IRIX and Software

Hello all.

I'm struggling with a problem installing IRIX 5.3 on my Crimson. The problem is Crimson related - I'm fairly sure of that - but I'm not certain as to what's causing it.

I'm able to load SASH and fx the disk. When I subsequently go to software install and attempt to step the packages I get the following error:

PANIC: IRIX Killed due to MP Bus Timeout

PC:0x8000505c ep:0x801730f0 Physical Address 0x17fe0000

When I subsequently power the computer down (my only option - it's totally unresponsive) it wont restart. I have to switch it off at the mains and wait 5 minutes or so before it will power up and return to the same point.

I've removed the IP17 board and juggled / reseated the memory with no success.

Any ideas?

Thanks in advance,
Austin.

Hmmm, that error message doesn't sound good.

Have you tried to remove all memory except the first bank? Then, if the error stays, you install the SIMMs of the second bank in the first bank. I've seen really weird errors from systems with bad memory.

But if it's not that, it's probably the CPU board. I've got a spare one I can let go, but it's the 100MHz R4000 version. Plus I'm in Europe.

Hi Jan-Jaap.

It doesn't sound at all good, does it? More worrying still is the complete absence of reference to it on the internet....

I've spoken with you before regarding your IP17 board - if I remember correctly I was hoping to use the memory from it. I'll PM you for details anyway.

I'll try pulling the memory tonight. Which of the four banks (looking at the board from the "front", the part with the clips) counts as the first? I have 4 modules in each of the four banks....

-Austin.

Here's some relevant documentation:


The bitter part is that the Crimson isn't even an MP system. But it interfaces with the MP backplane of the PowerSeries

Hmm. That's interesting.

In mine, banks 1 and 2 of each group are populated, so each group has 4 modules installed.

If I've read the instructions correctly then I should have two fully populated groups rather than having the modules spread over the four groups.....

-Austin.

P.S. Are these really "just" 80ns 72-pin ECC SIMMS? I was expecting something far more exotic.

ozpass wrote: Hmm. That's interesting.

In mine, banks 1 and 2 of each group are populated, so each group has 4 modules installed.

If I've read the instructions correctly then I should have two fully populated groups rather than having the modules spread over the four groups.....

Not quite.

One bank of memory is made up of 8 SIMMs, spread out over the four groups.
Memory is added one bank at a time, so either 16MB (8x2MB) or 64MB (8x8MB).

So your memory layout sounds correct to me.

ozpass wrote: P.S. Are these really "just" 80ns 72-pin ECC SIMMS? I was expecting something far more exotic.

Nothing special going on here. The memory chips are the same you find in contemporary PC's, only the form factor is a little different.

OK.

So it would seem that the problem is unrelated to a fault on the IP17 board or the memory.

I've received a shiny new IP17 board complete with 64MB RAM from Jan-Jaap and I'm still experiencing the problem. At random times whilst installing IRIX I'm getting kernel panics due to the MP Bus timeout problem.

I can partition the disk just fine (using the 5.3 install media) but experience the kernel panics at random points whilst installing either 5.3 or 6.2 (so the problem doesn't seem to be due to dodgy install media).

As a matter of course now I'm going to strip down, clean and reseat each of the boards in the chassis but this seems like too lowbrow a solution to actually achieve anything. Could a problem with the VGX boardset cause this error? What about an irregular power supply? It does seem that the first time I switch the Crimson on after a while it gets further before producing the error, and I have to remove the power source at the mains before I can get it to reboot following one of the kernel panics.

Any and all advice greatly received!

-Austin.

Taking boards off, cleaning contacts from both the board and backplane and putting them back might work wonders. Another angle of attack is checking the socketing of every chip which is not soldered on the board - pushing them firmly with thumb or like while the board is on level, antistatic surface. Wriststrap might be a good idea in that as well... The cleaning of contacts shouldn't be made using anything abrasive though.

That was how I made my Amiga 3k working again - even if the computer manufacturer differ, the older beasts seem to have pretty similar things happening due aging.

//edit
and yes, that means taking *everything* apart and doing the cleaning/checking, not just the supposed failing component. It takes some time and seems low brow, but might spare you similar operation with another board in near(ish) future...

-Reko