Nekonomicon - SGI Indy R5000 workstation in the house ..

seclorum
Who joined Jan. 1, 2016, 1:06 p.m.

Wrote the following at Jan. 1, 2016, 1:12 p.m...

Hi SGI fans,

So I was a heavy SGI user back in the day, had myself a personal Indy stack in my lab for development (software), had some great connections in the Hollywood SGI scene for software and so on, and had a great time until SGI moved to NT and I decided to move to Apple for my hardware needs - perhaps there are others in this boat.

I was recently given an SGI Indy for free! This was a great gift, and my task now is to get it up and running and fully functioning as a workstation - it came with no cables, but the previous owner said "it makes the boot sound when you plug it in" .. so there is hope.

What I'd like to know is if anyone has any tips or tricks for me about what to do with these old machines these days. Ultimately I'd love to fill it to the brim with working software - there was a game whose name I cannot remember, but it was awesome - it was like a ringworld-in-space kind of mech shooter .. think this will run on this Indy? It has as far as I can tell, 128megs of RAM, an R5000 (badge), and the stock SCSI internal disks .. but I haven't boosted it yet, since I don't have a monitor/keyboard/mouse combination for it yet ..

I'm thinking of doing the Internal VGA modification documented on the wiki - anyone else done this, if so, tips/hints?

I also have an O2 machine available - if I can get both of these machines in working order, I'll be tickled SGI blue .. anyone got any clues what to do with these two machines if I get them up and running? Would love to have some sort of functionality - even if its rudimentary - out of them as workstations ...

EDIT: Wanted to add pics, in case its of interest ..

Krokodil
Who joined April 17, 2015, 2:32 p.m.

Wrote the following at Jan. 1, 2016, 3:21 p.m...

seclorum wrote: Hi SGI fans,

So I was a heavy SGI user back in the day, had myself a personal Indy stack in my lab for development (software), had some great connections in the Hollywood SGI scene for software and so on, and had a great time until SGI moved to NT and I decided to move to Apple for my hardware needs - perhaps there are others in this boat.

I was recently given an SGI Indy for free! This was a great gift, and my task now is to get it up and running and fully functioning as a workstation - it came with no cables, but the previous owner said "it makes the boot sound when you plug it in" .. so there is hope.

What I'd like to know is if anyone has any tips or tricks for me about what to do with these old machines these days. Ultimately I'd love to fill it to the brim with working software - there was a game whose name I cannot remember, but it was awesome - it was like a ringworld-in-space kind of mech shooter .. think this will run on this Indy? It has as far as I can tell, 128megs of RAM, an R5000 (badge), and the stock SCSI internal disks .. but I haven't boosted it yet, since I don't have a monitor/keyboard/mouse combination for it yet ..

I'm thinking of doing the Internal VGA modification documented on the wiki - anyone else done this, if so, tips/hints?

I also have an O2 machine available - if I can get both of these machines in working order, I'll be tickled SGI blue .. anyone got any clues what to do with these two machines if I get them up and running? Would love to have some sort of functionality - even if its rudimentary - out of them as workstations ...

EDIT: Wanted to add pics, in case its of interest ..

IMG_7969.JPG

IMG_7968.JPG

Welcome. The game you mentioned may be called Mekton. I don't know much else about Indy's since I've never had access to one.

O2 - (Mantadoc) - R5K - 200MHZ - 128MB RAM - 6.5.30
:Octane:

Octane - (Montrealais) - R12K - 2*360MHZ - 1024MB RAM - EMXI. - 6.5.30
Alphaserver DS10 - (Vandoc) - EV6 - 466MHZ - 256MB RAM
Sun Ultra 5 - (Quedoc) - UltraSparc II - 400MHZ - 512MB RAM
ASUS K55VD - (Mapleglen)- I5 - Dual Core 2.5GHZ - 8 GB RAM
Dell L502X - (Algorail) - I7 - Quad Core 2GHZ - 6 GB RAM

dexter1
Moderator
From Zoetermeer, The Netherlands
Who joined Feb. 20, 2003, 6:57 a.m.

Wrote the following at Jan. 2, 2016, 5:05 a.m...

Welcome Seclorum to the hideout of SGI enthusiasts

Congratulations on your free Indy! By the looks of it, it has an R5K 150 or 180 MHz processor with secondary cache. About as fast as it can get on this workstation. Indy memory maxes out at 256 MByte. The old disks are probably noisy, so i recommend them to exchange with newer disks. It's not for the higher throughput, since that is limited at 10 Mbyte/sec because of the SCSI bus.
Your graphics is 8 bit XL which is the entry spec.

The indy has cool stuff for its time. A Indycam is very welcome, even if its image quality is low for today's standard. It has analog video input and decent 4 channel audio capabilities.

Try to get some IRIX OS media like irix 6.2 or 6.5. the last IRIX supporting the indy is 6.5.22m.

Browse around and look at what people made for these machines. We still develop applications or port stuff from the Linux world onto our IRIX boxes. You will love the O2's too btw.

ivelegacy
From Italy
Who joined Jan. 4, 2015, 5:12 a.m.

Wrote the following at Jan. 4, 2016, 4:34 a.m...

seclorum wrote: I'm thinking of doing the Internal VGA modification documented on the wiki - anyone else done this, if so, tips/hints?

never heard, which one ?

I wish I could enter into the vegetable garden of William Gibson , on the right of a director, to decide how a film is ultimately released for public viewing, but I am not a nor Cyberpunk writer neither a dude in Hollywood , and my * flawless English * still looks like an old rusty trailer which needs a fix-up, so my personal wonderland begins with a pill ... tumbling down the rabbit hole , where the sky above the router port is the color of television, tuned to a dead channel and some gears still need a debugger there.

ClassicHasClass
Donor
From Sunny So Cal
Who joined July 25, 2012, 7:12 p.m.

Wrote the following at Jan. 4, 2016, 7:21 a.m...

An R5000 Indy for free? Nice!

The Indy is my favourite SGI.

smit happens.

:Fuel:

bigred , 900MHz R16K, 4GB RAM, V12 DCD, 6.5.30
:Indy:

indy , 150MHz R4400SC, 256MB RAM, XL24, 6.5.10
:Indigo2IMP:

purplehaze , 175MHz R10000, Solid IMPACT
probably posted from

bruce , Quad 2.5GHz PowerPC 970MP, 16GB RAM, Mac OS X 10.4.11
plus IBM POWER6 p520 * Apple Network Server 500 * HP C8000 * BeBox * Solbourne S3000 * Commodore 128 * many more...

ivelegacy
From Italy
Who joined Jan. 4, 2015, 5:12 a.m.

Wrote the following at Jan. 4, 2016, 12:20 p.m...

ups, I had forgotten that I still have a few GIO32 cards for sale
- 10/100 Ethernet { G130, G100, TI#9210110}
- second Narrow SCSI
and an upgrade ram kit, 256Mbyte

I wish I could enter into the vegetable garden of William Gibson , on the right of a director, to decide how a film is ultimately released for public viewing, but I am not a nor Cyberpunk writer neither a dude in Hollywood , and my * flawless English * still looks like an old rusty trailer which needs a fix-up, so my personal wonderland begins with a pill ... tumbling down the rabbit hole , where the sky above the router port is the color of television, tuned to a dead channel and some gears still need a debugger there.

seclorum
Who joined Jan. 1, 2016, 1:06 p.m.

Wrote the following at Jan. 24, 2016, 3:04 a.m...

ivelegacy: the VGA modification is documented in the wiki here: http://www.nekochan.net/wiki/Indy_VGA_Hack

I haven't done it yet, but I will soon. Also, I'd kind of like to upgrade the graphics to 24-bit .. if anyone has an upgrade for sale, let me know.

seclorum
Who joined Jan. 1, 2016, 1:06 p.m.

Wrote the following at Jan. 24, 2016, 3:05 a.m...

Krokodil: Yup, thats the one - Mekton - thanks for the reminder! I hope I can get it working one of these days ..

vishnu
Donor
From Minneapolis, Minnesota USA
Who joined March 18, 2007, 3:25 p.m.

Wrote the following at Jan. 24, 2016, 12:12 p.m...

Software wise, a lot of these will run on your Indy: http://www.nekochan.net/wiki/Catalog_of_Free_and_Commercially_supported_IRIX_software

Project:
Temporarily lost at sea...
Plan:
World domination! Or something...
:Tezro:

ivelegacy
From Italy
Who joined Jan. 4, 2015, 5:12 a.m.

Wrote the following at Jan. 25, 2016, 3:32 a.m...

seclorum wrote: f anyone has an upgrade for sale, let me know.

