IRIXNetwork

With my Integrity finally moved from my desk to the floor so that my whole desk doesn't vibrate from the resonance of the CPU fans, I was able to create a video showing the machine booting into T2 SDE Linux with 7.0 pre-release kernel and KDE Plasma 6. In addition to the boot, I show a few applications, including Arctic Fox and GTK demos.

The hardware displayed is:

- HP Integrity rx2620
- Intel Itanium 9040 1.6 GHz (two processors, each one dual-core dual-threaded, 8 logical threads in total)
- ATI FireMV 2250 (an officially supported card on HP Integrity rx2660 with HP-UX support, here working through PCI-X to PCIe bridge)

Hi there,

I got a MacIvory 2 in an Apple IIfx, it came with an external CD drive and all the original Symbolics CD's.
Apparently the FEP partition was erased before shipping, so I can't immediately confirm that everything works.
I tried restoring the FEP partition with no luck, I even did a clean install using a BlueSCSI with the same results.

Basically, I'm configuring the FEP0 in the MacIvory control pane, I try to launch the "Ivory Breath of Life", which can see the FEP0.
I then erase the FEP using the IBL pane, and it seems to be initializing the FEP.
Now, I'm getting an error "the application has unexpectedly quit because an error of type 12 occurred".
When I retry doing the same, restart IBL and wait until it shows me the "Disk Restore" menu option, the farthest I can get is the restore pane showing again, but at this time, it scans the entire SCSI bus and doesn't detect the CD drive anymore.
I feel like I'm at a total loss with this , I seem to be doing all the right steps, but it just won't work.
The CD drive came with that IIfx, so I would expect it to work, even if Ivory was being picky...

Any ideas ?



Thanks

I take a very proactive approach and a multi layered defense. 

Firstly, we have "stopforumspam" and at the same time an email blacklist system. 

Next we have a security question system. I rotate out the questions regularly. These are becoming less effective with AI though so I dunno if I'm gonna replace that segment at some point. 

Next, I block many ASNs already. AI MCPs (this prevents AI users from being created by most of the major AI providers), 1337 Services, spammer service etc. There are major block lists to subscribe to in this regard. 

Finally, we do have a robust reporting system and a spammer purge system. 

Occasionally people do slip through the cracks but I do log all that and block the IP /24 it comes from. Occasionally this might piss off some people who have adjacent IP addresses but I would rather selectively remove those then take chances.

I purchased an O2 on ebay that had a beautiful skin. I should have reached out to the seller and offer to pay extra-extra-extra for extra careful shipping. But alas, it arrived with the skin as shrapnel. So I'm hoping I can find someone with a good skin they're willing to part with.

Willing to pay about $200 + shipping. I'll take Paypal or CashApp.

I want to remind some people of a few etiquette rules if and when we get faster/more usable SGI emulators:

1. Because they are emulated, you can't make any assumptions that problems you are having aren't because of emulation -- ALL emulation related discussion goes here. This way there's no ambiguity. 

2. There will be no trash talking or "just emulate it" statements from users here. I've seen that happen too much in the GameCube, Amiga and other communities. It ain't going to fly here. 

3. There will be no "when is the crimson gonna be emulated" or similar. 

4. Anybody who attempts to start a philosophical debate or argument about the merits of emulation or talk about the irresponsible conduct of many modern emulator developers (e.g. Yuzu, Ryujinx, etc.) is potentially going to catch a ban. 

If/when the critical mass of emulation gets to what it is, we might have to spend it off into its own venue. Don't be surprised when I start suggesting that.

Hi.

In late 2024 I bought two SGI Octanes from a local hobbyist. These are my first SGIs (but not my first vintage computers, nor first vintage unix machines, I've plenty). I posted this thread about them. To summarize: one machine works, other one with the CPU/motherboard module with the silver handle doesn't. I am not sure of the exact models of these so I am not quite sure even what I have here and what parts might have been swapped before I got these two.

I had another look on the machines now, and after swapping parts around I've confirmed that:
- both power supplies (Cherokee) are working
- both graphics boards are working
- both chassis' have working frontplane boards
BUT
one of the two motherboards is non-working: it causes either chassis to power up by itself once the mains cable is attached, there is no front panel light and there is no serial console output.

Attached is a photo of the non-working motherboard (obiviously with the big CPU-heatsink-block detached, that has a part number HKH068_T). The sticker says it's a 030‑1467‑001 Rev D. There is also another sticker next to the SCSI port with QA-signature with part number 013-2003-005 Rev G, dated 10 MAY 2000. The pressure connectors look ok, but it's the only time I've ever seen these in person.

I removed all the RAM from the board and used two (of the included ones) in the first two slots. (I have not explicitly tested these two RAMs, but I will do that on the other motherboard later).

Should I test the CPU block itself on the other motherboard?

