SPARCstation5 Instalation

As the title suggest I'm attempting to install ubuntu on an old sparcstation 5. I'm not entirely sure it is

a: possible b: the machine is up to date

I've been starting with a cd install. Heres what i can do:

1: boot from the cd 2: silo runs 3: Get to the first what i think to be option menu- presenting an " ENTER - Boot Install" or " type "recover" to boot recover"

Here is what I can't do: 1 Get past that menu! 2: loose keyboard control

So, this is my first sun machine. I really do not know what I'm doing. From here out I have been trudgeing my way through this. I appreciate any help, huge thank you in advance!

I'm not sure how Ubuntu works but let me start by discussing Solaris and then trying address the problem you describe.

When Solaris is installed both 32-bit and 64-bit versions of the kernel are installed. When a 32-bit processor boots, such as the microSPARC II processor in your SPARCstation 5, it is only capable of using the 32-bit kernel. 64-bit processors (UltraSPARC) use the 64-bit kernel by default but can be configured to use the 32-bit kernel.

In my experience with Linux, which consists mostly of RHEL on Intel/AMD, AFAIK, installing 32-bit kernels is mutually exclusive with installing 64-bit kernels. I'm guessing that Dapper Drake only has a 64-bit kernel. From the download page: "For Sun UltraSPARC computers ....".

I repeat this in only a guess on my part.

Chris