Does anyone have PROM 1.x for Sun-4c (aka SPARCstation 1.)

[AstridRedfern]

Hi all,

As some of you may know, I've been asking about the old Sun flight sim "Aviator" on these forums, and in particular looking for someone who can get versions 1.2 and/or 1.5.1 to work on their Sun hardware. The original thread for this is at https://forum.vcfed.org/index.php?t...or-sun-gx-hardware-e-g-sparcstations.1240578/ - and if you read the thread, you'll see that someone WAS able to get 1.5.1 running! However, they weren't able to import the terrain data from 1.2, or to get that version running. And there's a very non-trivial obstacle to doing that:

So it looks like 1.2 will only run on sunos 4.0-4.1 on sun3, sun3x, sun4, and early sun4c machines. Most of those machines are pretty rare these days and the p4 cgsix is basically unobtainium. Early sun4c machines are still somewhat common these days however most of them have been updated to the 2.x prom so can't run sunos 4.1 or below. I spent some time looking on the web for a 1.x prom file but I can't find any, it seems people only save the latest version. So if anyone out there has a ss1, ss1+, ipc, slc with a 1.x prom try installing sunos 4.0.3c and running aviator 1.2.

So... does anyone have a copy of PROM 1.x that they could upload somewhere? I should add that someone in the original thread MIGHT still have 1.6... or might not have a copy of that file any more. And as @tokenalt points out, no 1.X PROM files are available for download anywhere online.

Cheers, and thanks to anyone who can help.

Astrid.

 

[AstridRedfern]

These are some responses I've received on Reddit. I'm not familiar with Sun hardware myself (which is why I'm asking for help from you clever people!) So I'd like to ask for some more information once you've read the below Reddit quote. To whit:

• Does anyone know the answer to leadedsolder's question - which ROM IC "it" uses? I don't know if the "it" they're asking about is their SS1+ or about @tokenalt's Sun 4C, so information about the ROM IC used in either/both would be helpful. I'll repost any answers in that Reddit thread (old DOT reddit DOT com/r/vintagecomputing/comments/zc9dey/looking_for_prom_1x_for_sun4c_aka_sparcstation_1/)

Here we go:

leadedsolder 0 points 15 hours ago*

Calling “version” on my SS1+ (which refuses to boot anything) reports Version 1.3 Release 4, according to my notes. It’s a little under a pile right now but I can dig it up. Do you know what kind of ROM IC it uses? I have a TL866 ROM programmer that can do a dump.

I honestly would like a 2.x ROM so I could run a TurboGX card…

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[–]leliel 1 point 12 hours ago

I think you're out of luck cause the 1+ is the only machine I can't find a 2.x rom for. But that machine should run sunos 4.0.3c fine.

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[–]leadedsolder 1 point 12 hours ago

Yeah, I found a reference to a service kit to upgrade to 2.x but I never found a dump of the ROM.

I’ll try to fish the SS1+ out this week and dump the rom to see if it’s of any use for this flight simulator quest.

 

[AstridRedfern]

Update - the ROM IC they were asking about is definitely for the SS1+.

 

[evan1]

I have a SS1+ as well and when I get around to it I'll check if it's the ROM version you need.