Path: news1.ucsd.edu!ihnp4.ucsd.edu!swrinde!cs.utexas.edu!nntp.primenet.com!news.sgi.com!news.tamu.edu!sgi-faq
From: sgi-faq@viz.tamu.edu (The SGI FAQ group)
Newsgroups: comp.sys.sgi.misc,comp.answers,news.answers
Subject: SGI hardware Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ)
Supersedes: <hardware_840520993@viz.tamu.edu>
Followup-To: comp.sys.sgi.misc
Date: 6 Sep 1996 06:04:19 GMT
Organization: Visualization Lab, Texas A&M University
Lines: 1654
Approved: news-answers-request@mit.edu
Expires: 4 Oct 1996 06:03:24 GMT
Message-ID: <hardware_841989804@viz.tamu.edu>
Reply-To: sgi-faq@viz.tamu.edu (The SGI FAQ group)
NNTP-Posting-Host: viz.tamu.edu
Originator: sgi-faq@viz.tamu.edu
Xref: news1.ucsd.edu comp.sys.sgi.misc:24282 comp.answers:16184 news.answers:64825
Archive-name: sgi/faq/hardware
Last-modified: Fri Sep 6 1:00:14 CDT 1996
Posting-Frequency: Twice monthly
URL: http://www-viz.tamu.edu/~sgi-faq/
SGI hardware Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ)
This is one of the Silicon Graphics FAQ series, which consists of:
SGI admin FAQ - IRIX system administration
SGI apps FAQ - Applications and miscellaneous programming
SGI audio FAQ - Audio applications and programming
SGI diffs FAQ - Changes to the other FAQs since the last posting
SGI graphics FAQ - Graphics and user environment customization
SGI hardware FAQ - Hardware
SGI impressario FAQ - IRIS Impressario
SGI inventor FAQ - IRIS Inventor
SGI misc FAQ - Introduction & miscellaneous information
SGI movie FAQ - Movies
SGI performer FAQ - IRIS Performer
SGI pointer FAQ - Pointer to the other FAQs
SGI security FAQ - IRIX security
Read the misc FAQ for information about the FAQs themselves. Each FAQ is
posted to comp.sys.sgi.misc and to the news.answers and comp.answers
newsgroups (whose purpose is to store FAQs) twice per month. If you
can't find one of the FAQs with your news program, you can get it from
ftp://viz.tamu.edu/pub/sgi/faq/
ftp://rtfm.mit.edu/pub/usenet/news.answers/sgi/faq/
(rtfm.mit.edu is home to many other FAQs and informational documents,
and is a good place to look if you can't find an answer here.) The FAQs
are on the World Wide Web at
http://www-viz.tamu.edu/~sgi-faq/
If you can't use FTP or WWW, send mail to mail-server@rtfm.mit.edu with
the word 'help' on a line by itself in the text, and it will send you a
document describing how to get files from rtfm.mit.edu by mail. Send the
command 'send usenet/news.answers/sgi/faq/misc' to get the SGI misc FAQ,
and similarly for the other FAQs. Send the command 'send
usenet/news.answers/internet-services/access-via-email' to get the
"Accessing the Internet by E-Mail FAQ".
You may distribute the SGI FAQs freely and we encourage you to do so.
However, you must keep them intact, including headers and this notice,
and you must not charge for or profit from them. Contact us for other
arrangements. We can't be responsible for copies of the SGI FAQs at
sites which we do not control, and copies published on paper or CD-ROM
are certain to be out of date. The contents are accurate as far as we
know, but the usual disclaimers apply. Send additions and changes to
sgi-faq@viz.tamu.edu.
Topics covered in this FAQ:
---------------------------
-1- GENERAL INFORMATION
-2- Where can I get a copy of SGI's Periodic Table of the Irises?
-3- What third-party vendors sell thus-and-such for SGIs?
-4- Where can I get used SGI machines?
-5- What is my old SGI machine worth?
-6- What about my IRIS 2000 or 3000?
-7- Should I shut off my Iris at night?
-8- How fast is my R4000 or R4400 machine?
-9- What is the IP number of each SGI model?
-10- What graphics and audio options were/are available for each
model?
-11- MEMORY
-12- What type of memory does each SGI model use?
-13- Can I mix 1MB and 2MB SIMMS in my 4D/20 & 4D/25 Personal IRISes?
-14- Can I add 4MB SIMMS to my 4D/20 or 4D/25 PI?
-15- How many 4MB SIMMS can be put into an Indigo?
-16- How can I find a bad SIMM?
-17- Why does my system tell me I need a revision C Memory Controller
(MC) chip?
-18- Should I worry about a "recoverable memory parity error"?
-19- MONITORS AND VIDEO HARDWARE
-20- My monitor is maladjusted in some way. How to fix it?
-21- Can I have 2 graphics displays on my Indigo?
-22- What do I need to do stereo on an Onyx/RE2?
-23- Can I use my SGI monitor on my PC?
-24- Can I use my PC monitor on my SGI?
-25- What video formats, scan rate, etc. do SGI monitors support?
-26- How can I set my Indy to use 1280x1024 pixels on a third-party
monitor?
-27- What is the pinout for the Indy's 13W3 video connector?
-28- STORAGE DEVICES
-29- What do all these SCSI technical terms mean?
-30- How many SCSI devices can I have on an Indigo?
-31- How do I install external SCSI disks on my SGI?
-32- What kind of DAT drive does SGI sell for the Indigo?
-33- Can I use a 3rd-party cartridge tape drive on my Indigo?
-34- Which Exabyte drives work with SGI systems?
-35- How to connect my 3rd-party tape drive to my SGI?
-36- How should I set up my tape drive so tar's 'r' and 'u' options
work?
-37- What do I do when I can't read a tar tape made on another system?
-38- Why can't I write a tape on my DEC DAT drive and read it on my
SGI?
-39- Why does my SGI think my DAT has audio on it when it actually has
data?
-40- How can I recover a partially overwritten tar tape?
-41- When and how should I clean my tape drive?
-42- Why don't no-rewind tape devices always work in IRIX 5.3/6.0.1?
-43- What dump parameters should I use?
-44- How can I eject a jammed tape or CD?
-45- Can I use a non-SGI CD-ROM on my SGI?
-46- Can I use an SGI CD-ROM on a non-SGI?
-47- How can I write CD-ROMs on an SGI?
-48- Why can't Joe User eject his CD-ROM?
-49- How can Joe User mount and unmount his magneto-optical disk?
-50- Why do SGI SCSI controllers have host ID 0 instead of the usual
7?
-51- What about Syquest and Zip removable media drives?
-52- EVERYTHING ELSE
-53- How long can my monitor/keyboard/mouse/Indycam cables be?
-54- How fast is the Indigo parallel port?
-55- What are the differences between the Indigo R4000 and Indigo2?
-56- What high speed interfaces are available for Onyx?
-57- Why doesn't my modem work?
-58- What about ISDN?
-59- What mice (or other pointing devices) can I use with my SGI?
-60- What about joysticks?
-61- What about uninterruptable power supplies?
-62- How can ordinary users control the multi-channel option (MCO)?
-63- What laptop or notebook SGIs are available?
----------------------------------------------------------------------
Subject: -1- GENERAL INFORMATION
Date: 09 Jan 1994 00:00:01 EST
The next few items discuss general questions about hardware.
------------------------------
Subject: -2- Where can I get a copy of SGI's Periodic Table of the
Irises?
Date: 10 Dec 1993 00:00:01 EST
SGI Direct (see the misc FAQ for phone numbers) and your friendly
neighborhood salesbeing are guaranteed to have the latest.
Nonetheless, the misc FAQ lists the locations of FTPable Postscript
versions under "What are some related network-accessible
documents?".
------------------------------
Subject: -3- What third-party vendors sell thus-and-such for SGIs?
Date: 12 May 1996 00:00:01 EST
See ftp://viz.tamu.edu/pub/sgi/hardware/3rd-party and
http://www.vigyan.com/~blbates/hardware/.
------------------------------
Subject: -4- Where can I get used SGI machines?
Date: 18 Feb 1994 00:00:01 CST
The SGI Systems Remarketing group makes used SGI machines available
to sales representatives. If you want to buy a used SGI machine, ask
your local sales rep or call SGI Direct (see the misc FAQ for phone
numbers).
wgbhres@world.std.com (Boris Levitin) lists some other remarketers:
Concorde Groupe 800-437-8621, 404-423-0070
Concorde Groupe, fax 404-426-8130
Falcon Systems, Jeff Geiger 800-326-1002
Minicomputer Exchange, John McFarland 408-733-4400
R-Squared, Tony Sciacca 800-777-3478
Security Computer Sales 612-227-5683
Sun Valley Technical Repair, Joe Ferris 408-224-6261
X-Systems, Jon Nies 800-886-5343, xsys@xsys.com
X-Systems, fax 303-443-7440
XS International 404-874-1212
------------------------------
Subject: -5- What is my old SGI machine worth?
