[rescue] SGI Indy questions

[Jonathan C. Patschke]

On Sun, 12 Jan 2003, Curtis H. Wilbar Jr. wrote:

> CPU: yellow sticker: BEV554
>      Assy 030 0752-001 Rev D

133MHz R4600.  Okay integer performance, dinky floating-point
performance.

> Graphics: yellow sticker: BEL212
>           Assy 030 8263-001 Rev C

8-bit unaccelerated graphics.

> No hd present (bracket is present)
> No floppy present (bracket is missing)

Yay for that.  Those little pieces of aluminium are worth their weight
in gold.

> I have an Indy R4400 175MHz processor module: Yellow sticker: CCK176
>                                               Assy 030 0882-001

Much nicer than the R4600. :)

> System appears to use 72 pin RAM... I'm guessing FPM 60ns 36bit ECC ?

Well, plain ol' parity will work fine, so long as it's not that "logic
parity" crap that some PCs had back in the early 90s.

> (it has no RAM right now)  What does it use for RAM ?  What is the max
> module size ?

Either 32MB or 64MB.  Install the SIMMs in matched sets of 4.

> System has a 13W3 video connector.... will this work with a Sun monitor ?

Maybe, maybe not.  It will work on some of the later monitors, but
nothing made before about 4 years ago.  However, any sync-on-green
monitor will work just fine.

> What kind of keyboard and mouse does this use (I do not have one) ?

PS/2.

> How good a video do I have ?

Entry-level.  It'll do 1280x1024 at 8-bit color.

> What is the max video and max cpu for this box, and is it cheap/feasable
> to obtain while parts are still available (that is if they are still
> available)?

The best video you can get is XZ.  The fastest CPU is R5000 @ 180MHz,
and the memory maxes out at either 256 or 512.  I can't remember.

Don't worry about parts being unobtanium.  SGI sold a -lot- of Indies,
and they're all over eBay.

> Can I digitize incoming video ?  What software would be required ?

It's included.  Indy has VINO video (Video In, No Out).

> I see RCA video (NTSC?) out, S-Video out ?, and a 60 pin video? connector
> (what is that !?).

That's the IndyCam port.

> I see an AUI ethernet port (ordinary) (on the graphics card !?!?)

Nope.  Look closely.  It's actually on a riser above the system board.

> I see a 10baseT port (I assume 10Mbit, not 10/100)

Correct.

> I see a 1 and 2 port (are these serial?)

Yes.  RS-422, like a Macintosh.

You also apparently missed the ISDN port! :)

> I assume the box is Fast SCSI (10MB/sec max) and uses ordinary SCSI disks ?

Fast/Narrow SCSI-II.  Most discs will work just fine.

> What OS loads will work on this box ?

IRIX 5.3, 6.2, and 6.5 work just great.

> And more importantly where can I get them ?

Friends, eBay, or SGI (ouch).

> Will a cdrom that can be set to 512 byte block mode be required
> like the early Sun systems

Yes.  However, the Indy properly sends the SCSI command to kick some
drives into 512-byte mode without a jumper.

> Is there a max capacity hard disk ?

Not really, but you don't want to put hot discs internally.  The Indy
doesn't have the world's best airflow.

> Lots of questions I know...  I'd assume that even if this box runs open
> source OSes (Linux, BSD) that in order to use any of the features I'd
> need Irix ?

Correct.

> This is my first dabling into an SGI...  Can't say I though much of the
> construction compared to Sun boxes... seems sort of between that of PC
> construction quality and Sun construction quality....

Yeah, well, it was billed as a PC replacement.  Don't judge all SGIs by
the Indy.  You'd be suitably impressed by an Onyx IR, I think.

-- 
Jonathan Patschke  *)  "everything i know about animals i learned from
Thorndale, TX      (*   ORA books."                  --alex j avriette