IRIX and Software

Hi

I recent buy original IRIX 6.5.29, i need to low level format my HD in Fuel 700MHZ...???

I reinstall all.

Thanks

Hello powerg5 - welcome to nekochan.

A low-level format shouldn't be necessary <and there have been numerous discussion here concerning why you *wouldn't* want to low-level format a drive>.

You can clear all the old data off the drive by following the instructions in Ian Mapeson's excellent IRIX 6.5 Installation Guide <see the "Clearing Old Data Prior to Installation" section for specifics>: http://www.futuretech.blinkenlights.nl/6.5inst.html

BTW, before you start, make sure you have a *complete* installation library - you can get a rough idea by the number of CDs in your IRIX 6.5.29 set. If there are less than 10 CDs you might only have an overlay <read upgrade> install set, which * will not * allow a clean IRIX install.

Guys, this ain't Windows. Why do you want to do that ?

To be borderline rude, if you don't already know how then you probably shouldn't be doing it.

I think I understand what you're saying, but I don't think I agree. Unless the machine has irreplaceable software on it and no way of replacing it, I almost always prefer to wipe a drive and perform a clean installation on any second hand system, no matter the platform. Not so much because of Windows-style cruft or anything like that, but just to be sure that I know exactly how the system is configured, what it's doing, that there are no wacky scripts running as root and stealin' my passwords, etc. Sure, I could manually try to track down any customizations or extra scripts that a previous owner has installed, but it's usually just faster to start from scratch.

Of course, it depends a little on what you want to get out of the machine. If someone is a complete newbie, it might be better to follow your advice and get comfortable with IRIX as it is already installed before attempting to start from scratch.

Yes, that's what I intended.

I just see people rushing in, "Gotta format the drive ! Gotta reinstall Windows !" before they've even got an idea what's going on. In the case of Irix, that's not usually a good idea.

And no, jose , you don't count. But then, you wouldn't be asking that question, would you ?

I don't count.

No problem. There are lots of ways to approach the problem, depending upon one's skill and courage. That's one of the joys of tech, old or new.

Cheers!

Nothing gets you acquainted with irix like a nice quick weekend reinstall ;D

But unless you are the NSA , there's no reason for a low-level format. A new filesystem is more than enough.

Hi

I resolve the problem, i leave the hard disk 60 GB, i mount in PowerMac G4 scsi card and make low level format. 2 Our....

This night i install Irix 6.5.29..

I have all ORIGINAL Disk

6.5.29 Installations Tools Overlays 1 of 3 February 2006
6.5 Foundation 1 June 1998
6.5 Foundation 2 June 1998
6.5 Applications June 1998
6.5.29 Overlays 2 of 3 February 2006
6.5.29 Overlays 3 of 3 February 2006
6.5 Applications February 2006
6.5 Complementary Applications February 2006

Thanks

Formatting (low-level) can be done with fx in expert mode ( fx -x ), found under [ d ] ebug . I hope this will help you.

But, like others have already said, it isn't recommended to do a low-level format. Modern SGI machines and fast HDDs take less long to format, but it's mostly the risk.

I'm glad to hear it worked out for you.

One of the reasons I suggested foregoing a low-level format on your SCSI disk is explained very well in this snippet from the manual page for fx - the IRIX equivilent of a disk utility:

I think at least part of the impression that a low-level format is a necessary part of a fresh install came older dos/windows file systems, IDE drives, and the presence of a tool to low-level format IDE drives in the BIOS of many early PCs.

ST-506-style interfaces (MFM/RLL) needed the drive formatted to match the controller, did ESDI as well?
At some point (as you said) the DOS people decided to call "making a filesystem" formatting (I suppose so it matched the terminology used on floppy diskettes).

My 2 cents...

The only time I've ever done a low-level format is if there are sector errors on the disk, that is the badblock list is non-zero in fx . This is really the only time that a low-level format should even be considered. Normally all you need to do to do an 'effective' wipe is to change the partitioning (I'll usually increase the swap partition size a bit) which yields 'blank' non-high-level-formatted partitions, which then forces a filesystem reformat if you're doing a normal miniroot inst . You can then proceed without having really to do anything else (or figure out which commands you need to set everything up) as the installer handles things automagically from that point.

I haven't got a clue how to do this myself. How much do you think it would cost to get someone else to do it?

ahem: