emv@math.lsa.umich.edu (03/30/89)
I have the well-known problem of Sun 3/60's getting disconnected from the (thick) ethernet because of the lousy Sun connectors. I'm sure there's someone who has solved this problem to their satisfaction. What did you do? --Ed Edward Vielmetti, U of Michigan Math Department, Ann Arbor
corwin@talcott.harvard.edu (-David C. Kovar) (04/07/89)
> I have the well-known problem of Sun 3/60's getting disconnected from the > (thick) ethernet because of the lousy Sun connectors. I'm sure there's > someone who has solved this problem to their satisfaction. What did you > do? We had a similar problem with the cables dropping off of the back of our new 386is if you even looked at them. I called the Hotline for hardware technical support and explained the problem. I received a very sturdy eight inch cable that goes between your normal cable and the CPU. No more cables have fallen off. The label on the cable is "530-1519-01 REV 1 495 8839". It'd be even better if it was a gooseneck but it works fine as is. -David C. Kovar Technical Consultant ARPA: kovar@husc4.harvard.edu Office of Information Technology BITNET: corwin@harvarda.bitnet Harvard University MacNET: DKovar Ma Bell: 617-495-5947
eap@bu-it.bu.edu (Eric Pearce) (04/21/89)
emv@math.lsa.umich.edu says: >X-Sun-Spots-Digest: Volume 7, Issue 215, message 8 of 19 > >I have the well-known problem of Sun 3/60's getting disconnected from the >(thick) ethernet because of the lousy Sun connectors. I'm sure there's >someone who has solved this problem to their satisfaction. What did you >do? I got tired of them falling off every time I breathed on them too. Sun board side: Just unscrew the clip on Sun side and put the hex-head studs from another connector on the board ( such as an unused ttya, ttyb, mouse or video port ) where the screws went. Ethernet cable side: Replace the studs on the ethernet cable with screws coming through the backside of the cable connector. These will screw into the tops of the studs on the board. The resulting connection is quite strong, if you trip on the ethernet cable, you can jerk your whole cpu cabinet sideways! -e Eric Pearce ARPANET eap@bu-it.bu.edu Boston University Information Technology CSNET eap%bu-it@bu-cs 111 Cummington Street JNET jnet%"ep@buenga" Boston MA 02215 UUCP !harvard!bu-cs!bu-it!eap 617-353-2780 voice 617-353-6260 fax BITNET ep@buenga
rmwise@cloud9.stratus.com (Robert Wise) (04/21/89)
emv@math.lsa.umich.edu writes: > I have the well-known problem of Sun 3/60's getting disconnected from the > (thick) ethernet because of the lousy Sun connectors. I'm sure there's > someone who has solved this problem to their satisfaction. What did you > do? What we do here at Stratus is remove the clip from the ethernet socket on the sun. There are two screws to remove. Remove the screws and the clip, and don't put the screws back in. This allows the drop cable connector to slide an extra 1/4" or so onto the sun-side connector. This has proved to be acceptable for us. -Bob Wise Stratus Computer rmwise@cloud9.uucp 508-460-2968
reg@sequent.afwl.af.mil (Reg Clemens) (04/21/89)
What you need is a REAL electronics store or a catalog. For less than $3
per machine you can buy a little package of those threaded extenders that
are on the rest of the connectors on the back back of the CPU and a
plastic shell to replace the one currently on the ethernet (DB15)
connector. You back out the screws that hold down that spring steel thing
that is supposed to hold in the ethernet connector, and replace them with
the extenders. You replace the current plated shell with the new plastic
one. Then you can screw down the damn connector just like a RS232 line.
I did this last week to four machines here. You don't even have to power
them off while your doing it.... works fine...no more need for little
piles of hardware to try to support this wondrous IEEE standard.
Reg.Clemens
clemens@afwl.af.milpat@decwrl.dec.com (Pat Lashley) (04/22/89)
emv@math.lsa.umich.edu writes: >I have the well-known problem of Sun 3/60's getting disconnected from the >(thick) ethernet because of the lousy Sun connectors. I'm sure there's >someone who has solved this problem to their satisfaction. What did you >do? This may be old news, but I have only been back on the net for a couple of months... The first thing that I do when we get a new transciever cable is remove one of the washers under each of the posts. This extra 1/16" seems to significantly improve connection quality. Sun is not the only company with a dbx connector problem. The only time that I have ever seen it work well was on an old TI 9900/4. They used a small dbx (15 ?) connector between the main box and the monitor. I would prefer some sort of bayonette clip as a standard connector type. Copyright (c) 1989 PM Lashley under the terms of the GNU General Public License PMLashley ...{sun | megatest | sts | zygot}!cohesive!kla!pat <<< I haven't lost my mind. It's backed up on tape somewhere... >>>
david@sun.com (David L. Kensiski 929-8844) (04/22/89)
My solution consisted of criss-crossing cable ties around the hood. One
cable tie assembly (I used 2 ties per assembly because 1 is too short)
would go from the back left of the hood (next to the cable) to the right
front and catch the clip. The other assembly would do the same thing,
only the other way.
