The collected works of smj - Page 3

Dr. Dave wrote: The Sound Blaster Audigy (with the firewire port) works fine, though the firewire port is purely cosmetic. The Audigy2 cards have sample-rate issues that render them problematic on a Fuel. Some of the later 'cheaper' Audigy cards don't use the EMU chip though, so best to stick with the original Audigy (or the Audigy ES, same minus the firewire).

That's interesting, because the recommendations I'd read specified the Audigy2 ZS. Does the "ZS" avoid the sample-rate issues you mention?

recondas wrote: OK - I'm curious to see the various hardware revisions in serial all.

Bear in mind there's one potentially relevant piece of information I left out of the top post - the existing installation is IRIX 6.5.18. Could be missing one or more patches, etc.

recondas wrote: Since you have a DM6, it's probably worth mentioning that while SGI's PCI RADical Audio isn't as practical for general audio I/O <unless you have speakers with digital capabilities>, but its the only one that can be used to sync an audio track to any video captured with the <OpenML based> DM6.

Thanks for that information - I've got to put all this in the wiki... I've got an Audigy (SB090) and an Adaptec DuoConnect (USB+FW) on order for now. Before they get here I'll see if I can narrow down what's causing that lockup when l1cmd is run, and undo all the captive login crud that takes over the gfx console.

Longer term I'm not sure what I'll do with the DM6. It might be fun to play with, and the repackaged DVS Gmbh installation guide does identify the appropriate IRIX packages. A search on Supportfolio turns up the DMediaPro™ DM6 (SD-DIGVID) Video Subsystem v1.1.2 , which says it requires IRIX 6.5.21+ and OpenML 1.1 or later...

Not clear what software might be available to use it, but with docs like OpenML Media Library Software Development Kit Beginner's Guide available from Supportfolio I hope it'd be possible to build something, at least for kicks.

Dr. Dave wrote: It should be noted that the RAD will drive the coax digital input on a consumer home-theatre receiver, but only for stereo as far as I can tell. These are easy to come by, and should be cheap to do.

Do you mean RAD audio cards are easy to find, or home theater receivers?

Ah, I'll add "flash status" to the hinv guidelines! This might explain the issues with the L1 commands from IRIX, as described here: viewtopic.php?f=3&t=16721896

Interesting that the machine's running 6.5.18m, yet they updated the PROM to something post-FCS of 6.5.30 - guess it was under maintenance, or some sysadmin took these things seriously. I'll have to see about downgrading, inwhich case this thread (thanks again recondas ) will be handy too: viewtopic.php?f=3&t=16721376

recondas wrote: The 6.5.18 installation is indeed interesting. IRIX support for the Fuel only began at 6.5.17 <undoubtedly with 500 and maybe 600MHz processors>. Makes you wonder when 700MHz Fuel support got added. Other IP35 systems with 700MHz processors - like the O350 - didn't get added until 6.5.21 <as was the DM6>.

I've seen some indication that some apps were migrated from earlier installations on an Octane. Unlikely to have been a physical disk swap given the connectors involved (HD68 for Fuel, SCA for Octane), but it wouldn't be the first time somebody gronked up an install to migrate an app that was only certified/working with a particular release.

recondas wrote: Your call, but I think I'd leave the L1 firmware alone and do a clean install on a different drive <then you can mount and mine the original drive at your leisure.

This strikes me as sound advice. All my fast/big drives are SCA, but I do have a 4.5GB Atlas drive with HD68...

And hey, given that the L1 is already flashed with 1.44, I guess there's no reason not to go for 6.5.30!

Two quick additions:

1) With a fresh 6.5.30 install, the IRIX L1 command utility seems to be working fine.
2) The forums look good in Mozilla 1.0.1, and I'm using the Fuel to post this.

Thanks to Mike for a great packing job on this one.

Nice Indigo2 with IMPACT badge and matching feet. I've got a 100aseT 3 COM EISA card around here that I'll install once I find it again... And at some point it'll get a fresh install.