I do not have one, but I can provide one, even if it's not cheap

Code: Select all


VGA                          13W3


1 ----------------------------R


2-----------------------------G


3-----------------------------B


4-----------------------------7


5-----------------------------8 (it's ground, so wherever)


6-----------------------------R shield


7-----------------------------G shield


8-----------------------------B shield


9-----------------------------NOT USED (key)


10---------------------------10


11---------------------------2


12---------------------------6


13---------------------------3


14---------------------------5


15---------------------------1

what I think about the above? I wouldn't do it for no reason at all
instead I suggest to buy (or build) a VGA adaptor

I wish I could enter into the vegetable garden of William Gibson , on the right of a director, to decide how a film is ultimately released for public viewing, but I am not a nor Cyberpunk writer neither a dude in Hollywood , and my * flawless English * still looks like an old rusty trailer which needs a fix-up, so my personal wonderland begins with a pill ... tumbling down the rabbit hole , where the sky above the router port is the color of television, tuned to a dead channel and some gears still need a debugger there.

pentium
From Kamloops, BC
Who joined Aug. 28, 2006, 6:29 p.m.

Wrote the following at Feb. 25, 2016, 8:05 p.m...

seclorum wrote: ivelegacy: the VGA modification is documented in the wiki here: http://www.nekochan.net/wiki/Indy_VGA_Hack

I haven't done it yet, but I will soon. Also, I'd kind of like to upgrade the graphics to 24-bit .. if anyone has an upgrade for sale, let me know.

How did I never see that page? That shown pinout is incorrect (I must of been smoking something wild at the time to screw that up). The Indy is also one of the few SGI's that outputs a horizontal and vertical sync signal so you are not strictly limited to SoG monitors.

Using the 13W3 pinout listed on page 201 of the Indy Owners Guide....

Code: Select all


13W3                                         VGA


1 (Monitor Type 3) ------------------------- 15 (ID Bit 3)


2 (Monitor Type 0) ------------------------- 11 (ID Bit 0)


3 (Composite Sync) ------------------------- N/C


4 (Horiz. Sync) ---------------------------- 13 (Horiz. Sync)


5 (Vert. Sync) ----------------------------- 14 (Vert. Sync)


6 (Monitor Type 1) ------------------------- 12 (ID Bit 1)


7 (Monitor Type 2 -------------------------- 4 (ID Bit 2)


8 (Ground) --------------------------------- 6 (Red Shield)


9 (Ground)---------------------------------- 7 (Green Shield)


10 (Ground) -------------------------------- 8 (Blue Shield)


A1 (Red) ----------------------------------- 1 (Red)


A2 (Green) --------------------------------- 2 (Green)


A3 (Blue) ---------------------------------- 3 (Blue)


9 (Ground)* -------------------------------- 5 (Ground)


N/C ---------------------------------------- 9 (KEY/DDC +5v)




*All grounds are common, so it doesn't matter if you use pin 8, 9 or 10.

...hence why I soldered so many extra lines to the board.

<-------- A very happy forum member.

seclorum
Who joined Jan. 1, 2016, 1:06 p.m.

Wrote the following at Feb. 27, 2016, 3:26 a.m...

Okay, so .. I'm a bit confused. Should I follow the wiki info, or .. not .. if not .. why not? Coz it would probably be wise to update the wiki .. and I'm willing to test the changes if you can point out to me what is correct/incorrect.

Geoman
Donor
From Munich, Germany
Who joined May 26, 2005, 3:37 a.m.

Wrote the following at Feb. 27, 2016, 3:40 a.m...

Mekton is on "Silicon Graphics General & Platform Demos [1-of-2]"

Should be running great on that Indy (but is unforunately incompatible to VPro-based SGIs).

2xR12000 400MHz, 4GB RAM, V12
SGI - the legend will never die!!

dexter1
Moderator
From Zoetermeer, The Netherlands
Who joined Feb. 20, 2003, 6:57 a.m.

Wrote the following at Feb. 27, 2016, 3:52 a.m...

seclorum wrote: Okay, so .. I'm a bit confused. Should I follow the wiki info, or .. not .. if not .. why not? Coz it would probably be wise to update the wiki .. and I'm willing to test the changes if you can point out to me what is correct/incorrect.

Yesterday i changed the Wiki, so it now shows the correct pinout as Pentium suggested.

Getting Started, Documentation, Tips & Tricks

SGI Indy R5000 workstation in the house ..