[rescue] Looking for IRIX and advice

[Mike Meredith]

On Sat, 20 Nov 2004 17:08:58 -0600, Steve Hatle wrote:
> For better or worse, I'm now the owner of an Origin 2000 Rack system
> :-) 10x250Mhz and 4 GB of RAM.

/me licks lips

(although I'm lucky enough to have a 24-cpu O2K at work)

> Before I can apply the smoke test, I need to rig up 220V service. I
> think I can manage that in a few days.

Any advice I could give on electrickery wouldn't be of much use ...
especially as I live in the land of UK-flavoured power.

> But to get the machine to run, I need to locate appropriate IRIX.
> Seems that anything 6.5.x should be OK from what I can find online.
> I'll check eBay, but would also consider a deal hear if someone has
> something suitable available for cash or trade.

As you're licensed for IRIX anyway, you should be able to contact SGI
for replacement media but that's a bit of a gamble ... it'll cost
anywhere from #0-#650. But you never know what might turn up in your
inbox.

You'll definitely need 6.5 or higher; I suppose there's a distant
possibility that 6.4 would work ... it was released for Octane's which
are effectively single-node O2K's, but anything earlier would be too
early for O2K support. If you get hold of the base 6.5 CD's, you'll be
able to make use of the 6.5.22m download from SGI. You might also be
able to sign up for the "developer programme" to get a later release
such as 6.5.26 which is current (they've abolished the difference
between the feature release and the maintenance release).

> Also, any words of wisdom around Origins in general would be
> appreciated!

Love 'em and cherish 'em. They're worth it.