Sothius' Home of Ancient Microcomputers

Sun SPARCstation IPX

SPARCstation IPX (28 KBytes)

The SPARCstation IPX in the compact 'lunchbox design'. Also see the keyboard closeup
(picture copyright by M.A.Grundke)

Specifications

Name Sun SPARCstation IPX (model 4/50)

Codename 'Hobbes' (see misc)

Made by Sun Microsystems, Inc.

Released 1992

Serial-No. 600-2886-02
246MZ896

Sun specific
Sun-4c architecture
MODEL NO: 47B
SERVICE CODE: 4/50
the '4/50' designation is historical, because all earlier Sun machines made use of that naming scheme (i.e. the Motorola-based 1/xxx, 2/xxx and 3/xxx, and the very first SPARC designs, 4/xxx). However, with the Sun-4c architecture, Sun introduced an easier naming scheme (e.g. SPARCstation IPX, IPC, SLC etc). With introduction of the SPARCstation 10, they got back to numbering the machines, but still this was easier than the early designations

with the Sun-4c architecture (most probably named after the SPARCstation 1, codename 'Campus'), the earlier machines' VME bus was replaced by SBus as specified in IEEE 1496. Additionally, it featured a reworked MMU design

Board info
MODEL 450 CPU
N572931717M7602724
ICL © 1991 MADE IN UK

PBN 270-1959-02
also see the board overview

CPU/ Caches Weitek W8601-040
AT&T CACHE+ 1130A3
FPU integrated on-chip
external 64K write-through cache:
2 pcs. AT&T ATT7C157M-18 (16Kx16 SRAMs)

external 1 MB additional CPU-cache (AT&T CACHE+)
80 KB additional cache (purpose unknown):
6 pcs. Toshiba TC55417J-20H (16Kx4 SRAMs)
1 piece Toshiba TC55328J-20 (32Kx8 SRAM)
the W8601 implements the SPARC-V7 architecture with 4-stage integer pipeline (see misc). Other IPX, by the way, came with Weitek W8701 or Fujitsu MB68903 (identical to the W8601)

Speed 40 MHz

RAM AT&T MMU+ 1114D
AT&T RAM+ 1114E
16 MBytes (1x 4Mx33 DSIMM)
what Sun calls 'DSIMMs' are just 72pin PS/2-SIMMs with parity (1Mx33/ 4Mx33 or 1Mx36/ 4Mx36)
expandable to 128 MB (64MB onboard, additional 64MB via SBus)

ROM/ Native OS Sun 525-1177-06 (256Kx8) boot PROM
contains Sun OpenBoot 2.90 version 20
machine came with SunOS 4.1.1 or higher (the first to support the IPX)
Solaris 9 was the last SunOS-successor supporting the IPX and SPARC V7
OpenBoot consists of bootstrap-code and powerful diagnostic/ debugging tools (the 'Forth Toolkit')
the PROM's settings are stored in a NVRAM

Keyboard/ Layout Sun type 5 keyboard
119 keys/ german layout (QWERTZ)
'Power on' key ('Soft power on', doesn't work with the IPX)
has 8 pin small-DIN connector (for mouse)
earlier Sun-4 architecture machines (and maybe some IPX as well) came with Sun type 4 keyboards, which had a slightly different layout (e.g. function keys on the left side). For compatibility, however, type 5 keyboards still identify themselves as type 4

Graphics cgsix framebuffer onboard:
Sun GX 2D graphics accelerator
Brooktree Bt458LPJ135 RAMDAC
16KB Bt458 video RAM:
8 pcs. Micron Semiconductor MT42C8128DJ (2Kx8 SRAMs)
takes up to 1 MB RAM as framebuffer upon operation
Resolutions:
1022x1000 @ 76Hz (*)
1024x800 @ 85Hz (*)
1152x900 @ 66Hz

1152x900 @ 76Hz
Max.colors: 256 (8 bit - no other depth available)
compared to its SBus-equivalent, the IPX's onboard cgsix has two additional resolutions (*), but doesn't support ECL output levels anymore (used for some monchrome monitors)