Date: 27 Jun 1996 00:00:01 EST
Thanks to Thomas Sippel-Dau <cmaae47@imperial.ac.uk> for this
summary:
Since computer technology has been improving so rapidly, this is
difficult to answer generally. But you can take the following
approches to get somewhere near a realistic estimate.
1. The Book Value.
This assumes the computer is an investment object which is written
down over a certain time. At the end of this time it is assumed that
the residual value will pay for scrapping the object, so you do not
have to pay someone to take it away. About 5 years seems reasonable
for computers.
Value the current value
Price the original price
n the age of the machine in months
p depreciation rate 1.6% (for 62.5 months useful life)
1.1 Linear method: Value = Price * ( 1 - n * p )
1.2 Degressive method: Value = Price * ( 1 - 2 * p ) ** n
In the first 4 years the degressive method will give lower values.
Once the degressive monthly depreciation is lower than the linear
one, you should sell the machine and buy a new one, otherwise you pay
more tax than you need to (talk to your accountants first, they
should know the exact depreciation rate and method).
2. Comparative method.
Get the new price of a similar current machine. Multiply the current
price by any usefulness multipliers. For example:
An Indigo R3000 server costs $8000 (N.B. NOT the real price)
An Iris 4D/25 is about half the speed of it
Then the current value of the 4D/25 cannot be more than $4000
regardless of what the book value says.
For this you must strip or enhance the machine to a current standard.
Say you take the price of an Indigo with 432 disk Mbyte and 16 Mbyte
memory to assess the residual value of a 4D/25 with eight Mbyte
memory and 330 Mbyte hard disk. You will arrive at the price after
you have upgraded the the 4D/25 to 16 Mbyte.
Since both machines are not very useful (stand alone) with so little
disk space, you can allow for the difference in disk space when you
calculate the price of the whole running system.
For this method the old system must be able to run current software
usefully. A system that does not run current software has no value,
but see below.
You should also take account of the maintenance cost for about three
years, which is when a system you buy now would be due for
replacement according to the book value method.
3. Components and options.
You can view the system as an assembly of useful parts, such as
monitor, keyboard, disk drives, system box, electronics module. If
you have extra memory or disks (over and above the currently useful
minimum), you can value them at about 80% of the price you currently
have to pay third party suppliers.
4. Residual use value.
If you can find a dedicated use for an old general purpose machine,
then this could give you a final number. However, you need to allow
for any work you have to put in to get to that state, and to keep the
system there. You will also find that only reasonably large
organisations have such dedicated uses.
Finally, a word about maintenance:
If you have one system only, and you cannot afford to lose it, you
need to take maintenance, regardless of how much it is. From about 5
systems you can save yourself maintenance if you can afford to lose
the odd system and load its uses onto the remaining ones. But
remember that rescheduling people often meets resistance, and keeping
people idle because of a system failure is extremely expensive.
See also David Dennis <david@amazing.com>'s "Buying Old SGI Systems
FAQ", cited in the misc FAQ.
------------------------------
Subject: -6- What about my IRIS 2000 or 3000?
Date: 20 Jul 1996 00:00:01 EST
See the IRIS 2000/3000 mailing list and FAQ (cited in the misc FAQ,
the latter under "What are some related network-accessible
documents?") and ftp://viz.tamu.edu/pub/sgi/hardware/4Dxx0.
------------------------------
Subject: -7- Should I shut off my Iris at night?
Date: 01 Jul 1994 00:00:01 EST
(Home users often ask this.) No, you should not. The hardware is
designed for continuous use, and IRIX schedules cleanup tasks for the
early morning. (See the cron(1M) and crontab(1) manpages and the
files in /usr/spool/cron.) Disks, tapes, CD-ROMs etc. consume little
power when idle and should NEVER be turned off or on (or connected or
disconnected) when the system is running.
However, turning off your *monitor* will save power and prolong its
life.
------------------------------
Subject: -8- How fast is my R4000 or R4400 machine?
Date: 27 Jan 1996 00:00:01 EST
Eric Williams <williams@agomoda.asd.sgi.com> reveals all:
It is confusing to spec the clock frequency for the R4000 and R4400
because they are so flexible. There are four interesting numbers:
- internal clock
- external clock
- secondary cache access cycle
- SYSINT frequency
Let's start by specifying the processor internal frequency. e.g. 150
MHz. All other frequencies are specified with respect to this one.
For programs that get good primary cache hit rates this number will
determine the performance.
The clock input to the R4400 (i.e. the crystal you buy) is always
half the internal frequency. In this case 75 MHz. This is generally
the number used by the chip manufacturers, to specify the speed of
the part. However from a system point of view, it is the least
visible to the user, and therefore IMHO the least interesting.
The secondary cache read and write access cycles are programmable in
terms the internal clock frequency (e.g. 150 MHz cycles). This
allows you to trade off the cost/speed of secondary cache rams with
system performance. When upgrading from 100 MHz to 150 MHz you can
either keep the same rams and increase the SCache access cycle or
install faster rams and keep the number of cycles constant. The
first option keeps the cost to a minimum while the second maximizes
performance.
Finally the interface that talks to the system (SYSINT) can run at a
programmable fraction (1/2, 1/3, ...) of the internal frequency. For
the example 150 MHz processor, this could be 75 MHz, 50 MHz, etc.
This puts an upper limit on the bandwidth to memory and affects some
latency parameters. Typically you would program the system interface
to run synchronously with the memory controller.
From what I've heard here about the Indy R4400 upgrade (I'm not
involved with it) I think you could say the following:
- the internal clock (primary cache, instruction execution, etc)
increases from 100 MHz to 150 MHz
- the clock crystal increases from 50 MHz to 75 MHz
- the secondary cache access times stays the same in absolute
terms (but increases in terms of internal clock cycles)
- the system interface to memory stays at 50 MHz (100 MHz div 2, vs.
150 MHz div 3)
BTW, the Indy upgrade example illustrates why IMHO the 75 MHz
external frequency of the R4400 is not an interesting number to
quote. Performance of real programs will be determined by the
internal 150 MHz clock, the secondary cache timing and the system
interface/memory speed, not the 75 MHz external clock.
The Jan/Feb 1996 Pipeline has a table of Indigo, Indy and Indigo^2
processor types and the versions of IRIX which support them.
------------------------------
Subject: -9- What is the IP number of each SGI model?
Date: 04 Jul 1996 00:00:01 EST
There are two different IP numbers, one referring to the hardware and
one to the software (kernel configuration). The latter is what you
see when you type 'hinv'. Here is a table of both numbers:
HW IP SW IP Model CPU Speed
----- ----- -------------------- ----- -----------
IP2 IP2 IRIS 3000 68020
IP4 IP4 4D/50, 4D/70 R2000 12.5MHz
IP4.5 IP4.5 4D/80, 4D/85 R2000 16MHz
4D/60 R2300
IP5 IP5 4D/1x0 R3000 16.7MHz
IP6 IP6 4D/20 R3000 12.5MHz
IP10 IP6 4D/25 R3000 20MHz
IP7 IP7 4D/2x0 R3000 25MHz
IP9 IP9 4D/210 R3000 25MHz
IP13 IP7 4D/3x0 R3000 33MHz
IP15 IP7 4D/4x0 R3000 40MHz
IP12 IP12 4D/30, 4D/35, Indigo R3000 30-36MHz
IP17 IP17 Crimson R4x00 50 or 75MHz
IP19 IP19 Onyx, Challenge R4x00 50 or 75MHz
IP20 IP20 Indigo R4000 R4x00 50 or 75MHz
IP22 IP22 Indigo2 R4x00 50 or 75MHz
IP24 IP22 Indy R4x00 50 or 75MHz
IP25 R10000 200 MHz
IP26 Challenge R8000 75 MHz
The missing numbers were used for machines that were not released.
R4x00 machines can be 50 MHz R4000s or 75Mhz R4400s. 'hinv' reports
twice that in recent versions of IRIX; see the previous question for
an explanation. We use the smaller number here for consistency.
------------------------------
Subject: -10- What graphics and audio options were/are available for
each model?
