Indigo2. Should I just buy it? - Printable Version
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Indigo2. Should I just buy it? - valejacobo - 10-16-2023
Hi guys, hope to find you well.
A guy in my country posted for sale the first Indigo I've seen in almost a decade. Needless to say it really piqued my interest into getting my first SGI, even if it's not my wished Octane.
He says in the advert that it turns on, makes the chime, but "it doesn't move forward, it may be the ram or the hard drive". Are SGIs like old Macs, where making the chime indicates a solid salvageable machine, or should I be more skeptical about it? He seems kind of shady and vague about the diagnosis and description, says it has full memory banks, and that a quick troubleshooting may make it work.
He's asking about 230 usd converted to my currency, which is pretty much nothing comparing to international prices, however I don't want to get a paperweight due to someone previously tampering with the hardware as it happened with my first Sun (a Blade 100 someone tried to pry the heatsink with a screwdriver and chipped the CPU corner with some pins). Below the only picture of the listing.
RE: Indigo2. Should I just buy it? - vishnu - 10-16-2023
If it makes the chime, the motherboard is *probably* okay, but you're not giving us a lot to go on here, if it's the hard drive, the system PROM would still be able to post to the monitor. The seller doesn't have any screenshots of that? If it's the RAM, it wouldn't pass the single chime self test. I'm gonna say pass on this until you can get more information from the seller. Indigo2's are so old now, most of them are just boat anchors, and unless you have access to the workstation class software that they used to run back in the day (which back then was extremely expensive, and is almost impossible to come by today), it won't really be useful for anything other than an historic decoration.
RE: Indigo2. Should I just buy it? - chulofiasco - 10-16-2023
interesting case badge on the left
RE: Indigo2. Should I just buy it? - robespierre - 10-16-2023
The external condition is better than average: most Indigo2s have had their front doors broken off by careless handling.
The badge looks like one of the companies that used SGIs to operate looms or stitching machines? That could explain how it got to Argentina. It may have a special interface card to connect to the loom.
Sorry, I couldn't see that it's a Samsonite badge
My brain went for the "*nte" and the SGI Indy used for the Ultrapointe laser scanning system.
RE: Indigo2. Should I just buy it? - weblacky - 10-16-2023
To be perfectly frank nearly all SGI's today will be so old that if somebody doesn't show them in fully booting condition you will have to put in work to fix it. That being said on what cards may be in the back of it, the stated price seems very fair. I think the seller is aware that is not in working condition and is priced at accordingly. But it depends on what you want to get into. Unless there is physical damage to it you don't necessarily need a working hard drive to at least get into the firmware and see that it posts and all that. You will, at the very minimum, need a compatible monitor and a 13w3 to VGA adapter cable. And due to the system's age you'll have to really watch that power supply. Anything that old is going to have a suspect power supply. And to be honest since you're not in the UK or the USA you may have to tackle that power supply yourself. Are you up for something like that? These old systems were made with quality components on the motherboard but the power supply is just someone's power supply. It's not to some form of military spec or so high-grade components. SGI didn't make their own power supplies.
No, you can't adapt an ATX PC power supply to it you must use its power supply. Indigo2s are now over 25 years old so that is the reality of the situation. If you want an SGI you're going to have to pay up in some respect. You're either going to need to repair what you get or pay a lot of money to get one that is already repaired. That is the current nature of the vast majority of units at the moment the most people haven't booted them for at least 5 to 10 years and that says it all.
My personal opinion would be that I would buy it if I were you if you understand that you may be putting $600 USD more into it just to investigate. Most 4:3 aspect cheap LCDs made between 2004 and 2007 will likely work with the system with the proper 13W3 adapter cable which isn't normally that expensive. After that you're probably going to be needing to repair the power supply or you need to buy a repaired power supply from someone. No one I know is currently working on the indigo2 power supplies just because the current attention is on higher end machines because that's where the money is at the moment.
