Recent content on Pizza Box Computer
In the last post of this series, I set up NeXTstep on an HP PA-RISC workstation. Today, I’m going to get down to business: configure networking, install system patches, outfit it with developer tools, and install some useful software! As with the previous post, I’ve also made a YouTube video that covers roughly the same topics! If video is your speed, I’d love for you to check it…
It’s been a long time since my last pizzabox post - over a year! There’s been a lot going on in my life but I’m excited that lately I’ve had a lot more free time, which means more time to explore the world of workstations and share with you! I’m also excited announce that I’m trying out YouTube videos - not instead of these posts, but in addition to them. This…
In this post, I’m going to go through the process of setting up Apple’s A/UX on a Quadra 610. It’s been a long time in the making - I think I had the hardware for nearly a year before I finally got A/UX running properly! Wait, what is A/UX? I’m not misspelling AIX, the IBM Unix that ran on the Apple Network Server range. It is a hybrid of Unix and the classic Mac OS, but it…
Project status Phase Status Notes Powers on? ✅ Passes firmware self-test? ✅ Boots to firmware prompt Working serial console? ✅ standard DB25-DB9 adapter and null modem cable Framebuffer works? ✅ use 3W3-3BNC adapter and 5BNC-VGA adapter (sync-on-green) OS boots? ❔ Working GUI? ❔ Working input devices? ✅ Uses proprietary DEC peripherals Pictures decstation front
I haven’t been writing super frequently over the past few months, so I’ve missed introducing a couple of the newest additions to my collection. They’re all from manufacturers that I already have some boxes from, but represent different eras and technology than the boxes I already had. a stack of pizzabox workstations A couple of SPARCs The middle two pizzaboxes in the picture are…
Project status Phase Status Notes Powers on? ✅ Passes firmware self-test? ✅ Working serial console? ❔ haven’t tried Framebuffer works? ✅ standard VGA plug OS boots? ✅ HP-UX 9.1 installed on a SCSI2SD Working GUI? ✅ X-Windows and VUE Working input devices? ✅ Use HP-HIL peripherals Pictures hp425e front
Project status Phase Status Notes Powers on? ✅ Passes firmware self-test? ✅ Working serial console? ✅ Has a somewhat unusual DB25 socket instead of plug, otherwise standard Framebuffer works? ✅ use DB13W3-VGA adapter OS boots? ✅ Has Solaris 2.6 installed Working GUI? ✅ X Windows and CDE Working input devices?
Project status Phase Status Notes Powers on? ✅ Passes firmware self-test? ✅ Working serial console? ✅ standard DB9 Framebuffer works? ✅ OS boots? ✅ Installed Solaris 10 on to a CF/IDE adapter Working GUI? ✅ X Windows and Java Sun Desktop (GNOME) / CDE Working input devices? ✅ Uses USB Pictures sunblade150 front
Over the past few weekends I’ve gone on a bit of an adventure with the SGI Indy. This yak-shave has everything - an OS install, lots of SCSI problems, a completely overkill golang utility, and a happy ending. Since it’s pretty long, I’m gonna dive right in. A disk upgrade It all started with a drive replacement - I got an order of SCS2SDs in and decided that I should allocate the…
My VAXstation 4000 VLC seems to have lived a hard life - when I got it, the plastic was filthy and every groove in the case was caked with black grime. I wouldn’t be surprised if it once lived in some sort of industrial setting - wherever it lived must have been hot because it came with a decidedly non-standard cooling system: Well look at that! It even seems to have a hot-rod heat sink!
The HP 9000 workstations’ industrial design inspires me - the 300 series was on my mind the week before I bought my first pizzabox: why did we stop making computers that looked like :( pic.twitter.com/xBYUcnTaIe — cron mom (@sophaskins) July 10, 2017 There’s just something about that densely lined grille - it’s clear that a lot of effort went in to its construction.…
The Multia feels to me like Digital’s take on a high-end “legacy-free” (at introduction in late 1994) desktop. Its spec sheet includes features unheard of in its contemporaries: a 64-bit RISC processor ECC memory Ethernet networking SCSI2 hard drive high-resolution (1280x1024) monitor support PCMCIA expansion slots A RISC processor, powerful networking, and PCMCIA slots nearly…
There’s been a lot of great stuff happening on my Pizza Box projects the past few weeks - not a ton that’s complete enough to share yet, but stay tuned. This evening, though, I ran in to something surprising that I couldn’t wait to tell y’all - here goes! PowerMac video woes When I first got my PowerMac 6100, I realized I didn’t have the right adapter to hook it up to…
The SPARCstation was the first pizzabox I was able to connect a serial cable to and turn on. As its self-tests scrolled by (first try!), I had high hopes… y'all pic.twitter.com/jiEKOHn22l — cron mom (@sophaskins) August 15, 2017 …that were quickly dashed - neither of its two internal SCSI hard disks seemed to be able to boot. The SPARCstation went to the back burner for a while…
Project status Phase Status Notes Powers on? ✅ Passes firmware self-test? ❌ NVRAM battery is dead so self-test doesn’t run Working serial console? ✅ standard DB25-DB9 adapter and null modem cable Framebuffer works? ✅ use 5BNC-VGA adapter, displays same as serial console in a nice window OS boots? ❔ Working GUI? ❔ Working input devices?