SPARCstations detect the monitor via sense pins (13W3 pins 3, 8 & 9) to set resolutions & refresh rates accordingly
the cgsix was also called LEGO: 'Low End Graphics Option'

Sound AMD 79C30AJC/D Digital Subscriber Controller
8KHz sampling in u-Law & A-law formats (both input and output)
single-channel (monaural) audio
the AMD 79C30A, which was designed as an ISDN controller device, only supports monaural audio and is quite slow. It is used to implement audio in the whole Sun 4c series and SPARC 6xx servers
output via built-in speaker; external amplifiers usable via audio in/out

Media NCR 53C90A (narrow, single-bus SCSI-2 controller)
Intel N82072 (floppy controller)
integrated 3.5 inch triple-density diskdrive
Sun, IBM & NEC compatible
720, 1200 or 1440 KBytes per disk
no eject button ('Soft eject' via command)
one internal (3.5 inch HD) and up to five external SCSI-2 devices
this particular machine came with Quantum 535MB harddisk

Input/ Output 2x AMD85C30-8JC SCC (serial communications controller)
UC5710CQ serial port line driver
UC5810CQ serial port line receiver
AMD 7990JC/80 'Lance'-chipset DMA-controller
AMD 7992BJC 'Lance'-chipset SIA (serial interface adaptor)
AT&T 1119A (DMA controller?)
2x Sun SBus slot @ 20MHz for internal expansion (IEEE 1496 compliant)
13W3 monitor-out
50 pin HD SCSI-2 connector
internal 50 pin flatbed SCSI-2 connector
internal 34 pin flatbed floppy connector
15 pin SUB-D Ethernet-AUI
2x 8 pin mini-DIN serial (RS232/ RS423)
8 pin mini-DIN keyboard
8 pin mini-DIN audio in/out (for microphone/ headset)

standard power outlet (for monitor) & power receptacle
mouse is connected to the keyboard's mini-DIN connector
machine has a battery backed-up clock

Miscellaneous
SPARC means 'Scalable Processor ARChitecture', and is based on David Patterson's RISC architecture (which he had developed at UC Berkeley). Together with Bill Joy and some other engineers from Sun Microsystems, they created the SPARC architecture in 1984. Two years later, the first SPARC-standard ('SPARC-V7') was created, and the first SPARC-CPU was built by Sun and Fujitsu. Later followed SPARC-V8 (implemented in Sun's SuperSPARC-, MicroSPARC- and HyperSPARC-designs) and SPARC-V9 (Sun UltraSPARC). Generally interesting is that SPARC is an 'open' standard, meaning that everybody can build a SPARC-compatible processor (which is e.g. what Fujitsu did in 1995 by creating their SPARC64 line)
This machine's CPU is a typical SPARC-V7 implementation, defined by an unified cache for data + instructions, and a four-stage integer pipeline
The IPX comes in the popular 'lunchbox-design', which was also used for SPARCstation IPC (4/40), SPARCstation LX/ ZX (4/30), SPARCstation Classic/ LC (4/15) and SPARCstation Classic X (4/10)

There's some sort of 'urban legend' about the IPX' mainboard, i.e. about the cat silkscreened to the board (see picture below). Lots of people assume that it's Hobbes (from Bill Watterson's Calvin & Hobbes comics), because of the machine's codename (which is indeed named after the comic - the SPARCstation 2's codename was 'Calvin'). It was hard for me to believe, because due to my research (never read Calvin & Hobbes myself), Hobbes is a tiger. So I was glad to receive a message from somebody calling himself 'SiliconValleyTechie!'. He (?) told me that this drawing was done by a girl named 'Bonet' (or similiar), showing her own cat, not Watterson's Hobbes. Since she was one of Sun's board layouters these days (formerly working for Xerox, where SiliconValleyTechie! got to know her), she decided to do that silkscreening for fun, and it stayed there. So my assumption is that she was indeed a Watterson fan and had named her cat 'Hobbes' after the comic strip - maybe silscreening the original Hobbes wasn't possible because of copyright reasons? But don't want to start another urban legend...