You could also just get it, admire it, and not attempt to boot it until you have the resources to further investigate and or pay for replacement parts. So like anything owning SGI is usually a journey and not just something that happens. A lot of us have had SGI's from back when the company still existed and so we have memories of them working but buying most of the SGI models today is risky because of the power supply age and that's primarily what's going to be your hurdle.
Think about it and see whether you want to continue the journey or you want to get a lot of funds together and ask a dealer to sell you one at retail pricing that should work now. Most of us have been through the scavenge and repair phase and that's if you have a lot of time but not much money. So decide how you'd like to proceed because those are likely you're two choices.
RE: Indigo2. Should I just buy it? - soviet - 10-17-2023
(10-16-2023, 03:52 PM)valejacobo Wrote: Hi guys, hope to find you well.
A guy in my country posted for sale the first Indigo I've seen in almost a decade. Needless to say it really piqued my interest into getting my first SGI, even if it's not my wished Octane.
He says in the advert that it turns on, makes the chime, but "it doesn't move forward, it may be the ram or the hard drive". Are SGIs like old Macs, where making the chime indicates a solid salvageable machine, or should I be more skeptical about it? He seems kind of shady and vague about the diagnosis and description, says it has full memory banks, and that a quick troubleshooting may make it work.
He's asking about 230 usd converted to my currency, which is pretty much nothing comparing to international prices, however I don't want to get a paperweight due to someone previously tampering with the hardware as it happened with my first Sun (a Blade 100 someone tried to pry the heatsink with a screwdriver and chipped the CPU corner with some pins). Below the only picture of the listing.
Great deal there 230 usd is quite cheap and the skin look great on the picture, only shipping fee for my indigo's 2 charge for me was 260 USD from Miami to Uruguay. And the skins where very damaged in this cases. Purchasing it local have several advantages.
RE: Indigo2. Should I just buy it? - Shiunbird - 10-18-2023
If you are into blindly trusting a stranger, I fly from Europe to Brazil 2-3x per year and, assuming shipping from Brazil to Argentina is worth it (and our very lousy customs union actually works), I can hook you up with something - just let know what.
RE: Indigo2. Should I just buy it? - valejacobo - 10-19-2023
(10-16-2023, 10:17 PM)weblacky Wrote: To be perfectly frank nearly all SGI's today will be so old that if somebody doesn't show them in fully booting condition you will have to put in work to fix it. That being said on what cards may be in the back of it, the stated price seems very fair. I think the seller is aware that is not in working condition and is priced at accordingly. But it depends on what you want to get into. Unless there is physical damage to it you don't necessarily need a working hard drive to at least get into the firmware and see that it posts and all that. You will, at the very minimum, need a compatible monitor and a 13w3 to VGA adapter cable. And due to the system's age you'll have to really watch that power supply. Anything that old is going to have a suspect power supply. And to be honest since you're not in the UK or the USA you may have to tackle that power supply yourself. Are you up for something like that? These old systems were made with quality components on the motherboard but the power supply is just someone's power supply. It's not to some form of military spec or so high-grade components. SGI didn't make their own power supplies.
No, you can't adapt an ATX PC power supply to it you must use its power supply. Indigo2s are now over 25 years old so that is the reality of the situation. If you want an SGI you're going to have to pay up in some respect. You're either going to need to repair what you get or pay a lot of money to get one that is already repaired. That is the current nature of the vast majority of units at the moment the most people haven't booted them for at least 5 to 10 years and that says it all.
My personal opinion would be that I would buy it if I were you if you understand that you may be putting $600 USD more into it just to investigate. Most 4:3 aspect cheap LCDs made between 2004 and 2007 will likely work with the system with the proper 13W3 adapter cable which isn't normally that expensive. After that you're probably going to be needing to repair the power supply or you need to buy a repaired power supply from someone. No one I know is currently working on the indigo2 power supplies just because the current attention is on higher end machines because that's where the money is at the moment.
You could also just get it, admire it, and not attempt to boot it until you have the resources to further investigate and or pay for replacement parts. So like anything owning SGI is usually a journey and not just something that happens. A lot of us have had SGI's from back when the company still existed and so we have memories of them working but buying most of the SGI models today is risky because of the power supply age and that's primarily what's going to be your hurdle.
