Nekochan Net

Dear All.
My Fuel with IRIX 6.5.30 cannot boot up, after forced to restart when the screen had frozen
(no control of mouse and keyboard).

When I tried to reboot, it made noise and red-lamp flashed, but then stop
before anything appear on screen. After this, just red-light remained on.
To power off, it seems that I have to unplug the power cable.

I wonder if anyone may have any idea what I could do.
I would be grateful any of your advice.
Many thanks.

wrong category, should be "hardware".

this guide will give you some ideas how to read the lights etc:

http://techpubs.sgi.com/library/tpl/cgi-bin/getdoc.cgi?coll=0650&db=bks&fname=/SGI_EndUser/Fuel_UG/ch05.html

it would be great if you could plug in a null modem cable and see what does it say - most likely it will print what's wrong with enough details to help you diagnose the pronlem .

_________________
[click for links to hinv] JP: [ :Fuel: :Octane2: :O2: :Indy: ] PL: [ :Fuel: ]
For Sale: 2*O200 M/B, 2*O200 PSU, 6*256MB O200 RAM, 2*O200 SCSI Backplane, 2*O200 MSC, DMediaPro DM-2 ( 030-1653-002 Rev. H , XT-DIGVID) with Octane XIO pull (Origin pull optionally available)

Thank you very much.

I could not see the link to the SGI page, unfortunately,
with an error message "Document not specified or access denied".

Would you know any alternative link?

I thought I posted on the hardware category.
Many thanks.

I'm guessing that the url encoding got messed up somehow. Maybe this link will work: Silicon Graphics Fuel Visual Workstation Hardware User's Guide

If not, go to http://techpubs.sgi.com/ , then go to the section on IRIX 6.5 "Books", click on "End-User", and look for the Silicon Graphics Fuel Visual Workstation Hardware User's Guide.

PS. You originally started this thread under SGI: Computer Graphics. I moved it to SGI: Hardware. Not a problem, though.

Thank you very much indeed.

The Red LED on my Fuel is "soild", so it seems to be serious,
"System board failure (failed to read prom at power on)"

I am not sure how this happened and what I could do next.

Since my Fuel cannot show even "System Maintenance menu",
it seems to be difficult to run Diagnostics.

Would you have any suggestion?
Many thanks.

P.S. thank you also for the category..

kubatyszko already told you what to try next: "it would be great if you could plug in a null modem cable and see what does it say - most likely it will print what's wrong with enough details to help you diagnose the problem." (typo fixed)

For instructions on just what this entails, read this page:

http://www.nekochan.net/wiki/Console_Cable_%26_Software_Configuration

Thank you very much.
I need to get the cable and a PC with the socket.
I would let you know.

If you're going to buy one make sure to get a null modem cable not an RS232...

Could I ask your advice for the procedure, please?

With HyperTerminal,
after making connection,what command should be sent at booting the Fuel?
(e.g. "AT"?)

Many thanks.

The other thing to do is reseat all important modules that can be reasonably easily accessed (IO{whatever}, memory). If the first bank of memory is bad it can cause initial errors as well, so perhaps reshuffle your memory modules as well (make sure to keep same size in each bank).

_________________
Damn the torpedoes, full speed ahead!

Systems available for remote access on request.

(single-CM)

If nothing shows up then return, but usually with SGIs you don't need to speak unless spoken to. The one exception is with the system controller/L1, which needs a <CR>.

_________________
Damn the torpedoes, full speed ahead!

Systems available for remote access on request.

(single-CM)

I think with a solid red you might want to go straight to the L1 connection. There's a DE9 connector on the motherboard - that's the L1 serial port, as opposed to the two on the back of the machine. I think the L1 port runs at 38,400 bps, no parity, 1 stop bit - but refer to the Fuel User Guide linked previously and you can be certain.

When you've got the L1 port hooked up and HyperTerm set, you can talk to the L1 controller without hitting the main power button on the front of the machine (provided the PSU is plugged in).

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

Thank you very much indeed.

Nothing appeared on HyperTerminal with the L1 port.
I wonder if the gender changer for the cable might be a wrong one..

I have tried to replace memory, but it did not work.

Check your cables, the L1 should be talking even if the memory is bad. It's an embedded controller with separate resources, like the ILO/ILOM/ALOM from HP, Sun, etc. Also check the User Guide and make sure I didn't mis-remember the speed for that port - could be 19,200 etc.

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

For Fuel L1 it's 38400 8N1 if I recall correctly.

Try setting your hyper term this way, and then turn the Fuel on - it should "say" something.
just in case - try that with and without xon/xoff setting (hardware flow control)

And you may want to check if the null-modem cable is really working - ideally by plugging it into yet another computer with serial console enabled...
If you have any other SGI - plugging the cable to serial port 1 (with settings 9600 8N1) should give you the PROM menu.

_________________
[click for links to hinv] JP: [ :Fuel: :Octane2: :O2: :Indy: ] PL: [ :Fuel: ]
For Sale: 2*O200 M/B, 2*O200 PSU, 6*256MB O200 RAM, 2*O200 SCSI Backplane, 2*O200 MSC, DMediaPro DM-2 ( 030-1653-002 Rev. H , XT-DIGVID) with Octane XIO pull (Origin pull optionally available)