The Rough Guide to MBus Modules

SPARCplug-PC

SPARCplug-Solo

SPARCplug-Station

SPARCplug-Server

Systems

Overheating

Configuration Table

SPARCplug User Guide (by Ross Technologies)

Pictures

Systems

The SPARCplug is a tiny workstation-on-a-board mounted in a module the same size as a full-height 5-1/4 inch disk drive.

The SPARCplug module contains a single MBus slot, on-board audio, SCSI, Ethernet, two RS-232 ports, a mini-DIN keyboard socket, a single SBus slot, and four 200-pin SIMM slots, and even a low-profile SCSI disk drive!

This module was incorporated into four retail configurations:

PC: SPARCplug module mounted in the drive-bay of a PC, using power from the host PC. Packaged with X server software for the PC, to allow sharing of screen and keyboard via "remote-X-display".
Solo: SPARCplug module mounted in a minitower case (basically a four-bay disk drive enclosure), together with a CDROM drive, packaged with Web server for the SPARCplug and a PC X server for installation on an extant PC.
Station: like the Solo, but fitted with an SBus TGX framebuffer, and local screen and keyboard - a traditional standalone workstation.
Server: like the Solo, but excludes the PC X server software.

The standard models included either:

dual 100 Mhz HyperSPARCs (HM100D-256)
dual 125 MHz HyperSPARCs (HM125D-512)
single 150 MHz HyperSPARC (HM150S-512)
single 180 MHz HyperSPARC (most probably HM180S-512)

Overheating

The SPARCplug enclosure is miniscule, and thus you must avoid using hot MBus modules - otherwise you'll cook it.

Each configuration of MBus modules below is given one of the following "heat ratings":

Rating	Means...
deadly	hot enough to kill the motherboard/module/power-supply
harmful	prolonged use is likely to kill a module
safe	may run hot, but not enough to damage anything

NOTE: The above heat-ratings are normalised against an ambient air temperature of upto 30 Celcius. If the external air temperature is above 30 Celcius, you should take extra care.

Other Issues

Obviously, you will not be able to use double-width MBus modules in any SPARCplug system.

I suspect that the MBus speed is set with firmware commands, just like the HyperSTATION-30.

MBus Module Configuration Table

Module Type	No. of (identical) Modules	Fits and Works?	Minimum BootPROM Level	Heat Rating
CYM6001K SMany HM142W-1024 HM150W-512	1	no	n/a	n/a
CYM6001K SMany HM142W-1024 HM150W-512	2	no	n/a	n/a
HMany-256 HM125S-512 HM133S-512 HM180S-512	1	yes	any	safe
HMany-256 HM125S-512 HM133S-512 HM180S-512	2	no	n/a	n/a
HM110S-1024 HM125S-1024 HM142S-1024	1	yes	any	harmful??
HM110S-1024 HM125S-1024 HM142S-1024	2	no	n/a	n/a
HM110D-1024 HM125D-512 HM125D-1024 HM133D-512 HM150D-512	1	yes	any	deadly
HM110D-1024 HM125D-512 HM125D-1024 HM133D-512 HM150D-512	2	no	n/a	n/a
HM150S-512	1	yes	any	just about safe
HM150S-512	2	no	n/a	n/a
HM166S-512 HM180D-512 HMx4D-512	1	yes	any	harmful?
HM166S-512 HM180D-512 HMx4D-512	2	no	n/a	n/a
HMx4S-512	1	yes	any	safe
HMx4S-512	2	no	n/a	n/a
HMx4.5S-512	1	yes, if MBus is set to 40MHz	any	safe
HMx4.5S-512	2	no	n/a	n/a

Mike Spooner, revised 18th June 2005