[rescue] I got a new Octane! Why can't I talk to it?

[Micah R Ledbetter]

On Apr 4, 2007, at 06:57, jodys at helluin.org wrote:

> The machine is set to boot from graphics and you are trying to connect
> to a non-13w3 monitor using a Sun (or one labeled Sun/SGI/DEC)
> 13w3->HD15 adapter.
>
> The coaxial bits of the 13w3 connector (the w3 part) are reasonably
> standard across vendors. The stuff in the middle (the 13 part) is not.
> So, if your adapter works with Suns it likely won't work with an SGI.
> I've found that many monitors are confused if, say, they are recieving
> H sync on one of the Monitor ID pins.

This is really annoying, because I'm pretty sure when I bought these  
adapters on ebay, they said that it would work in Suns, SGIs, and  
other manufacturers' machines.

> A quick fix to the above problem, assuming you are sure that your
> monitor supports Sync on Green and you are willing to commit an  
> adapter
> to this purpose, is to snap off the 13 pins in the middle. This will
> only provide R,G and B to the monitor. Irix may report the monitor as
> "unknown", but this shouldn't affect anything and you should be  
> able to
> see the machine POST.

I wanted to followup and say... this ended up working. Thanks a bunch!

The only thing I've left to do is finish downloading my install cd so  
I can reset the root password and look around before reinstalling.

> Also, double check you have the keyboard connected to the right  
> port, I
> believe it is the one closest to the inside. There are little icons.
> To my embarrassment, I wasted over an hour wondering no keyboards  
> would
> work on my Octane when they were connected to the mouse port...

As it turns out, it is the PS/2 port closest to the edge, as you  
suggested in a later email.