Getting Started, Documentation, Tips & Tricks

LarBob wrote: It should be, yes, and I made sure it was set to 9600 baud. Maybe I can check the connectors again.

What com software are you using? I use minicom on Linux, works great...

vishnu wrote:

LarBob wrote: It should be, yes, and I made sure it was set to 9600 baud. Maybe I can check the connectors again.

What com software are you using? I use minicom on Linux, works great...

I'm using Tera Term.

Okay, I honestly have no idea what to try. I tried reseating the RAM once again to no avail, I'm kind of lost on what else to try. I double checked the prom jumper but it's fine, not sure what to try next at all. The connections on the boards all look fine as well, nothing wrong there as far as I can tell.

LarBob wrote: Okay, I honestly have no idea what to try. I tried reseating the RAM once again to no avail, I'm kind of lost on what else to try. I double checked the prom jumper but it's fine, not sure what to try next at all. The connections on the boards all look fine as well, nothing wrong there as far as I can tell.

If it was bad RAM you'd be getting something at the serial terminal, I fear your tera term isn't reading the Octane's serial output the way it should...

vishnu wrote:

LarBob wrote: Okay, I honestly have no idea what to try. I tried reseating the RAM once again to no avail, I'm kind of lost on what else to try. I double checked the prom jumper but it's fine, not sure what to try next at all. The connections on the boards all look fine as well, nothing wrong there as far as I can tell.

If it was bad RAM you'd be getting something at the serial terminal, I fear your tera term isn't reading the Octane's serial output the way it should...

Okay, I'll set up Linux on the machine and try with minicom when I'm home.

vishnu wrote:

LarBob wrote: Okay, I honestly have no idea what to try. I tried reseating the RAM once again to no avail, I'm kind of lost on what else to try. I double checked the prom jumper but it's fine, not sure what to try next at all. The connections on the boards all look fine as well, nothing wrong there as far as I can tell.

If it was bad RAM you'd be getting something at the serial terminal, I fear your tera term isn't reading the Octane's serial output the way it should...

Okay, I set up minicom on a debian box and get nothing over serial still. I ordered another null modem cable just to be sure and it' s coming Saturday.

LarBob wrote:

vishnu wrote:

LarBob wrote: Okay, I honestly have no idea what to try. I tried reseating the RAM once again to no avail, I'm kind of lost on what else to try. I double checked the prom jumper but it's fine, not sure what to try next at all. The connections on the boards all look fine as well, nothing wrong there as far as I can tell.

If it was bad RAM you'd be getting something at the serial terminal, I fear your tera term isn't reading the Octane's serial output the way it should...

Okay, I set up minicom on a debian box and get nothing over serial still. I ordered another null modem cable just to be sure and it' s coming Saturday.

The folks that sold you this stuff, it was "as is" not "known good" then eh? I think that's a smart move on the new null modem cable. Did you buy the extra CPU module from a different seller? Did that seller say it was known good?

vishnu wrote:

LarBob wrote:

vishnu wrote:

LarBob wrote: Okay, I honestly have no idea what to try. I tried reseating the RAM once again to no avail, I'm kind of lost on what else to try. I double checked the prom jumper but it's fine, not sure what to try next at all. The connections on the boards all look fine as well, nothing wrong there as far as I can tell.

If it was bad RAM you'd be getting something at the serial terminal, I fear your tera term isn't reading the Octane's serial output the way it should...

Okay, I set up minicom on a debian box and get nothing over serial still. I ordered another null modem cable just to be sure and it' s coming Saturday.

The folks that sold you this stuff, it was "as is" not "known good" then eh? I think that's a smart move on the new null modem cable. Did you buy the extra CPU module from a different seller? Did that seller say it was known good?

Yeah, they said the machine was "working the last time that they tested it" and that they weren't "able to test it" (which I know is bs, I just thought it'd be cool to get an octane and try to get it working if it was messed up for the price I got it for). The CPU module was from the same seller, it should be working

Can you tell if the fan on the crossbow is spinning up? I just took a look at 1.4 crossbows on fleabay, and they're pretty expensive. In fact pretty much everything SGI related on fleabay is more expensive than it was 10 years ago...

i have a 1.3 xbow if it turns out bad I'll send to you for $60 inc. shipping. But before we throw more parts at it I want to slow down - I'd like to see it tested first

Have we disconnected the dallas (or RTC) chip yet? Just a thought.

vishnu wrote:

vishnu wrote:

LarBob wrote: Presumably that's the disk that came with it? With some version of IRIX on it?

Yeah, it should have 6.5.30 on it.

What I've always done, when a disk won't spin up, is take a butter knife and gently tap the top of the drive at powerup, hopefully helping the platter(s) overcome the static coefficient of friction that's keeping them from moving. But the fact that the disc won't spin isn't the primary problem, even with no disk at all you should be getting something from the serial terminal...

Honestly I wonder if I've just gotten extremely unlucky and the cable I ordered still isn't a true null-modem cable. This is the 13w3 cable I ordered , shouldn't it be correct? I wonder if both the cables just don't work properly or something and I just got super unlucky. I kind of doubt it, but maybe? I don't know.. Maybe it is just the system board, but the health light is on like it's getting a link.

