[colin_419]

Hello again everyone! I hate to over-post or clutter up the board, but I figured it was appropriate to start a new thread based on the issue I'm running into. I've successfully installed IRIX, trying several different versions including 5.3, 6.2, and 6.5.22 (which I know I botched, as 6.5.22 required I install additional discs that I did not install). Each install only boots to sash. I was expecting a fresh installation of IRIX to boot to a desktop environment, as I'm interested in having a full environment rather than just a shell. When I execute 'ls' I only see 'ide' and 'sash' listed in the partition. I was wondering if I needed to configure an env var in the PROM after installing IRIX to indicate the partition containing /unix (such as the OSLoad vars, however I'm assuming the IRIX Inst process would set these for me). 

Some additional information that may help provide some insight into my process/setup: 
1) I have an old Seagate HDD that I performed an [a]uto format using fx.ARCS (IRIX 6.5.30 standalone version)
2) Performed an install of IRIX 6.2 after letting fx run for over an hour.
3) The drive is using the XFS filesystem.
4) The machine is an SGI Indy with an R4400, 64MB memory, 24-bit Newport gfx, ~2GB Seagate HDD

I appreciate any help you all can offer. I hate to be a burden if I'm not being thorough with my explanation, or if I'm overlooking/misunderstanding something basic about the nature of what I'm doing. This is still a very fun process, and I'm loving being able to make anything work at all at this point. Happy new year!

Edit:

I am curious if I need to use the 'list' option while installing. When I reach the main menu of the installer, I am only selecting 'go', and not performing any feature selection. I assumed the desktop would be provided by default, but I could be wrong here of course. To better document things as far as miniroot, I selected XFS and 512 byte block sizes.

[robespierre]

sash has a bit of a funny name because it's a funny kind of program. Calling it a shell is overly generous: it's just a glorified boot loader. When you are interacting with sash, the IRIX kernel has not been loaded yet and IRIX is not involved at all!

The installation procedure should set up the computer properly so that it boots directly to the IRIX graphical login screen, but many users are now running alternative install procedures like "DINA" or "LOVE" and this adds additional complications.

The normal order of starting a SGI machine is that the machine displays the "starting up, stop for maintenance" dialog, then a screen of text scrolls past with system messages, then the login screen linked above appears and you can log in. If you never see these steps, it may be that your installation is not properly done, or there may just be a problem with boot variables that tell the firmware what you want to do.

From the firmware prompt, you can type

Code:

auto

which should start IRIX. If this doesn't work, your installation isn't done correctly.

In the manual, it describes the boot variable called "AutoLoad", which should be set to "Yes". This is what tells the firmware to execute the normal boot procedure in the above paragraph. From the firmware prompt (which is popularly called the "prom" and can be reached via the "5. Command Prompt" button on the maintenance menu) you can type

Code:

setenv AutoLoad Yes
reset

After setting this variable, the machine should boot to the login screen every time it's turned on.

[Raion]

6.5. 22 requires:

All three overlays, both foundations, development foundation 1.3, apps for a successful installation. All of those can be found on the link that I gave you in the other thread. You can also check out the wiki there is a net install article that I did there a couple years ago that is pretty clear for new users like yourself

[robespierre]

You don't need development foundation or applications for the system to boot. Those are layered products (which are a good idea, granted).

Edit: sorry, Raion, you are right. Those CDs are required. I think I got my wires crossed with the different CDs "Complementary Applications" and Freeware, which were always optional.

[colin_419]

Hey thanks Raion and robespierre! This is all very insightful! I have tried following the instructions thoroughly using the guide you linked to Raion, and it has been abundantly helpful in learning how to configure and install software to the machine.

I had previously printed the env to inspect for AutoLoad and other vars to give me some insight into what the machine may be doing. AutoLoad=yes, and to my inspection of the variables it does seem everything is reasonably configured to my knowledge. I do believe that I'm not understanding something about either fx, miniroot, or the Inst process (such as using list or selecting features). To fill you in, I am using LOVE for this process. After letting fx perform an [a]uto format (slow, I waited for over an hour), I exited and installed software from love.62.

Executing auto booted into sash.

Here's a look at my partitions using the output of fx (l/sh/a):

----- current drive geometry -----
Tracks/zone = 1 Set/track = 109
Alt sect/zone = 1 Interleave = 1 Cylinders = 4026
Alt track/volume = 0 Cylinder skew = 45 Heads = 4
Alt track/zone = 0 Track skew = 36 Data bytes/sec = 512
Rotational rate = 5376
----- partitions -----
part type blocks Megabytes
0: xfs 215076 + 1894764 105 + 925
1: raw 4096 + 210980 2 + 103
8: volhdr 0 + 4096 0 + 2
10: volume 0 + 2109840 0 + 1030
----- bootinfo -----
root partition = 0 swap partition = 1 bootfile = /unix
----- directory entries -----
0: ide block 3 size 283648 1: sash block 557 size 283648
----- sgi-info -----
serial = name = SEAGATE ST51080N 0958

Does my partitioning provide any insight into my installation not being performed correctly? If I'm not mistaken, I should be seeing a unix directory or files in here, but clearly I don't have that. Thanks again to both of you, I really appreciate you taking the time to clue me into what I'm not understanding here. I'll be re-reading the instructions from love for about the twelfth time just to make sure I'm not missing something here.

Edit:
I did want to mention that I wouldn't expect anyone to spoon feed me commands to run. Feel free to nudge me in the right direction if you see something amiss. I can manage reading into any sort of suggestions you have. I greatly appreciate any suggestions!

[robespierre]

The partition information looks fine. /unix is not a directory, it is the name and location of the kernel, on the root filesystem. Are you sure you aren't seeing any error messages, because the firmware should print something if it is unable to boot as instructed.
Did you execute resetenv after running the installation?

