bob@psitech.com (Bob Posert) (12/08/90)
I just received three Sparcengine 1e's, and the docs are "on the way." I'd like to get the diagnostics, etc. going, but the serial connectors use a vga (like an IBM pc) connector. The local Sun office doesn't know the pinouts. Can the net be of help? Thanks in advance, I'm bob@psitech.com or uunet!psitech!bob
donny@ncar.ucar.edu (Donny E. Closson) (12/11/90)
In article <636@brchh104.bnr.ca> bob@psitech.com (Bob Posert) writes: >I just received three Sparcengine 1e's, and the docs are "on the way." I'd >like to get the diagnostics, etc. going, but the serial connectors use a >vga (like an IBM pc) connector. The local Sun office doesn't know the >pinouts. Can the net be of help? From top-bottom, left-right pins are: 8 - RxTC ; 7 - DCD ; 6 - RTS 5 - Rxd ; 4 - GND ; 3 - Txd 2 - CTS/RxC ; 1 - DTR hope this helps! Donny E. Closson donny@romed.uucp MicroAge Computer Centers, Inc. ..mit-eddie!romed!donny Technical Services Group ..sun!sunburn!romed!donny Tempe, AZ ..ucsd!romed!donny (602) 968-3168 Ext 2216 ..asuvax!romed!donny
dav@genisco.gtc.com (David L. Markowitz) (12/12/90)
In comp.sys.sun bob@psitech.com (Bob Posert) writes: >I just received three Sparcengine 1e's, and the docs are "on the way." I'd >like to get the diagnostics, etc. going, but the serial connectors use a >vga (like an IBM pc) connector. The local Sun office doesn't know the >pinouts. Can the net be of help? Excerpted from the 1E manual chapters 18 & 19: (c) Sun Microsystems ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- Serial A Definition: The A serial port interface supports asynchronous RS-423 with full modem control lines, and supports RS-449 on selected lines. [...] In addition to the RS-423 interface logic, four of the signals are brought out to separate connector pins via RS-422 compatible drivers, and receivers. Transmit Dta (TxD), Receive Data (RxD), Request to Send (RTS) and XClear to Send (CTS) signals are provided for use in electrically noisy environments or where longer cable lengths are required. Serial A Performance: Async Speed: 19.2 baud [ I assume they meant 19.2 Kbaud here ] Sync Speed: 9600 baud The Synchronous Serial Communications Controller (Z8530) will support data rates up to 2M bps. However, RS-232 limits transmission rates in asynchronous mode to 20K bps, and RS-423 limits data ratrs to 100K bps. The maximum baud rate supported by the boot PROM on the SPARCengine 1E is 19.2K bps and assumes a 1/16 bit clock divisor. Faster bit rates can be programmed for custom applications. Refer to the Z8530 SCC tech manuals for more details. For reference, the clock input to the SCC for baud rate generation is 4.9152 MHz. The Connector: [Because 25-pins wouldn't fit] The connector style is a 15-pin 3-row female (or receptacle) connector housed in a standard DB-9 shell, commonly referred to as a "double-density" or "high-density" connector. Mating (plug) connectors are available from a variety of vendors. Below are several: Manufacturer Part Number ------------ ----------- AMP 204501-3 ITT Cannon ZDEA111981 Viking DDS2MS1 Serial A Connector Pinout List (connector J1201): Signal Pin Comments ------ --- ------------------ GND 1 Ground TxD 2 Transmit Data (RS-423 only) RxD- 3 Receive Data- (RS-423 and RS-422) RTS 4 Request to Send (RS-423 only) CTS- 5 Clear to Send- (RS-423 and RS-422) DSR 6 Data Set Ready DTR 7 Data Terminal Ready DCD 8 Data Carrier Detect RTS+ 9 Request to Send+ (RS-422 only) RTS- 10 Request to Send- (RS-422 only) CTS+ 11 Clear to Send+ (RS-422 only) TxD+ 12 Transmit Data+ (RS-422 only) TxD- 13 Transmit Data- (RS-422 only) RxD+ 14 Receive Data+ (RS-422 only) GND 15 Chassis Ground ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- Port B is similar, but has the following differences: Synchronous lines have been added to support SunLink (TxC, TxCO, and RxC). It (apparently?) does not fully support RS-422 handshaking. Serial B Connector Pinout List (connector J1202): Signal Pin Comments ------ --- ------------------ GND 1 Ground TxD 2 Transmit Data (RS-423 and RS-232) RxD- 3 Receive Data (RS-423 and RS-232) RTS 4 Request to Send CTS- 5 Clear to Send DSR 6 Data Set Ready DTR 7 Data Terminal Ready DCD 8 Data Carrier Detect TxC 9 Sync Transmit Clock (Input) TxCO 10 Sync Transmit Clock (Output) RxC 11 Sync Receive Clock (Input) TxD+ 12 Transmit Data+ (RS-422 only) TxD- 13 Transmit Data- (RS-422 only) RxD+ 14 Receive Data+ (RS-422 only) GND 15 Chassis Ground David L. Markowitz Genisco Technology Corporation dav@gtc.com
fitz@frc2.frc.ri.cmu.edu (Kerien Fitzpatrick) (12/13/90)
Our group purchased one of the SPARC 1E and we ran into some trouble with the serial lines. The environment in which it was set up (a mobile robot) caused some noise problems in the serial lines. Since the ports do provide for RS-422 it was possible to purchase a RS-422 to RS-232 converter from BlackBox which eliminated our problems. If you plan to make extensive use of the serial lines in an environment with high freq. AC be ready for this. As a general note, the performance of the SPARC 1E was disappointing at best. Comparing the same code between a diskless 1+ with 12Mb memory and the diskfull (yes, I was using a second ethernet board) SPARC 1E with 8Mb - the code rmore than three times as fast on the 1+. A nice alternative if you need VME is to use one of the SBus <-> VMEbus adaptors. When we swapped out the SPARC 1E with a 1+ motherboard and Solflower's SBus <-> VMEbus adaptor (and kept the local disk) we picked up performance from the diskless 1+ (as would be expected). Given University discount, the 1+ motherboard + Solflower costs less than the SPARC 1E + 4Mb ECC memory board. The SPARC 1E is a good idea, the implementation leaves a lot to be desired. We are going with the motherboards + Solflower because of easy (and cheap) memory upgrade, three SBus slots, price, performance, and retaining standard SunOS (I've heard 4.1e will be ready first quarter 91). Beyond that you still have the nice audio I/O port (great on a mobile robot....you can record audio for playback....have the errorhandler trap - AAAAARRRRRRRGGGGGHHHHHH!!!! another bug!). Kerien Fitzpatrick Pittsburgh, PA 15213 Field Robotics Center (412)268-6564 The Robotics Institute Internet: fitz@frc2.frc.ri.cmu.edu Carnegie Mellon University