The collected works of recondas - Page 25

Trippynet wrote: As a short term fix, does anyone know if I can use either of the external serial ports to control the L1?

Haven't had the opportunity to use it myself, but kubatyszko's method might be exactly what you're looking for: viewtopic.php?f=3&t=16728975&p=7374851&#p7374851

ClassicHasClass wrote: Replacing the Fuel battery is pretty straightforward. I remember posting on a thread about it.

This One? viewtopic.php?f=3&t=16728064

vishnu wrote: Illustrator won't start at all on systems using VPro graphics, it hangs before even getting the splash screen up...

Have you already been there, done that in regards to ensuring all the required symlinks to dpsnx.agent are in place? (that post mentions IR graphics, but I had to do the same thing to get Illustrator running on the VPro systems).

vishnu wrote: Nice cannabis leaf!

It does offer some insight into ivelegacy's unique writing style.

Vladio wrote: I'm trying to place an image in illustrator but the place dialog box is being centered on a dual head system. As you can see its half on the left and half on the right. The prob is the drop downs aren't being filled, I get the drop down box but they're empty. This happens on the shut down system box and most other boxes/windows. In illustrator I can't move it either, It snaps back.

I get pretty much the same behavior on all my multi-channel SGI systems, though the drop down boxes *are* being filled/aren't empty. The main Illustrator workspace/window and toolboxes open where ever I left them last and can be moved and placed at will; but most of the Illustrator dialog boxes open spanning the displays and snap back if moved. One system has dual-VPro heads (so two DCDs). In that case the Illustrator dialog boxes span the pair of displays assigned to the primary head/DCD. DCD-equipped Vpros aren't the only ones that manifest the issue, Illustrator dialog boxes also open spanning both monitors and snap back if moved on an InfiniteReality3 system.

I noticed the SGI port of Adobe FrameMaker provides a sample Xdefaults file ( /usr/adobe/FrameMaker/fminit/samplehome/Xdefaults ). Couldn't find where a sample Xdefaults file was provided with Illustrator, though there are some very minimal geometry settings inside /usr/adobe/Illustrator_5.5/app-defaults/Illustrator :
As a follow up to robespierre's mention regarding the quality of Adobe's Quorum Latitude porting job, I noticed the following (commented out) entry in the app-default file:

The hinv in this post would certainly suggest you can: viewtopic.php?t=16727969

Haven't tried a DVD-303, but have successfully used a Pioneer DVD-304S to install IRIX on an Octane and an Origin 300 . If you're troubleshooting other issues, I'd suspect the presence/absence of a parity jumper is a red herring.

hamei wrote: I'm not going to pull it out of the Octane to check the number, but have one in a cardcage at the moment. And it was previously in a Fuel, then an O350.

The part number and a photo (of the universally slotted PCI edge connector) are in the IRIX Compatible PCI Cards - A Visual Aggregation thread.

ivelegacy the the Octane Hardware Aggregator also lists the Digi ClassicBoard PCI as Octane compatible. Also with out network ports, but it does offer up to eight serial ports.

Don't know your preference (or budget), but forum member dhjj has an SGI Dual-Port Serial I/O Board PCI 030-1657-003 on eBay for 59 USD , and someone else on eBay is offering an 8-port Digi ClassicBoard PCI with the serial port breakout box for 80 USD :

mazzinia wrote: Is there any trick to make the whole rsq/rsqall snappier ?

If you're not already past the point of no return, there's some r qs -related advice from davea (the person who maintained rqs/rqsall for SGI) in this post: viewtopic.php?f=10&t=10959&start=15#p85984

IRIX-connected PS/2 keyboards use the less common scan code 3 . In my experience (admittedly with a limited number of KVMs), IRIX boxes work pretty well when connected to a PS/2 KVM... as long as IRIX boxes are the *only* ones connected.

hamei wrote: You can easily export the entire O200 desktop or any part thereof, over to the Octane without any extra parts or accessories.

The official run down on the Remote Display feature built into IRIX is covered by by the 6.5 End User book available from TechPubs, but you can pretty safely shoot from the hip with the info in his post by archaic .

ivelegacy wrote: I like the dual carrier you have, it allows to have two LCDs on the same frame … umm is it a custom frame or a commercial one ? I'd like to pick up one.

