[rescue] Octane woes

[Bjorn Ramqvist]

"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... pulling the
> 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....

You do *NOT*, I repeat, do *NOT* want to touch those connectors. Those
are so-called "compression connectors" which works kinda like CPU bricks
attaches today, by compression force to make the contact to the
motherboard.
I have to agree, it is a very failure-prominent way to attach cards into
buses, but when it works, it works solid.

I have no other reason than that to think that this is causing the
failure. It COULD be a very low-rev motherboard (which was very
prominent to failure) that has suddenly died upon you. Check the
partnumber and revision on the motherboard. Disassemble everything, even
the frontplane, and go get that Octane-manual on http://techpubs.sgi.com
and look on page 257 (Appendix B) for "care and cleaning of the
compression connector". I'd clean all connectors rigorously before
declaring that machine dead.
While you're at it, vacuum up ever dust you find to keep the system
healthy. Bad things happen with dust, plus dust retains heat in the
vents.

IF your system IS hosed, go check http://www.reputable.com/ for a
030-0887-00x IP30 motherboard. $300 a pop.
Good luck.

/Bjorn