Getting Started, Documentation, Tips & Tricks

Hi all,

glad I found nekochan, a really great source for SGI amd other workstations . I hope One day I can share some valuable knowledge, too.

Currently I do own some Sun machines (Sparcstation 20, Ultra 1, Ultra 30 & Ultra 60, V215), a Mac Quadra 840av and several Ataris (they were my first computers and influenced my whole "computer career"), at the moment waiting for a new FireBee (Atari Coldfire Project).

Now for the reason of my initial post, beside saying hello my colleague owns a SGI Indigo 2 (Teal) which currently is at our office. The Indigo has some major problem i Think... When powerng on, fans spin, The green front LED and the HDD Drive sled LED lights up, but thats all. No HDD spin up, no chime, no picture. I already removed gfx, memory and HDD, and checked connections as well. UnfortunTely the result is always the same. Anybody out there with a clue, what else I can try or what might be broken?

Thank you!!

ssn

Welcome!

First thing, if you haven't already have a look through the Indigo2 Workstation Owner's Guide . There is a troubleshooting section, and you should make sure there isn't anything there you haven't already tried.

Generally speaking though, the first thing to do with sick SGI machines is hook a terminal/PC up to the first serial port and see what if anything it spits out on power-on. Perhaps you did that when you removed the gfx, perhaps not... There's a section of the Owner's Manual detailing the serial port connections, which are mini-DIN and is compatible with your once-common Mac serial cable. Taken from the old SGI Linux-on-I2 how-to :
(That factoid wasn't in the Neko wiki page for the Indigo2 , guess I'll fix that while I'm up...)

Anyway others might have more specific advise, but it's always a good idea to be able to listen to what these beasts will tell you on their serial ports. Thought I'd get that out while we're waiting for more informed advice.

Again, welcome and enjoy!

If the machine turns on with green LED and doesn't do anything else (no switch to yellow LED) then it's something very early in the bootup process - bad processor module, very bad IP2(2,6,8)(memory controller or such), bad PSU (no +3.3V on faster-than-150MHz machines might do it), or on the Indigo2 possibly bad bank-1 memory (you do have a full matched quad, right?).

If you get terminal output then that will sometimes tell you right where to go.

Thanks smj / SAQ! Processor Module was something that I also had in mind. I unplugged and replugged the board to see if it is only a connectivity problem, but as you can imagine, it didn't helped that much.

I am going to build a serial console cable (why they do have so "special" Mini-Din connectors at the serial port, grmpf) and see what's the Indigo's problem. I'll keep you updated.

- ssn

Have you tried pressing the reset button after powering up? My I2 often acts as you describe from a cold start, but a reset brings it to life and it then runs fine, and a power cycle while it is "warm" seem OK too. Not that this tells you what might be broken or about to break!

I neglected to ask previously -- was your colleague's machine in a working state, and then stopped? Or was it left unused for a few years, and you're now trying to revive it? Might be a factor - I'm not sure how the Indigo2 should behave with a flat/dead NVRAM battery, at least one person got garbage video output rather than a blank screen. But I know a few workstation types will fail early in the boot process without a live NVRAM.


Good point, and easier to test than soldering up a serial cable. (Again it's worth checking eBay - €14 delivered? Then again, it may take some time to arrive...)

You want to remove all SIMMs from the machine, then populate the four slots closest to the rear of the machine (marked "RAM A" or "BANK A" on the system board) with four SIMMs of identical size and speed. Give it another try; if it still doesn't make it to a yellow power LED, a chime or video output, you could try swapping in four different matched SIMMs, if you had more than four to start with.

They're not that special. An Apple Macintosh serial cable works fine with these ports, and these are easily found.

If there's any chance of parts swapping at any point it also will pay to make sure that all components are compatible.

R4k machines (big aluminum heatsink, connector mounted on board, no fan on processor) need an IP22 mainboard.
R8k machines (smaller heatsink, connector mounted on a flex lead) need an IP26 board. Rare and a bit delicate.
R10k machines (large shiny aluminum heatsink, fan inset) need an IP28.

IMPACT graphics (large heatsinks on the board) need an IMPACT riser (white connectors) and IMPACT power supply (flat blue pigtail + one twisted pair of wires connected to the graphics riser). Newport and Express graphics can run in either.
IMPACT doesn't work in R8k.

I tried that yesterday after 2, 10 and 30 Minutes of "warm-up", but no chance. But thanks for your hint!



Dead NVRAM may ne indeed a possible failure source, because the machine was stored away about 5 years before reconnected to power. I know several other systems that do not work well without proper NVRAM, so I already changed NVRAMs on Quadras and Atari Falcons and I am also aware of the change and reprogramming process of SUN machines, as my Ultra 30 also has a dead NVRAM battery. But none of them refuses to give any signs of life when the NVRAM battery is depleted. Once I figure out, what is going on, I may change the NVRAM, which is socketed (not THAT tricky as on ATARI Falcons where you have to unsolder the whole thing or cut through the DIL). I checked some electronics dealers and had to accept that the used DALLAS 1286 is no longer in production and there is no real successor. Sounds like I have to do the CR2032 hack to reanimate the NVRAM.

Second, the four 32 MB RAM SIMMs populated the last (!) bank C, I swapped them to bank A, but no success. I also tried to boot up with no RAM or Graphics Card installed.



I did not find any cable here in Germany, but I already ordered Mini-DIN 8 and DB9 connectors from farnell and found a documented pinout. By next week I should have a working serial cable.




The system was running quite well, so the compatibility should be OK. Its an R4K machine and IP22 mainboard, as I can see.

Thanks again, I keep you informed. I really want this green beauty want to go back to work!

-ssn

NVRAM is not an issue with Indigo2 (Indigo1 doesn't like bad batteries at all, though). The MAC/serial number is stored in separate chip from the Dallas module.

Since none of the things you've done have worked it's looking more and more like the processor module. Fortunately new PMs for R4k machines are still inexpensive. Before junking it I'd check voltage levels just to make sure, and also ensure that the processor module is firmly screwed into the auxiliary standoffs (the standoffs that connect to the bit of PCB protruding from the heatsink) if it's a greater-than-150MHz machine (the heatsinks provide the +3.3V needed by these processors).