Based on the shape of the stand, it looks like an Ergotron DS100. Ergotron makes the DS100 in a number of multi-monitor configurations from dual ( vertical or horizontal ) to quad .

I have dual and quad versions , the expanded desktop makes it very easy to keep track when multiple applications are run at the same time. The base is very heavy (to serve as a counterweight), so in spite of the top-heavy appearance of the four-monitor arrangement it's very stable.

They can occasionally be found used on eBay for a reasonable price, but typically the listings are new products at full msrp, or used setups that include the price of monitors.

There's a dual version listed on US eBay with a buy-it-now price of $24 (plus shipping): http://www.ebay.com/itm/Ergotron-DS100- ... 1869835475

Krokodil wrote: IMPACT based demos .....

For the record, you can run most of the Impact Demos with VPro graphics. I have all of the ones on the Octane Demonstration Programs 1.3 CD installed/running on an V12 Octane, a Tezro and an O350 with V12 graphics. Since they were also mentioned, ditto for Photoshop, Illustrator, MIPSPro (7.4) and WordPerfect (don't have Premiere, Ansys, Catia, Pro/E, FiberSIM, or AutoDYNþ).

You may need to invoke rulesoverrride to get them installed (scroll down to the 'Preferences' section of man swmgr if you're not already familiar with rulesoverride).

When you run them you'll get a warning: You can safely ignore the warning and click the run button to start the demo.

Krokodil wrote: Which programs don't run on vPro then?

That can also be installed/run under IRIX 6.5 with MGRAS graphics? I haven't run across anything..... but I'm sure someone will offer an example.

A more obvious limitation might be the availability of analog video options. Factory options for MGRAS graphics include the the Personal Video and Compression Options. Analog video capture with VPro graphics is limited to the DM10/firewire (and, if you can find one, possibly the DM6), neither of which are supported by IRIX to the level enjoyed by the PVO and Compression Option.

BTW, As long as you're willing to run 2GB (or less) of memory, the Octane Compression Option can be used with VPro graphics .

Welcome back, DaJuice. Nice work, your Octane looks great.

As far as external optical drives go, I personally like the Pioneer 303 or 304 SCSI DVD drives. Works as a boot/install drive and also supports IRIX's audio-over-scsi feature. There's also a decent sized list of known Octane-friendly CD/DVD drives over in the Octane Hardware Aggregator .

If you pick one with a key layout supported by IRIX, pretty much any PS/2 keyboard should work. The pckeyboard man page give the official rundown , but it's far from comprehensive:

DaJuice wrote:

vishnu wrote: Two V12s each with a DCD! Do you actually run it with four monitors? Permanent fastfan?

No, the setup is tragically underutilized at the moment, just a single 1280x1024 Dell monitor. When I eventually upgrade to a multi-monitor setup for my PC the Octane2 will get hooked up to that. And it does not run any louder than my SSI Octane.

Nice(!) rig - extra points for the much-less-often-seen factory-configured dual V12/dual DCD setup.

I'm way late to the party, so no doubt it's already been considered, but running SGI's OpenGL Multipipe on that dual 12/dual DCD Octane would be a great way to showcase the capabilities of the system.

Xinerama comes with IRIX, and can do the job of spanning the display of a single desktop across multiple monitors, but its relative ease of access comes at a price - you can only display OpenGL visuals on the monitor(s) attached to the primary graphics pipe. OpenGL Mulltipipe was the classic SGI method to overcome that limitation. Setting up OGLMP is pretty straightforward , my experiences were scattered across a few posts in this thread .

Nice! Thank you very much for taking the time to design this *and* make it available to the rest of us.

smj wrote: Congrats though - nice score. It'd be easier to get the keyboard converter though link (I'm not affiliated).

I'm not either, but for what it's worth I'll mention the keyboard converter in that link is made/sold by long-time forum member The Keeper (Chris). He's good people.

jammaster wrote: I'm new in "deskside" world! Does a node board is paired with CPU or you can mix an IP31 with all modules (400/500?).

