[rescue] Octane woes

[Jonathan C. Patschke]

On Thu, 6 Mar 2003, Curtis H. Wilbar Jr. wrote:

> One thing I did do... is on the XIO (I think that is what it is) where
> the graphics card is... I touched the funky connector... the one your
> not supposed to touch.... doubt that could cause this...

No, really, that -can- kill the board, just like the documentation says.
You should still get some activity, though.  I forget what the guys at
SGI said to clean those connectors with.  I think a horsehair brush was
their recommendation.  Forced air (even "computer grade" canned air) is
right out.

> XIO boards and powering up... the light never comes on the front... so
> it acts more like the cpu board is either not getting power, or has gone
> dead....

Is the CPU-board fully-seated?  What revision IP30 do you have?  At
least one revision has a fatal flaw in the "Heart" chip (the chip under
the big heat sink in the center of the board) that causes the system to
appear dead.  If my suggestion in the last paragraph doesn't work try
this:

  1) Pull the IP30.  Place it on a flat, sturdy surface that supports
     the -board-, not the cage it's in (like a book or something of
     similar size).
  2) Use your thumbs to apply even pressure to the heatsink in the middle
     of the board.  You want about 20 to 30 pounds of pressure, which is
     why you want to support the -board- and not the frame.
  3) Try reinserting the IP30.  If the system boots, you have one of
     those defective boards.

I posted about this particular problem in comp.sys.sgi.hardware about 18
months ago.  Here's a link:

http://groups.google.com/groups?threadm=3BF7E01B.184F05E4%40celestrion.theobvious.net

And when I got it (briefly) working:

http://groups.google.com/groups?threadm=3BF92AC9.232F148B%40celestrion.theobvious.net

I ended up replacing that board.

> Are those funky connectors touchy....  they don't give me the warn and fuzzy
> fealings of something reliable and trustworthy.... but I have no experience
> and am going by physical impressions... not electrical characteristics....

They're very reliable, so long as they stay -CLEAN-.  Sun uses them for
attaching processors in their Exx00 series systems.  The most obvious
benefit is the sheer number of "pins" you can have in such a small
space.

> I hope this thing isn't dead now... <sigh>...

Try yanking the video card.  Pull it out just so it's disconnected from
the frontplane, but so that there's still enough of the cardcage inside
to maintain air pressure.  Power on the system.  You should get a
blinking red lightbar.  If you do, you know what's dead.

-- 
Jonathan Patschke  *)  "They're like candy for your ass."
Thorndale, TX      (*                       --Doc Shipley