Power Series

From: Christopher Smith <csmith_at_amdocs.com>
Date: Thu Dec 20 13:51:57 2001

> -----Original Message-----
> From: Netdiablo [mailto:root_at_diablonet.net]

> Thats pretty cool.. I've got a bunch of smaller SGI machines including
> Indigo,
> Indigo2, and Indy, but nothing larger. I have an entire Crimson
> boardset, but
> no chassis for it, alas.

I also have an Indigo2 which I use on a regular basis.


> I've got a NeXT Cube and a Slab, but the Cube is the original 68030
> model
> and doesn't have the NeXTDimension board. If you're ever
> interested in a

> road trip, though, noticing that you're in Illinois, the University of
> Michigan
> Property Disposition warehouse had a NeXTDimension Cube laying around
> about a month ago; $50, I think. I would've picked it up myself, but I
> was
> totally out of money at the time. I'd imagine it's stilll
> there, though.

I'd be interested in a road trip, but unfortunately not capable of a road
trip. (no road-worthy vehicle...)

> That's a relatively higher-end one, then... 4D/340, perhaps? There's a
> neat
> site called This Old SGI that talks a lot about getting these
> old Power
> Series
> machines running. You can find it pretty quickly with Google.

I've been reading it. Mine is actually a 4D/440, I think. (Even better. :)

> I checked a couple of days ago and there is an original SGI
> 4D keyboard
> and mouse set on eBay for not too much... less than $10, I think. I'm
> not
> sure how much longer it'll be there, though.

If that's the going price, though, it isn't bad.

> I'd probably give up on finding the skins for the machine - I've never
> really seen them turn up by themselves, and usually, MACHINES that
> turn up are missing pieces of them. The power cable's probably going
> to have to be a homemade job, too, as I don't see them turn up very
> often, but from what I gather, they shouldn't be too hard to assemble.

Three (very thick) wires. :)

> I've heard that you can find the connectors for the power cord at
> hardware
> stores, but I can't confirm that myself.

That will be the first place I look, if I can't find the original.

> I'd DEFINITELY suggest taking a look at the power supply (and fuse)
> before
> you begin. Make sure the power transistors and caps are in
> good order. I
> say
> this because the power supplies on these machines are getting a little
> old and
> they are known for being somewhat iffy. I've had a similar
> supply (on a
> SGI
> Crimson machine) flame out on me before - it makes a very spectacular
> noise!

Ouch.

Care to help me figure out how? I do have a multimeter (should be all I
need for that part, right?) or two, but haven't done much work with it, and
not for a while. :)

> That, incidentally, is where the Crimson boardset came
> from... I wish I
> would
> have saved the chassis from the Dumpster, too (this was at
> work when we
> had
> picked up an old Crimson from a customer as scrap once and
> were messing
> around with it). Ah, well. I'm still trying to find another SGI VME
> machine to
> this day. Maybe an Onyx or something :)

Deskside Onyx 1s are relatively reasonable in price now. Same chassis.

Regards,

Chris


Christopher Smith, Perl Developer
Amdocs - Champaign, IL

/usr/bin/perl -e '
print((~"\x95\xc4\xe3"^"Just Another Perl Hacker.")."\x08!\n");
'
 
Received on Thu Dec 20 2001 - 13:51:57 GMT