You can mix IP31 nodeboards with differing CPU speeds. You can even mix IP27 and IP31 nodeboards (as long as the IP27 CPUs aren't the 180MHz variety). The SGI tech papers mention the nodeboard with the slowest cpus should be placed in the first (lowest numbered) slot.

DaJuice wrote: Hi recondas, that sounds good once I get some more displays in here, and thanks very much for the pointers.

You're more than welcome.

DaJuice wrote: can't actually find Multipipe though. I'm pretty sure I had a free supportfolio account from years and years ago, but I'll be damned if I can remember the login.

The tardist for OpenGL Multipipe is/was freely available to anyone with a Supportfolio log-in. Hopefully it has survived Rackable's on-going purge of IRIX material.

Be a shame if it's gone, especially considering SGI open-sourced the OpenGL Mulltipipe code (now glamorously renamed by our open source friends as GLOMP ).

If it is gone from Supportfolio perhaps Ian would consider including it in his Depot Resources page.

Your initial post was a little tough to follow. Are you wanting to mix nodeboards with processors of differing speeds, or swap processors from one nodeboard to another?

I've never has the privilege of having a 500MHz IP31 nodeboard, but if the refence in the nekowiki is this one .... .....the safe bet would be to obtain the 500MHz PIMM with the original nodeboard still attached.

ivelegacy wrote: I happen have three of these strange MicroDrives, look at the picture, they don't come with a CF interface
so I do not really know how to interface them

some idea, guys ?

Google turns up references that it has an IDE/ATAPI interface , a little more google spelunking seems to suggest Hitachi used an obscure/obsolete proprietary .3mm pitch 35 pin PATA ZIF connector.

ClassicHasClass wrote: I have one of the black Pioneer DVD drives and I put that in along with a black SGI OEM DAT. Matches everything. Sexy.

A half-height LTO drive should fit in a Fuel and would make for a very a nice high-capacity backup. One with a SCSI interface would probably be a bolt-in solution, but since IP35/the Fuel support LSI SATA/SAS controllers, an SAS-interfaced half-height LTO would probably result in the best performance .

Half-height LTO drives aren't DAT cheap, but with a little patience they do occasionally show up. With the typical it-ain't-mine-you're-on-your-own disclaimer, a brief search turned up a half-height SAS LTO3 (400GB per tape uncompressed) for $129 on eBay (and depending on capacity the SCSI variants can be had for as little as twenty bucks ).

uunix if you haven't already seen the thread, another interesting parlor trick supported by the Fuel is IIDC or AV/C video or Compact Flash card access via Firewire .

necron2600 wrote: The bottom vpro card is what it booted with. The top had no output. I ran hinv and gfxinfo while in that mode. Then, to make sure the vpro cards were not faulty or a connection not tight enough.. I removed the bottom vpro.. leaving the top one untouched, and rebooted. The top one worked fine then. So the connections are not the problem and the vpro's do not appear faulty.

Interesting that either one works when the other is removed. My shoot from the hip reaction would be insufficient power delivery when both V6s are installed, and/or problems with the front plane connections.

As jan-jaap has already suggested environmental contamination between the V6s and the frontplane could contribute to either possibility.

If you're willing to retest/repost, the extra detail revealed in an hinv -vm (component revisions/hardware paths) might prove helpful, as could an hinv run at the prom monitor.

necron2600 wrote: An SGI Origin 350 (with a modded VPRO so it has graphics) is a nice noisy server that does not look attractive on a desk in an office.

I do not have an Origin server to physically look at (yet), so I reviewed an Origin 350 manual and can see its guts. It looks possible, but I am not sure how flexible the mounting of the RAM/memory mezzanine card is for mounting in a non-lengthy way (I'd like it more boxy/height for a desktop)......The node board should be the same as the Tezro, and that fits in a desktop case already with the Tezro.

Hard to see much detail in the techpubs illustrations, but what might have appeared to be a RAM/memory mezzanine card is actually the processor node board. It is the same node board used in the Tezro tower, but the Tezro and O350 do not use the same system board. The Tezro node board attaches to the 'bottom' side of the system board and is positioned in a stacked/overlapping configuration to suit the Tezro desktop configuration.