Think about it and see whether you want to continue the journey or you want to get a lot of funds together and ask a dealer to sell you one at retail pricing that should work now. Most of us have been through the scavenge and repair phase and that's if you have a lot of time but not much money. So decide how you'd like to proceed because those are likely you're two choices.
I know it NEEDS a lot of care and attention. Getting it to the firmware boot screen should be the top priority for me, anything else can be solved. As far as the power supply, I'll be more than delighted to work on it (Ex electronical engineering here and working in a hardware developement enviroment, so it should be cake for me) and in the software side, I can manage myself to so some network booting for the installer. Getting something else like Flame or Softimage 3d to work on it would be a plus.
What attracts me the most is the price, and the overall sound condition of the case, as robespierre mentioned. I think that after Sunday, and with it our country's presidential elections pass, I would make a decision to just credit card it, or to pass it for the time being.
RE: Indigo2. Should I just buy it? - weblacky - 10-19-2023
(10-19-2023, 01:50 PM)valejacobo Wrote:(10-16-2023, 10:17 PM)weblacky Wrote: To be perfectly frank nearly all SGI's today will be so old that if somebody doesn't show them in fully booting condition you will have to put in work to fix it. That being said on what cards may be in the back of it, the stated price seems very fair. I think the seller is aware that is not in working condition and is priced at accordingly. But it depends on what you want to get into. Unless there is physical damage to it you don't necessarily need a working hard drive to at least get into the firmware and see that it posts and all that. You will, at the very minimum, need a compatible monitor and a 13w3 to VGA adapter cable. And due to the system's age you'll have to really watch that power supply. Anything that old is going to have a suspect power supply. And to be honest since you're not in the UK or the USA you may have to tackle that power supply yourself. Are you up for something like that? These old systems were made with quality components on the motherboard but the power supply is just someone's power supply. It's not to some form of military spec or so high-grade components. SGI didn't make their own power supplies.
No, you can't adapt an ATX PC power supply to it you must use its power supply. Indigo2s are now over 25 years old so that is the reality of the situation. If you want an SGI you're going to have to pay up in some respect. You're either going to need to repair what you get or pay a lot of money to get one that is already repaired. That is the current nature of the vast majority of units at the moment the most people haven't booted them for at least 5 to 10 years and that says it all.
My personal opinion would be that I would buy it if I were you if you understand that you may be putting $600 USD more into it just to investigate. Most 4:3 aspect cheap LCDs made between 2004 and 2007 will likely work with the system with the proper 13W3 adapter cable which isn't normally that expensive. After that you're probably going to be needing to repair the power supply or you need to buy a repaired power supply from someone. No one I know is currently working on the indigo2 power supplies just because the current attention is on higher end machines because that's where the money is at the moment.
You could also just get it, admire it, and not attempt to boot it until you have the resources to further investigate and or pay for replacement parts. So like anything owning SGI is usually a journey and not just something that happens. A lot of us have had SGI's from back when the company still existed and so we have memories of them working but buying most of the SGI models today is risky because of the power supply age and that's primarily what's going to be your hurdle.
Think about it and see whether you want to continue the journey or you want to get a lot of funds together and ask a dealer to sell you one at retail pricing that should work now. Most of us have been through the scavenge and repair phase and that's if you have a lot of time but not much money. So decide how you'd like to proceed because those are likely you're two choices.
I know it NEEDS a lot of care and attention. Getting it to the firmware boot screen should be the top priority for me, anything else can be solved. As far as the power supply, I'll be more than delighted to work on it (Ex electronical engineering here and working in a hardware developement enviroment, so it should be cake for me) and in the software side, I can manage myself to so some network booting for the installer. Getting something else like Flame or Softimage 3d to work on it would be a plus.
What attracts me the most is the price, and the overall sound condition of the case, as robespierre mentioned. I think that after Sunday, and with it our country's presidential elections pass, I would make a decision to just credit card it, or to pass it for the time being.
