Getting Started, Documentation, Tips & Tricks

ajw99uk wrote: The description says it gets as far as looking for the boot drive from which to load sash, which shows that all the diagnostics must be passed. Sounds very promising that the lack of HD is the only reason why it's "parts or spares".

From the pics:
- internal SCSI cable is there
- you get a PCI-X dual-channel SCSI card as well (QLogic QLA12160 perhaps?)
- the DIMMs don't look fully "packed" with RAM ICs (compared to 1GB DIMMs) so I'd suspect 256MB each, but they might be 512MB
- good external condition, which hopefully means it's been generally looked after
- the label on the back is "copyright 2002", year of launch; of course that label may never have changed so (c)2002 might appear on all Fuels but if I'm right about the RAM I'd tend to assume an earlier rather than later model, so more likely to be 500 or 600MHz
- BUT the bolt that secures the drive cage to the cross-bar is missing! the horror! :-O

Shipping is always a gamble, but at least a Fuel's case is metal on 5 out of 6 faces. More plastic to get broken on an Octane or O2.

Enjoy!

sornywrx wrote: Maybe I'm naive but I'm pretty trusting that, unless damaged in shipping, the only thing wrong is missing HD.

sornywrx wrote: I can use USB KB and mouse on the Fuel, right?

hamei wrote:

sornywrx wrote: I can use USB KB and mouse on the Fuel, right?

Yes. But if you can, ps/2 is better. With usb, if you make any changes, you'll be single-usering in and deleting /etc/ioconfig.conf a lot. I even considered making a shutdown script that would do that every time it turned off, just in case.

Also, the USB versions of the SGI keyboards kinda suck. The letters wear off if you look at them crosswise. I have three here, all the same. Eventually I will become a touch typist

And the mouse is a piece-of-junk logitech. Logitech is pretty much garbage, wears out in two to three weeks. I've gone through three of their trackballs now. The old ball mouse is kind of a pain in the butt but it works ... and works ... and works.

And when you install ? (Next question is, "where can I get Irix ?") DON'T go to 30 immediately. I am so much happier with the Real Irix Experience and it runs soooo much better. The shit they did post-6.5.22 is awful.

In fact, it would be a bitch for a first-time install but if you can avoid a lot of the junk they bundled into the "keep standard" installation, it would be good. Netscape 4.8 is no longer relevant

If you are used to Windows, don't bother with any of the browsers, they'll just piss you off. Install rdesktop and run your fave Mickeysoft browser remotely. It will save you a lot of grief and a lot of worthless garbage on your nice clean Fuel. Keep the garbage on the MickeyMachine, where it belongs

Nekoware is great but ... if I were thee, I'd hold off any installing any until you've used real Irix apps a while. Otherwise you may as well get a peecee and stick Loonix on it. So many posts here asking "where can I get a fossy xyz ?" to which the correct answer is, "Icon Catalog -> Media Tools". Irix comes with a ton of built-in goodies. For 95% of what you do, you don't need gnulix crap.

hamei wrote:

sornywrx wrote: I can use USB KB and mouse on the Fuel, right?

Yes. But if you can, ps/2 is better. With usb, if you make any changes, you'll be single-usering in and deleting /etc/ioconfig.conf a lot. I even considered making a shutdown script that would do that every time it turned off, just in case.

Trippynet wrote: That's a nice, standard SGI keyboard and ball mouse - not a Logitech one. I exactly the same pair here for my Fuel and Indigo2 and they work fine (despite their age), so long as you clean the rollers every few months of course!

foetz wrote:

Trippynet wrote: That's a nice, standard SGI keyboard and ball mouse - not a Logitech one. I exactly the same pair here for my Fuel and Indigo2 and they work fine (despite their age), so long as you clean the rollers every few months of course!

same here. the best i ever had. i have quite a bunch of them and loved them from day 1

ClassicHasClass wrote: I have the wired version of that Microsoft mouse, if it's the model I'm thinking of. It is my mouse of choice, not just because of what you said, but also the nice "clicky" scroll wheel with real detents instead of sloppy sliding. It calls itself the Laser Mouse 6000.

hamei wrote: I've never had much luck with those ps/2-usb converters or I'd risk the jewels on an Octane test

sornywrx wrote: Super excited, apparently the Fuel shipped early in the week but the seller was just slow to post the tracking number. I got the number this morning, finally, and it shows that its out for delivery. My wife just called and said a "HUGE BOX" showed up and she barely was able to drag it inside. I'll get some pics of this thing and a hinv tonight and update!

uunix wrote: Congtats looks like a nice hinv.
Type /usr/gfx/gfxinfo to display you graphics.