The node and system boards in the O350 were arranged in a longitudinal/linear arrangement to suit the O350's low profile 2U rack mounted case. The O350 node board connects to the underlying system board by means of two MEG-Array connectors, so relocating it would probably be a fairly significant undertaking.

necron2600 wrote: Plus how much leeway there is for wires and the addition of a VPRO card somehow. [quote=necron2600"] Plus how much leeway there is for wires and the addition of a VPRO card somehow.

That's another area where the O350s linear 2U design might prove problematic if fitted into a shorter/boxer case. The XIO slot for the VPro is on the (system board) side of the PCI riser, which in turn is connected to the system board by means of an fixed edge connector.

necron2600 wrote: With Tezros being expensive, hard to find, and the desire to make them last as collectibles instead of using them 24/7 .. what if we could place the Origin 350 into a more attractive desktop case?

If an alternative case that fits the O350's linear 2U configuration doesn't turn up, perhaps look at some of of the small 4U rack cabinets to see if one suits your needs. Or pickup an 8-dollar Ikea Lack Side Table and make yourself a LackRack.

necron2600 wrote: If anyone has a spare Tezro for sale at 650$ instead.. I'll go for that instead

$650 doesn't sound like a completely unreasonable expectation, Tried a post in the wanted section?

SGI's VPro series were designed to support the bandwidth of a single-link DVI interface. The maximum pixel clock for single-link DVI is 165 MHz, which is usually defined as WUXGA (one and the same as the 1920x1200@ 60 Hz resolution mentioned by Vishnu).

However, if you have a monitor that will accept /sync to lower refresh rates it may still be possible; lowering the refresh rate will also lower the pixel clock for any given resolution. As an example, another member reported he was able to drive an IBM T221 monitor with a 3840x1200 display resolution with a single (Fuel) V12. Before I get anyone's hopes up it's only fair to mention the IBM T221 is not your typical consumer-oriented monitor, the refresh rate used in that example was only 12.7 Hz .

To drive a 2560x1080 display with a single V12 would require a monitor that could accept a refresh rate of roughly 44 Hz (or less), the pixel clock for a 2560x1080 display refreshed at 60 Hz would be 241 MHz.

I haven't had the opportunity to try any, but mia's mention of an appliance that could combine the output of two V12s is good news could open a lot of ultra-wide doors for IRIX users.

Thanks ssch1034, and let me echo foetz' welcome to nekochan.

On the odd chance you haven't already seen them or might find them useful, there are links to a few SoundBlaster/EMU related posts in the
The IP35 (Fuel, Tezro, O300, O350) Hardware Aggregator ; there was a brief disucussion on discovering compatible EMU10k1 boards a few years back; and there's some background info on audio devices (including EMU-based variants) in the audio library resources man page.

Is the TP0033 an EMU-based device? Be interesting to know what's hiding under the ECTIVA label on your board.

I'd suggest re-installing all of the boards and using the infinite reality diagnostic, irsaudit , to see if a little more light can be shed onto the issue.

If the system will display legible graphic output in its current state, you can monitor the irsaudit tests and results on the attached display. If you can't reliably see the attached display you can connect a serial terminal and start-run-monitor irsaudit from there. In either case I'd follow the mention in the wiki to use the "REPEAT=x" switch to make several passes of each test.

There are a few examples of tests run with irsaudit in this thread.

Which SCSI buss do you have the DVD connected to? Perusing some of the Fuel hinv posts seems to suggest
might have been the default config. Might be also worth taking a look to see what other configuration jumpers/options there are on the drive (other than SCSI ID) and how they compare to the original drive.

Very nice, congratulations!

devv wrote: Notes:
- The S2iO 10Gb Ethernet card is running at pretty high temperature
- It appears that opening the left side of the case (the one with VPro & PSU) lowers the temperature, while opening the right side (with CPUs and RAM) rises it and the machine shuts down.

I bucked the less-fan-noise trend and added fans to mine .

devv wrote: Actually, recondas -- where is that 3-pin fan header?

The fan header is located between the small and large heat sinks . The part number for that dead-on-arrival / fan-header-included V12 is 030-1884-002, revision D.

