I have a Sparc 20 running Solaris 8 which was previously connected to my router and visible from all my machines using Telnet. I was able to run the Sparc without a monitor as long as the keyboard was plugged in.

Fast forward many years and I'm trying to connect it to my network once more with no success. As previously, I'm running a cable directly from the Sparc to the router. The router lights up the specific port as if it acknowledges the connection, yet I don't see the machine from my other computers. The keyboard is plugged into the Sparc and working.

Since I can't see the output from the Sparc, are there are any control sequences which might be worth trying after turning it on and letting it boot for a minute? My only other option would be purchasing a 13w3/VGA adapter so I can see if the machine is even working properly.

Any help is appreciated. Thank you.

I ended up ordering the 13w3 adapter from eBay for $8. The display looked absolutely horrible on an LCD monitor, but I was able to log on. The problem was I switch ISPs at some point and my router IP address changed - something I could never have diagnosed without a display. I ran sys-unconfig and reset the network attributes. From there, I reset a user account's password, FTP'd to the Sparc and downloaded the files I wanted.