[aklug] Re: Cobalt Cube

Dibs dibs dibs! I'm all about the Qubes! Some people restore old cars;
I restore or mod old computers. :-)

Some questions:

* Which models are the ones that you have available?

* Do they come with power supplies? (Missing power supplies are the
perennial problem with these guys).

* Do they boot up?

* Are they running the stock ROM, or have they been flashed with Tim
Hockin's replacement ROM? The MIPS boxes will run Debian and NetBSD if
you use the latter. Tim Hockin continued working on it after he left
Qube. Last I'd heard, he works at Google, making custom BIOSes for
their server infrastructure. Must be a pretty cool job.

I currently have a Qube 2 (MIPS 250MHz), Qube 3 (Intel 450MHz), a
Gateway MicroServer (like the Qube 2, but black), and a RaQ 2 (MIPS).
but I can always use parts, test machines, etc. I do not have a Qube
2700 yet. They are all a bit low on CPU, but you can beef the RAM up a
bit. The MIPS boxes tick along pretty well for actual services once
they start up, but anything high I/O or CPU makes them as slow as molasses.

If someone else is interested in tinkering, I'll split 'em with
somebody. :-) I can bring install media. Third-party OS installs on
the MIPS boxes can only be done via net booting. The Debian installer
is actually a bootable CD-ROM with all of the TFTP, DHCP and NFS fu
needed to do the net install, but you have to be using a particular
family of NIC. I think that I still have one knocking around.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cobalt_Qube
http://www.netbsd.org/Ports/cobalt/faq.html
http://www.cobaltfaqs.com/

Royce

barsalou said, on 08/15/2010 02:44 PM:
> I have access to two Cobalt Cubes to be given away.
>
> If someone is interested in playing around or taking one of these I
> will make them available at next FNL.
>
> Additionally, there are a bunch of WinCE devices (older than 3 years)
> that are looking for a good home as well.
>
> Same deal for those as well.
>
> Mike B.
>
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Received on Sun Aug 15 15:36:36 2010