By the way, I am not that impressed with the love_guide.txt instructions. It has solecisms and non-standard uses of terminology and is misleading as a description of the maintenance procedure.
In particular, the instructions to "format the disk" are badly phrased. The fx format command is a low-level operation and should never be attempted during an install. To be fair, the SGI manuals are also deficient in this area.

The only fx commands that are normally needed are /label/create and /exit.

The instructions to "As a rule of thumb, use EFS for disks of 18GB or less, otherwise use XFS." are totally wrong, this whole guide is desperately in need of expert review. EFS is the filesystem used by IRIX 5.3 and below. It has no advantages over XFS and many disadvantages.

[Raion]

If you have the time to submit a revised version of the text file I will upload it I think that Truhobbyist is busy as of late but you are also free to contact him directly if you want to do it that way instead. Also of note that he is a native German speaker and I don't know how good his technical English is so that might be a result of some of the vagueness here.

I always mkfs during an install to clear the disk of prior installations by the way because it usually ends up being a trash situation the wiki has a number of guides that are pretty well oriented especially the netbsd one which can be easily adapted in this case

[colin_419]

Thank you for these clarifications on the erroneous information in the love instructions. I did not execute resetenv after running the installation of IRIX 6.2. When I run auto from the Command Monitor, I do not receive any errors. When I do attempt to run reset, I get an error that reset could not be found (either from Command Monitor or sash). Unfortunately I learned the hard way about fx yesterday when I destroyed a brand new HP 300GB SCA drive. I am much happier using this much smaller drive though, as the system operates in a timely manner with the 2GB drive. I will keep in mind to treat fx with greater care in the future.

Here is my current environment:
>> printenv
OSLoadOptions=INST
OSLoadPartition=scsi(0)disk(1)rdisk(0)partition(8)
AutoLoad=Yes
TimeZone=PST8PDT
console=g
diskless=0
dbaud=9600
volume=80
sgilogo=y
netaddr=192.168.1.101
eaddr=08:00:69:08:e4:00
ConsoleOut=video()
ConsoleIn=keyboard()
cpufreq=175
SystemPartition=scsi(0)disk(1)rdisk(0)partition(8)
OSLoadFilename=/unix
OSLoader=sash
gfx=alive

Given the partitions I do have, I was unsure if I should change the SystemPartition to scsi(0)disk(1)rdisk(0)partition(0) instead of scsi(0)disk(1)rdisk(0)partition(8).

Edit:
I need to make a clarification: When I run reset, the message I receive is "Unable to execute reset" not that it wasn't found. My apologies on that!

---

AHA! I have made progress

I performed:
1) unsetenv OSLoadOptions
2) setenv OSLoadPartition scsi(0)disk(1)rdisk(0)partition(0)
3) auto

The system comes up, and I see the login prompt for a Username and Password.
When I enter root with no password, I log in successfully. My desktop is only a terminal in the bottom left of the screen which shows "IRIS 1#". Perhaps I am not installing the desktop environment when running Inst. Either way, I'm pretty excited to have made progress! Thanks again to the both of you. I'll keep trying!

Edit:

I just ran 'versions' and I can see that I have a desktop base installed!

IRIS 3# versions
I = Installed, R = Removed

I ViewKit_eoe
I ViewKit_eoe.man
I ViewKit_eoe.man.relnotes
I ViewKit_eoe.sw
I ViewKit_eoe.sw.base

I WV_eoe

I WV_eoe.man
I WV_eoe.man.relnotes
I WV_eoe.sw
I WV_eoe.sw.dso

I c++_eoe
I c++_eoe.man
I c++_eoe.man.relnotes
I c++_eoe.sw
I c++_eoe.sw.lib

I c_eoe
I c_eoe.man
I c_eoe.man.relnotes
I c_eoe.sw
I c_eoe.sw.lib

I cadmin
I cadmin.man
I cadmin.man.cadmin
I cadmin.man.relnotes
I cadmin.sw
I cadmin.sw.dso
I cadmin.sw.objectserver

I compiler_eoe

I compiler_eoe.hdr
I compiler_eoe.hdr.lib
I compiler_eoe.man

I compiler_eoe.man.dso
I compiler_eoe.man.relnotes

I desktop_base
I desktop_base.man
I desktop_base.man.base
I desktop_base.man.relnotes
I desktop_base.sw
I desktop_base.sw.FileTypingRules
I desktop_base.sw.dso
I desktop_base.sw.ftrdso
I desktop_base.sw.utilities
I desktop_base.sw32

I desktop_base.sw32.ftrdso

[colin_419]

Good news, I do see X11 and 4d within /usr/bin, so I know I can make this system boot a desktop environment on startup. I attempted to modify /etc/inittab, where I changed the line is:2:initdefault: to is:3:initdefault: to see if setting it to run level 3 would spawn the desktop. I believe I'm close to getting this working. I'll make sure to document if I get it working and keep trying! I'm so close

Edit: I see that 3 is not actually a valid run level for IRIX according to the documentation. Just mentioning that for anyone who may come across this in the future (for the newbs like me).

[colin_419]

Just wanted to stop back in to mention that I installed 6.5.22 to my machine, and it's working great! A little sluggish, but not bad!

A fun back story on this Indy: It was used in the chip manufacturing industry with two custom Ultrapointe add-on cards. The system still contained the Ultrapointe software. I managed to find the passwords for the user accounts, and gained access to the software used for analyzing silicon wafers with the Ultrapointe laser system. Pretty neat stuff! There was a bunch of left over images and wafer data of various defects. I made a backup of the software, along with all of the images and data contained in the program if anyone is ever curious and wants to check it out. Definitely a cool find!