[Raion]

All Indy power supplies regardless of manufacturer are bad. The Nidec is well known for failing with its capacitors whereas the Sony ones tend to break the mosfet or other pieces.

Additionally Sony models do not provide sufficient cooling for some configurations and will cause the system to overheat well before the fan kicks on.

Really we don't have any good options right now. You can't replace it with an ATX and there is no custom power supply that would work in this case because there are special logic that is embedded in every power supply.

[weblacky]

However, the Indy PSU is one of the most accessible and simple SGI PSUs out here. It's also the ONLY PSU I know of that you can troubleshoot with it attached to the system and ON. So it makes it the most repairable among all SGIs (to me). Most SGIs, used an enclosed design with multiple PCBs covering each other to prevent being able to reach inside the PSU when assembled, let alone while it's installed in the system's body. The Indy platform is the only one to buck that trend.

It also has minimal semiconductor circuitry. I'm told by old SGI postings (back in the day) that the fast switching secondary diodes were a source of failure, but that doesn't make then unrepairable. I've only seen inside a Nidec PSU. But those turn to be the better PSU in the long run these days (IMO).

I got a dead Indy Nidec PSU I have disassembled and had the PCBs washed to properly to troubleshoot it, was lucky to spend $20 on eBay for it...but SGI PSUs, dead or otherwise, don't come up too often and the prices are everywhere. I'm in the market for failed PSU for repair, but most people are either keeping them or throwing them away :-(

We've only just started building up the knowledge for PCB-level repair (beginner), SGI parts used to be so cheap, most people just bought another used part and threw away the old one (unless it was rare or expensive even back then, 10+ years ago). Now all that trashed inventory is causing basic part scarcity!

[Tech_and_Music]

I've been thinking for a while, and did notice Octane of similar specs are around the same price as O2s at Ian. It almost makes me wonder if I should go with an Octane, and set aside the O2 as a lower spec, side machine. But, the problem is that I really want to be able to do analog video capture and editing on the system, and I believe the board that allows the Octane to do it is fairly rare. I haven't seen them for sale at the SGI Depot (unless I'm missing it, but searching the parts and spares page for specific keywords/part numbers didn't turn up anything), nor elsewhere. Are there alternative ways of getting analog video capturing on an Octane besides the official "EVO" Personal Video Board, or is it really locked to that? If there are other, non-janky ways of getting analog video from (and preferrably also to) tape, an Octane might eventually be my choice of SGI, with the O2 and Indy just being lower spec'd side machines.

[indigofan]

There are two video capture boards for the Octane, one with analog inputs and one with full professional version.. The Digital Video Board would need a breakout box to connect more traditional connect types such as S-Video, etc..

Octane Digital Video Board
https://irix7.com/techpubs/007-3466-001.pdf

Personal Video Board
https://irix7.com/techpubs/007-3545-002.pdf

For either, a good add on is the compression board which allows you to do real time hardware MPEG compression without quality loss or time to do it with software.

[Jacques]

For a starter SGI where the focus is SD video I'd go for an O2. Octanes are plenty fast and certainly faster on a like for like CPU spec basis. 

The modded O2 performs well, I did my own mod with a R10k 250mhz CPU as a base and a spare single proc R12k 300mhz pimm I had. 

For 3D work an Octane will be much faster, the O2 struggles a bit with Maya, though does well with Softimage and Lightwave. A 400mhz CPU is best as it has 2mb cache, which helps loads. It's also very expensive!

I reverted my modded 300mhz CPU back to the 250mhz one as it ran slightly cooler and I couldn't really tell the difference...!

R5k CPU machines, even 300mhz ones, are quite bit slower than their R10k/R12k equivalents.

512mb ram is the minimum I'd go for, I have 384mb and it struggles with Maya a bit.

[hamei]

For a starter SGI where the focus is SD video I'd go for an O2.

Me too. All the multimedia stuff is so much better integrated and documented and cheaper and more available on an O2.

The Octane is better for other stuff, but even figuring out the video options on an Octane will give you brain damage.

I like the r5's, myself. Extra disk, quieter, lower power, less heat, and if you go nuts you can scrounge up a 600 mhz one.

Imo, getting the faster cpu's into an O2 would be a better use of effort than Yet Another Toolchain Project ... just sayin' .... 900 mhz, mmmmm :-)