The collected works of jan-jaap - Page 10

And don't worry about the 'ugly' login window, that's normal when you log in from a remote system.

Added L2 controller. It came without power adapter, but thanks to this post by Recondas , that problem was quickly solved.

I'm using THIS power adapter. I had to order the DD50 connector in (multiples of) qty 10, and the backshell in qty 5. If someone wants to repeat this exercise, you can have a connector + backshell for 5€ + shipping.

R-ten-K wrote: wxWidgets

Used it in the past. Start-up company, no money, QT was still commercial.
It was a nightmare. Implementation was inconsistent or even incomplete across platforms.

We use QT where I work now. It works very well. The last QT version supported on IRIX is 4.5.

An update: there are many cheap DPS-500EB power supplies out there on eBay. I bought two for less than 10€ a piece.

They are Fujitsu-Siemens labeled "DPS-500EB C Rev1" (from a FSC Primergy RX300 server), and it appears the Origin 350 accepts them without complaining:

Since the PFC diode in my original DPS-500EB E blew out, I will probably replace them in these DPS-500EB C as a precaution.

hamei wrote: But it looks like something designed by kindergarteners for kindergarteners

It's called theming , and if you're over the age of 5, you are free to ignore it and it will more or less blend in with whatever platform you're running. Heck, it it wasn't for theming, QT would probably look like Windows 95 on IRIX.

The bigger problem with QT on IRIX is build requirements (a current C++ compiler), and due to it's sheer size it's less suitable for most MIPS hardware.

hamei wrote: btw, the late Fuel / Tezro V10's, V12's are exactly the same. If one of our talented hardware/software guys figured out the secret sauce, s/he could make a fortune doing conversions.

Leaving Octane out, I can identify these versions:

'AST' is for 'Asterix', the codename for Fuel. 'ODY' is short for Odyssey, the codename for VPro graphics.

If you scan the 'hinv' forum, you will see that in all modded O350's with a V10 or V12, it identifies itself as ASTODY, ASTODYB or ASTODYV10. Looks like nobody butchered a Tezro to mod an O350

Now, I suspect that changing the contents of an EEPROM is possible from the L1 using some more or less undocumented calls (this is an entirely different discussion ), but changing the part number is a different game. Unless they changed everything for VPro on Fuel/Tezro, the part number is stored in a NIC chip, which is written once (at the factory) and cannot be modified. It would have to be replaced with a new one with the correct part#.

Inside the IRIX kernel, a device driver can scan for NIC part numbers using nic_vmc_add(): http://techpubs.sgi.com/library/tpl/cgi ... info_set.z This would be the logical way to make the software tell the two cards apart. It is also how IRIX activates the keyboard & mouse ports on an (Onyx2) IO6G, but not on an Origin 2000 (IO6).

So, in order to "make a fortune", you would have to
1) Have a bunch of the correct late rev. V10's
2) Have a bunch of dead V12's to rip the NIC chips off.
3) Hope you can actually change the EEPROM
3) Replace the part# label stickers on the cards

... and even then, (if the customer is actually SGI themselves), you'd better cross your fingers, because SGI probably has a database of part#/serial# for support purposes, and all your serial#'s (the ABC123 thingie) would show up as V10 parts ...

IMHO there are less cumbersome ways to make a few bucks.

Since there's some interest out there to hack late revision V10 cards into V12's, let me share my knowledge of the EEPROM contents. I personally have no real interest in pursuing this but maybe someone else will take it from here.

Have a look at the L1 output:

So, this V10 board has

(no idea what the T/W is)

The L1 'eeprom' command will dump the contents of one (or all) eeproms in the system. On my Fuel V10 (the blue one), it looks like this:

This part is definitely my V10:

XIO (BIA)
00 09 00 00 25 2f c9 53 4f 4c 45 43 54 52 4f 4e
c7 41 53 54 4f 44 59 42 c6 4d 44 47 38 34 30 cc
30 33 30 5f 31 37 32 35 5f 30 30 31 00 c2 5f 44
01 02 c2 30 30 04 00 00 4c 07 04 00 00 00 02 04
00 00 42 16 c1 00 00 89

