(last updated: 19-Jan-2017)
The current configuration is in its original 'as acquired' condition, except that a 100MHz CPU module has been swapped back from a companion Indy (#4).
The cabinet model number indicates that the system should have a 133MHz CPU, but it appears that this system (and Indy #4) had their CPU modules swapped in and out, and this unit ended up with a 100MHz module.
31-Jul-2012
This system turned up in a browse through the University of Utah's surplus store. The price was just $10, and I couldn't resist. This is one of two Indy's purchased today.
31-Jul-2012
The system had just a bit of dust, but no grime. It was clean inside too, requiring just a simple vacuuming. The external surfaces were wiped down with Windex, as is my usual practice. Inside, there are no drive brackets, nor the two-way drive power cable which can be added pretty easily if needed later.
Interestingly, I noticed that the CPU module did not have it's two securing screws in place. This suggested that the CPU had been replaced or examined at some prior time. A little research shows that the CPU module in this unit as purchased is not the R4500 133MHz unit that the model number would indicate, rather it is an R4400 150MHz module! The other Indy should have this type of CPU, according to it's model number. (See notes on UofU Indy #4 for more.) So I would appear that these two units have had their CPU modules swapped around, though this system ended up with just a 100MHz CPU module.
31-Jul-2012
I connected the Indy to my large 20" Sampo sync-on-green monitor using the "Indy" 13W3-to-VGA adapter I already use with my first two Indy's. I connected up a keyboard and mouse, and powered up. I see appropriate color changes to the Indy power LED, going from green to red and back to green, but I hear no power on chime, nor do I get any output on the monitor's screen. It stays black.
With this result, I turned to the other Indy for a while. After discovering that the CPU modules had been swapped, I replaced the 'correct' R4600 100MHz module into this system and again powered-up. I see the same result. There is something wrong with the system board, since both CPU modules work in the other Indy. (See UofU Indy #4 notes for more.)
03-Aug-2012
(See notes from Indy #4.)
I removed all cables from the system, removed the cover, and located the jumper near the power cable jumper. I removed it and powered up. Indeed, it worked! I now see the normal splash screen on the monitor.
I was able to press ESC and clicked "Enter Command Monitor", which showed a popup with "[!] Warning: Password jumper has been removed. Not enforcing PROM password." I clicked Continue and enter the command monitor window. At the >> prompt I took a look at the hardware inventory and the environment variables:
>>hinv System: IP22 Processor: 100 Mhz R4600, with FPU Primary I-cache size: 16 Kbytes Primary D-cache size: 16 Kbytes Memory size: 64 Mbytes Graphics: Indy 24-bit Audio: Iris Audio Processor: version A2 revision 4.1.0>>printenv AutoLoad=Yes TimeZone=MST7MDT ConsoleWarning=PASSWD JUMPER MISSING--forced to g. console=g diskless=0 dbaud=9600 volume=80 sgilogo=y autopower=y netaddr=155.101.96.155 eaddr=08:00:69:08:92:88 ConsoleOut=video() ConsoleIn=keyboard() cpufreq=100 gfx=alive >>
I entered the PROM command to restore the graphical console:
>>setenv console g >>
I didn't have to reset the password.
03-Aug-2012
Now the system powers up normally, showing video and so on. Sadly, there is no audio power-up tune. The power supply emits some soft static and high-pitched whining sounds during the power up sequence. I believe that the onboard audio system (amplifier?) inside the NIDEC power supply has failed. Otherwise, the system is now alive!
The PROM environment variables give no hint as to how this system was booted prior to it comming into my hands. I just need to install a hard disk and associated power cable, then I can install IRIX or NetBSD. We'll see what happens.
13-Aug-2012
After locating a spare 1GB 50-pin SCSI drive suitable for use in this unit, I attached it and a CD-ROM drive and powered up. Without changing any settings in the PROM it wouldn't boot, of course, but it was seen on the SCSI bus.
20-Jan-2014
I've been experimenting with IRIX installations using this system as a test platform. Externally, I've attached a 1GB HDD and CDROM drives.
