Sun Machine 500 HDD

[outdoorsman310]

My school gave me a sun machine 500. I was told the hard drive is bad by the instructor that taught me electrical. Where would I get a HDD for one of these and are these machines still usable on modern vehicles? It has many accessories, and I believe that it is also a oscilloscope? That would be neat because I was looking to purchase a scope recently.

If anybody knows about these machines, I would appreciate any input. Thanks

 

[drivesitfar]

i'm not sure why nobody has responded to your thread yet so i'll bump it up and maybe somebody will see it today. i don't know if much of the electronics on those are still available or useful unless you own the cars they were made for.

i do know that the cabinets are very desirable and sell for quite a bit if you have it in decent shape even without the electronics. or just clean it up and find a spot for it in your garage and shop and use for storage if the electronics are too expensive to repair or not really needed.

are you able to post pictures which might help get you some replies?


good luck

 

[redsand187]

I'm fairly certain it just uses a standard IDE hard drive. Granted, they aren't common any more as those drives have been replaced with newer technology, it shouldn't be too hard to find one.

The machine will always have a use. It's more now days, those uses are coming in smaller simpler packages. However, if the one you have is outfitted with a 4-5 gas analyzer, then you scored big and it will be useful for a long time as long as it continues to operate.

 

[outdoorsman310]

I know that it runs windows 95, I will post some pictures of it eventually. The machine has many accessories but I do not know if it has a gas analyzer. Hopefully a new hdd is not too expensive.

 

[garthg]

Our city transfer station (dump) accepts old computers. A lot of people remove the hard drives, but a lot of people don't.
I would go to wherever people leave such old electronics in your area and look for a likely candidate to have a hard drive. A little internet research would probably tell you what type of computer would likely have the drive for which you're looking.

 

[oldgoaly]

you might check the engine analyzer yahoogroup there are a couple of sharp guys on the new stuff! my stuff is much older.

 

[Alta_Racer]

Have you turned the scope on? Will it boot? If not will it open bios?
This will perhaps tell if the hdd is actually dead.

I think all Sun 450/500 have 4 gas unless used for dyno, then 5 gas.

If you need a hdd, you need to find a repair shop that can re-image the hdd, that is the best way to get it back running. It can be done with the CD and the install floppy. What version is the CD?

I have a 450 and a 500 for the dyno, and a re-image disc and install floppy, can arrange to send to you if ness. I even have a hdd that will work for you, I might be able to re-image it if all else fails. I somewhere have a pdf operators manual if you need it.

Answer the questions at top of post and I will try to help, we need to know what is broken to fix it.

 

[outdoorsman310]

Have you turned the scope on? Will it boot? If not will it open bios?
This will perhaps tell if the hdd is actually dead.

I think all Sun 450/500 have 4 gas unless used for dyno, then 5 gas.

If you need a hdd, you need to find a repair shop that can re-image the hdd, that is the best way to get it back running. It can be done with the CD and the install floppy. What version is the CD?

I have a 450 and a 500 for the dyno, and a re-image disc and install floppy, can arrange to send to you if ness. I even have a hdd that will work for you, I might be able to re-image it if all else fails. I somewhere have a pdf operators manual if you need it.

Answer the questions at top of post and I will try to help, we need to know what is broken to fix it.

Ithank you for your offer! I will get it home, reconnect all wires and go from ther. I am hoping it it just not set up or something.

 

[outdoorsman310]

https://scontent-a-iad.**.fbcdn.net/hphotos-xfp1/v/t1.0-9/10492340_869373426411648_2983683597954921894_n.jpg?oh=e3b31a4e25d568143c10bccdc5e2319a&oe=541234DChttps://scontent-b-iad.**.fbcdn.net/hphotos-xfp1/t1.0-9/10402572_869373499744974_5800170794041404404_n.jpg

 

[outdoorsman310]

well it does something. not sure what its supposed to look like

 

[cptn_zippy]

Well, it booted into the BIOS. Needs a hard drive, primary IDE master is not showing anything. Even if you get the hard drive, you're going to need the software to load onto it. I would start by tearing it apart and seeing if perhaps you'd get lucky and find the power or IDE cable to the drive is loose.

