Getting Started, Documentation, Tips & Tricks

Hi everybody!

Well, I finally got myself an SGI and I can't wait to mess with it! I picked up an O2 and a few upgrades (video card, FPA, camera, 1600SW, 128mb RAM, 200mhz CPU) and everything seemed to work fine.

Except...the monitor.

When I install the FPA and the 1600SW, the computer will boot up just fine and the 1600SW lights up with a crisp display like it rolled off the assembly line. However, as soon as IRIX begins to boot, the display goes black and gives me a blinking orange light, as though it is no longer recieving any data from the O2. If I try and plug an LCD into the VGA port, that LCD will work just fine.

So I guess my question is: am I doing something completely and obviously wrong? Or is there sometyhing special I need to do?

I tried looking around the forums for this particular issue, and I couldn't find it, so I figured I'd post it here. If it needs to be moved or if this issue has been resolved, just let me know.

Sorry for the long-winded post.

What we may have to do here is boot single user and setmon to the required resolution.

It should ask if you want it as the startup default.

Welcome BTW, looks like you have a nice setup there.

I successfully booted into single user mode, but when I try and set the resolution, it responds with this:

If you type 'hinv' does it show the 1600sw display adapter ?

Also, I'm not sure if the drivers are separate or not.

Do you know if this machine was using the 1600sw before you received it? Have you ever seen it working together?

uunix wrote: Do you know if this machine was using the 1600sw before you received it? Have you ever seen it working together?

Can't remember the directory name for an O2 but on an Octane, look under /usr/gfx/ucode/ODSY/vof for the vfo files. The ODSY should be the only thing different on an O2. Then an < ls > and he should see all the resolutions that are installed.

I ran mine at 1600x1024_50, by the way. Anything you can do to help an O2, right ? The 1600sw will run fine at 50 hz.

What release of Irix is installed? If I recall correctly you need 6.5.3 to use the SW1600 without patches.

The O2 and the upgrades were purchaced separately, so it was not using the 1600SW before I recieved it. It is missing the PCI riser piece (if that even makes any difference).

hinv does not show the board (either in IRIX or the command prompt). What exactly would it say if it was there?

I found the directory where the vfo files are, but none of the 1600x1024 files are there. Is there any place I could install or copy them from?

Also, it is running IRIX 6.5.30

hinv should display:

Should I try reinstalling IRIX?

mrintel97 wrote: Should I try reinstalling IRIX?

No, that's way overkill. Just snag a vfo file somewhere. I'd send you one but don't have an O2. The 1600sw will run happily at 50hz, I used that vfo because the O2 does not have a big block Chevvy under the hood. You can't tell the difference visually.

About not seeing the fpa tho, that doesn't sound good. Usually when you install hardware, hinv automatically sees it.

When you say you don't have the pci riser, that's a little worrisome too. There's a little system i.d. chip on that riser. Without that you don't have a mac address, iirc.

Where am I snagging the vfo from?

Could the missing PCI riser be causing any of these issues?

mrintel97 wrote: Where am I snagging the vfo from?

HELP ! Anybody gottta 1600x1024 vfo for an O2 I can borrow ?

There. That oughta do it

Could the missing PCI riser be causing any of these issues?

Better ask someone with more recent O2 experience than me .... but is your fpa fully seated and all that ? I remember they are a touch difficult to get installed. You can look through the hinvs in the hinv thread to see some examples, it normally would show the fpa as soon as it's installed. The chip on the pci riser is for your mac address and hostid for any licenses, shouldn't affect the fpa but you won't have networking without it.

These are the SW1600 vfo files installed by IRIX. It must be in /usr/gfx/ucode/CRM/vof. If you have a diferent folder you have a bad installation (cloned hard disk from Octane or somethink similar).

Forget a problem with the missing PCI riser. I just tested my O2 without it and boots OK with the SW1600, it just complains with "Bad ethernet address".

Well, I just decided to do a fresh install of IRIX 6.5.18 and the monitor comes to life! Looks like Titox was right, I may have had a bad installation. So thanks for all your guys' help!

mrintel97 wrote: Well, I just decided to do a fresh install of IRIX 6.5.18 and the monitor comes to life! Looks like Titox was right, I may have had a bad installation. So thanks for all your guys' help!

That's cool

But for futrure reference in case someone else searches this problem, you did not have a bad install. You were missing a file. It is not necessary to reinstall Windows to add a new resolution.

The OS core is the same for all installations but graphics subsystem is a very different thing as there are diverse versions that are incompatible and only one graphics library can be installed.

So if the OS install if for another graphics system the easy way to solve the problems is to reinstall. May be you can uninstall one type and install another from single user or console but can be difficult.

Cheers!