[brandonbates]

It was working a several years ago when I last turned it on and I decided to power it on recently to see if it would boot - it didn't.  Hard drive won't spin up to speed (out of system on another PSU, bearings likely sticky).  More importantly no boot chime, power light comes on green in half a second, then no amber or anything else, just stays green.  Pulled the covers off the PSU connectors for the boards so I could measure in-situ.  Power rails all seem ok (5.xx,12.xx,-5.xx,-12.xx,3.30,3.56?? on yellow lines, and 14.3??? on 2 white-ish lines nearest the rear)  I was hoping it was the power supply but no.  Doesn't seem to match symptoms elsewhere for dead battery/etc (But maybe it is??)  Anyone else seen this or had this happen?  I've reseated the Extreme Graphics card, CPU, ram, and PROM.  I also removed the CDROM (in case it was causing issues).  Not an SGI expert here, just wanted to play with it a bit.  Ideas?  Haven't tried serial diagnostics but figured it hadn't gotten that far since the light didn't go amber.

[bjames]

I wonder if the real time clock or Dallas chip is dead. If it worked before and the only variable would be time, then I would think it has to do with the Dallas chip battery. The only other thing could be oxidization or corrosion on any of the contacts.

[Trippynet]

Try it without the HDD as well, it should at least reach the PROM even with no drive.

[m87carlson]

I may be in a similar situation with my Indigo2. Is there a straight forward dallas ds1286 replacement?

So far, I have only come across people cutting away to expose the battery voltage lines and soldering a new one in place.

[ajw99uk]

It was working a several years ago when I last turned it on and I decided to power it on recently to see if it would boot - it didn't.  Hard drive won't spin up to speed (out of system on another PSU, bearings likely sticky).  More importantly no boot chime, power light comes on green in half a second, then no amber or anything else, just stays green.  Pulled the covers off the PSU connectors for the boards so I could measure in-situ.  Power rails all seem ok (5.xx,12.xx,-5.xx,-12.xx,3.30,3.56?? on yellow lines, and 14.3??? on 2 white-ish lines nearest the rear)  I was hoping it was the power supply but no.  Doesn't seem to match symptoms elsewhere for dead battery/etc (But maybe it is??)  Anyone else seen this or had this happen?  I've reseated the Extreme Graphics card, CPU, ram, and PROM.  I also removed the CDROM (in case it was causing issues).  Not an SGI expert here, just wanted to play with it a bit.  Ideas?  Haven't tried serial diagnostics but figured it hadn't gotten that far since the light didn't go amber.

From memory, mine occasionally does something like that, but booted normally using the reset button. I am pretty sure the Dallas is out of charge, but it boots with no apparent trouble, except thinking it's 1993.

Agree it would be sensible to remove the hard drive.

[gijoe77]

I have nothing of value to add here, except to just say I was having a similar issue with my indigo2 recently. It was strange because it just started working fine after about an hour or two of me looking at it and power-cycling it (I might have reseated everything too, but im sure it still didn't power up to a chime when I put it all back together)

[reed]

hey i just posted on the forum that my indigo2 does not power up at all after being unused for well over 10 years...is it accurate to say that the dallas chip would prevent startup? when i hold the power button there is a one second pulse that slightly moves the fan and thats it....here a vid

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uxsiQ2Hz...e=youtu.be

is there a way to replace the dallas chip? i would hate to cut open and solder anything in here!!

thanks!!

update 1-4-2020: i bought a power supply and it fired right up

[jan-jaap]

hey i just posted on the forum that my indigo2 does not power up at all after being unused for well over 10 years...is it accurate to say that the dallas chip would prevent startup? when i hold the power button there is a one second pulse that slightly moves the fan and thats it....here a vid

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uxsiQ2Hz...e=youtu.be

is there a way to replace the dallas chip? i would hate to cut open and solder anything in here!!

thanks!!

No, that's probably a power supply problem.

An Indigo2 will boot with a dead NVRAM though it may complain about a preposterous time in the filesystem or similar.

[reed]

hey i just posted on the forum that my indigo2 does not power up at all after being unused for well over 10 years...is it accurate to say that the dallas chip would prevent startup? when i hold the power button there is a one second pulse that slightly moves the fan and thats it....here a vid

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uxsiQ2Hz...e=youtu.be

is there a way to replace the dallas chip? i would hate to cut open and solder anything in here!!

thanks!!

No, that's probably a power supply problem.

An Indigo2 will boot with a dead NVRAM though it may complain about a preposterous time in the filesystem or similar.

found this
http://www.sgidepot.co.uk/i2psu.html
1 - i am in the us in pennsylvania any idea who could repair this PSU for me without spending a whole lot? i found a local guy but he has never worked on this particular PSU...naturally
2 - i know i have seen a schematic for the pins...can you send a link? mine is the p/n 060-8001-001 385w 3.5v 36amp...sgidepot has one for sale not sure if this is worth fixing? will donate to the proper place of course...thanks

[Dylanear]

I know a guy who specializes in vintage hardware and has skills in soldering. He does a lot of capacitor replacement. But this is in Vancouver, BC and he is pretty busy. But for the right price I suspect he could do the work without much trouble. I can ask him about availability and his rates. He knows SGIs reasonably well and generally is very well versed in old, odd hardware. I believe Ian does or is considering doing this kind of repair/restoration work, but I'd guess he's putting time and effort into fixing some of the more expensive SGI parts still in demand by commercial users and he's in the UK, so not ideal for North American folks.

Ideally someone would restore a variety of SGI PSUs/boards and keep some in an inventory and offer trade in exchanges for a fair price. Maybe SGI Depot will do that in the future? I'd like to send the PSUs for my Indigo2s in for inspection. I've been told that if the caps leak significantly while a machine isn't being used they can eat into the boards and that powering them up in a leaking/damaged state can make them useless, but you have a much better chance of successful repair if you never power them up after leaks have occurred.