[rescue] sun 3/60 update

[Dave McGuire]

On 5/27/25 16:25, Dan Moisa via rescue wrote:
> There are severe limitations to the pre-inbuilt MMU, but most might show 
> up when you have way more RAM available than what the machines were 
> designed for. If we got the full firmware code, ideally for both the 
> 3/60 and the 3/80, It would be technically possible to dump the 3/60 MMU 
> and use the inbuilt 68030 one and have a Frankenstein 3/70 or something. 

   This reminded me of the Digex days, early- to mid-1990s.  We did all 
sorts of unholy things with Sun gear in order to get work done, 
including a few things that Sun engineering loudly proclaimed "could not 
work".  At the time I used to say that the people who knew the least 
about Sun hardware were Sun engineers. ;)

   Anyway, at the time the two available VME enclosures for larger 
systems were the "60" and "80" boxes (x/x60, x/x80), floor sanding with 
casters and rackmount.  The floor standing ones were common and the 
rackmount version was a lot harder to find, and we needed as many of the 
rackmount ones as we could get. (we'd get three of those in a rack)

   But if you remove the casters from a "60" chassis and sit it on a 
wooden shelf in a rack, well...we called that a "70". B-)  I hesitate to 
admit to just how many of those we had running.

   I do miss those days.  I'm very thankful that LSSM gives me the 
chance (meaning "excuse") to wrangle all of that hardware again.  It 
really is some of the best stuff our industry has ever produced.

            -Dave

-- 
Dave McGuire, AK4HZ
New Kensington, PA