SGI: hinv

Geez. Where did you find that?

Nice

I see you have a working textport when IRIX is loading?
Mine has some issues there (it works in PROM, but then it's frozen from the time IRIX load until the X11 login shows up). Think I'll load a different IRIX on it once to force a flash.

Thanks - it's a cool system; really lucked into this one.

The textport works while booting IRIX; I shot a quick video of the boot sequence for you:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0aQ0fsQuMZs

Probably only slightly more interesting than watching paint dry for most, but oh well

Nice, a pink EZ Bake Oven! (jk)

If my 'lil Octane2 runs on 225w, what does that sucker draw?

Oh, I'm not sure - I think the power supply is 1050w, but it probably doesn't consume that much in use. The Crimson did come with a free blue Octane2 2x300MHz/V8 though

Very Nice. I would love to find a Crimson that is in that good of condition.

* The 1050W is power supplied to the system, it draws max 1500W from the mains. The difference is lost in the PSU itself (I guess).
* I measured the power usage of mine at 750W @ 220V. Mine has a second RM4 and a VME FDDIXPress board

Good info! I may add a second RM4 if I can find one sometime.

If you dig in the comp.sys.sgi archives you can find entire threads about 1050W vs. 1500W PSUs for PowerSeries/Crimsons which were said to be RE capable or not. Unfortunately, I believe most of these people never bothered to open up a system, but instead simply kept rehashing what others said before them. Otherwise they might also have realized also that e.g. a 4D/340 or 440 VGX consumes significantly more power than a Crimson RE (I measured it). I mean, just look at the number of cards in the cardcage...

There are two PSU's for 'diehard'/'diehard2' desksides : originally, a silver PowerOne model was used, later systems have a black Cherokee. Both have the same ratings , so they are interchangeable. Unfortunately, the build quality of the Cherokee is rather inferior to the PowerOne model. If you have a black PSU you'd better remove it from the system and make sure the fan is working and not drowning in a cake layer of dirt and dust. Because if that fan dies, the PSU will overheat and self destruct. I know, it happened to me The PowerOne model will shut down gracefully. I know, that happened to me too

1500W is the input rating for the first stage module of the PowerOne. 1050W is the sum of V*A for all output modules. But because of the modularity of the PowerOne design it's unclear whether the output modules drive the first stage to it's limits (and the difference between 1050W and 1500W is lost as heat in the PSU) or that the first stage is capable of more. There is space for a third output module in the PSU case ... Here are some photo's I took when I cleaned out a PowerOne PSU: http://vdheijden-messerli.net/sgistuff/ ... wersupply/

Unlike newer systems, Crimsons and 4D's don't have fan monitoring. There's some crude overheating protection but I would not rely on that. Just keep an eye on the fans (PSU and cardcage) to make sure they all work, and keep the system clean. They are pretty reliable beasts, considering their age.


Beware that the bridge board connecting GE and RMs must have a connector for a second RM4 too. Not all of them have it.


Guess it wasn't a basement bargain then. I got a freebie Onyx2 and a trunk full of workstations and parts when I bought my Crimson + Predator

All the fans are operational; the system is extremely clean - it looks brand new. No dust bunnies, grime or grit whatsoever

Here's a photo of the power receptacle if that helps identify it - I don't really want to take it apart again right now unless I have to:





Just checked; all the RM connectors are populated.



Well it did come from a basement $150 got me the Crimson, Octane2, extra drive sleds, external drives, large box of QIC tapes including original VFX software from the late eighties/early nineties, etc.

Both machines were used in the visual effects industry; the previous owner worked in VFX as well as at SGI itself.

Not really, but there's another way: if you engage that breaker switch and you hear a fan humming inside before you flip the on/off switch on the front you have a PowerOne PSU. If not, you have a Cherokee PSU.

Since this is a 'late' Crimson (original configuration R4400 + RE) my guess is it has the Cherokee PSU.

I call that a bargain

A fan does come on as soon as the breaker switch on the PSU is flipped on, so it must be a PowerOne. Once the front panel switch is flipped the others roar to life. The manufacture date on the card cage door is 12/94.



Yeah, that was my thinking as well - certainly didn't haggle on the asking price

Nice Crimson Neko!

Since you have already set up your Camera, could you film it running some demos or anyhing graphical?

There was a thread started a while ago by cybercow to post videos of SGI Big Iron, but unfortunately not much has been contributed...

Thanks!

Sure, I can do that; sounds like a good Sunday project