Date: 20 Apr 1996 00:00:01 EST
Walter Roberson <roberson@ibd.nrc.ca> writes: Here's a first draft.
Some of the fine details might be off a little, especially with respect
to older systems. CPU type is important in determining which graphics
options are supported.
Fields are
model: cpu@speed: audio notes
gfx code name (gfx market name ["gfxinfo board name: #bitplanes,
#Z planes, implementing hardware])
4D20: IP6@12: /dev/audio (8 bit u-law)
Da Vinci ([24, no Z]),
Eclipse (B ["VGR2"], G ["GR1": 24, 24 Z, RE1|RE2],
TG ["GR1": 24, 24 Z, RE1|RE2])
4D25: IP6@20: /dev/audio (8 bit u-law)
Da Vinci ([24, no Z]),
Eclipse (B ["VGR2"], G ["GR1": 24, 24 Z, RE1|RE2],
TG ["GR1": 24, 24 Z, RE1|RE2])
4D30: IP12@30: Indigo-type audio optional
Eclipse (B ["VGR2"], G ["GR1": 24, 24 Z, RE2], TG ["GR1": 24, 24 Z, RE2]),
Express (XS ["GR2", 8, no Z, 1 GE7, 1 RE3],
XS24 ["GR2": 24, no Z, 1 GE7, 1 RE3],
Elan ["GR2-Elan": 24, Z, 4 GE7, 1 RE3])
4D35: IP12@36: Indigo-type audio optional
Eclipse (B ["VGR2"], G ["GR1": 24, 24 Z, RE2], G ["GR1": 24, 24 Z, RE2]),
Express (XS ["GR2", 8, no Z, 1 GE7, 1 RE3],
XS24 ["GR2": 24, no Z, 1 GE7, 1 RE3],
Elan ["GR2-Elan": 24, Z, 4 GE7, 1 RE3])
4DRPC (R3000 Indigo): IP12@33: audio built in
Express (XS ["GR2", 8, no Z, 1 GE7, 1 RE3],
XS24 ["GR2": 24, no Z, 1 GE7, 1 RE3],
XSM ["GR2": 24, no Z, 4 GE7, 1 RE3],
Elan ["GR2-Elan": 24, Z, 4 GE7, 1 RE3]),
Starter/Light (Entry ["LG1": 8, soft Z, LG2, REX])
4D4RPC? (R4000 Indigo): IP20: audio built in
Express (XS ["GR2": 8, no Z, 1 GE7, 1 RE3],
XSM ["GR2": 24, no Z, 4 GE7, 1 RE3],
XZ ["GR2-XZ": 24, Z, 2 GE7, 1 RE3],
Elan ["GR2-Elan": 24, Z, 4 GE7, 1 RE3])
Starter/Light (Entry ["LG1MC": 8, soft Z, LG2, REX]),
4D50: IP4@12.5: no audio
Clover1 (B, G [optional Z])
4D60: IP4.5@16: no audio
Clover1 (B, G [optional Z])
4D70: IP4@12.5: no audio
Clover1 (B, G [optional Z]),
Clover2 (GT [Z], GTX [Z])
4D80: IP4.5@16: no audio
Clover2 (GT [Z], GTX [Z])
4D85: IP4.5@16: no audio
Clover2 (GT [Z], GTX [Z])
4D120: IP5@16.7: Vigra VME audio optional (not AL compatable)
Clover2 (GTX ["GTX": GM2, GE4, RM1, RV2]),
Stapuft (SKY, VGX ["VGX": IMP3]),
Venice (RealityEngine ["RE": 8 GE8, 2 RM4])
4D210: IP9@25: Vigra VME audio optional (not AL compatable)
Clover2 (GT ["GT": GM2, GE4, RM1, RV1], GTX ["GTX": GM2, GE4, RM1, RV2]),
Stapuft (VGX ["VGX": IMP3])
4D2[248]0: IP7@25: Vigra VME audio optional (not AL compatable)
Clover2 (GT ["GT": GM2, GE4, RM1, RV1], GTX ["GTX": GM2, GE4, RM1, RV2]),
Stapuft (VGX ["VGX": IMP3], VGXT/SKY ["VGX": IMP5])
4D310 (Crimson): IP17: Vigra VME audio optional (not AL compatable)
Clover2 (GTX ["GTX": GM2, GE4, RM1, RV2]),
Express (XS ["GR2": 8, no Z, 1 GE7, 1 RE3],
XS24 ["GR2": 24, no Z, 1 GE7, 1 RE3],
Elan ["GR2-Elan": 24, Z, 4 GE7, 1 RE]),
Light (Entry ["LG1"]),
Stapuft (VGX ["VGX": IMP3], VGXT/SKY ["VGX": IMP5])
Ultra (Extreme ["GU1-Extreme", 32 Z]),
Venice (RealityEngine ["REC": 8 GE8, 2 RM4]),
4D3[248]0: IP7@33: Vigra VME audio optional (not AL compatable)
Clover2 (GTX ["GTX": GM2, GE4, RM1, RV2]),
Stapuft (VGX ["VGX": IMP3], VGXT/SKY ["VGX": IMP5]),
Venice (RealityEngine ["RE"])
4D4x0: IP7@40: Vigra VME audio optional (not AL compatable)
Stapuft (VGX ["VGX": IMP3], VGXT ["VGX": IMP5]),
Venice (RealityEngine ["RE"])
Indy: IP22: audio built in
Express (XZ ["GR3-Elan": 24, Z, 4 GE7, 1 RE3.1]),
Newport (XL ["NG1": 8|24, soft Z, NG1, REX3])
Indigo2: IP22: audio built in
Express (XZ ["GR3-Elan": 24, Z, 4 GE7, 1 RE3.1]),
Newport (XL ["NG1": 8|24, soft Z, NG1, REX3]),
Newpress (Extreme+XL ["GU1-Extreme": 32 Z]),
Ultra (Extreme ["GU1-Extreme", 32 Z])
Onyx: IP19: ASO audio optional, Vigra VME audio optional (*is* AL
compatable!)
Venice (RealityEngine ["RE": 8 GE8, 2 RM4],
RealityEngine2/VTX ["REV": 12 GE10, 2 RM4 or RM5])
Notes:
See http://www.sgi.com/Archive/comp.sys.sgi/audio/1994/Aug/0082.html
for more details on audio on VME machines.
It is not certain that VGR2 graphics is {IP6,IP12} "B" series.
The 4D50 thru 4D85 have an audio channel, but there is no
documentation on it and there is no SGI or third party support for it.
SGI does not seem to have discussed it at all in the newsgroups.
XSM graphics seems to be quite rare. Elan without a Z buffer? The
newsgroups have mentioned it only once, but I have one so I'm sure it
exists.
The high-end graphics list is probably incomplete.
Slashes usually indicate points I'm not entirely clear on. For example
I'm unclear on whether Skywriter graphics is different than VGTX.
------------------------------
Subject: -11- MEMORY
Date: 09 Jan 1994 00:00:01 EST
The next few items discuss adding memory.
------------------------------
Subject: -12- What type of memory does each SGI model use?
Date: 09 Mar 1996 00:00:01 EST
Walter Roberson <roberson@Ibd.nrc.ca> provided the following table.
'3rd' indicates the memory is available from 3rd party vendors.
IRIS 3000 series (MC68020 based): ??; scrap these if you aren't a
collector
4D/20, 4D/25: Industry Standard 30 pin; 80-100 ns; 3rd; see notes 1-3
4D/30, 4D/35, R3000 Indigo: SGI Custom 64 pin w/ASIC, parity; 3rd
common; see note 4
4D/50, 4D/60 (cs12), 4D/70, 4D/80, 4D/85: SGI Custom??; 3rd uncommon;
see notes 5-6
4D/110: SGI Custom??; no known source
4D/1[2-8]0, 4D/[234][1-8]0, Crimson: SGI Custom, ECC; 3rd; see notes
7-8
Challenge/Onyx: SGI Custom, ECC; 3rd
Power Challenge/Onyx: SGI Custom, same as Challenge/Onyx; 3rd
R4000 Indigo, Indy, Indigo^2: Industry Standard 72 pin pop-up page-mode
parity; 3rd very common
Power Indigo^2: as for Indigo^2 but has distinct 128Mb upgrade
R10000 XXX: as for base XXX system for now, will require higher-speed
memory subsystems to get full performance.
Notes:
1. 4D/2[05] can mix 1M and 2M SIMMs, but not 1M or 2M with 4M.
