[Geoman]

Nice! Looks like you'll need to extract it from an attic. Keep us updated

Seems like I struck gold: The seller got the machine from the organization he was working for in the 90ies and around 30 years it was regularly tested for working condition, sitting in his attic. Tomorrow I'm going to pick it up.

So I contracted the red fever indeed :-)

[Geoman]

Can my Indigo1-Mouse-and-Keyboard-Adapter also be installed to one of the DB9-Ports of the Crimson? Or do I need in every case a DIN9-to-DB15 adapter to make use of this adapter?

Can I damage something by trying out?

   
This is the one I use for my Indigo R4k

Updated:
The question has been answered here already:
http://forums.irixnet.org/thread-2454-post-16862.html

So until the original keyboard will be found, I will have to solder an adapter.

[jan-jaap]

So until the original keyboard will be found, I will have to solder an adapter.

Yes. The DB9's are serial ports. They have a different pinout than what you find on a PC.

I may be able to produce a genuine keyboard if all else fails. They are heavy though.

FWIW: The VGXT is not a bad deal. I have a 380VGX and a 440VGX and they've always been rock solid. Several others passed through my place over the years and I think I only ever found one GE board with problems. Compare that with the RealityEngine: I must have a dozen dead RM4 boards stashed away. That stuff is fragile. And geometry wise the VGX is pretty close to the RE, the RE mostly added better texture features and speed.

[Geoman]

So until the original keyboard will be found, I will have to solder an adapter.

Yes. The DB9's are serial ports. They have a different pinout than what you find on a PC.

I may be able to produce a genuine keyboard if all else fails. They are heavy though.

FWIW: The VGXT is not a bad deal. I have a 380VGX and a 440VGX and they've always been rock solid. Several others passed through my place over the years and I think I only ever found one GE board with problems. Compare that with the RealityEngine: I must have a dozen dead RM4 boards stashed away. That stuff is fragile. And geometry wise the VGX is pretty close to the RE, the RE mostly added better texture features and speed.

And I wondered why I couldn't connect via Telnet... So I need to solder once again.

Yesterday I brought the machine back home, today was cleaning-day. Not really: this Crimson only has a fine film of dust inside it, the seller told me that it was running in a air conditioned server room and that shows! Even the PSUs and the fans are nearly clean.

So in the end only the plastics were removed and washed. Why did SGI did not use this automobile-grade ABS-plastics for the later models??

One electrolytic capacitir leaked, others bulge. These will be replaced ASAP. Though I could not Telnet the machine because I lack the cables nor boot it because the keyboard is missing, a quick peek inside shows stable red LEDs - so this hints for an intact system.

Images follow soon.

[Geoman]

Gallery

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This Kingston-memory looks like normal PS/2 DIMM - I guess they are proprietary?
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Will a null-modem-cable do the trick? Or do I need to solder one myself?

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The boards (Mainboard, GFX, I/O) are difficult to extract. Do you have an advice how to make this easier? Could I use silicone spray on the connectors or should I better refrain from using it?

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Can the R4000  50Mhz simply upgraded to an R4400 via drop-in-replacement, or would I need new rom Images/ botch wiring etc?

[robespierre]

This Kingston-memory looks like normal PS/2 DIMM - I guess they are proprietary?

It seems to be custom ECC ram.

Will a null-modem-cable do the trick? Or do I need to solder one myself?

It uses the SGI 4D serial pinout, which is completely different from everything else.
See the serial(7) manpage or this list

The boards (Mainboard, GFX, I/O) are difficult to extract. Do you have an advice how to make this easier? Could I use silicone spray on the connectors or should I better refrain from using it?

Silicone is an insulator. I would try to just slowly prise the ejector levers to pull the boards out of the backplane. There are contact-enhancing liquids that can be used (DeOxit G100) but be careful.

Can the R4000  50Mhz simply upgraded to an R4400 via drop-in-replacement, or would I need new rom Images/ botch wiring etc?

The processor has a clock generator PLL that needs to be programmed with the correct multiplier. For 100 MHz R4000, the multiplier is 2; for 150 MHz R4400, it's 2.5. This is likely done using resistors on the board.
Whether the PROM is compatible depends on if it is a new enough revision.