SGI's first 64-bit workstation: The Indigo
ฝัง
- เผยแพร่เมื่อ 10 ก.ย. 2024
- Examine and troubleshoot an SGI Indigo workstation. Hopefully this is an R4000 based system with graphics from the Elan family. R4000-based Indigos were the first 64-bit CPU workstations shipped by SGI.
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00:16 Intro
01:13 Exterior inspection
04:10 Motherboard
08:27 Graphics board
13:50 Nasty
17:31 Less nasty
18:47 Power supply pre-testing
21:47 Power supply testing
23:54 Reassembly
27:32 First power-on!
29:18 Woe is me
36:16 The fine manual
38:38 A different result
40:20 Guilty party found!
41:28 Closing words
The person whose estate sale it was is awesome. An Alpha and a SGI machine. Wow.
And several SPARCs, a few HP PA-RISC, a VAXstation, a Motorola PowerPC, and ..., and... There was so much stuff. It was daunting!
@@TalesofWeirdStuff It's a shame that they weren't a teeny bit older, they'd probably have had a Symbolics. :)
From when computers were like spacecraft... what. a. beast. Can't wait to see the next installment!
There used to be a place that sold adapters to use a USB keyboard and mouse on these, but they've dropped the version for the Indigo from their website. As soon as I can get a keyboard and mouse working with this thing, I will get back to it.
@@TalesofWeirdStuff I am literally on the edge of my seat! Good luck in your quest for hard-to-find parts :)
I would trade my left testicle for a fully kitted out and fully working Indigo with a set of Irix install discs. It has been one of my bucket list items that I have not been able to obtain. I would use it everyday!
I'm pretty excited to get this one fully functional. I don't think I'll upgrade it all the way to Elan graphics, but I might go to XZ. We'll see.
You're lucky, your dreams are easy to achieve :) Look up Ian Mapleson's SGI depot. He's got them for sale, no testicles required :)
I just discovered that I had one still left after disposing of four others before we fled California. The one found gray had made through the movers boxes turned out to be in amazing condition with even the drive bay door intact and unbroken. It has the XZ badge on it so it’s the next to the top graphics package which was the Elan graphics board.
I used to have one of those. I called it my Baby Cray. It won't boot without both a keyboard, and a mouse. Mine, had a propitiatory monitor, made by Sony. That monitor, was both enormous, and weighed as much as any 4-5 other CRT monitors put together. You were correct about the DIPs, they were for setting the SCUZZY addresses. And they were a bit finicky. I managed to connect a Agfa high res (at the time) flatbed doc scanner. Eventually. Sometimes, I think that that process somehow changed me. lol
Mine also came with Irex 4.5 OS, which supposedly had a massive, unfixable security flaw in the TCPIP stack. Irex 5, supposedly fixed that. I nearly vapour locked when I discovered the price for a single user copy of Irex 5. The upgrade was a process, and SGI had tools to assist transitioning. I figured I should probably grab them, in the event I came across a copy. As I was touring the SGI FTP directory, I must have mis-typed a address or two, as somehow I wound up accidentally downloading what might have been Irex 5, and a utility to patch the serial key from the old OS, into the new one. I think, it was something along the lines, of, if you were the original customer, (which I was not) and proved it to SGI, because Irex 5 was basically a security fix, you did,'t have to pay for the new OS. At least not the more-than-I-ever-paid-for-a-used-car amount. It was much easier to get along with, peripheral wise with the new OS, even though it looked and behaved nearly identically. I think the boot screen displayed the OS version. I might be wrong about that. Also, I seem to recall that for some reason, it would not load the new OS to the HD from anything but the tape drive. No CD, no other HD, even my SCUZZY/parallel port Zip Drive. ( remember those?) Also, I never got the network adapter working, but I could get it online with an external modem, and on our lan through the parallel port with some weird adapter. The parallel port on the Irex, was the fastest I've ever seen, and if possible, I'd choose it over the serial, or SCUZZY interfaces to connect stuff. I had a video to parallel port dongle, and the Indigo seemed to prefer it over any other video input. Keep an eye out for one of those gigantic Sony/SGI monitors. The picture that the indigo displayed on that huge CRT, was amazing. Almost worth the crushed vertebra from lifting it.
Nice to see one again. I've always had a weakness for old, super expensive when new computers. My first computer , was a DEC PDP 8S. With a hybrid memory someone had grafted on. The Original 24k magnetic core memory, and a 1footX1foot metal box with an additional 24k of RAM. IO was done with a teletype machine, and the storage medium was paper tape. I programmed it in Octal, via the address levers on the front. The best part, was the flashy lights. Why don't computers have flashing lights anymore? Will subscribe.
The B in the model number also indicates an R4000. Amazing to find one of these at an estate sale. All the sales around me are just old dishware and way overpriced NES consoles.
Ah! I did not know that about the model number.
Same here. Rubbish in all sizes and colours, but not a single computer.