2. 4D/2[05] PROM requires first 4MB SIMMs in each bank to power-up
without a parity error. Hitachi are bad; Toshiba, among others,
are good. Does not apply to very early 4D/20.
3. All slots must be populated when using double-high 1 MB SIMMs.
4. An ASIC bug prevents using multiple banks of 4 Mb SIMMs.
5. 4D/70 max is 16 Mb main memory plus 128 Mb expansion boards.
Some 4D/70s support 4 MB SIMMs for 64 Mb local main memory.
6. 4D/80 max is 16 Mb main memory plus 128 Mb expansion boards.
4D/80 could support 48 Mb local main memory if two PALs were
changed.
7. MC2, MC3 cannot mix standard and high density SIMMs.
8. Crimson memory should be sorted highest capacity first to lowest
last.
In each case, memory MUST be added in groups of 4 SIMMs. Substantial
slowdowns might occur with the Challenge/Onyx and Power Challenge/Onyx
if SIMMs are not added in groups of 8 or as required to fill all
'leaves'.
------------------------------
Subject: -13- Can I mix 1MB and 2MB SIMMS in my 4D/20 & 4D/25 Personal
IRISes?
Date: 20 May 1993 00:00:01 CST
From PIPELINE March/April 1992, page 18:
You can use either 1MB or 2MB SIMMs in these systems. If you mix 1MB
and 2MB SIMMs, all sixteen memory slots must be filled.
------------------------------
Subject: -14- Can I add 4MB SIMMS to my 4D/20 or 4D/25 PI?
Date: 19 Jun 1994 00:00:01 EST
The short answer is "maybe". Read on.
Thanks to Michael Portuesi <portuesi@tweezers.esd.sgi.com> for this
helpful summary:
The 4D/2* has 16 memory slots. You get access to them by removeing
the right plastic cover and the metal shield underneath (box seen
from the front). The slots are in the upper, left corner (box now
seen from the right).
The slots have to be populated by SIMMs (some kind of industry
standard). I think 80 or even 100ns is allright, but take a look at
the speed of your own SIMMs.
SIMMs should always be mounted in groups of four. In a plain 8MB
4D/20 you have eight 1MB SIMMs. They are placed in slots A and B in
this figure:
ABCD ABCD
ABCD ABCD
If you upgrade to 16MB using eight more 1MB SIMMs you simply insert
the new SIMMs in slots C and D. If you are going to mix different
SIMMs you should always have the the same type of SIMM in slots with
the same letter.
As far as I know, the SGI 32MB memory upgrade is sixteen 2MB SIMMs,
and they are mounted in all the slots. Now, I have been told (but
haven't tried it) that it is possible to mix 1 and 2MB SIMMs. The
important point is that the 2MB SIMMs should be in the lowest
numbered slots. To get 24MB you should populate the slots as shown
(signatures are, 1 = 1MB SIMM, 2 = 2MB SIMM, 4 = 4MB SIMM, . = empty
slot):
2211 2211
2211 2211
The good news is that you can get 4MB SIMMs from third-party vendors
outpricing the 2MB SIMMs available from SGI. To get 32MB you mount 8
4MB SIMMs like this:
44.. 44..
44.. 44..
The bad news is that you cannot mix 4MB SIMMs with 1 or 2MB SIMMs
(leaving a lot of spare SIMMs) and even worse, not all 4MB SIMMs will
function properly.
Among the "good" SIMMs are those from Toshiba. They should look
something like this (information I got from a news article posted by
Chris Miller <eagle!news@ucbvax.berkeley.edu>):
module ID tags: chip numbers:
-------------- --------- TOSHIBA
| TOSHIBA | | 9025AAA | TC514100J-80
| THM94000S-80 | | JAPAN | JAPAN 9020HDK
-------------- ---------
Among the "bad" SIMMs are those from Hitachi:
chip numbers:
JAPAN R200
9026 2NN
HM514100JP8H
Other memory configurations that we have tried are (0 = empty slot, 1
= 1MB SIMM, 2 = 2MB SIMM, H = 4MB Hitachi SIMM, T = 4MB Toshiba
SIMM):
1100 1100 Came up as 8MB (correct)
1100 1100
1111 1111 Came up as 16MB (correct)
1111 1111
TT11 TT11 Came up as 64MB (wrong)
TT11 TT11
T000 T000 Came up as 16MB (correct)
T000 T000
TT00 TT00 Came up as 32MB (correct)
TT00 TT00
HH00 HH00 Came up as 0MB (wrong!!)
HH00 HH00
TH00 TH00 Came up as 32MB (correct)
TH00 TH00
TTH0 TTH0 Came up as 48MB (correct)
TTH0 TTH0
TTHH TTHH Came up as 64MB (correct)
TTHH TTHH
11TT 11TT Comes up as 16MB
11TT 11TT
It appears as though the machine checks the first bank of chips (port
0) to determine the chip size and assumes that the rest are the same.
The Hitachi 4MB SIMMs are NOT correctly detected.
It is important that the 4MB SIMMs in slot A are 'good'. Then you are
free to use "bad" 4MB SIMMs in the rest of the slots (this is my
experience), and it is possible to upgrade to 64 MB populating all the
slots with 4MB SIMMs.
When you do the actual seating of the SIMMs you should take
precautions (wear a static strap, work on a static pad) not to damage
the memory. Sometimes you will have to reseat a module. If a SIMM is
not properly seated it will probably show up on the diagnostics
terminal (if you have one attached) during power on.
After a successful power on you should enter the PROM monitor and
issue the 'hinv' command. This should tell you how much memory you
have (or how much the 4D/2* believes it has). If this is correct you
are ready to boot.
Dave Olson <olson@sgi.com> adds: [The "good" vs. "bad" SIMM business]
is a PROM bug. We had a fix, but that PROM never released. We didn't
have 4 MB SIMMs when the last shipped prom released. We read a memory
location with the 4M SIMMs before we initialzed it. SIMMs that power
up all 1's work; those that power up all 0's require a reset or two
(by then the memory was initialized). The Toshiba simms worked once;
I've heard that current 4M Toshiba simms may not.
The moral of the story: many people do fine with 4M SIMMs in their
4D25s, but don't buy them without a money-back guarantee.
------------------------------
Subject: -15- How many 4MB SIMMS can be put into an Indigo?
Date: 20 May 1993 00:00:01 CST
One (1) set. Says Dave Olson <olson@sgi.com>: Due to a design flaw,
only one set of 4MB SIMMs (16 MB per bank) can be used in an R3000
Indigo, 4D/30 and 4D/35. This limitation doesn't apply to the 2 MB
or 8 MB SIMMs.
------------------------------
Subject: -16- How can I find a bad SIMM?
Date: 20 Feb 1994 00:00:01 EST
Articles in the Mar/Apr 1992 and May/Jun 93 Pipelines describe how to
find bad SIMMs in Personal Irises. The PROM diagnostics on Indigos
and newer can find them for you.
------------------------------
Subject: -17- Why does my system tell me I need a revision C Memory
Controller (MC) chip?
Date: 30 Apr 1994 00:00:01 EST
Dave Olson <olson@sgi.com> explains: Long, long story. Short
synopsis: if you don't get memory errors, don't worry about it.
Slightly longer: A number of vendors' 16 Mbit chips had a bug in
them. We found it, and they agreed it was their bug, but they were
looking at a long, long DRAM spin time, so we worked around it in a
new rev (rev C) of the memory controller. The symptom was primarily
parity errors; this could be confused with the other parity error
problem we have, thus the warning message in 5.2.
At least some of the vendors that had the problem should have fixed
DRAM shipping by now, which is not to say that SIMMs you buy now have
the new DRAMs on them. Not all vendors had the problem.
------------------------------
Subject: -18- Should I worry about a "recoverable memory parity
error"?
Date: 12 May 1996 00:00:01 EST
If you get them infrequently, it's just cosmic rays. If you get them
frequently on the same SIMM, replace the SIMM. If you get them
frequently on different SIMMs, there may be some other hardware
problem affecting the entire memory system.
------------------------------
Subject: -19- MONITORS AND VIDEO HARDWARE
Date: 09 Jan 1994 00:00:01 EST
The next few items discuss monitors and video hardware.
------------------------------
Subject: -20- My monitor is maladjusted in some way. How to fix it?
Date: 26 Aug 1995 00:00:01 EST
ftp://viz.tamu.edu/pub/sgi/hardware/monitor/ has two handy writeups
on monitor adjustment.
------------------------------
Subject: -21- Can I have 2 graphics displays on my Indigo?
