UNIX for Dummies Questions & Answers

please help, I am a Linux newbie and I have a sunfire v240 that I got used with the hard drives removed and I am hoping to install Solaris 10 on it to learn. I bought 2 scsi hard drives which are the exact replacement for the machine. I've installed the hard drives and have downloaded Solaris 10 for sparc and have the image on a dvd. My problem is connecting to the machine to administer it. I've scoured the net for 2 days and have found a lot of conflicting info. I don't have a laptop old enough to have a serial port, so I'm trying to use my xp machine that has HyperTerminal connected by the rj45. I have various db9 cables and adapters but I can't get anywhere connected to the db9 serial, the rj45 serial, or the net management rj45. I have the settings as 9600 8n1 as suggested but I get nothing on the screen. Can someone please advise?
Thanks

this https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rollover_cable works fine...

Thanks for responding Duke...I am actually using a similar db9 to rj45 adapter but it's not working. as I said my computer doesn't have a db9 serial port, so on that end I am connected by rj45. I have numerous cables and adapters, null modem and standard and I have tried connecting to the sunfire on the db9 and rj45 ports with no good result. Can you please advise which port on the sunfire I'm supposed to be connected to?

I use a laptop with a USB to serial port adopter and a rollover cable to connect to my SPARC system.

thanks murph....so I take it that on the laptop I cant use the Ethernet connection at all?

You can, with a little help from a device like seen here:

Serial to Ethernet Converter | Ethernet to Serial Adapter | Perle

Ethernet to Serial Converters | Serial Device Server - B&B Electronics

Does your site have any managed CISCO switches? If so, the cable from that will work. You say that you don't have a PC serial port available but I see no reason why you couldn't plug the CISCO cable directly into a USB serial adapter instead of a serial port.

I take it that you have seen this thread (which I was involved in some weeks ago):

[SOLVED] Console connection to V240

I would guess that your issue is with the RJ45 (Sun) pin-out versus the actual cable you are using. If you can steal a CISCO cable (bearing in mind that although network support teams get loads of these, they usually bin them all except the ones they need) it might provide a solution. However, if you could just borrow one it would prove a point.