Running Linux, Third Edition

Appendix F. Installing Linux on Sun SPARC Systems

by David S. Miller, Red Hat Software

The SPARC port of Linux supports a wide range of systems, from the very low end to the extremely high end. Most people who have a Sun workstation or server around and would like to try Linux on it are likely to find that it is fully supported and works rather well. There are some small gaps here and there, but development is closing them as time goes on.

Supported Hardware

Support for Linux varies not only by series but by subseries. All series except the Enterprise 10000 and ancient sun4 systems are now fully supported. Work is under way to bring the others into line. Symmetric multiprocessing (SMP) kernels run on all series except sun4c.

In addition to the systems listed in this section, several clone vendors exist. If their clones are truly compatible with the equivalent Sun systems, Linux will work on them.

Sun4c Systems

These systems are supported by both the 2.0.x and 2.2.x series Linux kernels:

SPARCStation SLC, SPARCStation ELC

These two sun4c systems have the motherboard right behind the monitor tube in the same encasement. I like to jokingly refer to them as “SPARCintosh” systems due to this layout. The SLC systems were the first Sun hardware ever to successfully run Linux.

SPARCStation IPX, SPARCStation IPC

These machines are enclosed in a small shoebox-like case and use an external monitor.

SPARCStation 1, SPARCStation 1+, SPARCStation 2

These were the first “pizza box"-style Sun workstations. ...