Nekochan Net

Saved this poor thing from ending up at the dump:



I'll try and see if I can get IRIX 6.5.22 onto it over the weekend if I'm in a masochistic mood

Wow - you should post a c-ray benchmark with that thing!

Will do
I should see if I still have some 5.3 CD's somewhere in case 6.5 needs too much RAM ...

This is the exact hinv of the first SGI I bought off eBay. It soon became a gateway drug that led to another Indy, an Indigo2, an Octane, another Indigo2, Origin200, two more Octanes, rinse and repeat.

Indeed, SGI's are very addictive

I just couldn't let this Indy be thrown away. I'll probably use it as an X terminal for my Origin once everything is set up.

A perfect use for it. Since it runs IRIX, it will even display those cool SGI DGL apps from your Origin, like gr_osview.

Pictures!

I love this Indy. Instead of upgrading the heck out of it, you're accepting its limitations and putting it to work.

I'm not sure when they made the switch, but gr_osview no longer requires IRIS GL/DGL. First noticed it working on a X.org xserver from an Origin200 with 6.5.30, but then tested on a Challenge/6.5.22 box and it worked also. 6.5.12 requires DGL though.

I'll upload some pics as soon as I find the CompactFlash card for my camera. The Indy is quite well preserved (some minor discoloration from the sun, a few broken tabs on the back, but apart from that it has no other physical defects), I even have the Indycam for it and the system has the new Sony power supply.

It has a 5.3 install on it, but I don't have the password, so I'll probably netboot it from the Origin first, remove the password and see if there's anything interesting on it.

The graphics card seems to be defective, though, there's a single fuzzy band on the left side of the screen. I'll give it a good clean with isopropyl alcohol and see if that helps.
If not, I'll probably be looking for an XZ to replace it.

Must have been since the introduction of the ATI based InfinitePerformance. Those run XFree rather than Xsgi and don't support GL/DGL.

While neither is very common <and SGI's marketing department maintained their frequently less-than-clear-cut naming strategies right up to the bitter end>, the InfinitePerformance graphics option was V12/Xsgi based - the ATI/XFree86 based graphics option was the UltimateVision.

Polysyllable marketing strategies aside, I suspect that jj is right on the money - SGI even released a "UltimateVision Graphics Porting Guide" hoping to ease the transition: http://techpubs.sgi.com/library/tpl/cgi ... /ch01.html

Pictures (thanks to nekonoko for the generous attachment size limits ):






I've fixed the graphics problem simply by cleaning the boards thoroughly (including the pins on the IC's), there was a thick layer of dust on them.

Regarding the XFree server: I once had an idea about porting the X.org server and using it with PCI graphics cards in e.g. an Origin. This would be a cheap way to add many gfx heads to a headless system (especially if you have a P-brick).
I never had the time to check the X.org sources to see how feasible this would be and I will be accessing my Origin remotely anyway, so I forgot about this project. Perhaps someone with more time on their hands can look into this