_____ +--+
_____----- | |A'| (I used the A-A',
B| | | funky B-B' nomenclature
cable =========| db15 | |ethernet to keep the picture
A|_____ | | clip from getting too
-----_____| |B'| cluttered!)
+--+
If the above makes any sense, I ran one set of cable ties around the
connector from A to A', and anothe set from B to B'. This works best if
the connector has square corners, but if not, you might be able to rig
another cable tie at AB to hold the other two in place. Epoxy might do
the trick, too.
David L. Kensiski 1772 Tribute Road
Martin Marietta Data Systems Sacramento, CA 95815
UUCP: uunet!sun.com!sacto!orion!david VOICE: (916) 929-8844dave@lethe.UUCP (Dave Brown) (04/25/89)
If you are suffering from the common "Ethernet drop-cable fell off" problem, look at the cable-end to see if a flat and lock washer are under the **head** of the bolts which the clip clips onto. These "improvements" were not part of the orig. spec, but insead were added to help keep the bolts from falling off. Regrettable, they change designed depth of penetration of the connector, and so cause **it** to fall off... This looks like: ------+ | | +----+ | +- -+ | | | | +-- --+ | | | funny bolt-head for clip | | | | ------------ | ------------ redundant washers | ------------ +------------------------+ | body of plug | | -------------------------------+ ------------ non-redundant washers ------------ | | securing nut on bolt-end | | If you throw away the redundant washers, the plug can go all te REST of the way into the socket, making better mechanical and electrical contact, adn improving both signal quality and resistance to being bumped out. --dave -- David Collier-Brown, | {toronto area...}lethe!dave 78 Hillcrest Ave., | Joyce C-B: Willowdale, Ontario, | He's so smart he's dumb. CANADA M2N 3N7 |
dave@lethe.UUCP (Dave Collier-Brown) (05/06/89)
In article <2096@lethe.UUCP> dave@lethe.UUCP (Dave Brown) writes: >X-Sun-Spots-Digest: Volume 7, Issue 246, message 7 of 12 >If you are suffering from the common "Ethernet drop-cable fell off" >problem, look at the cable-end to see if a flat and lock washer are under >the **head** of the bolts which the clip clips onto. In the above article, I implied that the cable was "improved" ill-advisedly. I was just corrected: Sun made the fitting the cable connects to in a non-standard manner, thus requiring the cable to change to regain the contact depth required for good connections... --dave (I shoulda guessed) c-b -- David Collier-Brown, | {toronto area...}lethe!dave 72 Abitibi Ave., | Joyce C-B: Willowdale, Ontario, | He's so smart he's dumb. CANADA. 223-8968 |
joe@uunet.uu.net (Joe Michel-Angelo) (05/06/89)
emv@math.lsa.umich.edu writes: > I have the well-known problem of Sun 3/60's getting disconnected from the if you are really lazy, just take off the conector cover -- thus removing weight and strain ... the resulting coverless connector holds just fine! "The Network Joe Angelo, VP/Technical Support - Support Group Division Adminstrator Teknekron Software Systems, Palo Alto, CA 415-325-1025 Is the Computer" joe@tss.com - uunet!tekbspa!joe - tekbspa!joe@uunet.uu.net
rlk@think.com (Robert L. Krawitz) (05/06/89)
The local solution: The Sun, and most ethernet cables, have a couple of small washers between the stud and the body of the connector. This makes the top of the studs stick out further (about 1 or 2 mm), and it restricts how closely the connectors can be coupled. Removing all the washers (typically two each per side for the cable and the port, or eight total) allows the cables to be mated very tightly. It also leaves the slide clip in place (but difficult to move; you'll need a screwdriver or the like to move it if you do it properly; this is a feature rather than a bug) to provide some extra protection. ames >>>>>>>>> | Robert Krawitz <rlk@think.com> 245 First St. bloom-beacon > |think!rlk (postmaster) Cambridge, MA 02142 harvard >>>>>> . Thinking Machines Corp. (617)876-1111