[rescue] Resurrecting an IBM RS/6000 model 590

[Patrick Finnegan]

No one has yet answered these in a satisfactory way, IMHO, so I'll jump 
in...

On Sunday 08 February 2004 18:31, Mauricio wrote:
> At 15:57 -0600 2/8/04, Jonathan C. Patschke wrote:
> >On Sun, 8 Feb 2004, Mauricio wrote:
> >>	Beleive or not, I do have the key.  It is still in its
> >>  keyring with a copy key and a little metal tag. =)
> >
> >Excellent!  That makes the machine much more useful than a really
> >effective doorstop. :)
>
> 	Great!  How useful is it?  Where does it shine at?  If you
> want to compare with something I know, I have a SS20, a SS1+, two
> SS2s, a DEC 5000/25, and a Sony NEWS 3710.

It's a single-processor 67MHz POWER-2.  It should be faster than 
everything you've got listed if they've only got one processor (well, I 
don't know what a Sony NEWS 3710 is...).  The bus is faster, the memory 
bus is wider, it's got loads of cache, and can do up to 4-way 
interleaving of memory cards (which is ECC + a spare bit).

> >  > >You have to have the system in "service" mode to install an OS,
> >  > > and you
> >>  >
> >>  >have to have the system in "normal" to autoboot into multiuser.
> >>
> >>	Thanks!  Now, would single-user mode allow me to change root
> >> password?
> >
> >In AIX 5.1, you're prompted for the root password, but that machine
> > is probably running 4.x.  I don't remember if 4.x will let you
> > change root's password just by having the key.

No.  In every version of AIX I've used, from V3.2.5 to 5.2, you have to 
have install media in order to reset the root password, unless you can 
r00t the b0x with some exp10i7z, m4ng. :)  Doing that with RSH is how I 
changed the root password on my SGI Indy.

> 	Which reminds me:  what is the latest OS it would handle?

5.1 is the last version to handle every model of RS/6000.  Starting with 
5.2, you lose support for everything that isn't CHRP or a PCI-bus based 
POWER(-3/-4) system.

Pat
-- 
Purdue University ITAP/RCS
Information Technology at Purdue
Research Computing and Storage
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