Sun Solaris 7 x86 Build \ VOGONS

Sun Solaris 7 x86 Build

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First post, by Intel486dx33

Posted on 2018-07-03, 07:26

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Back in 1990's When Silicon Valley was boom town, The UNIX shops Ruled the land.
Sun Microsystems ( Solaris )
Hewlett Packard ( HPUX )
SGI ( IRIX )

There campuses where all over Silicon Valley and beyond.

An they all use a "Common Desktop Environment" known as "CDE"

This way users would be familiar with different commuter operating systems.

One of my first computers was a Sun Microsystems IPX or lunch box they use to call them because they where small like a lunch box
It was all I could afford back in 1994 and it cost me about $250
I upgraded it with max ram, SCSI Hard-drive, and dual frame buffers so I could run dual displays.
I added an external CDROM and tape backup.
There was an electronics recycler nearby where I could get parts for cheap.
This is how I learn to use UNIX and CDE. And it ran Solaris 5 and 6.

I latter built a Solaris 7 x86 webserver

Then latter I purchased a Sparc-5 with dual displays.

So I would like to try to rebuild my Solaris 7 Intel x86 computer which I reluctantly recycled back in the day.

The parts I used where:
Intel DK-440LX motherboard with onboard adaptec SCSI and Intel ethernet.
Dual Slot-1 CPU's, Pentium-2 333mhz.
512mb ram
SCSI hard-drives
ATI expert 98 AGP graphics ( works vanilla with Solaris x86 )
Solaris-7 Intel x86

I have been able to get an original motherboard for $25 with CPU's and an ATI expert 98 graphics card for $6
All the other parts I think I can find in my garage.

there use to be many websites where one could download binaries and packages for Sun Solairs 5 thru 10
however they are long gone.

Does anyone know where I can get Solaris-7 binaries and packages ?

I use to subscribe to Sun Microsystems and they use to send me Solaris x86 software for FREE.

Last edited by Intel486dx33 on 2018-07-03, 07:41. Edited 1 time in total.

Reply 1 of 18, by Intel486dx33

Posted on 2018-07-03, 07:33

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More photos

Reply 2 of 18, by Intel486dx33

Posted on 2018-07-03, 07:35

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More photos

Reply 3 of 18, by Intel486dx33

Posted on 2018-07-03, 07:39

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More photos:

Reply 4 of 18, by spiroyster

Posted on 2018-07-03, 08:23

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IRIX doesn't use CDE 😕

Reply 5 of 18, by amadeus777999

Posted on 2018-07-03, 09:59

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Very nice and beautiful setup! This reminds me kinda Of NeXT/-Step and the good old days at id - especially doombsp.
Also, quite the lofty office with a "luxury" view.

Solaris 7 should be on WinWorld but I remember it being Sparc only... maybe ask in their forums for a tip? Your best bet is a torrent. I got Solaris 8 by torrent only and had searched for a long time.
I have it currently running on a Sparc(Blade250) but never use it due to not having a C compiler and assembler pre-installed ...which are the only two things I'm really interested in. Any tips for a smooth install?

I also have an Ultra10 on the way and i think it may be time to learn to make use of these machines...

Reply 6 of 18, by feipoa

Posted on 2018-07-03, 12:47

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Is it just me, or does your screenshot of Solaris 7 remind you of OS/2 Warp? Its really cool to see a vintage Solaris setup. Not many of them make it onto Vogons. Same for OS/2 installs.

Plan your life wisely, you'll be dead before you know it.

Reply 7 of 18, by Intel486dx33

Posted on 2018-07-03, 14:05

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amadeus777999 wrote:
Very nice and beautiful setup! This reminds me kinda Of NeXT/-Step and the good old days at id - especially doombsp. Also, quit […]
Show full quote
Very nice and beautiful setup! This reminds me kinda Of NeXT/-Step and the good old days at id - especially doombsp.
Also, quite the lofty office with a "luxury" view.

Solaris 7 should be on WinWorld but I remember it being Sparc only... maybe ask in their forums for a tip? Your best bet is a torrent. I got Solaris 8 by torrent only and had searched for a long time.
I have it currently running on a Sparc(Blade250) but never use it due to not having a C compiler and assembler pre-installed ...which are the only two things I'm really interested in. Any tips for a smooth install?

I also have an Ultra10 on the way and i think it may be time to learn to make use of these machines...

Yes, An Sparc Ultra 5 thru 60 or Intel based Blade 250 sounds good.
I was actually thinking about getting a B21 with Core-2-Quad. Maybe some day if they are still around.
But I have some HP xeon workstations that can run modern day Solaris. So I have been putting it off.

The Dual Pentium motherboard I selected is actually excessive for the Solaris 7 x86 build as Solaris x86 only supports 1 processor from what I remember.

Reply 8 of 18, by feipoa

Posted on 2018-07-07, 03:07

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That is an attractive looking case. Did it originally come with a black DVD drive or beige?

Plan your life wisely, you'll be dead before you know it.

Reply 9 of 18, by Intel486dx33

Posted on 2018-07-07, 16:47

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Yes, That black DVD drive is original.

Reply 10 of 18, by oeuvre

Posted on 2018-07-07, 19:05

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Any chance you could upload the wallpaper bitmaps? Thanks

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Reply 11 of 18, by Intel486dx33

Posted on 2018-07-07, 19:20

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I have not received the parts yet. Should be here sometime this week. Then I can get started on building this computer.

Reply 12 of 18, by Intel486dx33

Posted on 2018-08-28, 05:03

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I found some more photos of my old sparcs.

Reply 13 of 18, by Intel486dx33

Posted on 2018-08-28, 05:07

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More photos of my old Sun Sparc IPX.
My first UNIX computer.
I still have it. It’s in my garage some where. It’s maxed out with Has dual graphics, lots of ram and large SCSI drive.

Last edited by Intel486dx33 on 2018-08-28, 17:18. Edited 1 time in total.

Reply 14 of 18, by stamasd

Posted on 2018-08-28, 11:33

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Get Sun Solaris 7 here: WinWorldPC
(they have other versions too)

(edit) whoops it's Sparc only. Ignore me. 🙁

Last edited by Stiletto on 2020-03-02, 07:29. Edited 1 time in total.

I/O, I/O,
It's off to disk I go,
With a bit and a byte
And a read and a write,
I/O, I/O

Reply 15 of 18, by Intel486dx33

Posted on 2018-08-28, 16:38

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I have Solaris 7 already.
And I have all the parts I need to rebuild my old Solaris Intel x86 workstation.
I just need to get a computer case and power supply.

Reply 16 of 18, by manicgamer

Posted on 2018-09-07, 21:20

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oeuvre wrote:
Any chance you could upload the wallpaper bitmaps? Thanks

Yes, add me too 😊

If it ain't broke, there's something wrong with it.
Like your job, Love your wife.
Beware of Geeks bearing GIF's.

Reply 17 of 18, by manicgamer

Posted on 2018-09-07, 21:21

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stamasd wrote:
Get Sun Solaris 7 here: WinWorldPC
(they have other versions too)

(edit) whoops it's Sparc only. Ignore me. 🙁

Sun Solaris 8 at WinWorldPC

Last edited by Stiletto on 2020-03-02, 07:29. Edited 1 time in total.

If it ain't broke, there's something wrong with it.
Like your job, Love your wife.
Beware of Geeks bearing GIF's.

Reply 18 of 18, by Intel486dx33

Posted on 2019-11-04, 02:01

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I just recieved a fresh copy of Solaris 7 for Intel so I am going to try this build again.

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