About NetBSD/sun3

NetBSD/sun3 is the port of NetBSD to the Sun Microsystems sun3, and sun3x series of computers, which are based on the Motorola 68020 and 68030 CPUs respectively, with a Sun-designed custom MMU. Sun sold these computers as both servers and desktop workstations from the mid to late 1980's. They were superseded by the sun4 SPARC RISC systems, which are supported by NetBSD as NetBSD/sparc.

Release Info

• NetBSD/sun3 10.0 via download
• NetBSD/sun3 10.0 ISO
• NetBSD/sun3 10.0 INSTALL notes
• NetBSD/sun3 10.0 pre-built binary packages from pkgsrc
• NetBSD/sun3 10.0 changes
• NetBSD/sun3 11.0 changes

Mailing List

The NetBSD/sun3 mailing list, covering NetBSD's port to sun3 machine: [ subscribe | archive ]

Mail the NetBSD/sun3 port maintainer

Supported Hardware

Supported System Models

See the Supported System Models page.

Supported Hardware

The following Sun3 devices are currently supported:

• RS-232c Serial ports:
  • built-in z8530 SCC as ttya, ttyb (zs(4))
• Sun Video adapters:
  • 1 bpp framebuffer, (bwtwo(4))
  • 8 bpp framebuffer (cgtwo(4))
  • 8 bpp (+overlay) framebuffer (cgfour(4))
• Network interfaces:
  • On-board AMD LANCE Ethernet (le(4))
  • On-board Intel Ethernet (ie(4))
  • VME Intel Ethernet board (ie(4))
• SCSI bus host adapters:
  • On-board NCR 5380 SCSI Bus Controller (si(4))
  • On-board Emulex SCSI controller on sun3x (esp(4))
  • Sun-3 VME SCSI (also NCR 5380 SBC, Sun part # 501-1236) (si(4))
• SMD Disks: (the big, heavy ones)
  • Xylogics 450/451 (xy(4))
  • Xylogics 753/7053 (xd(4))
• Floppy drive:
  • Sun 3/80 built-in floppy drive (fdc)
• Input devices:
  • Sun keyboard (kbd(4)) and mouse (ms(4))
• Miscellaneous:
  • Battery-backed real-time clock

If you have a device that's not listed, it might be compatible with something else, or we might have simply forgotten it. If all else fails, maybe you could write a driver!

Note: The Sun VME sc(4) SCSI card is not supported.

Additional Info

Features of NetBSD/sun3

• Native boot programs for disk, network, and tape
• Automated installation tools (using a "miniroot")
• SCSI drivers supporting DMA, interrupts, and (optional) disconnect/reselect
• Frame buffer drivers compatible with SunOS and X11R6
• Support for the Virtually Addressed Cache (VAC) on Sun3/2XX models
• Storage Module Device (SMD) disk drivers
• Supports most SCSI devices (CD-ROM, disk, etc)
• Diskless (network) boot capability
• Built-in kernel debugger
• SunOS 4.1 Compatibility

links

• ILVSUN3 page by arthur also has various useful information about TME and Sun3 stuff.
• The Machine Emulator (tme) can emulate a Sun 3/150 running NetBSD.
• Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ)