The collected works of ajw99uk - Page 4

What's the physical layout of the disks in the case? There are three slots for drives - which is being used by the system disk and which by disk2? It may be that disk2 has been moved from middle to top and the partition being seen by the system as /dev/dsk/dks0d3s0, though it should still show up in hinv as "unit 3" on controller 0. I'm assuming that your PROM boot variable is still pointing to disk 1, the lowest slot.

Same if someone has repartitioned disk2 as an option disk - /dev/dsk/dks0d2s0 will be pointing to a partition that no longer exists (but again, if disk2 were there hinv would see it whether it has a partition 0 or partition 7).

Note - you post state fstab to contain "/dev/dsk/dks0d250" - is that a copy-and-paste or a tr-yping typo? It ought to read "/dev/dsk/dks0d2s0" (s0 = partition 0 on d2 = disk with SCSI ID2 on dks0 = controller 0).

Can you hear two disks spinning up / "chattering"? (maybe not over Octane fan sound!) or, if you take the good disk out, can you here the other one? (IRIX won't boot, of course, if you take the good system disk out).

Indeed; might just be stiction if the machine has been sitting unused for a while, but I wouldn't want to rely on the disk (assuming it can be persuaded to spin again) after retrieving the contents.

zagnut wrote:

Alver wrote: I wouldn't go for Ubuntu because of its obvious unfitness out-of-the-box for slightly older hardware, but it all comes down to taste.

If you've never checked out Manjaro, I recommend it. It runs well on older hardware.

Shame the ISOs are x86-64 and i686, which again rules out older hardware (though I guess that should be "very old" hardware plus old hardware that lacks the full i686 instruction set! - like my Via C3). Same problem with Arch and (recent) CentOS.

uunix wrote: The mouse on the o2 doesn't work with the KVM..

Both machines on at the same time? Maybe mine is a dodgy KVM, but I do find X unhappy at sharing. The RiscPC on the fourth port doesn't seem to mind.

I2, Fuel and x86-Linux on three of four ports. I can only use one at a time else the mouse-cursor tends to freeze (or at best wander erratically). And of course if I'm too slow in selecting the relevant port at power-on the SGIs complain about lack of keyboard/mouse.

uunix wrote: Shillings and stuff changed the year after I was born thank god, now (although argued by older people as easier) was probably the most complicated good for nothing monetary system in the world, I mean WTF is 3 & 6pence..

I won't give away how old that makes you, but you come from a vintage year (for port, at least!). I (just) snuck into the old money era too.

240 old pence "d" to a pound, divided into 20 shillings (aka "bob") of 12 pence each. Makes anyone over 50 likely to be a dab hand at the 12x table, as well as the 16x and 14x tables needed for ounces/pounds/stone units of weight! Three-and-six ("3/6" on price tags) would be 42d or 17.5p. When farthings were in circulation as the smallest denomination, it was 1/960 of a pound so the smallest decimal coin (0.5p or 1/200 of a pound) was nearly 5 times greater value. I think shopkeepers were supposed to round down when switching prices, but instead just upped the pre-transition price!

The "base 12" systems (coinage, time, degrees/minutes/seconds of rotation) are arguably more flexible in terms of sub-divisions as simple fractions. Compare HD spin speeds (3600, 4200, 5400, 7200) and baud rates - there was some underlying rationale for not having a decimal progression. Metric measures may be arithmetically easier in other ways, but lack the poetry of terms such as farthing, florin, perch, rood, scruple and furlong. We used to get exercise books with conversion tables printed on the inside covers - the non-metric parts (with 2/3 different systems for area, mass and volume) took up as much space as the non-metric/metric.

xiri wrote: I received exactly the same email with exactly the same content.

Ditto - but hovering over the link I did not like the look of the URL so did not click. Sounds like I've not missed much!

Correct username/email address is a little worrying, if it is a phishing attempt. I'm used to emails purporting to come from a bank with which I've never done business - at least I know the sender is working entirely in the dark.

ivelegacy wrote: Absolutely the top of the top of my list is for DevKit for RISCOS .

The real killer app for RISCOS - pay a hefty premium for the hardware because the app was on that platform, even if you already had a Mac/PC for everything else - was Sibelius in the mid-90s.

hamei wrote: Then related but more specialized would be the molecular modelling and geology applications. I'm guessing that those were the guys who paid the bills.

Molecular modelling - I acquired an SGI because I remember seeing Biosym's "Insight" in 1995; the 35mm slides of screenshots were (at the time) stunning.

TrippyNet wrote: one piece of software responsible for shifting millions of PCs into businesses

Lotus123?
Office got into schools on the back of the myth that it's good to know how to use the supposed "industry standard" - surely better to learn how to adapt to use the tools available rather than panic because "save" is F3 rather than Alt-F,S (or even to learn what really happens when you press F3 or Alt-F,S). And don't get me started on the use, misuse and abuse of Powerpoint!

bushnrvn wrote: It also occurred to me to try using a SCSI zip disk for storage - is this possible?

SCSI Syquest 270MB worked for me on a Fuel (internal) and Indigo2 (external) so chances are a SCSI Zip will too.

ivelegacy wrote: so, I am still looking for a good second slice for my Risc PC/600 with locker-pins
I have been a good boy for all the year, so … make me an happy boy under the xmas tree

thank you Red Dad

Have you tried posting this request on comp.sys.acorn.hardware or riscosopen? Not sure there are many RiscPC users here!