Hobbes (35 KBytes)

The cat silkscreened to the IPX' mainboard. The drawing was done by one of the board layouters, showing her pet (see 'Misc' above)

Note that 'Calvin & Hobbes' characters and comic-books are © Bill Watterson. All other content, including pictures is (C) M.A.Grundke (aka Sothius), unless otherwise noted. Unauthorized copying or usage of that content, without former permission from M.A.Grundke or the rightful copyright-holder, is prohibited

Sothius' Home - Museum - Miscellaneous - Sun SPARCstation IPX - additional pictures

Name	Sun SPARCstation IPX (model 4/50)
Codename	'Hobbes' (see misc)
Made by	Sun Microsystems, Inc.
Released	1992
Serial-No.	600-2886-02 246MZ896
Sun specific	Sun-4c architecture MODEL NO: 47B SERVICE CODE: 4/50 the '4/50' designation is historical, because all earlier Sun machines made use of that naming scheme (i.e. the Motorola-based 1/xxx, 2/xxx and 3/xxx, and the very first SPARC designs, 4/xxx). However, with the Sun-4c architecture, Sun introduced an easier naming scheme (e.g. SPARCstation IPX, IPC, SLC etc). With introduction of the SPARCstation 10, they got back to numbering the machines, but still this was easier than the early designations with the Sun-4c architecture (most probably named after the SPARCstation 1, codename 'Campus'), the earlier machines' VME bus was replaced by SBus as specified in IEEE 1496. Additionally, it featured a reworked MMU design
Board info	MODEL 450 CPU N572931717M7602724 ICL © 1991 MADE IN UK PBN 270-1959-02 also see the board overview
CPU/ Caches	Weitek W8601-040 AT&T CACHE+ 1130A3 FPU integrated on-chip external 64K write-through cache: 2 pcs. AT&T ATT7C157M-18 (16Kx16 SRAMs) external 1 MB additional CPU-cache (AT&T CACHE+) 80 KB additional cache (purpose unknown): 6 pcs. Toshiba TC55417J-20H (16Kx4 SRAMs) 1 piece Toshiba TC55328J-20 (32Kx8 SRAM) the W8601 implements the SPARC-V7 architecture with 4-stage integer pipeline (see misc). Other IPX, by the way, came with Weitek W8701 or Fujitsu MB68903 (identical to the W8601)
Speed	40 MHz
RAM	AT&T MMU+ 1114D AT&T RAM+ 1114E 16 MBytes (1x 4Mx33 DSIMM) what Sun calls 'DSIMMs' are just 72pin PS/2-SIMMs with parity (1Mx33/ 4Mx33 or 1Mx36/ 4Mx36) expandable to 128 MB (64MB onboard, additional 64MB via SBus)
ROM/ Native OS	Sun 525-1177-06 (256Kx8) boot PROM contains Sun OpenBoot 2.90 version 20 machine came with SunOS 4.1.1 or higher (the first to support the IPX) Solaris 9 was the last SunOS-successor supporting the IPX and SPARC V7 OpenBoot consists of bootstrap-code and powerful diagnostic/ debugging tools (the 'Forth Toolkit') the PROM's settings are stored in a NVRAM
Keyboard/ Layout	Sun type 5 keyboard 119 keys/ german layout (QWERTZ) 'Power on' key ('Soft power on', doesn't work with the IPX) has 8 pin small-DIN connector (for mouse) earlier Sun-4 architecture machines (and maybe some IPX as well) came with Sun type 4 keyboards, which had a slightly different layout (e.g. function keys on the left side). For compatibility, however, type 5 keyboards still identify themselves as type 4
Graphics	cgsix framebuffer onboard: Sun GX 2D graphics accelerator Brooktree Bt458LPJ135 RAMDAC 16KB Bt458 video RAM: 8 pcs. Micron Semiconductor MT42C8128DJ (2Kx8 SRAMs) takes up to 1 MB RAM as framebuffer upon operation Resolutions: 1022x1000 @ 76Hz () 1024x800 @ 85Hz* () 1152x900 @ 66Hz* 1152x900 @ 76Hz Max.colors: 256 (8 bit - no other depth available) compared to its SBus-equivalent, the IPX's onboard cgsix has two additional resolutions (), but doesn't support ECL output levels* anymore (used for some monchrome monitors) SPARCstations detect the monitor via sense pins (13W3 pins 3, 8 & 9) to set resolutions & refresh rates accordingly the cgsix was also called LEGO: 'Low End Graphics Option'
Sound	AMD 79C30AJC/D Digital Subscriber Controller 8KHz sampling in u-Law & A-law formats (both input and output) single-channel (monaural) audio the AMD 79C30A, which was designed as an ISDN controller device, only supports monaural audio and is quite slow. It is used to implement audio in the whole Sun 4c series and SPARC 6xx servers output via built-in speaker; external amplifiers usable via audio in/out
Media	NCR 53C90A (narrow, single-bus SCSI-2 controller) Intel N82072 (floppy controller) integrated 3.5 inch triple-density diskdrive Sun, IBM & NEC compatible 720, 1200 or 1440 KBytes per disk no eject button ('Soft eject' via command) one internal (3.5 inch HD) and up to five external SCSI-2 devices this particular machine came with Quantum 535MB harddisk
Input/ Output	2x AMD85C30-8JC SCC (serial communications controller) UC5710CQ serial port line driver UC5810CQ serial port line receiver AMD 7990JC/80 'Lance'-chipset DMA-controller AMD 7992BJC 'Lance'-chipset SIA (serial interface adaptor) AT&T 1119A (DMA controller?) 2x Sun SBus slot @ 20MHz for internal expansion (IEEE 1496 compliant) 13W3 monitor-out 50 pin HD SCSI-2 connector internal 50 pin flatbed SCSI-2 connector internal 34 pin flatbed floppy connector 15 pin SUB-D Ethernet-AUI 2x 8 pin mini-DIN serial (RS232/ RS423) 8 pin mini-DIN keyboard 8 pin mini-DIN audio in/out (for microphone/ headset) standard power outlet (for monitor) & power receptacle mouse is connected to the keyboard's mini-DIN connector machine has a battery backed-up clock
Miscellaneous	SPARC means 'Scalable Processor ARChitecture', and is based on David Patterson's RISC architecture (which he had developed at UC Berkeley). Together with Bill Joy and some other engineers from Sun Microsystems, they created the SPARC architecture in 1984. Two years later, the first SPARC-standard ('SPARC-V7') was created, and the first SPARC-CPU was built by Sun and Fujitsu. Later followed SPARC-V8 (implemented in Sun's SuperSPARC-, MicroSPARC- and HyperSPARC-designs) and SPARC-V9 (Sun UltraSPARC). Generally interesting is that SPARC is an 'open' standard, meaning that everybody can build a SPARC-compatible processor (which is e.g. what Fujitsu did in 1995 by creating their SPARC64 line) This machine's CPU is a typical SPARC-V7 implementation, defined by an unified cache for data + instructions, and a four-stage integer pipeline The IPX comes in the popular 'lunchbox-design', which was also used for SPARCstation IPC (4/40), SPARCstation LX/ ZX (4/30), SPARCstation Classic/ LC (4/15) and SPARCstation Classic X (4/10) There's some sort of 'urban legend' about the IPX' mainboard, i.e. about the cat silkscreened to the board (see picture below). Lots of people assume that it's Hobbes (from Bill Watterson's Calvin & Hobbes comics), because of the machine's codename (which is indeed named after the comic - the SPARCstation 2's codename was 'Calvin'). It was hard for me to believe, because due to my research (never read Calvin & Hobbes myself), Hobbes is a tiger. So I was glad to receive a message from somebody calling himself 'SiliconValleyTechie!'. He (?) told me that this drawing was done by a girl named 'Bonet' (or similiar), showing her own cat, not Watterson's Hobbes. Since she was one of Sun's board layouters these days (formerly working for Xerox, where SiliconValleyTechie! got to know her), she decided to do that silkscreening for fun, and it stayed there. So my assumption is that she was indeed a Watterson fan and had named her cat 'Hobbes' after the comic strip - maybe silscreening the original Hobbes wasn't possible because of copyright reasons? But don't want to start another urban legend...