If you have the equipment, knowledge, and time to do this work that I'd say it's a fabulous deal. Our biggest problem is normally our collector community doesn't have the tools or background for repair as many people come from an old job where they used an SGI Station or they're interested for historical reasons but they are from a software or basic IT background where they haven't done electronic repair before. So no one was trying to be condescending, it was simply that most people aren't set up to handle this stuff. You sound like a good candidate so I'd say just buy it. You won't find a better price even inside the US right now.
RE: Indigo2. Should I just buy it? - sunray - 11-09-2023
(10-19-2023, 01:50 PM)valejacobo Wrote:Hi(10-16-2023, 10:17 PM)weblacky Wrote: To be perfectly frank nearly all SGI's today will be so old that if somebody doesn't show them in fully booting condition you will have to put in work to fix it. That being said on what cards may be in the back of it, the stated price seems very fair. I think the seller is aware that is not in working condition and is priced at accordingly. But it depends on what you want to get into. Unless there is physical damage to it you don't necessarily need a working hard drive to at least get into the firmware and see that it posts and all that. You will, at the very minimum, need a compatible monitor and a 13w3 to VGA adapter cable. And due to the system's age you'll have to really watch that power supply. Anything that old is going to have a suspect power supply. And to be honest since you're not in the UK or the USA you may have to tackle that power supply yourself. Are you up for something like that? These old systems were made with quality components on the motherboard but the power supply is just someone's power supply. It's not to some form of military spec or so high-grade components. SGI didn't make their own power supplies.
No, you can't adapt an ATX PC power supply to it you must use its power supply. Indigo2s are now over 25 years old so that is the reality of the situation. If you want an SGI you're going to have to pay up in some respect. You're either going to need to repair what you get or pay a lot of money to get one that is already repaired. That is the current nature of the vast majority of units at the moment the most people haven't booted them for at least 5 to 10 years and that says it all.
My personal opinion would be that I would buy it if I were you if you understand that you may be putting $600 USD more into it just to investigate. Most 4:3 aspect cheap LCDs made between 2004 and 2007 will likely work with the system with the proper 13W3 adapter cable which isn't normally that expensive. After that you're probably going to be needing to repair the power supply or you need to buy a repaired power supply from someone. No one I know is currently working on the indigo2 power supplies just because the current attention is on higher end machines because that's where the money is at the moment.
You could also just get it, admire it, and not attempt to boot it until you have the resources to further investigate and or pay for replacement parts. So like anything owning SGI is usually a journey and not just something that happens. A lot of us have had SGI's from back when the company still existed and so we have memories of them working but buying most of the SGI models today is risky because of the power supply age and that's primarily what's going to be your hurdle.
Think about it and see whether you want to continue the journey or you want to get a lot of funds together and ask a dealer to sell you one at retail pricing that should work now. Most of us have been through the scavenge and repair phase and that's if you have a lot of time but not much money. So decide how you'd like to proceed because those are likely you're two choices.
I know it NEEDS a lot of care and attention. Getting it to the firmware boot screen should be the top priority for me, anything else can be solved. As far as the power supply, I'll be more than delighted to work on it (Ex electronical engineering here and working in a hardware developement enviroment, so it should be cake for me) and in the software side, I can manage myself to so some network booting for the installer. Getting something else like Flame or Softimage 3d to work on it would be a plus.
What attracts me the most is the price, and the overall sound condition of the case, as robespierre mentioned. I think that after Sunday, and with it our country's presidential elections pass, I would make a decision to just credit card it, or to pass it for the time being.
Just go for it, it looks nice you say and you are not totally lost in HW/SW you will probably make it and most of all you will have a fun time.
For the initial test you connect to the console via RS232, you only need a PS2 kind of plug or just simply some test pins to connect to it.
Once you are on the console you can see the status of the HW.
Nothing beats fulfillings dreams and fixing old stuff IMHO
And you have alot of old still cool SW and atleast one state of the art wordprocessor, Framemaker the best ever made
Enjoy life