J

 

[outdoorsman310]

another photo

 

[outdoorsman310]

there is a big mess of cables in this machine and a slot on the hdd withone connector not connected. I am pointing to it.

 

[outdoorsman310]

now for second IDE master it says "quantum fireball s"

 

[jdcompman]

now for second IDE master it says "quantum fireball s"

This means you plugged the IDE cable (large flat cable) back into the wrong spot on the motherboard or the drive into the wrong cable. There are two IDE connectors on the motherboard (One Primary and one secondary). I don't know what you all disconnected to take the drive out, but primary and secondary are usually labeled on the motherboard or they are color coded. Blue is usually primary and black secondary. The HDD should be plugged into one end of the cable and the other end of the cable plugged into the primary IDE on the motherboard.

The connector you're pointing to is just a jumper, which is how you designate master or slave on IDE. Don't move this little jumper, and nothing actually gets plugged into those pins. They stay how they are shown.

From your pictures, the HDD is recognized but that doesn't necessarily mean it's good or bad. Without running an HDD test you have no way of knowing if it's good or bad or if the OS is just corrupted or missing.

You need to start by running a HDD test like GWScan. Google this, download and burn an ISO image of it to CD. Boot to the CD and run a quick scan. If the quick scan passes, run the advanced scan. If all of that checks out, more than likely the drive is good and just needs the OS repaired or reinstalled.

 

[outdoorsman310]

connector they wrote hd on also says master and is next to a slave. there is a blue connector labled system board that has a longer reach on it.

 

[jdcompman]

connector they wrote hd on also says master and is next to a slave. there is a blue connector labled system board that has a longer reach on it.

Not sure if you're still working on this but the blue connector should go to the primary on the motherboard. And the other end to the hard drive. Then you should see quantum fireball as your primary master.

 

[coop589]

Hey Outdoorsman310,

Did you ever get this machine going? I just won one on a local auction and will be picking it up soon. Looking to see how to go about getting the SW in case the unit doesn't boot up.

-G

 

[mikebrow74]

Coop,

I just purchased one also if you need to exchange notes. Mine came with a full manual , a Machine 5.0 CD, and three 3.5 floppies.

 

[bigdav160]

What's the date on your disc? I have Version 3.3 CD dated 1998.
My gas bench went down with all the hoses falling apart. The scope doesn't work and gives me a "incompatible hardware" warning. I can see saved patterns in the scope viewer though.

The dyno controls seem to be the only thing that works right.

 

[theoldwizard1]

The old Sun Oscilloscopes are pretty useless on modern cars. They work great on cars with a distributor and ONE coil (not sure if they even work on the old GM HEI).

I haven't seen anything like that in a long time.

 

[cokesbury]

I have access to a sun 500 machine, it has the 4 gas analyzer & it has roadtech, and about a dozen or so cables. It all works, what would you pay for a machine like that.

 

[bigdav160]

The old Sun Oscilloscopes are pretty useless on modern cars. They work great on cars with a distributor and ONE coil (not sure if they even work on the old GM HEI).

I haven't seen anything like that in a long time.

Mine has a HEI adapter, waste spark adapters, and a COP adapter.

 

[olegstar]

Hi,
I just picked up the Sun Machine 450 from Craigslist. I need to reload the software to a new hard disk.. The old Quantum 2.1GB failed.. I bought a newer IDE drive. Is there a way you can share the images needed to reload it? Any other help on where to get it is much appreciated.

Thank you,
Oleg

 

[Greenthumb9666]

Hey guys newbie to forum trying to find software nad manuals for a sun 500 that I'm trying to restore for my boss as a gift can someone message me nad we can discuss what yall may have to help me get this software nad manuals to get it goin again.. has anyone ever considered upgrading the computer possibly to get better amenities as well as the old systems also if so rasberry bi anyone tries this