, I did not really have a specific goal or
challenge in mind, basically to continue using my old Sun stuff.
After the configurations stabilized, I was able to focus more on
personal computing. Using the tools from back in the day was
challenging at first, but I was able to find my groove and use what
was available. Voltesv even had StarOffice 7 installed so the
office-type applications were available (not that I needed to
use any of them this round.) For more recent terminal-based stuff,
I tested and installed applications on grendizer and accessed them
remotely on voltesv.
It has been refreshing to compute at this capacity with all of the
hardware and software limitations. It takes me back to how it was
and how little was needed back then. I look at what people
interface with today and all of the bloatware, interruptions, options,
multitaskings, distractions, and everything...sometimes it seems
like a bit much. With all of that of today's computing, it is no
wonder why it does not scale with my wetware and wants to core
dump.
Many thanks to urbancamo and ep00ch for hosting RetroChallenge 2024
and semachthemonkey and the community for supporting this event!
I have enjoyed reading about your projects and look forward to
reading even more and perhaps participating in future events!
Also, thanks again to ecliptik for phlogging about the event!
(DIR) [1] RetroChallenge 2024
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