Date: 18 Feb 1994 00:00:01 CST
The Dual Headed IRIS Indigo with Entry Graphics (W-RPC-DH) sounds
like what you want. It has two Entry Graphics subsystems and two 16"
monitors. Contact SGI Direct (see the misc FAQ for phone numbers)
for more information.
Starting with Irix release 5.1.1.2, there is also support for
dual-head configurations on Indigo-2's. Both heterogeneous
(Extreme-XL) and homogeneous (XL-XL) hardware combinations are
possible.
------------------------------
Subject: -22- What do I need to do stereo on an Onyx/RE2?
Date: 14 Jun 1993
Paul Spencer <spencer@hailwood.asd.sgi.com> illuminates us with: You
just need the shutter glasses (and the emitter, which comes with the
glasses). This is available as a kit from SGI. The standard SGI
RealityEngine monitor can do stereo; you don't need a special CRT.
Demo programs and sample source code are part of every IRIX release.
------------------------------
Subject: -23- Can I use my SGI monitor on my PC?
Date: 13 Apr 1996 00:00:01 EST
Rick McLeod <mcleod@esprit.esd.sgi.com> writes: This depends on the
SGI monitor. PCs want multifrequency/ multiscanning/multisyncing
monitors. Earlier SGI platforms supplied fixed frequency or dual
scan mode monitors. These will not work on PCs. Some current SGI
machines (Indy, Indigo2, Onyx) ship with multiscan monitors. These
will most likely work with a PC, but make sure that the monitor gets
the proper sync signal.
Clinton Keith <clint@art.ray.com> adds his implementation details:
The GDM-17E11 works on my PC with a Diamond Speedstar 24x. I used a
VGA connector that brought out the RGB V and H sync lines from the
24X into BNC connectors (commonly avaliable at a local computer
store). I connected the V sync H sync and Green lines together and
connected this line and the Red and Blue lines to a BNC-to-DB13W3
connector (bought a workstation supply vendor) which went to the
monitor.
I then set up the 24X to provide -/- sync voltages and selected the
highest vertical and horizontal scan rates I available.
Unfortunately, the monitor refused to display 640x480 (pride?) but
did well at 800x600, 1024x768 and 1280x1024. There was a slight
greenish tint to the black areas of the screen. It seems as though
connecting the sync lines to the Green may have added a DC bias, but
the effect is minor.
Companies which make graphics cards which drive SGI monitors (both
fixed- and multi-frequency) on PCs include:
PCG 800-255-9893 or 310-260-4747
Ask for Ben at extension 747
photon@earthlink.net
http://www.photonweb.com/
Mirage 800-228-3349 or 310-301-4545
http://www.lainet.com/mirage/
Software Integrators 800-547-2349
------------------------------
Subject: -24- Can I use my PC monitor on my SGI?
Date: 28 Jan 1994 00:00:01 EST
Rick McLeod <mcleod@esprit.esd.sgi.com> writes: The PC monitor must
be able to handle a 1024x768 non-interlaced signal to be used with
Indigo starter graphics or Indy. Most of SGI systems operate at
1280x1024 non-interlaced. Most PC monitors will not be able to deal
with the scan rates required to display a stereo image.
------------------------------
Subject: -25- What video formats, scan rate, etc. do SGI monitors
support?
Date: 27 Jan 1996 00:00:01 EST
It depends on the monitor. See the Sep/Oct 1993 Pipeline, a
correction on p. 26 of the Nov/Dec 1993 Pipeline and an update in the
Jan/Feb 1996 Pipeline for tabulations of the characteristics of most
types of SGI monitors. The Jan/Feb 1996 Pipeline also tabulates the
video formats supported by each graphics option on p. 22.
------------------------------
Subject: -26- How can I set my Indy to use 1280x1024 pixels on a
third-party monitor?
Date: 19 May 1994 00:00:01 EST
As root, do 'nvram monitor h' and reboot. See 'man 2 sgikopt' for
details.
------------------------------
Subject: -27- What is the pinout for the Indy's 13W3 video connector?
Date: 17 Feb 1996 00:00:01 EST
See ftp://viz.tamu.edu/pub/sgi/hardware/monitor/13W3.pinout.
------------------------------
Subject: -28- STORAGE DEVICES
Date: 09 Jan 1994 00:00:01 EST
The next few items discuss storage devices. Tapes, mostly.
------------------------------
Subject: -29- What do all these SCSI technical terms mean?
Date: 12 Feb 1994 00:00:01 EST
Look in ftp://rtfm.mit.edu/pub/usenet/comp.periphs.scsi/ for the
comp.periphs.scsi FAQ.
------------------------------
Subject: -30- How many SCSI devices can I have on an Indigo?
Date: 26 May 1993 00:00:01 CST
You can have 7 SCSI devices, and as long as you have clean cabling,
and one (and only one!) SCSI terminator at the end of the chain, and
keep total cable length under 6 meters, there should be no problems,
as far as the Indigo's bus itself goes.
On an Indigo2, you can have 7 devices on the external SCSI bus, and
up to 3 devices on the internal bus.
------------------------------
Subject: -31- How do I install external SCSI disks on my SGI?
Date: 21 Dec 1995 00:00:01 EST
In brief, use 'fx' to format and label (partition) the drive, use
'mkfs' to create the empty filesystem, create the mount points and put
the proper entries into /etc/fstab. The IRIX Site Administrator's
Guide describes this in detail.
Most disks come already formatted. Don't format a disk which is
already formatted; it wastes time and may cause problems. Some disks
come with an SGI filesystem already installed, so you may not even
need to label the disk or 'mkfs'.
Dave Olson of SGI <olson@sgi.com> adds: "The 5.3 disk tool (for scsi
disks only) can create the header for you also, as well as set up the
partitions as on option disk (and only that). Unfortunately, the
initialize button does a -c FORMAT, not -c INITIALIZE to fx, so it
takes longer than it should, and violates my oft-stated "don't ever
format a scsi disk unless you absolutely have to do so" dictum. It's
fixed for 6.1 and beyond.
Quantum's Grand Prix drives need extra fiddling; see
http://www.quantum.com/support/faq/faq.htm#scsi9.
------------------------------
Subject: -32- What kind of DAT drive does SGI sell for the Indigo?
Date: 26 May 1993 00:00:01 CST
The Indigo DAT drive is an ArDAT Python 4320.
The drive SGI sells is completely standard 3.5" form factor hardware
(no compression), but has firmware that so far ARDAT is selling only
to SGI to provide audio over SCSI support, and to fix some bugs.
------------------------------
Subject: -33- Can I use a 3rd-party cartridge tape drive on my Indigo?
Date: 26 May 1993 00:00:01 CST
The Tandberg and Archive QIC24 and QIC-150 drives both work just fine
on the Indigo (both come in external versions), as do the Wangtek and
Tandberg QIC-1000 drives (as of this quarter, and 4.0.5F or later).
------------------------------
Subject: -34- Which Exabyte drives work with SGI systems?
Date: 26 May 1993 00:00:01 CST
Dave Olson <olson@sgi.com> says: First, the 8200 (2.3 Gb). The
original version we qualified was 100% stock from Exabyte. It had
some problems on the ESD machines at power on, because of the
somewhat non-standard way it handled the send-diag SCSI command. The
current rev (252T) we ship is also standard firmware from Exabyte (to
the best of my knowledge), and fixes that problem, and is also more
robust in the face of servo problems.
The 8500 (5 Gb) isn't fully qualified (by SGI) yet, and there is some
argument over whether we will ask for custom firmware; I think we are
definitely slanting towards standard firmware. The gotcha here is
that Exabyte has released so many firmware revs for the 8500, that
the word 'standard' is somewhat of a joke. I've lost touch with that
effort a bit, so I don't know what firmware rev we are currently
working with.
4.0.1 is the first IRIX release with support for the 8500, earlier
releases will work to varying degrees with different 8500 firmware.
------------------------------
Subject: -35- How to connect my 3rd-party tape drive to my SGI?
Date: 27 May 1996 00:00:01 EST
Here's the general idea:
- Run 'hinv'. You should see your tape drive, with a meaningless guess
as to its type. Note the SCSI controller number and ID. If you don't
see it, fiddle with the hardware until you do.
- Do 'cd /dev' and './MAKEDEV tape' to build a tape device for your
tape. If you have only one tape drive, its device is /dev/tape. If
you have more than one, its device is something like
/dev/rmt/tpsAdB, where "tps" may be one of several abbreviations for
the class of tape drive you have, A is the SCSI controller number
and B is the SCSI ID. There will be other devices with similar
names; don't worry about them just yet.