Project status Phase Status Notes Powers on? ❌ Power supply worked when I got it, but now doesn’t power on. Odor suggests bad capacitors. Passes firmware self-test? ✅ Working serial console? ✅ standard DB25-DB9 adapter and null modem cable Framebuffer works? ✅ use 3W3-3BNC adapter and 5BNC-VGA adapter (sync-on-green) OS boots? ❔ Working GUI?
Project status Phase Status Notes Powers on? ✅ Passes firmware self-test? ✅ Working serial console? ✅ standard DB9 null modem cable Framebuffer works? ✅ VGA Graphics OS boots? ✅ Came pre-installed with Digital Unix 4.0 Working GUI? ✅ Runs CDE Working input devices? ✅ Uses standard PS/2 peripherals Pictures alphastation front
Project status Phase Status Notes Powers on? ✅ Passes firmware self-test? ✅ Working serial console? ❔ Since Windows doesn’t really do serial consoles, have not tried Framebuffer works? ✅ standard VGA cable OS boots? ✅ Windows NT 4.0 came installed on the internal HDD Working GUI? ✅ Working input devices?
Project status Phase Status Notes Powers on? ✅ Passes firmware self-test? ✅ Front-panel numbers indicate it passes and attempts to boot from network Working serial console? ❌ Haven’t managed to get any signal from its serial ports Framebuffer works? ❌ Mine didn’t come with a framebuffer, but I added an MCA Gt3i framebuffer. Unfortunately, I get no signal from it OS boots?
The collection has grown again! My inability to ignore eBay has resulted in three new additions. IBM RS/6000 Model 250 The IBM RS/6000 lines is one of the few RISC computer lines to survive well in to the 21st century - IBM’s POWER Systems are still available and still the biggest beneficiary of IBM’s chip research. The Model 250 is the last of the 200 series pizzaboxes - it has a 66…
My SPARCstation 1+ was manufactured in 1989. Over a nearly 30 year lifetime, any number of components could have gone bad: capacitors burst, hard disk motors fail, sometimes the wrong voltage gets attached, etc. A problem that notoriously affects older Sun workstations (including mine!) is NVRAM failure. The NVRAM chips in Sun workstations contain: a clock, to keep time when the computer is off…
My last post about the Indy was a bit of a downer - I may have learned a lot, but I didn’t get much closer to a usable IRIX desktop. In contrast, this post does end happily. I hope that the screenshots at the end make up for how incredibly long it is. Replacing the hard disk with a microSD card The working disk in my Indy has an OS installed, but I’ve had trouble logging in.
Project status Phase Status Notes Powers on? ✅ Passes firmware self-test? ✅ out-of-the-box needs keyboard to pass POST Working serial console? ❔ theoretically possible to enable keyboard-less boot, but haven’t tried Framebuffer works? ✅ standard VGA plug OS boots? ✅ HP-UX 10.20 installed on a SCSI2SD Working GUI? ✅ X-Windows and CDE Working input devices?
