Well, after some pacing and considering, I bit the bullet and bought a qube
2. So far, I managed to track down a site holding the ISOs for the restore
CDs, for now located at
http://data.blueonyx.biz/ftp.cobalt.com/iso/(though mark warns me that
these original software images are dated and
have holes) and I also managed to find the power connector, Kycon KPPX-3P,
mouser 806-KPPX-3P so I can build a proper power supply.
On Tue, Jan 31, 2012 at 2:14 AM, Dave McGuire <mcguire at neurotica.com> wrote:
  On 01/29/2012 05:43 PM, joe lobocki wrote:
  I wanted to add one to my collection, but for
what they sold for about two
 years ago, I decided against it.
 
  The MIPS-based Cobalt machines have a big following.  I know probably a
 dozen people who run NetBSD or Linux on them and use them for home servers
 and network utility boxes.  They're extremely power-efficient. That's why
 their prices are high.
  I also remember reading somewhere that telnet-ing (or some other hacking)
  into the qube voided the warranty... I could be
off though.
 
  I don't remember anything at all like that.  I do recall, though, that
 they went out of their way to get people to configure the machines via
 their (admittedly kinda neat) front-panel LCD and buttons, rather than
 properly editing the config files like a grownup.
         -Dave
 --
 Dave McGuire
 New Kensington, PA