- Run 'mt -t <device> stat'. You should see something like
% mt -t /dev/rmt/tps0d2
Controller: SCSI
Device: XXXXXX: YYYYYY
Status: 0x202
Drive type: unknown
Media : Not READY
Note "XXXXXX" and "YYYYYYY".
- Edit /var/sysgen/master.d/scsi. Most of it is a list of tape drive
types. Find a likely looking entry and copy it. Replace the fifth
and sixth fields of the copied entry with "XXXXXX" and "YYYYYYY",
and replace the third and fourth fields with the length in
characters of "XXXXXX" and "YYYYYYY" respectively.
- Rebuild your kernel, then do 'cd /dev' and './MAKEDEV tape'
again. The same device files will be created, but they will behave
correctly (if you got the /var/sysgen/master.d/scsi entry right).
Check 'hinv' and 'mt -t <device> stat' again; you should see the
correct tape name and so on.
However, there are lots of details for particular drives. Only part
of the voluminous literature on the topic may be found at
ftp://viz.tamu.edu/pub/sgi/hardware/tape/
ftp://ion.le.ac.uk/HP_C1533A/
http://gis-www.larc.nasa.gov/~jason/dlt_on_irix5.3.html
Note particularly the Exabyte integration guide on viz.tamu.edu, in
Postscript and Microsoft Word formats, which actually comes from
Exabyte. Liam Gumley <liamg@ssec.wisc.edu>, who provided copies of
these files, reports that they also work with IRIX 6.0.1. You may
also find Dave Olson's scsicontrol program interesting; see
http://reality.sgi.com/employees/olson/Olson/
------------------------------
Subject: -36- How should I set up my tape drive so tar's 'r' and 'u'
options work?
Date: 09 Jan 1994 00:00:01 EST
Sara Kunz <kunz@binah.cc.brandeis.edu> writes: Use the variable
block size tape devices. These are called /dev/rmt/tps0d#nsv and
/dev/rmt/tps0d#nrnsv, where '#' is the tape's SCSI device number. If
the tape drive is properly attached (it should appear in 'hinv's
listing), saying '/dev/MAKEDEV tps' should create the devices for
you. If the tape drive in question is the tape drive with the lowest
SCSI ID, '/dev/MAKEDEV tapelinks' will link the appropriate devices
to /dev/tape and /dev/nrtape. Note that appending is physically
possible only on 9-track and DAT tapes.
------------------------------
Subject: -37- What do I do when I can't read a tar tape made on
another system?
Date: 04 May 1994 00:00:01 EST
Glenn Randers-Pehrson <glennrp@BRL.MIL> says:
You may be trying to read a non-byte-swapped tape on a byte-swapped
device, or vice versa. Tar tapes written on SGI's QIC cartridge
drive, using the default device, /dev/tape, are in byte-swapped
format. Sun tapes are usually not byte-swapped. On the IRIS, you can
read non-byte-swapped tapes with
tar -xvf /dev/tapens
and you can write non-byte-swapped tapes destined for a Sun with
tar -cvf /dev/tapens [directory_or_filename[s]]
On the SUN, you can read byte-swapped tapes with
dd if=/dev/rmt0 conv=swab | tar -xvf -
Read the tar(1) (DIAGNOSTICS section) and tps(7M) manpages for the
gory details.
DAT tapes may have an additional problem: SGI DATs have a default
blocking factor of 512 and HP DATs have a maximum blocking factor of
128. You can either rewrite your tape on the SGI with
tar cvbf 20 /dev/tape files
and read it on the HP (or whatever) with
tar xvbf 20 /dev/tape
or you can use 'dd' to translate like so,
dd if=/dev/tape ibs=512b of=- obs=20b | tar xvf -
where '512' is whatever blocking factor you used to write the tape.
------------------------------
Subject: -38- Why can't I write a tape on my DEC DAT drive and read it
on my SGI?
Date: 03 Dec 1994 00:00:01 EST
DEC DAT drives use hardware compression by default, and SGI DAT drives
can't handle that. Turn it off.
Furthermore, some SGI DAT drives hang when trying to read a hardware-
compressed tape, instead of saying "incompatible media" as they
should. This is fixed in recent firmware; call SGI for an upgrade.
------------------------------
Subject: -39- Why does my SGI think my DAT has audio on it when it
actually has data?
Date: 12 May 1996 00:00:01 EST
Walter Roberson <roberson@ibd.nrc.ca> writes: If you've recorded audio
on a DAT, recording data over it may not completely erase the audio
marks. You have two options:
- Never use tapes for data which have ever been used for audio.
- Dave Olson <olson@sgi.com> suggests: If 'mt stat' says that the
tape is an audio tape, eject it, do 'mt audio 0', reinsert it,
do 'mt stat' again and hope that it's recognized as data.
------------------------------
Subject: -40- How can I recover a partially overwritten tar tape?
Date: 10 Dec 1993 00:00:01 EST
People often overwrite the beginning of large tar archive, leaving
the first bit of the tape overwritten and the rest presumably intact.
This is usually NOT recoverable.
However, if you're feeling lucky, you might (says Dave Olson
<olson@sgi.com>) try something like 'mt fsf 4; mt bsf 2; tar xe' or
'mt fsf 4; mt bsr 2; tar xe'. You might also try 'tar cv foo', where
'foo' is slightly bigger than what you overwrote the archive with the
first time, and pull the plug on the tape drive before it writes the
EOF. Then power it back up and try 'tar xe'.
If this sounds unlikely to work, you're right. Don't let it happen;
use the write protect tab.
------------------------------
Subject: -41- When and how should I clean my tape drive?
Date: 20 Feb 1994 00:00:01 EST
9-track and QIC drives should be cleaned every 8 hours of use, or
more often when using many new tapes, and certainly when the number
of "recoverable errors" gets uncomfortably high. See the Nov/Dec 91
Pipeline or the "IRIS Software Installation Guide" for a detailed
cleaning procedure. Briefly, shut the drive down and swab the head
with isopropanol and a lintless cloth.
8mm and DAT drives need to be cleaned every 30 hours of use, using a
commercial cleaning tape according to the instructions.
------------------------------
Subject: -42- Why don't no-rewind tape devices always work in IRIX
5.3/6.0.1?
Date: 13 Dec 1995 00:00:01 EST
The tpsc (SCSI tape) driver is a dynamically loadable kernel module,
so it (like all such modules) is automatically unloaded five minutes
after last use. This means that if you wait five minutes between
writes to a no-rewind tape device, the driver will unload and the
kernel will forget that it's not supposed to rewind on the next write.
If you're running mediad (and haven't told it to ignore the tape
device in question) it will query the device often enough to prevent
the driver from unloading; this will prevent unexpected rewinds, but
only as long as mediad continures to run.
The problem will be fixed in IRIX 6.2; there is no patch. (Earlier
editions of this FAQ said that patch 176 and its successors fixed the
problem; that was an error.) You can prevent the tpsc driver from
unloading at all by adding an "N" to the field which contains "oscdR"
in /var/sysgen/master.d/tpsc and rebuilding your kernel. See also the
mload(4) manpage.
------------------------------
Subject: -43- What dump parameters should I use?
Date: 08 Jul 1995 00:00:01 EST
First, consider using 'tar' instead. It doesn't need tape statistics
or require you to unmount the filesystem you're backing up.
In IRIX 5.3 and later, 'dump' allows you to specify tape capacity directly
with the "C" argument (e.g. 'dump 0uCf 2m /dev/tapedevice /filesystem' for a
2G tape), so you needn't fool with c, d and s.
If you're using an older 'dump', or just like extra work, do like Dave
Olson <olson@sgi.com>: When using drives with no "inter-record gaps"
(i.e. almost every type except 9-track), use the c option, and the
formula
capacity in bytes = 7 * densityvalue * lengthvalue
Round down a bit to be conservative (allowing for block rewrites,
etc.). Keep the density under 100000 to avoid overflows in the
capacity calculations. Thus, for a DAT drive with a 90 meter (120
minute) tape with 2G capacity one might use
2*10^9 = 7 * 47619 * 6000
or, rounding down,
dump 0csd 6000 47000
For older tape types, see dump(1M). Note that 1G of tape capacity is
10^9, not 2^30, bytes. The dump(1M) manpage says the latter in IRIX
4.0.5H, but it is wrong.
------------------------------
Subject: -44- How can I eject a jammed tape or CD?
