Hello everyone,
I am trying to get a Symbolics MacIvory II LISP machine up and running, but have encountered a very frustrating roadblock. Seeing as, oddly, this was the top forum that showed up in my Google searches (and I have browsed it before because I think SGIs are awesome machines from my childhood), I was hoping maybe someone here would be able to point me in the right direction.
Quick background : I have a Symbolics MacIvory II machine residing in an Apple Macintosh Quadra 650. I wanted to install A/UX on the system, so naturally this meant wiping out the entire drive and starting from scratch. Figuring I could always reinstall Genera easily, I stupidly reformatted the entire system without making a backup copy of the Genera 8.3 LISPM partition file.
Here's the problem :
Genera REQUIRES installation from either a CDROM drive or a tape drive. The CDROM is a hybrid - it contains a Mac HFS partition for installation and a standard ISO9660 partition that houses the actual Genera files.
Installing the MacIvory software from the CD works fine. The hardware is detected, and the FEP (similar to UEFI) on the machine launches. A very basic partition is then created with a couple of files, but then the LISP machine tries to access the CDROM and retrieve Genera from it to continue the installation.
It is at this point that the installation fails with an error, and Google is telling me it's because the CDROM drive I am using is too new. Apparently it will only install using a single-speed drive - well surprise surprise, I have one: an AppleCD SC Plus. However, this drive seems to be completely gone, as it rejects any CDs I load into it via caddy. I have tried cleaning the lens and recapping the PCB to no avail.
Further Googling has indicated that if I can obtain a working FEP/Genera partition from someone else, I can use that partition to bootstrap the LISP machine and then proceed with the installation by accessing the contents of the CD which have been copied to the local Macintosh hard drive.
*I am stuck with a very basic FEP filesystem that does not allow me to access the local host's Macintosh hard drive because certain required files are not present (they are on the CD, which the LISP machine cannot access).
*I am the legal owner of the Symbolics Genera CDROM; that is not an issue.
My request : I need a stripped-down Genera partition with the necessary .flod files for accessing the local host's partition. If anyone happens to have a working MacIvory Genera machine or can get me in contact with someone who does, it would be greatly appreciated.
I am not asking for pirated software, as I already own the software and have an official copy in my hands. The problem is that the medium on which the software resides is useless and can't be used to get my machine going.
Thanks for reading.
I am trying to get a Symbolics MacIvory II LISP machine up and running, but have encountered a very frustrating roadblock. Seeing as, oddly, this was the top forum that showed up in my Google searches (and I have browsed it before because I think SGIs are awesome machines from my childhood), I was hoping maybe someone here would be able to point me in the right direction.
Quick background : I have a Symbolics MacIvory II machine residing in an Apple Macintosh Quadra 650. I wanted to install A/UX on the system, so naturally this meant wiping out the entire drive and starting from scratch. Figuring I could always reinstall Genera easily, I stupidly reformatted the entire system without making a backup copy of the Genera 8.3 LISPM partition file.
Here's the problem :
Genera REQUIRES installation from either a CDROM drive or a tape drive. The CDROM is a hybrid - it contains a Mac HFS partition for installation and a standard ISO9660 partition that houses the actual Genera files.
Installing the MacIvory software from the CD works fine. The hardware is detected, and the FEP (similar to UEFI) on the machine launches. A very basic partition is then created with a couple of files, but then the LISP machine tries to access the CDROM and retrieve Genera from it to continue the installation.
It is at this point that the installation fails with an error, and Google is telling me it's because the CDROM drive I am using is too new. Apparently it will only install using a single-speed drive - well surprise surprise, I have one: an AppleCD SC Plus. However, this drive seems to be completely gone, as it rejects any CDs I load into it via caddy. I have tried cleaning the lens and recapping the PCB to no avail.
Further Googling has indicated that if I can obtain a working FEP/Genera partition from someone else, I can use that partition to bootstrap the LISP machine and then proceed with the installation by accessing the contents of the CD which have been copied to the local Macintosh hard drive.
*I am stuck with a very basic FEP filesystem that does not allow me to access the local host's Macintosh hard drive because certain required files are not present (they are on the CD, which the LISP machine cannot access).
*I am the legal owner of the Symbolics Genera CDROM; that is not an issue.
My request : I need a stripped-down Genera partition with the necessary .flod files for accessing the local host's partition. If anyone happens to have a working MacIvory Genera machine or can get me in contact with someone who does, it would be greatly appreciated.
I am not asking for pirated software, as I already own the software and have an official copy in my hands. The problem is that the medium on which the software resides is useless and can't be used to get my machine going.
Thanks for reading.
After completely wiping out the old install and files, I reinstalled using the newer life support software (in MacIvoryArchive.sea.hqx ) and it worked!