Sorry for the confusion - the initial post in that thread (with the hinv and other data) was updated over time as I made changes to the configuration. What you may not notice because of the updates to the hinv is when I acquired that Tezro the original V12 was dead (also doesn't help that the underlying story about the acquisition/resurrection of that Tezro is located in another thread).

So while the original V12 did indeed have a three-pin fan header, I installed and ran a Fuel V12 (without an integrated fan header) for a year and a half. So I powered the supplemental fans in much the same way as you did; with a molex power splitter :

in his Tezro hinv post, recondas wrote: I didn't have any 60mm fans <nor did any of the sources local to me>, but I did have two 38mm fans pre-wired in a two-fan array with a molex-splitter power attachment. For initial testing I zip-tied the 38mm fans to the perforated metal shielding, directly in front and blowing onto the perforations in the node board cooling shroud, and made an air duct so that air was directed into the openings in the node board shroud <rather than the dead air space above the shroud. The molex splitter was connected at the <molex> power feed for the hard drive backplane <located directly above the node board>. The 38mm fans are only rated at 4.5CFM each <I plan to order three 12CFM-each low-DBA 60mm fans as replacements>, but made a noticeable 6C/11F drop in the operating temperature of the bedrock a ASIC.

In the time since that was written I've replaced the 38mm fans by the node board cooling shroud with two 60mm fans ( 1GHz node boards come from the factory with cooling fans located in a similar position ). I still have the 80mm fan mounted on top of the perforated V12 cooling shroud, and I moved the two 38mm fans mentioned above to exhaust air through the perforated bulkhead at the back of the PCI cage. All are still powered via molex splitters.

Congratulations on your newly acquired Fuel.

Vanne wrote: I also yesterday grabbed the SW1600 with an LVDS to DVI signal convertor card. Very much hoping that the Fuel can run the SW1600?

Depending on your particular IRIX release, you likely find 1600x1024_60.vfo amongst the IRIX supplied graphics timing files (look in /usr/gfx/ucode/ODSY/vof). Querying that file with vfoinfo in quick mode reveals it was created specifically for using an SW1600 with Odyssey graphics (like the V10 in your new Fuel).
If your IRIX install doesn't include SGI's 1600x1024_60.vfo, there's also a homebrew alternative attached to this post .

I'm not sure how IRIX will will respond to the DVI signal converter on your 1600SW, but others have had issues when connecting Odyssey graphics through SGI's Multi Link Adapter (MLA). If you have issues with your 1600SW it might be worthwhile to read 3dchris' comments in that post. Alternatively Jack Luminous's solution was to pull the pins in the DVI cable that supply DDC info (again, this involves the MLA rather than your signal converter).

Vanne wrote: With FireWire on the fuel, can I use an old school iSight cam from an old FireWire Mac?

Sure, see this tread for details . If you intend to add Firewire, F/W memory card readers are another possibility .

Vanne wrote: And can u guys confirm that the keyboard and mouse are still PS2 compatible?

They are; and USB kb&m are another.

If you haven't already seen it, you might find the IP35 (Fuel, Tezro, O300, O350) Hardware Aggregator another useful resource.

Not recognized at probably excludes the possibility it appeared in the "PCI Adpater ID" section of an hinv -vm or in the output of a run against the L1 PCI command. On the odd chance it made an appearance in either location (and the even less likely possibility you haven't already btdt), it might be interesting to try again with the DVS software development kit.

If you don't already have it, devv was kind enough to link the DVS SDK in this thread .

devv wrote: DVS has kindly provided a link to file named sdk2.7p28.tar.Z.

I believe this filename "sdk2.7p28.tar.Z" is more correct than "sdio-sdk2.7p28.tar.gz" (the filename that was previously reported in the forums) because this SDK seems to have support for SDStationOEM, HDStationOEM and Centaurus boards.
(All three are PCI-X boards, and according to http://web.archive.org/web/201604131846 ... chive.html , Centaurus combines the features of SDBoard and HDBoard).

The top of the SDK README states "This is a combined Beta SDK release for SDBoard / Centaurus".

Probably a long shot, but the photos the OP posted of the board appear to match the "Centaurus" photo in the archive.org copy of DVS page devv linked in his post. There's an even better resolution photo of the board in the DVS Centaurus pdf file.

Nice Octane, congratulations.