Date: 14 May 1995 00:00:01 EST
Shut down your system nicely, hold down the drive's eject button and
turn the drive's power (or, for internal drives, the system's power)
off and on. See also
ftp://viz.tamu.edu/pub/sgi/hardware/tape/ejecting-jammed-tape.
------------------------------
Subject: -45- Can I use a non-SGI CD-ROM on my SGI?
Date: 12 May 1996 00:00:01 EST
4D20, 25, 70, 80 and 85s and most Power Series machines can boot only
from SGI CD-ROMs or later Toshiba 3401s which have SGI firmware
activated by the modification described below. (Newer Toshiba models
don't have that firmware and won't work.) Older SGIs can boot only
from a local tape drive or over the network. Newer machines (4D30 and
35s, Indigos, Challenges, Onyxes, Indys, Indigo^2 etc.) have smarter
PROMs and can boot from at least some third-party CD-ROMs, for example
the Sony and Toshiba drives intended for Suns.
Dave Olson <olson@sgi.com> of SGI says, The basic requirement for
Indigos is that the drive be set to use a 512 byte block size. Since
Indigos don't reset the SCSI bus on reboot or halt, you *might* be
able to boot your machine in some other way, set the CD-ROM's
blocksize with a devscsi program while the system is up and then
install from it, but I won't swear to it. Late R4K Indigos, Indys,
Indigo2s, and Onyx/Challenges all know how to set the block size if
the drive identifies itself as a CD-ROM, reports the block size as
something other than 512 bytes in the block descriptor and accepts
the new block size in the block descriptor.
Rob Silvers <rsilvers@nynexst.com> reports that he has been
sucessfully using a third-party dealer's Toshiba TXM3401E1 on an
Indigo. It cost about $760. It is physically larger than an external
Apple or Next drive. It is double speed and handles multi-session
photo-CDs. 'cdromd', 'inst' and 'cdman' work, but he has not tried
to boot from it as of 12 June 93.
Bart Richards of Thunderstone Software <bart@thunderstone.com>
writes, The following minor surgery makes a run of the mill Toshiba
3401[B|E] CD-ROM drive SGI [Indigo] or Sun-compatible. I got it
straight from an anonymous Toshiba Tech. guy, and it worked for me.
There are two solder pads located on the circuit board at the back
right corner of the drive's aluminum housing when viewed from the top
with the SCSI connector facing away from you. These may or may not be
labeled as '0' & '1', but '0' is on the left and '1' is on the right
(or closest to the edge of the circuit board). The normal state for
these solder pads from the factory is for both of them to be closed.
With an Exacto Knife or soldering iron (whichever is appropriate for
the desired configuration), cut or solder these pads to match the
entries in the following table:
+++___++++++++__
|power SCSI |
'0' '1' O=CUT/OPEN S=SHORTED/SOLDERED | 01|
---------- |----------------|
S S Toshiba Default (2048 byte block) | |
S O 512 byte blocks | TOP |
O S SGI ( Bootable ) | OF |
O O Sun / Integraph | DRIVE |
| |
| |
| |
|________________|
DOOR
Darrell A. Gentry <dar@dar.net> points out that if '0' is on the right
and '1' on the left, you should believe the numbers, not the
locations, and that although 3401s can't be bought new they can be
bought used on misc.forsale.storage for about $75.
Ramani Pichumani <ramani@stanford.edu> says that Toshiba's XM3701B
6.7X CD-ROMs with recent ROMs (look for "Version No. 005, ROM Version
NA60123" on the bottom) work well on Indigos for both data and audio.
Tobias Kunze <t@kunze.stanford.edu> confirms that they can be booted
from. You may be able to get a ROM upgrade from Toshiba, but be sure
not to mention that you want to use the drive on an SGI.
Robb Masters <rsm@cybermagic.net> summarized information on many
third-party drives; see
ftp://viz.tamu.edu/pub/sgi/hardware/cdrom/3rd-party. Jerry Fountain
<gof@chem-eng.nwu.edu> provided info and software for an NEC-3Xe; see
ftp://viz.tamu.edu/pub/sgi/hardware/cdrom/NEC-3Xe/. Carsten Koch's
writeup on CD-ROM writers (see below) also has some useful comments on
CD-ROM usage under IRIX in general.
------------------------------
Subject: -46- Can I use an SGI CD-ROM on a non-SGI?
Date: 03 Feb 1996 00:00:01 EST
Robert E. Seastrom <rs@access4.digex.net>'s software (with source
code) for using an SGI CD-ROM on a Macintosh is at
ftp://bifrost.seastrom.com/pub/mac/CDROM-Jumpstart.sit151.hqx.
------------------------------
Subject: -47- How can I write CD-ROMs on an SGI?
Date: 17 Aug 1996 00:00:01 EST
Read Carsten Koch's excellent writeup, at
ftp://viz.tamu.edu/pub/sgi/hardware/cdrom/cd-writers. If you're in
SGI's developer program, see also
https://www.sgi.com/toolbox/src/apps/CDio. (If you're not, see
http://www.sgi.com/Support/DevProg/.)
------------------------------
Subject: -48- Why can't Joe User eject his CD-ROM?
Date: 24 Feb 1994 00:00:01 EST
- /usr/sbin/eject has the wrong permissions in IRIX 4.0.5H and IOP.
It should be setuid root. Say 'chmod 4755 /usr/sbin/eject' (as
root) to fix it.
- Someone may be cd'ed into the CDROM directory. Do 'fuser /CDROM' to
find the number(s) of the process(es) that are cd'ed there, and
kill them.
------------------------------
Subject: -49- How can Joe User mount and unmount his magneto-optical
disk?
Date: 05 May 1995 00:00:01 EST
cdromd (mediad in IRIX 5.x) doesn't understand MO disks. You need the
'mountmo' program to mount/unmount an MO disk from the command line or
the 'automopper' daemon to do it for you. The source code for both is
in ftp://viz.tamu.edu/pub/sgi/hardware/mo/.
------------------------------
Subject: -50- Why do SGI SCSI controllers have host ID 0 instead of
the usual 7?
Date: 24 Feb 1994 00:00:01 EST
It's a controller chip default. It was left alone because it doesn't
matter much: host ID doesn't affect throughput, except perhaps on a
horrendously overloaded bus. However, drives whose ID is set by
jumpers are usually shipped with ID 7 (all three jumpers on), so you
can just plug one in to an ID 0 host.
------------------------------
Subject: -51- What about Syquest and Zip removable media drives?
Date: 27 Jan 1996 00:00:01 EST
SGI's Bob Miller <kbob@sgi.com> has written an FAQ on using Syquest
drives with SGIs. A copy is at
ftp://viz.tamu.edu/pub/sgi/hardware/syquest-on-sgi-faq. SGI's Dave
Cortesi <cortesi@sgi.com> has written a document on using Iomega Zip
drives with SGIs. A copy is at
ftp://viz.tamu.edu/pub/sgi/hardware/zip-drive. Tom Shield has written
some support programs for Zip drives; see
http://www.aem.umn.edu/people/faculty/shield/zip/.
------------------------------
Subject: -52- EVERYTHING ELSE
Date: 09 Jan 1994 00:00:01 EST
The rest of the FAQ discusses things that didn't fit into other
categories.
------------------------------
Subject: -53- How long can my monitor/keyboard/mouse/Indycam cables
be?
Date: 28 Dec 1995 00:00:01 EST
Dave Olson <olson@sgi.com> writes,
SGI has (or had at one time) a 75 foot monitor cable on the price
list. With a decent cable, this is about as far as you can get
without getting pretty fuzzy; I've heard that with an extremely high
quality cable, you can get to about 100 feet. Your limits may vary.
EIA 423 should have no problems with up to 100 feet either, since the
mouse is at 4800 baud, and the keyboard at 600.
Will McCown <will@rhythm.com> adds,
We routinely extend the SGI video cables up to about 150' using high-
quality (Canare LV-61s) coaxial cables. For newer SGIs which use the
13W3 "D" connector instead of BNCs, adapters are available from
several sources including NuData (908) 842-5757 part number 6647.
The "PS/2 compatible" keyboards and mice used on the Indigo II, Indy,
etc. do not accept simple extension cords as well as the older
keyboard/mice. We have successfully extended these keyboards & mice
up to about 100', but beyond 150' they never work. The problem lies
in the high-impedance TTL-level signaling used. Beyond this distance
you can use an extender box made by Cybex (205) 430-4000, which is
designed to extend the IBM PS/2 keyboard and mouse.