A plain-jane installation of 6.5 went pretty smoothly. I used the following CDs:
- IRIX 6.5 Installation Tools - IRIX 6.5 Foundation 1 - IRIX 6.5 Foundation 2 - IRIX 6.5 Applications
First, I had to initialize the new drive with a volume header by booting standalone tools. After the system starts, it shows the graphical PROM menu. I inserted the Installation Tools CD, and selected '5' to get to the console, then:
> boot -f dksc(0,2,8)sashARCS dksc(0,2,7)/stand/fx.ARCS --xfx> r fx/repartition> ro fx/rootdrive: ... Are you sure? yes
fx/repartition> .. fx> l fx/label> sy
fx/label> .. fx> exit
A botched first attempt left me with an inconsistent config and I had to wipe the first part of the drive after getting back into the fx.ARCS tool with:
fx> exe fx/exercise> set fx/exercise/setpattern: (xx) 0 fx/exercise/setpattern: (xx) .. fx/exercise> seq fx/exercise/sequential: modifier: wr-o fx/exercise/sequential: starting block: 0 fx/exercise/sequential: nblocks: 100000 fx/exercise/sequential: nscans: 1 * * * * * WARNING * * * * * about to destroy data on disk! ok?: yes
then I just restarted the general installation process.
After the install and reboot the system is quite usable, even though the system is only 100MHz and has a slow SCSI-2 hard disk drive. This basic installation used about 722MB on the disk, leaving me with about 180MB free.
Now, IRIX 6.5.22.
First, the inst/SoftwareManager must be upgraded from 3.3 to 4.1 to handle the 6.5.22 files. To install this requires a patch from support.sgi.com, and this required that I register. My credentials are: [hidden].
This upgrade proved to be troublesome in a number of ways. First, the 6.5.22 CDs that I have are ISO9660 format, containing the files from the upgrade distribution. Turns out that these CDs are not completely readable when running under 6.5. I guess the older versions of IRIX don't know about the Joliet or Rockridge extensions (whichever) that allows for long names, and when the Software Manager tried to install the update it started to complain that certain files were not found. Once the light went on in my head I wondered if I could somehow recreate the CDs with the native efs file system. Indeed, this is possible, but it was anything but easy.
At a high level, these are the steps:
- Download and apply patch 5086
- Download fresh copies of the 6.5.22 Overlay distribution CD contents files.
- Download and install tools to generate efs formatted CDs.
- Generate the CD images.
- Burn the images to CDROMs.
The first three items required that I re-register with support.sgi.com. I got the patch 5086, then I navigated to the OS distributions and downloaded the three 6.5.22 .tar.gz files. Then I downloaded the CD mastering tools from:
ftp://ftp.sgi.com/sgi/cdburners/CDmastering.tar.Z
Now, here we go...
- Install the patch to the system using Software Manager.
- On a system with plenty of disk space (I used my o2 running IRIX 6.5.30 with a 73GB drive):
-- unpack the overlay tarfiles into individual subdirs
-- unpack the CD mastering tools
-- add the CD mastering tools dir to $path
-- edit CD mastering tools file: make_efs
--- search for and comment out the line: set -p
-- make a subdir for output, i.e., 'images'
-- for each overlay directory run:
# make_efs -f overlaydir -o outputdir
-- concatentate the .vh and .efs files into one .img file for each overlay:
# cat overlayfile.vh overlayfile.efs > overlayfile.img
-- use linux to burn the images. They are not ISO images and my Windows XP system running Nero refused to burn them.
It took me an entire day to figure out that little modification to the make_efs script. Boy, what a lot of effort that was.
In the end, though, I now have the IRIX 6.5.22 Overlays on efs formatted CDs, suitable for installation. If I had a larger hard disk I wouldn't have had to go through all this trouble. I could simply download and un-tar the overlay files, then install them from there. But I don't have enough room on this little 1GB hard disk.
14-Aug-2014
Since this system is the slower of the two most recent Indys that I've acquired, it is a shame that it has the 24-bit graphics option, where the faster 150Mhz Indy has only the 8-bit graphics option. I swapped the graphics options between the two. Now this system, "sine", is the 'runt' of all the Indys that I have.
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