I've so far seen nothing obviously damaged on the board. Measuring resistance over some tantalums (I read that a short on any of the voltage rails might keep the board from posting), the lowest I can find is approx 30 ohms (across fe. C93), does that sound normal? I am quite happy with a soldering iron and some limited SMD work but this is a bit too dense to my abilities (I could replace a tantalum though).

Are there any known troublemakers on these boards? Are there any SGI-experts (preferably around europe) who would be willing to have a go on repairing this board? Or should I be looking to buy a new board? I would eventually like to keep one of the two machines and sell the other locally, if it were working, don't think my local market for non-working unit would get me a deal too soon.

Thanks.

At the moment only SST1 (Voodoo1) is supported on IP32 (O2). Only tested on IRIX 6.5.30 with RM7000C CPU.

-driver sources (SST1 and CVG support on IP32) https://github.com/sdz-mods/tdfx_irix
-glide2x IRIX port (SST1 on IP32) https://github.com/sdz-mods/glide_irix
-hinv wrapper with 3dfx support: https://github.com/sdz-mods/hinv_3dfx

Download (IRIX Network Contributions link)

A near-mythical item to find in the wild, the top hat labels for IRIS Crimson systems denoting the type of graphics subsystem installed in it are a perfect candidate for 3D printing. I've created and attached all the options that apply for the Crimson.

Please note, these labels require 3D printing in two colors. It does not matter if the color swap is done automatically (i.e., Bambu Lab AMS), or manually with a pause-and-swap setting in the G code.

To emulate the texture of the original labels I recommend a satin finish PEI plate and printing face-down.

After getting my recent (new) Indigo2 the other week, I was reminded just how loud the stock fans are. Problem is, I've done fan swaps before on my previous Indigo2 (now in storage with a faulty motherboard), and the risk is always between minimising noise whilst making sure you don't cook anything.

The obvious solution on modern computers is PWM controlled fans that can run quiet at low temperature, but adjust their speed as the heat rises, so I thought I'd investigate that.

I decided on a couple of Arctic P9 MAX fans. These can shift serious air (up to 58.25cfm at full pelt - 4300rpm), and are designed for good static pressure - important when the fan has to try and pull air through a confined/restricted chassis. They're PWM controlled however, which raises the question of how to retrofit such capability to an old machine. 

Thankfully, there are lots of simple PWM controllers available online. I tested a couple of different ones from Amazon and settled on a Youmile controller with LED display. It's small, quite configurable and worked well in testing. It's configured by powering it up and then you can adjust default speed, "off" temperature, the temperature range from which it ramps from default speed to max speed, and the rate/severity it increases speed as temperatures rise.

For now, I've set it to run the fan(s) at 45% speed by default with no off-speed. This produces a low hum, but still shifts a good amount of air. I then configured the controller to begin ramping up the speed from 25C, with full power at 50C and left the increase curve at default.

I started with the fan on the EISA backplane, using heavy duty 3M insulated sticky pads to mount the controller. Here it is fitted - deliberately wonky due to a relative lack of available space to mount it without impacting airflow or the rest of the system:


Now from the top with the fan mounted:


I then moved onto the power supply - not realising just how much of a PITA the none-IMPACT PSU is to safely disassemble! Anyway after getting it safely apart, fitting the P9 MAX fan, routing the cables and ensuring the temperature sensor was safely and securely position within the PSU, putting it back together and applying cable ties, it looks like this:


After fitting the PSU back to the system, I powered it up successfully. This is how it looks with case off:


It's upside-down in this view, but reads right when standing over the system and looking down. It's currently reading 23.2C as the system has only been on a couple of minutes. Fan is blowing nicely with a good breeze out the back, yet the noise is massively reduced from stock fans. The PSU controller has the advantage that it can be easily adjusted just by popping off the case. Unfortunately, the EISA fan is not so easily configurable as lack of mounting space means the controller is somewhat hidden. To adjust this one, I'd have to remove the backplane and power the controller from an auxiliary supply to change the settings on it.

With the backplane fitted and fan running, you can see the faint glow of the LCD display through the fan:


With the case re-fitted so far, the system is nice and quiet although it still produces some noise as I erred on the side of caution with fan speeds and temps. My goal wasn't to silence the machine, just make it less obnoxious in an otherwise quiet man-cave. After it had been on for half an hour or so, I could tell the fans were making a bit more noise. I popped the case off again and the PSU controller was reading just shy of 30C. So the PWM controller is working correctly and has begun to ramp up fan speed to keep the system cool enough. 

Overall, a fun little project and the result is a much quieter system - yet one I'm confident won't cook itself and can adapt to warmer summer temperatures. I need to do more testing and may need to tweak the controller settings a bit until I'm completely happy with the fan speed/noise/temperature after prolonged running.

Hi

I think I need to do a final update on my Sparc fileserver which currently runs 11.0 to 11.3 and with that the latest SRU before 11.3 goes EOL

I tried to get a SW maint from Oracle but they are so hard to talk to, they want many seats bla bla

Anyone know what to do?