The collected works of aperezbios

I just picked up an Altix 350 on the cheap. When I power up, it says "SGI SAL Version 3.40 rel 040719 IP41"

Is 3.40 the PROM ver?

Which Operating Systems can I expect to be able to install?

I'm having the same problems, albeit years later, and the links above are dead. SLES10 CD1 boots but hangs at "freeing kernel memory" even when I supply console=ttySG0

Help!

SAQ, yeah, if I can get that far, I will do so, eventually, but I'm not interested in cross-compiling for IA64, and I figure *something* has to work. I can get what appears to be a fully-loaded kernel on the machine, but then whatever user-land process is responsible for making init read and write via serial isn't doing it's thing on ttySG0 at the correct baud rate.

Voralyan wrote: The files are on Supportfolio, but only downloadable with full access.

btw, have you tried SLES9 ?
After free registration the CD images are downloadable from the Novell website.

Yes, I downloaded SLES9, although it's important to note that you must download and use SLES9-RC5 (this was what became the final release, SP0 if you will), from Novell, if you want to install Linux on an Altix which has the old defective PROM/firmware.

As of this writing, you can still download them from http://download.novell.com/Download?buildid=WEhUK-nOYF0~ (free registration required)

Voralyan wrote: Thanks to files send to me by guruace I was able to flash the PROM to a more recent version.

I too was successful in getting my firmware updated from the broken/buggy original version to 4.07, at which point I can now successfully boot something other than SLES9. Can you please let me know how you managed to get Debian installed? I have the IA64 6.0.2 install disc, and it chokes on initial kernel boot, and kicks back to the L1 controller. Which boot-time kernel parameters are you supplying, and where did you get the kernel and initrd from?

Anybody else still have/use one of these beasts?

Mine appears to be a 2-way POWER5+ config. How do I determine what its licensed options are?

Hey folks,

I've obtained an 8203-E4A without any DDR2 memory. Can anyone supply any model numbers? Ideally, I'd like to get 32GB RAM in it. Does this thing use/require FB-DIMMs or not?

It's got two 46K7790/46K7791 4.2GHZ 4MB 4-CORE POWER6) according to the Advanced System Management Interface.

ClassicHasClass wrote: Hah, this is the exact model I have (a two-way 4.2GHz Power6). Note that you may not be able to get more than 16GB in it if you do not have a CUoD code. Mine has 8GB. This is the IBM spec .

When I had the server disassembled to replace the system backplane, I took pictures of the RAM sticks, which are both 4GB Samsung 2Rx4 PC2 5300P 555 12 LO. This is an 667MHz ECC DDR2 RDIMM.

Thanks a bunch. Do you have the actual model number off the sticks? Feel free to just send me a copy of the image. I managed to get it up with 8x 1GB DDR2 ECC DIMMs I pulled out of a T2000 I had collecting dust. I am not familiar with what a CUoD is, but this server apparently came from someone who worked for IBM at one point, so they may have had free access to such enablement keys. Do you know how to tell what the machine is authorized for? Is there even a way?

Hi folks, I just picked up an IBM 7043-140 (233MHz 604e), and it came with an install of AIX 4.2, along with an IBM GXT800P, which seems to work fine. Is anyone interested in acquiring this card? I'm not sure I want to keep it in the machine.

The machine came with two 128MB 53H1671 60NS EDO DIMMs, and I'd like to get it maxed out (768MB stated max, can it go higher in reality?). Presumably these are ECC DIMMs, but can anyone confirm? If anyone has some 128MB ECC DIMMs

As mentioned in another thread, I picked up an IBM RS/6000 7043-140, a 266MHz based 604e, and it came with an install of AIX 4.2 on a hellaciously-loud 4GB SCSI-II drive. I'd like to know if there's any equivalent in AIX-land to what I would do under Linux to recover root access to a machine, eg interrupt boot loader, add "single init=/bin/sh" to the bootargs, and then modify /etc/password and/or shadow.

Suggestions?

I recently acquired an interesting beast, a PS/2 model 60 with a Reply Corporation-manufactured, Socket 3 MCA Planar motherboard replacement, the PowerBoard 60. It came with no floppy drive, RAM, or CPU, but it came to life once the requisite components were installed. I found a replacement 6 volt '223' Energizer CMOS battery replacement at my local electronics store, installed it,

After enumerating the RAM, I get the following message: "Invalid configuration. Please run the setup program". I am assuming this only lives on a floppy disk, as none of the common non-PS/2 key combinations get me into anything resembling a BIOS. I'm aware of PS/2 style "POS/Programmable Option Select", but have no personal experience with it.

I'm now looking for one of two things...either a genuine (working or not) PS/2 1.44MB FDD unit, or some documentation on how to wire up a replacement from the 40-pin IBM-proprietary IDC floppy+power connector, to a standard legacy IDC PC floppy connector.

Photos at https://goo.gl/photos/XYMGDPU5CgTmyhck9

http://stason.org/TULARC/pc/motherboards/R/REPLY-CORPORATION-486-POWERBOARD-MODEL-60-65-80.html