LarBob wrote: Honestly I wonder if I've just gotten extremely unlucky and the cable I ordered still isn't a true null-modem cable. This is the 13w3 cable I ordered , shouldn't it be correct? I wonder if both the cables just don't work properly or something and I just got super unlucky. I kind of doubt it, but maybe? I don't know.. Maybe it is just the system board, but the health light is on like it's getting a link.

That's for sure the right 13W3->VGA adapter, what kind of monitor do you have it hooked up to? But you're right, so far you've had a lot of bad luck. However I do agree that your new null modem cable might be suspect. If you have an ohmmeter you can check if pin 2 on one end goes to pin 3 on the other, and vice versa. If not, for example if pin 2 goes to pin 2 and pin 3 goes to pin 3, you don't have a null modem cable and you're right back where you started. The next problem would be that either your CPU modules are bad or your graphics module is bad, or both. As I said, bad luck...

LarBob wrote: Honestly I wonder if I've just gotten extremely unlucky and the cable I ordered still isn't a true null-modem cable. This is the 13w3 cable I ordered , shouldn't it be correct? I wonder if both the cables just don't work properly or something and I just got super unlucky. I kind of doubt it, but maybe? I don't know.. Maybe it is just the system board, but the health light is on like it's getting a link.

Do you have any other working machines that you could test the null-modem cable on perhaps? If it doesn't work on multiple machines, it more clearly points to a faulty cable.

uunix wrote: Have we disconnected the dallas (or RTC) chip yet? Just a thought.

No, if the chip is dead and I disconnect it will it boot? I was under the impression that the system wouldn't boot if it was removed, so maybe it is dead and that's the issue? I don't know.

vishnu wrote:

LarBob wrote: Honestly I wonder if I've just gotten extremely unlucky and the cable I ordered still isn't a true null-modem cable. This is the 13w3 cable I ordered , shouldn't it be correct? I wonder if both the cables just don't work properly or something and I just got super unlucky. I kind of doubt it, but maybe? I don't know.. Maybe it is just the system board, but the health light is on like it's getting a link.

That's for sure the right 13W3->VGA adapter, what kind of monitor do you have it hooked up to? But you're right, so far you've had a lot of bad luck. However I do agree that your new null modem cable might be suspect. If you have an ohmmeter you can check if pin 2 on one end goes to pin 3 on the other, and vice versa. If not, for example if pin 2 goes to pin 2 and pin 3 goes to pin 3, you don't have a null modem cable and you're right back where you started. The next problem would be that either your CPU modules are bad or your graphics module is bad, or both. As I said, bad luck...

I have tried an old Dell CRT as well as an older Dell 1024x768 monitor.

LarBob wrote:

uunix wrote: Have we disconnected the dallas (or RTC) chip yet? Just a thought.

No, if the chip is dead and I disconnect it will it boot? I was under the impression that the system wouldn't boot if it was removed, so maybe it is dead and that's the issue? I don't know.

My thought on this was just to reset the darn thing in all honesty.
I have a Fuel that has a TOD like a TARDIS.. and it still boots even if it thinks it's in the dark ages.

uunix wrote:

LarBob wrote:

uunix wrote: Have we disconnected the dallas (or RTC) chip yet? Just a thought.

No, if the chip is dead and I disconnect it will it boot? I was under the impression that the system wouldn't boot if it was removed, so maybe it is dead and that's the issue? I don't know.

My thought on this was just to reset the darn thing in all honesty.
I have a Fuel that has a TOD like a TARDIS.. and it still boots even if it thinks it's in the dark ages.

Okay, this is really weird. I pulled the dallas chip out, put the board back in the machine, tried to power it on but it would just turn on for a second then off. Then I put it back in and tried to start the machine - first time it started a the red light on the front light came on and the bottom 2 leds as well as the right led on the row second from bottom lit up - but all the lights were kind of "flickery". I unplugged it and tried again then those are on again but no red front light.

edit: now it's doing this thing where it'll only have any sign of life while I'm holding the power button the first time and as soon as I let go it's dead. Once I press it again the lights are "flickery" again and stay that way until power is pulled.

edit2: I reseated it once again, making sure all the pins looked fine and everything and now it only lights up when I hold the power down, shutting off as soon as I let go. what is going on here? lol.
Maybe I need a new dallas chip? How would I even get one, would I need to reprogram one I got?
Could I use the DS1687-5+ ? Do I need to reprogram it somehow when I get it? I don't know much about this stuff. I think the dallas chip might have gotten messed up somehow.

LarBob wrote: Maybe I need a new dallas chip? How would I even get one, would I need to reprogram one I got?
Could I use the DS1687-5+ ? Do I need to reprogram it somehow when I get it? I don't know much about this stuff. I think the dallas chip might have gotten messed up somehow.

I doubt it, not for powering on.

Have you tried a different power lead? Plug socket, wall socket. Just in case it's not getting enough Davey Watts..

uunix wrote:

LarBob wrote: Maybe I need a new dallas chip? How would I even get one, would I need to reprogram one I got?
Could I use the DS1687-5+ ? Do I need to reprogram it somehow when I get it? I don't know much about this stuff. I think the dallas chip might have gotten messed up somehow.

I doubt it, not for powering on.

Have you tried a different power lead? Plug socket, wall socket. Just in case it's not getting enough Davey Watts..

So if I just left the chip out it would power on normally?