Getting Started, Documentation, Tips & Tricks

New haul: 2 x Octanes, Q about TMEZZ TRAM module upgrades

Excellent work. :)

Good to see you here, too.
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 Image bruce , Quad 2.5GHz PowerPC 970MP, 16GB RAM, Mac OS X 10.4.11
plus IBM POWER6 p520 * Apple Network Server 500 * RDI PrecisionBook * BeBox * Solbourne S3000 * Commodore 128 * many more...
japes wrote: I have a 2-cd set for demos that came part of my 6.5.19 distribution. The discs are 6.5.12 Demo (1 of 2), 6.5.12 Demo (2 of 2). The first disk is O2 Demo CD version 1.3, the second is OCTANE Demo version 1.3 and OCTANE2 Demo version 1.0.


Thanks japes, the demo CDs seem fairly difficult to find (archive.org as been a good friend for getting my Octane running so far), looks like later versions of IRIX had the same demo CDs but never updated since 6.5.12 - I'll keep looking though.

ClassicHasClass wrote: Good to see you here, too.


Thanks ClassicHasClass! It's a great site and I haven't read the word "recapping" once on this site! :) SGI machines are very difficult to find in Australia, even though I remember SGI had a moderately large flashy office in Camberwell, Melbourne for many years (directly opposite the Camberwell library). Right next to these offices was a great second-hand computer store that got me started in building and repairing PCs as a hobby - I used to look longingly at the SGI office wondering what sort of exotic hardware they had running inside each time I went into the PC store to upgrade my 286/386/486. The only SGIs I ever saw in use in Melbourne were in tertiary institutions and seemingly nowhere else.

As mentioned I received a haul of O2s a while back but they were poorly stored in an open storage locker for 10 years, particularly fragile and unreliable so were given to another collector. Of the two Octanes I received this time, one was nicely upgraded and saved just prior to going to e-waste, but non functional (rusty, dusty and tired). The second Octane was a base model but only just decommissioned for x86 hardware to run a microscope. It looks good.

Today I spent some time trying to get some life out the dual R12K 300Mhz CPU daughtercard, as I'm currently running a stock 270Mhz CPU. Spent lots of time leaning and checking contacts, taking off the heatsink and noting some of the tension screws had snapped due to corrosion. I'm guessing there is a microfracture somewhere in the CPU daughter card, as it gives absolutely no signs of life nor warmth when plugged in. So 270Mhz it is for the time being.