My V10 has barcode MGD480 , or hex 4d 47 44 34 38 30 (some bytes are swapped)
It is product name ASTODYB , or 41 53 54 4f 44 59 42

<speculation mode on>both strings are prefixed by hex cN, where N is the length. Scroll back a little and there's c9 + 9 bytes: c9 53 4f 4c 45 43 54 52 4f 4e, or SOLECTRON , the manufacturer!
Next up: cc + 12 bytes: cc 30 33 30 5f 31 37 32 35 5f 30 30 31 => " 030_1725_001 " (the part#)
A '\00', which we shall ignore.
c2 + 2 bytes: c2 5f 44 => " _D " (the rev.)
A '\01' '\02' which we ignore again
c2 + 2 bytes: c2 30 30 => " 00 " (the T/W)

Now, the L1 has an undocumented command 'eeprom fill'. I have never tried it for obvious reasons, but if you want to change the contents of your EEPROM, this may be a start

There's another EEPROM on the card, identified as "XIO (IUA)". Who knows what's to be found there. There may or may not be a CRC on these EEPROMs.

Happy hacking! Please remember, I am *not* responsible for your bricked VPro card, nor a sudden surge of hacked V12's

I've posted my knowledge of EEPROMs in a new thread: viewtopic.php?f=3&t=16725883

Happy hacking

PymbleSoftware wrote:

jan-jaap wrote:

Code: Select all

part#          eeprom id
V10, Fuel, old rev.    030_1725_00x   ASTODYB
V10, Fuel, new rev.    030_1826_00x   ASTODYV10
V12, Fuel              030_1726_00x   ASTODY
V12, Tezro             030_1884_00x   ODY128B1_2

'AST' is for 'Asterix', the codename for Fuel. 'ODY' is short for Odyssey, the codename for VPro graphics.

I'd like to add that table to the wiki.

Go for it.

hamei wrote: Tezro and Fuel V10's and V12's are the same.

You can put a Fuel V12 in a Tezro and it will work. They are functionally the same. But as the table shows, they have different product names and part numbers. And Recondas noticed that the Tezro version has an extra fan header: viewtopic.php?f=14&t=16724415#p7332881

PS: and I can tell that his Tezro has a V12 from a Fuel ( Not that he had kept that a secret ).

supervinx wrote: 5.3 is too old ?

There's at least half a dozen different releases of IRIX 5.3: http://www.sgistuff.net/software/irixhi ... x.html#5.3

You probably have the wrong disc. You need the "IRIX 5.3 for Indy R4400 175MHz" from 02/95 or one of the later releases. The original IRIX 5.3 disc (812-0119-006) does *not* work on this Indy.

Maybe the Debian disk label or some remains on the disk are confusing IRIX? You could try to wipe the disk with 'fx': option 'exe'rcise > 'seq'uential > 'wr-only' > [select whole range] > go (or about, this is from memory)

The create a new disk label and try again.

Ugh. Is it the black (Cherokee) or silver (Power One) model?

I had a Cherokee that blew up; that was unrecoverable (PCB charred). There are a couple of threads around with my adventures with the Power One model. IMHO the Power One PSU (usually found in PowerSeries desksides) is more reliable and much better built than the Cherokee. They're also very expensive (they're marketed in medical and nuclear markets), and I've always suspected that the switch to the Cherokee PSU (mostly found in Crimsons) was due to cost savings.

Some pictures of the VBOB with part# 013-3646-006. This one came with my 4x 1GHz Tezro , and the serial numbers are similar to those found on boards of the Tezro.

Happy 2012 everybody!

Slightly newer revision of the same card, labeled part# 9210292:

@Recondas: good work!

ramq wrote: Cool. This could mean that, with some proper reverse-engineering and a copy of the board, we could try to "SGI-alize" that Intel-spec PSU

Only if your aim is not to increase the world wide supply of 'SGI-spec' PSU's.

If you're just looking for a way to get a dead Fuel going again, transplanting that little PCB from a dead SGI-spec to the vanilla Intel-spec PSU is probably what you want to do, and doesn't require any reverse engineering

Nobody mentioned the L1 'eeprom Fuel write default' command yet:


The Atmel chip is write-once so you can't change ID data stored there. But the day your Dallas chip runs out of battery you may be able to initialize a fresh Dallas using the above command. It will probably use default data and the serial number stored in the Atmel. Fortunately, I didn't need to do this yet so this is all speculation.