Project status Phase Status Notes Powers on? ✅ Passes firmware self-test? ✅ Startup chime plays Working serial console? ❌ Macs don’t have serial console capabilities Framebuffer works? ✅ DB15-VGA adapter OS boots? ✅ Has System 7.5(?) installed on internal HDD Working GUI? ✅ Macintosh Finder Working input devices? ❌ Need proprietary ADB peripherals Pictures quadra605 front
Project status Phase Status Notes Powers on? ✅ Passes firmware self-test? ✅ Startup chime plays Working serial console? ❌ Macs don’t have serial console capabilities Framebuffer works? ✅ DB15-VGA adapter OS boots? ✅ A/UX 3.1 installed on a SCSI2SD Working GUI? ✅ Macintosh Finder and X11 Working input devices? ✅ Uses proprietary ADB peripherals Pictures quadra610 front
Project status Phase Status Notes Powers on? ✅ Passes firmware self-test? ✅ Startup chime plays Working serial console? ❌ Macs don’t have serial console capabilities Framebuffer works? ✅ OS boots? ✅ Working GUI? ✅ Working input devices? ❌ Need proprietary ADB peripherals Pictures powermac6100 front
The pizza delivery folks have been stopping by my house a lot lately, and not just with pineapple and ham! Do Macs really belong here? In “What is a Workstation?”, I declared that “a workstation is a computer system designed to be used by a professional”. In the classic Mac era, Apple targeted three markets: home users, education, and “creatives” - desktop…
Once the power supply was in order, my next focus was booting it to a usable state. I ran into quite a few stumbling blocks along the way - this post doesn’t end with a 4Dwm desktop (though a future one will!). Broken hard drive The first issue was the scraping and grinding sound coming from one of the hard drives! On boot, it sounded like one of the disks was trying to spin up, encountering…
When I first got the Indy, it seemed to work. When I pushed the power button, it played the startup jingle when connected to a monitor, it gave output! (complaining about the lack of keyboard) the light on the front of the case would cycle between red and green, before stabilizing on green A few weeks later, I got the right serial cable to attach a console, and…it no longer worked:
Project status Phase Status Notes Powers on? ✅ Passes firmware self-test? ✅ Working serial console? ✅ “S3” switch needs to be in “up” position; use MMJ-DB9 adapter (DB25 port doesn’t run a console) Framebuffer works? ✅ use DB3W3-3BNC adapter and 5BNC-VGA adapter (sync-on-green) OS boots? ❌ attempted to boot from OpenVMS install CD without success Working GUI?
Project status Phase Status Notes Powers on? ✅ Requires shorting pins on the DB19 monitor jack as soft power-on Passes firmware self-test? ✅ Working serial console? ❔ Enabling a serial console requires direct access to enable Framebuffer works? ✅ DB19-VGA cable OS boots? ✅ Has OPENstep installed on internal HDD Working GUI? ✅ Working input devices?
Project status Phase Status Notes Powers on? ✅ Original Nidec power supply worked out-of-the-box, but later had capacitor failure. Replaced with a new Sony power supply. Passes firmware self-test? ✅ Working serial console? ✅ mini-DIN 8 - DB25, DB25-DB9, null modem adapter Framebuffer works? ✅ 13W3-VGA adapter (sync-on-green) OS boots? ✅ IRIX 6.5 installed on a SCSI2SD Working GUI?
Project status Phase Status Notes Powers on? ✅ Passes firmware self-test? ✅ Working serial console? ✅ Has a somewhat unusual DB25 socket instead of plug, otherwise standard Framebuffer works? ✅ use DB13W3-VGA adapter OS boots? ✅ I’ve installed Solaris 2.5 to the two internal disks Working GUI? ✅ X Windows and CDE Working input devices?
Just over a month ago, late at night I was engaging in one of my favorite hobbies, “reread computing history articles on Wikipedia”. omg I think my calling in life might be to collect a wide array of "pizza box" workstations — cron mom (@sophaskins) July 18, 2017 I’m…perhaps not known for having incredibly good self control, so some eBay browsing later, I’d…
I know I’ve been stringing you all along for a bit - I’ve acquired a handful of workstations, some electronic components, some adapter cables, and I’m excited to get my hands dirty and show y’all the restoration process. Before we get to that, I want to explain one of my goals from the welcome post a bit more in depth. Restoration Most of the machine’s I’ve got…
If this project is about restoring pizzabox workstations, I have some defining of terms to do. A workstation sometimes means the desk where you work; a pizzabox normally contains a delicious tomato, crust, and cheese combination. For my project, though: A workstation is a computer system designed to be used by a professional. It runs specialized software for purposes like CAD/CAM, video editing,…
Well hello! This is the pizzabox.computer project - my project to restore “pizzabox” workstations. My goals are to: collect pizzabox workstations from a variety of manufacturers - if possible, from both before and after the move from Motorola 68000 series CPUs to RISC CPUs restore those workstations to be usable with modern peripherals (I don’t have the closet space for a dozen…