These are great systems. What a fantastic find. My first exposure was a 4D/35 and over the years I have had one of these, an Indigo 2 Extreme, and an O2. This video kind of makes me want to pickup a SGI for old time's sake. I haven't had once since the late 90s.
As soon as I saw the Indigo in the pictures for the estate sale... I knew I had to get there extra early so I could be sure to get it. I think I was 3rd or 4th in line, and, I won't lie, I was a little nervous someone in front of me would get it!
I sent you an email with some schtuff that you might find useful.
Given how the machine is booting at the end, I think you should be in good shape with a new clock battery. Also, Drakware sells an adapter for conversion to USB keyboards. It's really handy if you don't want to build one yourself or acquire an old SGI-protocol keyboard and mouse.
I didn't know I could get one pre-built! Unfortunately... they appear to be sold out for now. :(
@@TalesofWeirdStuff He tends to make them in batches - hopefully more will show up soon!
@northwestrepair loves a challenge ... you could try sending him the dead VRAM module and see if he can work his magic?
Looking at some of the things that have been repaired on that channel... I may have some better candidate items! Like the half-dead Quadro4 980 XGL that I have.
Amazing video !. Unfortunately, original keyboards are not cheap (overall the "granite" ones). Cannot wait for the next episode. A very cool video to chill at the end of the day. The video performance of these systems is incredible for the time. I am still worried about those 2.2v in the 12v rail.
Yeah... I have no dreams of getting an original keyboard. I did, however, recently get the odd cable that goes from the keyboard to the computer, so who knows what the future will bring.
I "think" just because it's R4k it's not going to be able to run n64/o64 binaries in any SGI distribution (experimental NetBSD doesn't count). Indy and O2 whilst R4k and above is 64bit capable won't run 64bit IRIX. I "think" the oldest 64bit OS I've ever been able to run IRIX on was on R8k or R10k Indigo2. Wonderful that you have old girl working :) Sadly I only have O2/Octane2/Indy's left in my collection to try. Maybe my memory is hazy. It's been a while with older gear I don't have.
"Only" O2, Octane2, and Indy... that's a good collection. :) A couple weeks after recording this video I got an Octane and a Visual Workstation 320... doubled the size of my collection!
I think the SGI Iris Crimson predates the Indigo as the first 64-bit workstation and uses the R4000 processor.
I think you might be right. I double checked my sources, and they actually say "first desktop workstation." You'd need a pretty study desk to hold a Crimson! 😂 I'll probably update the thumbnail.
Similar to how the Sun Ultra 450 (variant of the Enterprise 450) is described as a workstation, albeit a deskside versus a desktop or tower workstation 😂
I think they would call anything a workstation if you could connect a keyboard and monitor. I think that giant DEC 3000 that I have is also listed as a workstation.
@@TalesofWeirdStuff SGI did call a lot of their machines workstations, and the Tezro had a rackmount workstation version in addition to the large, wavy purple desktop box.
Yeah... I think the Onyx and Origin lines were about the only MIPS based things they didn't call workstations.
Interesting Video! I'm just an old PC dude (previously Sinclair ZX81 > C=64 > ) with extremely little (to no) basic knowledge of IRIX/Unix (.../GNU/Freax/Linux) machines. But I like interesting hardware, with this qualifying. MacroSUX WindBLOWS, Decades of GUI use, and Gray Haired Retirement has made me Totally UNInterested in using Command Lines ever again. I couldn't write another Batch File with a gun to my head, though I wrote a few n33+ ones back in the day to simplify/speed up DOS usage. (Loved my DOS Bible at the time)
Love your high level of Nerdage! I subscribed and am checking out more of your Offerings to the GODs of Hardware Excellence!
- mike
PS: Cool it over the little bit of dust, I've worked on Radio Equipment that was well into the Lard and Fur stage (looked like a mouse house with...)
Didn't SGI have a reputation for having extremely fragile card edge/pin connectors on their back planes?
Great video! What is the operating system that this computer uses?
The R4000 Indigos run IRIX up to... 6.5.22, I think. The R3000 versions only run 5.3. That's another reason that I was so relieved this is an R4000.
@@TalesofWeirdStuff The fun thing about the R3000 Indigos (I own one) is that they'll run IRIX 4, which was the first one to use X and the 4DWM environment. IRIX 3 and before used NeWS and 4Sight, which is interesting in its own right, but you need a Personal Iris or other older system to experience it.
I know painfully little about the very early history of SGI. I guess I never even considered that there were systems before X. Can the R3000 Indigos also run IRIX 3? What was the graphics programming API on those? I would assume Iris GL?
doesnt it have any heatsinc or processor coolers???
The CPU has a heat sink on it. It doesn't have a fan right on it though. It relies on the overall airflow design of the case to keep enough cool air going past it.
@@TalesofWeirdStuff Did you get it working already? I went to computer fairs in the 90s and SGI booth was always amazing! But the machine specs are surprisingly weak compared to present ones. Hope you can fix it and make a great video showcasing this machine!