Challenge S Challenges - Printable Version

+- IRIX Network Forums (//forums.irixnet.org)
+-- Forum: SGI/MIPS (//forums.irixnet.org/forum-3.html)
+--- Forum: Hardware/Triage/Repair (//forums.irixnet.org/forum-11.html)
+--- Thread: Challenge S Challenges (/thread-4611.html)

---

RE: Challenge S Challenges - robespierre - 09-02-2025

That looks like what you might get with a serial port mismatch. The computer may be sending 7 data bits with parity, but the terminal expects 8 bits with no parity.

---

RE: Challenge S Challenges - fleeno - 09-02-2025

That turned out to just be something weird going on with screen. I switched to minicom and it worked! It can't seem to mount the CD, even though that's what it booted from. At least I'm a little further now!

I might try putting the IRIX install CDs on the BlueSCSI and see if I still get that miss error.

---

RE: Challenge S Challenges - weblacky - 09-02-2025

Both an Indy and indigo2 can self-terminate the external port. I'm fairly sure if you put a terminator on the external port it doesn't hurt because it it's simply disables the onboard external termination feature because it senses as a device on the chain, so the external terminator still functions correctly. But just so you know if you do not have any external drives on the Indy you do not need to place a terminator on the external port.

The original Indy cable has a small plastic piece crimped on the last part of the SCSI ribbon cable that is a passive terminator. I was checking if you were using the original cable with the included embedded passive terminator and you were terminating your drive. On the internal cable ribbon you cannot and do not double terminate, you do one or the other. Otherwise the termination values are incorrect because you'll have parallel resistors at one termination point that sum to the wrong values to terminate the lines!

So I can't tell from your dialogue if you're using a different internal SCSI ribbon cable that has no embedded termination then yes your last device on the internal chain must have termination enabled. If you're using your original SGI Indy Internal ribbon, that small plastic bar that's crimped to the VERY END is the terminator, hence if you're using the original cable you do not terminate any of the internal drives under any circumstances! Because the internal ribbon cannot disable self termination. The controller chip can terminate the external port because it's part of its interface. It has no control over the internal ribbon's termination, once that ribbon cable is connected to the port it automatically disabled it's internal termination feature.

If you're going to use the Zulu you must use a CD4_512.iso style named indicate 512 blocks. Otherwise you're not pulling it 512 blocks, you're 2048 block.

Either way I was trying to make sure that if you're using an external drive that you didn't have it internally terminated and you were using an external termination adapter. Likewise I was trying to make sure you did not put termination on your Zulu while you're using the original OEM cable because it already has termination at the end, passively. And if you double terminate even if it's the last drive on the chain you have two rows of parallel resistors that some to the incorrect value required to terminate a bus.

Please make sure you are not double terminating even if you think multiple terminators are safe at the very end, they are most certainly not.

---

RE: Challenge S Challenges - fleeno - 09-02-2025

That's good to know on the external port, and makes sense as I used to run a whole lab of Indys and never had terminators on them!

On the internal termination I'm pretty sure I've had it setup correctly with each configuration I've tried. With the original cable with built-in terminator I disabled termination on the BlueSCSI and the real drive. When using a new plain SCSI cable I enabled termination on the drives.

I did try setting the sector size for my NetBSD ISO in the BlueSCSI, but it wouldn't mount it for installation either way. Since I was able to boot I am now installing via HTTP! We'll see if it actually works, it's a bit slow!

EDIT: It worked!

   

---

RE: Challenge S Challenges - fleeno - 09-02-2025

I ended up trying to install IRIX using CD images on the BlueSCSI, but it still fails with the "UTLB Miss." I'm going to reinstall NetBSD with a larger drive image and maybe just go with that.

---

RE: Challenge S Challenges - fleeno - 09-03-2025

So guess who was trying to use Overlay 1 as the Inst Tools burned disk and disk image this whole time? I think I still have some SCSI issue when using the real CDROM drive, but I was able to start an IRIX install using the correct Inst Tools disk image off the BlueSCSI.

I went back to NetBSD just because it's easy to run more things on it these days, but I think my machine is actually working just fine!

Thanks for all of the help!

---