Edit : Halfway to a GigaRAM Indigo2 with one kit of HP D4893A 128MB SIMMs installed and another set on order. Why? Why not ?? Also added the "10000" badge. I'll have to see what happened to the pictures I took...

Pics tomorrow, I'll edit this placeholder and add them.

The only scary part locally is getting too close to the shopping districts, or not getting to the supermarket before they close today.

Happy happy, everybody! May your browser of choice be free of debilitating memory leaks! (unlike mine...)

Searching for either the -B79 or -B39 part numbers isn't very fruitful. I can find -B39 parts for US$30-40 - usually "refurbished" or condition unspecified. Fans don't seem rare enough to roll the dice on used pulls...

I think we'd be better off finding a functional replacement part currently in production. Good news from pierocks that the wiring and signaling are bog standard ATX compatible -- if we can deal with the connector, either by sourcing those or splicing failed parts, there should be no shortage of usable fans.

Nice snug setup and a good looking machine. The purple Indigo2 next to it seems to bring out the plum in the Onyx2 skins...

You might want to try using DINA . There's a draft how-to for setting up DINA in the wiki that includes a guide, links to the VM image and original docs, forum threads, etc. I've got more changes to make to the page, but from where it ends the original docs will get you the rest of the way.

Depending on what host system you have available you should run DINA using VMware Player. Converting the VM to run under Virtual Box might be possible, but you'll have to deal with some different virtual devices being presented to DINA.

Ah - sorry if that was you in the other thread and I didn't remember.

It'll be interesting to see if anybody besides the Chinese researchers can get their hands on the Godson chips in quantity - or did I miss an announcement somewhere? Last I knew was Hamei's lament that he couldn't find any in-country.

When somebody has shipped viable machines running Red Flag Linux (or whatever) outside of China, maybe people will start paying attention.

Sitting on five Octanes at the moment, all but one are dual. Two Indigo2's, two Fuels, but one is really a parts machine. And then the pair of 4-way O300s puts it over the top for the MP camp...

SGINERD wrote: Thanks for the coments. It is a nicly stocked machine but I don't have a use for two of them .

THUMP !! (That would be the sound of my jaw hitting the floor...)

sybrfreq wrote: So a couple people here have a sizeable SGI collection, so most people here can perhaps relate. Or a Porsche collection, even if they are scale models .

Honest, it's not a collection! Just a 1974 914-4, a 1970 914-6, and a 1995 968. And I really might sell the 914-4 one of these days...

SAQ wrote: So SGI used "real" drive sleds as baffles on the O3x series? Good to know- on O2k and other systems they came up with placeholders that wouldn't hold a drive so you'd be more likely to buy a drive from SGI rather than add an off-the-shelf model.

I for one am very glad they went this way in the O3x0 units... I suppose the same holds true for the Altix 350 and 450s, no?

Love this kind of thing, if I had a PI I'd be chasing that auction.

Looks like the Origin/Altix 350/450 sleds are Intel drive tray/sled assembly A65278-005, and can be had for as little as $10 on eBay. They were used in the Intel SR1300/SR2300, SC5200, or SRSH4 chassis, continued through the SR[12]400 and possibly to the SR[12]600 chassis. They also appear to be used in several Sun x86 servers, notably the v60x and v65x.

According to the SR1300/SR2300 support documents at intel.com , the accessory part number for the drive carrier is FXX2DRVCARBLK, UPC code "7 35858 14621 0" and "MM #" 835853.

(I've stuffed this info and a picture into the wiki for future reference.)

Still looking for the equivalences for the O300...

Wow, great machine! Which manufacturer is the drive identifying itself with the tag "ModusLnk" from, Fujitsu? Some indication this is the case from a quick Google search, but not definitive...

BetXen wrote: GDM-FW9011. Sgi 24" 16:10 CRT weighting more than 50kg. My back still remembers (I used to live on the 5th floor without elevator).

No doubt! I lived in a 6th floor walk-up in Manhattan for four years in the mid- to late-90s, and around the end of the first year had a monstrous Idek Iiyama 21" w/ motorized tilt/swivel base delivered. (I hope I tipped well for that delivery!) When I left I had movers deal with it, thank goodness...

... and so today would be Revenge of the Fifth , right?

The question of compatible sound cards is a little confusing. The Wiki page lists the Audigy 2 ZS, but in my Fuel hinv thread I was pointed at the older Audigy cards and warned off the Audigy 2s. The Fuel (IP35) Hardware Aggregator indicates either the Audigy or Audigy 2 ZS should work, but notes that the 2 ZS requires IRIX 6.5.25 or higher, and specifies part number "SB00090" for the older Audigy card.

schultzj indicated that an Audigy 2 ZS worked in his Fuel; I believe recondas has had success with an Audigy. (I haven't had a chance to install mine yet.)

[And yes, I'm thinking about how to update the Fuel wiki page on the larger question of compatible peripherals - pretty sure Regan, fu, et al had some discussion about that recently.]

Nice lair. And wow, intact Origin 200 plastic! Now, how do we go about duplicating them...?

BetXen wrote: Anyway, If you know how to make them reproduce, give me a call ! It would be funny to have a baby O200 as paperweight...

Well I don't, but fellow nekochanner sgifanatic has been developing aluminum skins for the IRIS Indigo in this thread - it's long, but stick with it and you'll see some amazing replacement parts.

First off, welcome and congratulations! (For the sprog, of course.) What a lot of questions you have - good practice because in an eyeblink your new son or daughter will be asking you "Why?" every second word...

I was going to recommend the NekoWiki Disk Cloning Guide , but it sounds as if you got past labeling and partitioning. Some old SystemV-ish systems had some lame issues around their implementation of pipes, but I'm thinking of old SCO UNIX rather than IRIX - I've done what you're attempting to do with no problem.

Filesystem layouts beyond / and /usr were fairly variable amongst UNIX vendors. /home was in use a lot of different places - numerous university Sun-3/Sun-4 installations come to mind - but AFAIK was not an out-of-the-box convention until Linux distros made it so. So you'll see /opt on some systems, /var on most everything unless you go waaaay back, etc.

For TOD battery issues, note that per this post the battery location will require minor disassembly of the machine. There's also this guide by our own pentium for hacking in a coin cell battery holder. He references some additional sites, and searching for "NVRAM battery replacement" is usually fruitful.

That's it for me, for this sitting. Enjoy!

I still take what few opportunities arise to chat up SGI where it makes sense, because I very much appreciate the fact that TechPubs and some downloads are still available. Certainly willing to give them some exposure and good will in exchange for this support.

If that teal Indigo2 is sporting an R4400 then it might be limited to 512MB of RAM. If it's got an R10k then you should be able to take it up to 1GB of RAM. Check this page , this thread , or this thread . Any of those sources will discuss thermal issues, as mentioned briefly on the Neko wiki Indigo2 page .

SAQ wrote: 384MB, and the board will only work with R4k-series processors (R4000, R4400, R4600). IP28 (the R10k board) does 1GB of RAM but only works with R10k processors (usually not a big disadvantage).

Updated the wiki page a teensy bit, to try and clarify which boards supported which processors, and that the IP22 is limited to 384MB.

Welcome aboard! That looks like one sweet system - more pictures, please!

I've been puttering around on a 1997 Kawasaki EX500* / GPz500 (?) since 2001. I've just put 19,000 miles on it as I spend too much time in cars, and the longest trip I've made (Boston <-> Philadelphia) wouldn't count as a grocery run to what recondas has been doing...


* Yes, Kawasaki Marketing would like to call it a Ninja 500R, but it's a Universal Japanese Motorcycle stickers notwithstanding - and it's not like those stickers magically added 20 horsepower or anything.

And of course the Professional market was won by the DEC Professional computers.

Oh, wait...