Our method for making keyboard/mouse extensions is to buy 6' IBM PS/2
keyboard extension cables (male 6-pin mini-din one end, female 6-pin
mini-din on the other), and cut the connectors off of these cables
leaving about a 6-12" pigtail on each connector. We then attach
RJ-12 connectors (IDC type modular phone connectors) to the free end
of each pigtail. We then extend the cable using flat 6-conductor
phone cable, RJ-12 connectors, and "barrel" adapters. This may sound
like a lot of work but it is very quick to assemble, and requires no
soldering.
For really long runs, Rick McLeod <mcleod@esprit.esd.sgi.com> says,
Two companies provide long distance (up to a couple of thousand feet)
fiber optics extensions for keyboard, mouse and monitor:
Lightwave Communications 800-871-9838 or 203-878-9838
http://www.lightwavecom.com/
Meret Optical Communications 310-828-7496
The Indycam cable can be no more than 10' long.
------------------------------
Subject: -54- How fast is the Indigo parallel port?
Date: 26 May 1993 00:00:01 CST
Default rate is about 200 Kbytes/sec. This can be bumped up to at
least 400, and perhaps higher by changing the strobe length, assuming
the other side can handshake fast enough. See the plp(7) manpage.
------------------------------
Subject: -55- What are the differences between the Indigo R4000 and
Indigo2?
Date: 09 Jun 1993 00:00:01 EST
Jamie Riotto <jamie@origami.esd.sgi.com> writes:
An Indigo R4000 has two daughter board expansions which use our
GIO-32BIS bus design. These cards are about the size of an index
card.
An Indigo2 has a 4-slot backplane design. All four slots have EISA
connectors so you can have a graphics-less server with four EISA
cards. Three of the slots have GIO-64 bus connectors, BUT ONLY TWO
CONNECTORS CAN BE USED SIMULTANEOUSLY!. Graphics board sets take up
one logical GIO-64 connection, but can take up more physical slots.
The current Extreme graphics takes up one logical GIO-64 connection,
but uses three slots. That means the other slot can be used for
either EISA or GIO-64 expansion. Note that since not all slots have
both EISA and GIO-64 connectors, you might have to shift the Extreme
graphics board set up or down a slot if you want to use the fourth
slot with GIO-64 expansion.
GIO-64 by the way is similar to GIO-32 but is twice as wide, uses a
different DMA protocol (pipelined), and used EISA form factor (with
the connector moved of course :-).
------------------------------
Subject: -56- What high speed interfaces are available for Onyx?
Date: 11 Jun 1993 00:00:01 EST
Robert van Liere <robertl@cwi.nl> writes:
SGI have FDDI boards for the Onyx. These boards perform quite well
although the Indigo FDDI broad preforms slightly better. I'm not sure
about SGI ATM, although I guess all vendors are preparing for it.
FORE systems make ATM boards for the GIO bus. Maybe they have
something for the HIO as well.
FORE systems, Inc
1000 Gamma Drive
Pittsburgh, PA 15238-2940
412-967-4040
Fax 412-967-4044
info@fore.com
GIA-100/125A (100 Mbps GIO Bus)
GIA-100/175A (140 Mbps GIO Bus)
and Yechezkal-Shimon Gutfreund <sgutfreund@gte.com> adds:
Fore Systems, Pittsburgh PA, selles a 150Mbit/s ATM adapter card that
you can use to connect to their ATM switch (using multi-mode fiber).
------------------------------
Subject: -57- Why doesn't my modem work?
Date: 27 Jan 1996 00:00:01 EST
Lots of reasons, but here are some of the most popular:
- You're not using hardware flow control. To do so, you MUST 1) use
the ttyf* devices, not ttyd* or ttym*, and 2) use a "hardware
handshake" 7-wire cable, which you can buy from SGI but usually
*not* from a Macintosh house. See the serial(7) manpage and SGI's
modem "faxable", which you can get from the TAC, for details.
- The modem is configured funny. Look at the configuration scripts in
/usr/lib/uucp/fix-* and see if there's one for your modem.
- /usr/lib/uucp/Permissions is wrong. /usr/lib/uucp/genperm will
generate Permissions entries for all /usr/lib/uucp/Systems
entries.
- IRIX 5.2 had several problems with serial I/O, flow control and PPP
interoperability. They are fixed in patch 151 and IRIX 5.3.
- Some Indys have bad serial port hardware. The problem appears only
when recent software (IRIX 5.2 + patch 151 or IRIX 5.3) is loaded.
Call the TAC and give them your serial number.
- See also these writeups on SLIP and PPP:
Scott Henry's SLIP and PPP WWW page, at
http://reality.sgi.com/employees/scotth/dialup_support.html
Jeff Speegle's SLIP/PPP writeup, at
ftp://viz.tamu.edu/pub/sgi/software/admin/slip-and-ppp-setup
Christopher Spry's PPP WWW page, at
http://sprysgi.sghms.ac.uk/~cspry/make_ppp.html
"Configuring and Debugging SLIP Connections", Pipeline, Jul/Aug 1995
"Configuration and Use of PPP", Pipeline, Sep/Oct 1995, and
corrections on p. 24 of the Jan/Feb 1996 issue
------------------------------
Subject: -58- What about ISDN?
Date: 27 Jun 1996 00:00:01 EST
Try Bert Hooyman <bert@demeern.sgi.com>'s ISDN pages, at
http://reality.sgi.com/employees/bert/ (but note that some details
pertain only to Dutch ISDN).
------------------------------
Subject: -59- What mice (or other pointing devices) can I use with my
SGI?
Date: 20 Apr 1996 00:00:01 EST
Indigos need special Indigo mice. Replacement mechanical or optical
(take note, mechanical mice haters!) mice are available from SGI or
directly from Mouse Systems (510-656-1117).
Indigo2s and Indys can use PS/2 mice as per the pcmouse(7) manpage.
Dave Yost expands on this: The Indigo2 takes any industry standard
mouse of the variety variously known as "IBM PS/2", "Mouse Port" or
"6-pin". A PC serial mouse won't do, even with an adaptor, unless it
is claimed to work on a PS/2 through an adaptor. The Logitech
"MouseMan Cordless" mouse works for me.
Onyxes use a custom serial mouse. If you'd prefer an optical mouse
over the standard mechanical mouse shipped with the system, call Mouse
Systems (510-656-1117) or Qualix (415-572-0200). If you'd like a
trackball, call Mouse-Trak (800-533-4822, email yvonne@mousetrak.com).
------------------------------
Subject: -60- What about joysticks?
Date: 27 Jun 1996 00:00:01 EST
See Alex Madarasz <alex@eagle.bgm.link.com>'s writeup at
ftp://viz.tamu.edu/pub/sgi/hardware/joysticks and Brent Bates' at
http://www.vigyan.com/~blbates/hardware/joysticks.html.
------------------------------
Subject: -61- What about uninterruptable power supplies?
Date: 08 Oct 1994 00:00:01 EST
Get the UPS FAQ from ftp://navigator.jpl.nasa.gov/pub/doc/faq/. See also
ftp://viz.tamu.edu/pub/sgi/hardware/surge-protectors.
------------------------------
Subject: -62- How can ordinary users control the multi-channel option
(MCO)?
Date: 14 May 1994 00:00:01 EST
- To allow ordinary users to use 'vout' in MCO mode, make it setuid
root with the command 'chmod u+s /usr/sbin/vout'. No-one has
reported any security problems caused by doing this.
- To allow ordinary users to switch from normal video output to MCO
video output, get Hans Weber <weberh@cs.unc.edu>'s programs 'mcoGfx'
and 'consoleGfx' from ftp://viz.tamu.edu/pub/sgi/hardware/mco/, compile
them and do 'chown root.sys mcoGfx consoleGfx' and 'chmod u+s mcoGfx
consoleGfx'.
------------------------------
Subject: -63- What laptop or notebook SGIs are available?
Date: 17 Aug 1996 00:00:01 EST
There are none. SGI did a small amount of work on an Indy-like
portable, but it didn't work out for both business and technical
reasons. The closest you can come is Indy with a Presenter, but it
won't fit on an airplane tray. There are companies which will build an
SGI in a suitcase for you, but it won't even fit in the overhead
compartment.
The portable SGI in "Congo" was a fake.
------------------------------
End of sgi/faq/hardware Digest
******************************
--
The SGI FAQ group <sgi-faq@viz.tamu.edu> http://www-viz.tamu.edu/~sgi-faq/
Finger us for info on the SGI FAQs, or look in ftp://viz.tamu.edu/pub/sgi/.