If you want to change the MAC address of the system to migrate licensed software, you should google the 'squirrel' method.

I got an empty Dell PowerVault 220S chassis with my Tezro. That's a dual channel LVD SCSI JBOD, either Ultra160 or Ultra320 speed (mine is U320). You can find them pretty cheap on eBay etc.

If you get something like this, try to get one with a handful of disk brackets, or the brackets may end up costing you more than the chassis. At least for a DELL you won't have troubles to find spare parts Disks are also cheaper in quantity (I got 72GB 15K.3 disks for mine for less than 10EUR a piece).

Also, keep in mind that disk arrays are noisy, power hungry buggers. You don't want to spend too much time close to one of them. If all you want is some direct attached storage, and you don't need the high IOPs possible with many spindles, there's a much more enjoyable solution: I've got a small external SCSI box with two 300GB 10K.7 disks (68pin UW), seen in front of my Tezro here:

I was extremely lucky with the disks (they cost me 25EUR each I think, and the box was probably a freebie). Each of these disks would nearly max out an U160 bus, and the bandwidth of the PCI cardcage of an Octane isn't much bigger than that either.

SAQ wrote: I'd go FC or one of the FC-{IDE|SATA} models.

I have mixed feelings about the IDE/SATA models. Compared to 'genuine' FC or SCSI, they offer bigger storage capacity, but slower disks. If all you want is lots of storage and speed isn't a priority, why not simply stuff a couple of large SATA disks in a NAS or a Linux box and NFS mount them? IMHO, bulk storage belongs in a server anyway. Also, they usually support only specific disks, so if you don't buy the array with the disks you're SOL, and if a disk dies on you as well. The temptation is to fill one with 2TB disks, but most likely it's not going to work.

This thread will be a sort of diary of the construction of my new computer room.

In our previous house, I used to have the attic to myself for my computer business. The arrangement with my wife (then GF) was simple: as long as I managed to fit everything in, it was my problem. With a little persistence it was possible to move a deskside up the stairs, and this is how it looked:


When we moved into our current how about 5 or 6 years ago, this didn't work anymore because the attic is less spacious, and the washing machine and dryer are in the attic too (read: lots of dust). So, part of my collection ended up in a bedroom, the library went into the attic, and some of the bigger machines into the garage. Then we had kids, and last year I had to give up 'my' bedroom. So now, both the attic and the garage are very full, and it's almost like I've turned a large chunk of our house into storage rather than playground:

This is where most people would give up and get rid of their systems. I'm not like most people That left me with two options: construct an extension to the house, or rent a (business) facility somewhere. I chose the former. Unfortunately, our grounds are a trapezium shape: wide at the front, more narrow in the back.


I can literally park at least five cars on my own ground in the front of the house, but due to the way other houses around me are lined up I wasn't allowed to construct there. Bummer. This stalled things for a while, until I found an architect with the right connections. Then I got my permit

So here's the plan. I've got permission to demolish our current garage and replace it with a building of 5m wide, and the front can be as close as 2.5m from the front facade of the house. I still need a garage, not to park cars, but for bikes, extra fridges, food storage, garden equipment, you know ...


The room marked (1.7), 'woonfunctie', will be my new computer room. It's about 25 square meter, and that ought to be enough Behind it, turned 90 degrees from the current arrangement it the new 'garage'. It's a pretty big building compared to the current garage:

Right now, we're waiting for the end of the winter (it's currently -10c and everything is covered in snow). When I have more news, I'll folow up on this thread.

Oh, and I have some ideas about how to arrange my equipment, and some nifty innovations since this room is constructed from the start as a computer room. Stay tuned ...

Voralyan wrote: Are you planning to use a raised floor in the room?

Cable management is on of the things taken into account from the start.
I'm planning a gutter in the concrete floor, some 10cm deep, 20cm wide, all around along the wall. The heating will be in the floor too, but the tubing is never close enough to the wall to be in the way. This has to be designed with the builder; you don't want to floor to crack because it is thinner in some places.

