I got the laptop working (it is an old Twinhead A5000) with a basic install of Gentoo. However, I am running Gnome and I cannot find a terminal emulator. I think I can run X11 and get a terminal emulator, but, I can't figure out how to load X11. More research required.

Still, the x86 box is actually running, so I should be able to start working on the sparc box later this week.

Thanks to everyone for their help so far.

in a word 'minicom' it's curses based so you don't need X.

Thanks, Reborg. When I finally get the system stable, I will check minicom out.

Gentoo is definately not for the impatient. I am encountering portage issues right now. I tried to do an emerge --sync but I get the message that there is a newer version of portage. I am now in the process of downloading and trying to install portage. There is a 93 page manual you can download from Gentoo that walks you through the steps of installing Gentoo, and it does not pay to skip around. Everytime I jump ahead I end up going back and working on the items I skipped. At this rate, I MIGHT have a working terminal emulator and will be ready to attempt installation on the sparc server by Friday.