If you find a bare slice and just need pins, let me know - mine are not much use now the case is four-slice! That said, unless you need to move the machine often or want to mount it on its side, the pins are unnecessary. Gravity is free!

ivelegacy wrote: sold for ~ 200UKP

next time I will be lucky

Or maybe not .... http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/RISC-PC-600-U ... Sw5dNWrl-M (though interesting to see if it actually sells at that price!)

If you are still looking for the second slice, http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Risc-PC-Secon ... Sw--1Wrjyh might be worth an offer? (there are some pins on at the moment as well, but only individual ones)

uunix wrote: Just picked one up off ebay for £29 + £10 postage..

If it works.. good deal?

It was definitely an impulse buy.

Sounds OK to me - in fact if I'd not been on holiday I might have been bidding against you for it!

As it was, on 19th I was out getting less wet than on 18th or 20th - but hey, Lake District in February, what did we expect?

IAMNOTDEFECTIVE wrote: my Dad actually has a RiscPC SA as his main workstation to get things done... I guess that my family just like working on "legacy" hardware... XD

Is your Dad helped by the fact that the OS for RiscPC is still being developed, albeit largely as a by-product of work for newer machines, and so long as someone compiles an ARMv4 version new software is generally compatible? (subject to other hardware dependent aspects, of course) Or does he use legacy software to get things done? (nothing wrong with that!)

There are a few RISCOS users among Nekochaners - and ivelegacy, who puts up with RISCOS because a RiscPC with a 486 inside gives him a useful DOS platform ....

Trippynet wrote:

ajw99uk wrote: Has anyone been in touch with serafina about this? I have been waiting over a week to hear back from him about the EISA card (which I bought but cannot get to work), just wondering if he's out of touch generally or with me in particular.

And if the EISA card is SNAFU, I might be tempted by a G160 if it is still available ...

Daft question, but have you installed the drivers for it? Also if it's one of the generic 3Com cards, they need a hacked driver which Ian has on his site.

I did, and posted in the Hardware forum about the problems - packets only going in one direction! Gave up and got a G160 instead.

ivelegacy wrote:


Simtec Hydra multiprocessor, 4 CPU cards, labelled { ARM1 .. ARM4 }

I am reading the Risc PC Technical Reference Manual (TRM)
and all the documentation from Simtec (located in Lancashire, North West of England)
they developed a strange kit called " Hydra ", product code AUHYDRA , it comes with 5 CPUSLOT s
it's a sort of multiprocessing kit for RiscPC

Links to the images are giving 404 errors - for other late arrivals to this thread see http://chrisacorns.computinghistory.org ... Hydra.html - from the linked text document, I think RISC OS 4.39 could cope provided that the user has software written with the Hydra API to access the additional "slave" CPUs.
But for a RiscPC with a StrongARM, using the Hydra instead would be a downgrade for most (all?) applications!

ssn wrote: Hi all,

I am searching for a SGI Octane/Octane2 machine in Europe (for more easy shipping/perhaps even pickup). I am located in Germany, near to netherlands/belgiums borders.

Would this fit the bill? viewtopic.php?f=14&t=16729440#p7377418

Since it cost me nothing (aside from the petrol to fetch it) and could do with a new CPU module, yours for the cost and hassle of arranging for someone to collect it from West Yorkshire. Otherwise I will be tempted to spend money on it myself!

Cheers,
Andrew

dexter1 wrote: The SCSI disk with id 2 seems to be faulty. Not sure which position is disk id 2 in the Indigo2, but my first guess is the top drive.
Also during boot, it looks for additional scsi disks with ids 1 and 2 on the second scsi controller, which usually attach to the back SCSI connector, so these are missing. At least the root drive seems to be working, and boots IRIX. Congratulations

Yes, top drive is ID 2, if using the built-in ID allocation rather than jumpers. The "data sync" error does not sound good!

fstab is looking for partition 7 which indicates the second internal disk and both external disks were once set up as "option drives", but if the second internal disk has since been re-partitioned as a "system drive" it no longer has partition 7 in the table. Though you'd hope if someone were doing that they would also update the fstab entries.

Keyframe wrote: b) Is it possible to clone (and how) a hard drive onto another to make an exact duplicate? I have some software I would like to preserve on it, but I would like to move it onto a more modern hard drive/CF or whatever that isn't a ticking time bomb.

Yes! see http://www.sgidepot.co.uk/disksfiles.html#CLONE - and the rest of Ian's site, which is a mine of useful info.

An enviable machine!

ivelegacy wrote: ups, I had forgotten to ask … tips about SCSI/Scanner (A4 size) compatible with SGI ?
and in case, which Irix App do you suggest ?

Epson GT7000 and xsane (from nekoware) works fine here, as does Nikon CoolScan for slides.

uunix wrote: I think roughly install standard is over a GB ?? on 6.5.22. Mind you I say that, but I install from a network dist which has a bundle of stuff.

I got my I2 with a 2GB HD, 6.5 filled it 95%. Can't remember which subversion though.

Trippynet wrote: Some drives don't support the necessary fallback to support the Indigo2's SCSI-2 bus. You won't harm anything to plug one in, but it simply won't be recognised. I'd say with the 30 or so drives I have that I've tested, I've had between a 40% to 50% success rate with them on my Indigo2 (ones that don't support it I reserve for my Fuel).

Worth looking out for drives with a "force narrow" or "force single ended" jumper setting, especially on U320 drives where AIUI the spec dropped compatibility (though in practice I suspect not all U160 drives play nicely on narrow SCSI2