Getting Started, Documentation, Tips & Tricks

Hello there!
I am a bit new to SGI and MIPS based machines, so I have no clue what to do. I bought an SGI o2 off of eBay, which was told to be pulled from an active environment. I, however, did not have such good luck trying to get it to work. Whenever I plug it in, it turns on by it's self with a solid red LED. I can't turn it off from the power button so I need to cut the power just to turn it off. I did replace the processor (Like what SGIs troubleshooting said was the problem), but it didn't help me at all. So I am stuck with 4 extra R5Ks and a dead o2. Does anybody have a possible solution? (Note, I am a complete noob to SGIs...).

I however did contact SGI. They contacted me giving me troubleshooting steps for a SGI Octane (No help? lol). Does anybody know anything I can do? Since I am eager to get it running!

Here's my system specs (To my knowledge)...
-R5000 MIPS Processor (Mint condition)
-Audio/Visual module (Tried removing it. Didn't help)
-Dead CD-ROM drive.
-IBM Hard Drive (I believe it has Irix 5.3 on it)
-Sony APS-90 Power Supply

Thank you!
-Curt

Nice situation ... I've been there at least three times: LED red means the system is not running at all.

Most likely, the main board is toasted - it is quite fragile, pulling it with power cord plugged kills it for sure,
even when the power is off. Just recently I had to find out that a somehow dead CPU module can also kill it.

There' s a small chance to revive it through the "jumper" trick ... never did it for me, though.
Go search for a thread about it anywhere around here.

If you want a spare contact Ian Mapleson - maybe he's got some left he's willing to sell.

Hello curtjr4 - welcome to nekochan.

The Jumpstart procedure mentioned by edefault is described in the nekochan wiki: http://www.nekochan.net/wiki/ ... _Procedure

There's also an O2 Troubleshooting Flowchart: http://www.nekochan.net/wiki/ ... _Flowchart

The O2 streams power-on diagnostic information over the first serial port - so I'd suggest connecting a serial terminal <you can use Windows HyperTerm or Putty/whatever under Linux>. That option would probably offer the most detail about what is causing the system fault. There's some basic serial terminal connection info included in this wiki: http://www.nekochan.net/wiki/ ... l.29_cable

Your O2 might have been bounced around a little too much in transit, so re-seating some of the major system components might not be a bad idea. The O2 Owner's Guide, with basic assembly/disassembly instructions, is available on-line: http://techpubs.sgi.com/library/tpl/cgi ... User/O2_OG

And whatever you do, do not remove the mainboard assembly from the system as long as the power cable is plugged into the system!

Bad or badly seated memory will give you the red led, too. One thing to try is remove all but two RAM modules. If the two you chose don't work, pick another two. If that doesn't work, then most likely not RAM.

btw, don't be in a rush. Sometimes it takes quite a while to boot. I've given up after a redled, gone into the other room to kick the dog, then come back to see the O2 running. fu calls them "crybabies." They are.

One other thing ... once you get an O2 running, don't turn it off. Ever. The only trouble mine ever gives me is after a power-down.

When I got it in the mail it had the red led... so it's not like I did it. I tried the options that you guys gave me, so no luck. I need a new R5000 logic board

So you've tried re-seating every component, including the RAM, CPU, any accessory cards, etc? When seating the CPU, you really need to squeeze it against the motherboard to ensure that it firmly grabs the signal risers. You need to squeeze from both the CPU side and from the opposite side of the motherboard to ensure a good fit. You should also try cleaning all the ram contacts (both on the DIMMs and on the motherboard) with alcohol.

As others have mentioned, O2 systems love to play dead, especially after being jostled in shipping. You should exhaust every troubleshooting possibility before looking for a replacement motherboard.

Yeah, everything has been reseated. I did not clean the RAM and such with alcohol since I am not comfortable by doing that (My track record shows that I have a tendency to screw up and get water/alcohol on something that I shouldn't have lol). I will just need to buy a new logic board if that's the case. It would be nice to get the part to go on the back of the power supply, new CDROM drive, CDROM drive cover, and a new black think for the top of it... but I am not made of money haha.

I probably should put this part in a different topic, but I also have an Indy R5000. It boots up to diagnostics and keeps saying that there is no bootfile (I am assuming theres no OS). The hard drive is 1.9GB I believe... but I have no way of installing an operating system. No CD drives for it, floppy drives, and no other SGI system to remotely install from (Well, theres the o2 but thats dead). Any ideas with the Indy>

ajerimez wrote: When seating the CPU, you really need to squeeze it against the motherboard to ensure that it firmly grabs the signal risers.

Same for the main board: just pushing the plastic lever may not be enough.
Press firmly against both main board and front of O2 housing (give it a hug).

curtjr4 wrote: No CD drives for it, floppy drives, and no other SGI system to remotely install from (Well, theres the o2 but thats dead). Any ideas with the Indy>

Remove the CD-ROM drive from your O2 and connect it to your Indy's internal SCSI connector (you'll obviously need to remove the Indy's skin to do this). I've done this on several occasions - it's relatively easy, you just have to rest the CD-ROM drive on the right front corner of the Indy's chassis. Just make sure the CD-ROM and hard drive are using different SCSI IDs.

I had pretty much the same situation with a few O2's I just received. Had two Red light boards and in some cases no power.

I was able to fix the red lights by re-seating CPU and using a known pair of good (32Mb Kingston) RAM. I found that in most cases, there had been 1 RAM chip dead on each board and this was causing a RED light. After booting, at the PROM prompt type "off". After that everything seemed OK.


The no-power boards were fixed by shorting the jumper next to the battery.

ajerimez wrote:

curtjr4 wrote: No CD drives for it, floppy drives, and no other SGI system to remotely install from (Well, theres the o2 but thats dead). Any ideas with the Indy>

Remove the CD-ROM drive from your O2 and connect it to your Indy's internal SCSI connector (you'll obviously need to remove the Indy's skin to do this). I've done this on several occasions - it's relatively easy, you just have to rest the CD-ROM drive on the right front corner of the Indy's chassis. Just make sure the CD-ROM and hard drive are using different SCSI IDs.

I've tried that before with my Sun's Toshiba SCSI CD-ROM drive (As the o2's doesn't work. The rubber band thing in it snapped oddly when I got it). It returns in I/O errors. I'll boot it up tomorrow and share the error

cris_adder wrote: I had pretty much the same situation with a few O2's I just received. Had two Red light boards and in some cases no power.

I was able to fix the red lights by re-seating CPU and using a known pair of good (32Mb Kingston) RAM. I found that in most cases, there had been 1 RAM chip dead on each board and this was causing a RED light. After booting, at the PROM prompt type "off". After that everything seemed OK.

I'll try getting some new memory for it. I don't think that I have any compatible RAM sticks in my closet. So i'll try buying some, or i'll see if there's some in any machine I own that works on it.

curtjr4 wrote: I've tried that before with my Sun's Toshiba SCSI CD-ROM drive (As the o2's doesn't work. The rubber band thing in it snapped oddly when I got it)

If your O2's CD-ROM tray refuses to open, it probably means that a small white gear has popped off the tray motor and is loose in the drive. This is a common problem and easily repairable - just search these forums and you'll find plenty of prior posts documenting this issue. The basic solution is to open the drive and pop the gear back in place with a dab of glue.

SGI systems are very picky when it comes to CD-ROM drives, especially for booting IRIX installation discs. That might be why your Sun is giving errors. Search the forums on this as well - you'll find plenty of documentation.

curtjr4 wrote: I don't think that I have any compatible RAM sticks in my closet.

I don't think so either

I am likely getting a new system module within two weeks! I will let you all know what happens. I have a great feeling about this... but it has an R7K CPU in it, and the current one has a R5K. If this board doesn't work... could the power supply possibly be to blame? Could that cause a red LED?

And as for the CDROM drive, I think it's completely broken. I tried snaping the gear back into place, plugged it in and hoped for the best. It was stuck. The o2 cut the power after about 5 seconds. Shorted? Did it do that for safety measures? What's the deal... I am very worried if I damaged anything else on it.