I plan to use a laminate floor (does that word exist in English? It's 'artificial' wood, in planks or tiles), and use tiles cut from the same material to cover the gutter. The tiles would have holes in then in order to pull them out, but also to guide the cables in.

The other 'specials' are:

Power
I've got two extra power groups, 220V with slow 16A fuses (normal fuses are fast, which makes it hard to re-engage the fuse if it trips with a lot of systems running). These two groups are dedicated to computers, with the large systems on one group and the file server and infrastructure on the other. The second group doesn't need a lot of power, but it's annoying if everything goes offline in case a big Onyx trips a fuse.

I will keep an eye on progress made with solar panels. The server + infrastructure draw ~ 100 ... 150W 24/7 and I believe this kind of usage if well suited to panels (unlike e.g. a washing machine which uses 2500W for 2 hours and then nothing). Right now, IMHO they are not a wise investment because they have a ROI of > 10 years.

Cooling
With so much hardware under a tarmac roof isn't going to be fun in summer, unless I get air conditioning. I have to sort out the details, but will have a duct installed in the roof during construction.

Connectivity
I've got fiber-to-the-home (internet, TV, radio, telephone). Everything is concentrated in the closet with the fuse panel, so I will run two large tubes from there to the cupboard (1.6, 'kast'). Forget the usual yellow PVC tubing used for this, these will be more like a sewer pipes This gives me the flexibility to add more outlets in the computer room (on the opposite side of the wall) later on.

I will also expand our alarm system to include this new room. I'll keep the details of that to myself

[[C|-|E]] wrote: I am living in a two room flat with my gf and I would love to have a dedicated computer room

I'm sooooo happy I don't live in an urban jungle We have two young sons, a 'real' house with a garden is a real blessing.

hamei wrote: Are you talking about fuses or circuit breakers ?

Circuit breakers. Fuses (the porcelain things) are a thing of the past. My house is only ~ 10 years old.

I'll also need an extra ground breaker (we're allowed 4 power groups per ground breaker I believe).

Oh, and last but not least, I'll have to see if I can connect the new room to the current fire alarm system. I don't know much about how it works; it was there when we bought the house ... I will also have a fire-resistant door installed.

Another part of the logistics that *fingers crossed* seems to be working out is this:

* I have 23 SGI workstations, servers and big iron (not counting spares)
* 4 of those are headless (servers, Origins, Challenges etc.), 3 have DVI out.

The vast majority (16 systems) have analog display output, and either PS/2 or SGI 4D keyboard/mouse input. There's obviously no way I'm going to install 1 keyboard/screen/screen for every system. Waste of space, and I have only one pair of hands to operate them anyway

Fortunately, I recently cracked my problem with KVM switches which plagued me for many years . So I will probably try to find a nice, but solid 'display rack' to put the vast majority of my workstations, and hook them all up to a single keyboard/mouse/screen. The Tezro and Onyx2 can share a monitor (or better: a dual head setup ).

Awesome!

From man(1) ld :


Try to pass the linker option '-read' to work around mmap limitations?

milatchi wrote: I'd like to find some IRIX 3.* man pages. yeah, I know, good luck.
Thanks for the links though Jose, I'll use 'em.

Easy: dig up the IRIX 3.x media

Extract man pages, and IRIX 6.5 has a man2html gateway similar to techpubs.

Not wearable (and not mine either): SGI 20th Anniversery Wall Clock :


My brother in law works for the Swatch group in Switzerland so I never spend much on watches. Right now I've got this one:

Nothing pretentious, but it's got a sapphire glass and it's 100m water proof. This one was a freebie

I was starting to suffer from withdrawal symptoms

Update: a couple of weeks ago, I emptied the garage. All large systems are now in storage.

Last Thursday the contractors arrived. By now, the old garage is mostly gone:

The new building will roughly cover the area where the pavement has been removed.

I realized just in time there was an airco unit sitting on the roof which is now gone, so I had someone attach it to the wall instead...

Foundations are laid. In the red box: two 75mm pipes for network cables etc.

Skysearcher wrote: Succesfully trade with SGINERD

I thought SGINERD unloaded his enire collection recently?

Whatever, hope you traded for something nice