Nekochan Net

Hi all,

First off all, i am a total noob when it comes to SGI. I know the company mainly because of the 3d graphics and stuff.
Tomorrow i will get a SGI CMN A015 for free, yep thats right...for free. It was used in a television studio a long time ago.
Inside are 3 HDD of 9 gb each and the following cards: GE16, RM9 and DG5-2/GVO. (?)

Now my question to you guys is:

What the heck can i do with it?? i am used to mac's, pc's, amiga's, msx and zx81 computers (lol) can i do graphics with it?
Or can i run a good server with it for gaming or home networking? If so, can someone point me in the right direction?

I really want to make use of it, i hate it when something is just catching dust and i love to work with (retro)computers.

Thanks in advance for the help and looking forward to reading and posting on this forum.

Ron
The Netherlands

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previously owned ---> other stuff : Commodore Amiga A500, Commodore Vic-20 (2x)

I presume this CMN015 is a deskside Onyx2? They are pretty cool... you wouldn't want to leave it running 24x7 due to noise and power consumption, so using as a server is out. There are a lot of graphics demos and stuff to play with, and it is a nice workstation. There are also some games available.

There are lots of content creation apps, I have maya, photoshop, blender, etc, for irix. I also use Mathematica 5 on irix.

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(Maradona) (DavidVilla) A1186 (Xavi)
A1370 (Messi) dp43tf (Puyol) A1387 (Abidal) A1408 (Guardiola)

"InfiniteReality Graphics - Power Through Complexity"

Well, if those are the only cards installed: not much because that's just the graphics pipe. You need CPU board(s) and an IO6G (serial, keyb/ms, audio & network).

If it looks like it belongs in a 19" rack, it probably passed through my hands at some point If so, you're in luck because unless the disk crashed there should be a recent IRIX on it and the Onyx2 demos.

Links: viewtopic.php?f=3&t=16721463 and viewtopic.php?f=14&t=16721462

It's even possible this is just a graphics module for an Onyx2 rack. In that case you'll have to hunt down the other half (compute module).

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Now this is a deep dark secret, so everybody keep it quiet
It turns out that when reset, the WD33C93 defaults to a SCSI ID of 0, and it was simpler to leave it that way... -- Dave Olson, in comp.sys.sgi
Currently in commercial service: (2x)
In the museum: almost every MIPS/IRIX system.
Wanted: GM1 board for Professional Series GT graphics (030-0076-003, 030-0076-004)

IIRC, CMN A015s are deskside machines, 8 cpu max, not rack units.

Too much confusion. Put up a photo of the back side and people can tell exactly what you've got

Okidoki...here are the images:


By skysearcher at 2012-04-03


By skysearcher at 2012-04-03

I don't have a monitor that goes with it..is it possible to hook up one of my own monitors?

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previously owned ---> other stuff : Commodore Amiga A500, Commodore Vic-20 (2x)

OK, besides the graphics pipe, that machine has 2 node boards (which have 2 cpus each), the IO6G, the MENET 4-port 100baseTX/6 serial port card, and the DIVO SD-SDI component digital video card.

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Thanks for the info.
I have 2 monitors that are SOG compatible, now all i have to do is find a 13w3 to VGA adapter that is compatible with this SGI model. But what i have seen on this forum it is almost impossible to get.
I tried to search the internet for one, but all i can find are the SUN version. And those things are useless. Can you point me in the right direction for one of those adapters?

This particular model has been used by a big commercial TV station for some time and all the programs should still be on the HDD. So i am dying to snoop around on the HDD's

As far as i can see i can make use of an regular ps/2 mouse and keyboard. So all i need now is a good adapter for my monitors.

Once again, thanks for the info

p.s. How can i tell the differen between the Onyx2Reality, or the InfiniteReality2 ?

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previously owned ---> other stuff : Commodore Amiga A500, Commodore Vic-20 (2x)

I don't think SGI-compatible adapters are that hard to find, but jan-jaap can probably provide the best source local to you.

I think you'll get different messages in the PROM startup/splash screen depending on the gfx option, but the other way would be to get the SGI part numbers (030-NNNN-00N) off the gfx boards. Then a quick web search should do it.

I'd recommend cloning the hard drives before you go poking around. I'm not clear if you have other gear with SCSI drives. I'd order up some drives, do a basic IRIX install on one, and use that system to clone the original drives. Then you can work on the copies without concern. There's a how-to guide to cloning IRIX system disks in the wiki; after reading that, there are links to scripts that automate the process. Might need to alter the procedure for your 2nd and 3rd drive.

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Then? ... Now? +MLA ... Other: DEC Sun, DG AViiON, NeXT

Based what you mentioned in your first post:
Where GE = Geometry Engine, RM = Raster/Texture Memory, and DG = Display Generator. So you have an InfiniteReality2E graphics with the (less often seen) graphics-to-video option (or GVO, which provides direct graphics output to broadcast-component digital video devices).

Once you and the Onyx2 are both up and running, you could easily convert it to InfiniteReality3 graphics by replacing the RM9 with one (or two) RM10s.

If you haven't already found it, the manual for your Onyx2 Deskside can be found here.

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