Free X terminals for a good home!
J. Seth Henry
jshamlet at comcast.net
Wed Jan 7 11:38:00 PST 2004
Guys/Gals,
In another attempt to reduce my inventory of gadgets, I've decided to to a
bit more purging. This time, it's X terminals. Yes - I do have the server
side software for all of them, so they won't end up as doorstops.
2x IBM Netstation 1000 terminals. Nice, fast - but limited to 256 colors. They
also require an NFS server to mount the OS, as they don't have the PCMCIA
slot for local storage. I have given up on attempting to run NetBSD on them,
as I am no kernel hacker. They have an unbelievable amount of RAM (64 in one,
32 in the other), but only about 12 is required for the X server.
2x NCD Explora 451 terminals. Also nice, though not as fast as the
Netstations. These, unfortunately, have the faulty PCI bridge chip - limiting
them to 256 colors. Trust me on that one, I learned the hard way... At 256
colors, though, they are quite stable. These DO have 12MB PCMCIA flash cards,
so they don't require an NFS server.
2x NCD Explora 701 terminals. Nice, fast - and they run in 16-bit color. One
of them is a bit finicky about booting up, but I suspect the SIMM socket just
needs a bit of cleaning. The other works fine. Not sure why, but the X server
has some "issues" with certain X apps. Specifically xmms and mozilla. The
"good" one has a 12Mb PCMCIA memory card.
The NCD terminals have a copy of NCDware 5.1.140 on their flash memory cards -
and their NFS servers are enabled (so you can mount them remotely, and muck
with the configuration). I have the Netstation server software, which I can
put on a CD-R, or I can make it available on an FTP server.
These terminals are great for headless servers running in closets, or for
application servers. In fact, my primary server doesn't even have a video
card or keyboard. It literally has only a power cord, network cable, and SCSI
cable. I use two NCD Explora 451's (with the good PCI bridge) as displays.
As a side note, they DO support NAS audio (it's called MWM audio on the
Explora's, but it is compatable with NAS). However, the output is EXTREMELY
noisy. You can hear the mouse move by listening to the static...
Lastly, these are full of old EDO SIMM's. Most are 16Mb modules, but some are
32Mb modules. However, the RAM goes with the terminals. :)
They are available for the cost of shipping them to you. (Free if you happen
to live near Ft. Meade or Baltimore MD)
Regards,
Seth Henry
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