[marvin5881]

I have a SGI Indigo2 and an SGI 21" CRT Monitor that only has a 13w3 input. I have found that SGI Branded 13w3 to 13w3 cables are rare online but SUN ones appear to be plentiful. I was wondering if a SUN 13w3 to 13w3 cable might work for my needs or if it would be incompatible with my all SGI gear?

[robespierre]

There is nothing proprietary about the cable, it just connects the same pins on either end straight through.
The answer is Yes.

[Raion]

Sun adapters will "work" as in they won't break anything, will fit in etc. The question of whether your monitor likes the resultant output depends largely on a bazillion factors.

Really, there's a DIP switch cable available on eBay and elsewhere ( for those reading, don't share a link)

Just look up 13w3 dip switch cable -- it'll come up eventually.

[jan-jaap]

Sun adapters will "work" as in they won't break anything, will fit in etc. The question of whether your monitor likes the resultant output depends largely on a bazillion factors.

Really, there's a DIP switch cable available on eBay and elsewhere ( for those reading, don't share a link)

Just look up 13w3 dip switch cable -- it'll come up eventually.

I think you're talking about 13W3 -> HD15 (VGA) cables here. Then the interpretation of the pins becomes important. You do need to be careful, because SGI defines 4 different pinouts for 13W3 already. IIRC the Onyx RE2 puts +10V power for 3D goggles or an emitter on one of the pins, this could easily do some damage to a monitor (or the Onyx if you short it).

But the OP is talking about a an SGI system, an SGI monitor and a straight 13w3-13w3 cable in between. In that case the brand is irrelevant.

[lunatic]

The answer beyond "yes, Sun adapters and cables will work on SGIs" is somewhat complex.
SGIs use sync on green, but Suns use composite sync. For Suns, sync is put on another pin. So if you have a genuine SGI adapter or cable, it won't work on Suns. SGIs use some pins to determine the max resolution of the monitor, so it often defaults to the lowest sync rate (which is a good default of course). You can override the settings in software later.

[robespierre]

Sometimes I wonder if people have actually seen a SGI 13W3 display. Based on some of the responses, the answer appears to be "no".

[lunatic]

Sometimes I wonder if people have actually seen a SGI 13W3 display. Based on some of the responses, the answer appears to be "no".

Perhaps not "no", but rather a question of "how much". Early monitors were fixed frequency, later ones were very nice multi frequency monitors. So there is a general "yes", but details, such as "will it automatically select the correct/best sync rate?" may vary.
At least that is my experience and I am infamously bad at keeping a well-organized cable collection. That is one reason why I got rid of all the big fix frequency monitors years ago.

[Raion]

My bad, I misread the post. I've never owned an SGI crt sadly.

[weblacky]

I also got rid of all my fixed frequency and multi frequency Sony Trinitron’s along time ago. The plastic didn’t hold up well and the truth was they were heavier than the machines. I only have one 13W3 cable but that belongs to a shabby but working SGI Granite monitor that I was forced to take on one of my lot purchases.

I’ve been so pleased with the picture from basic 15 inch and 17 inch LCD‘s of the time that I just never even thought of an original SGI monitor anymore. And really the only reason you’d want one is to perform stereoscopic experiments with shutter glasses.

The cables and connectors were becoming rare even 10 years ago. Now even more so. The truth is that once converter cables started coming out on the market and are still available for low prices on eBay I never even considered going back to a native display.

Perhaps if I had had a gently used one that was in perfect condition in all respects I probably would’ve kept it. But the monitors you run across tend to be yellowed from being close to a window they tend to be somewhat fuzzy or faded and realistically they’re just darn heavy.

I’ve never owned an SGI LCD monitor. That would be nice.

I never understood SGI‘s decision. I don’t understand how 13W3 was better than VGA even back in the 90’s. Obviously they use VGA for the O2. So why didn’t they use it on the Octane as well? I can understand why the first stations used it but I really don’t understand why stations starting at Indy/Indigo2 did.

[vishnu]

When I  bought my Sun Blade 2500, this was in the days before flatscreen LCDs, or at least when they were still pretty rare, it came with a monstrous Sun X7136A CRT monitor. That thing is a hernia waiting to happen. I was careful to keep it out of the sun, by which I mean sunlight, so the plastics still look brand new, but the resolution has become pretty fuzzy over the years. On nekochan, someone told me where there was a focus pot inside the skins but I diddled around with it for quite a while and never could figure out how to get to it without breaking something. When I bought my Octane2 in 2007, obviously LCDs were ubiquitous by then so I've never had it plugged into a CRT. When I bought my Tezro, in the midst of setting it up I reached around behind to plug my monitor's 13W3 connector in, when much to my wondering eyes I perceived, a DVI connector!