[Anonymoose]

Hello!
I’ve been donated an SGI Indy, but before I pick it up I’d like to ask a few questions!

I’d prefer to not use a physical HDD, I’ve been researching various X to SCSI adapters, and would something like a ZuluScsi be fast enough to rival 10-15k drives? I’ve read the new Zulu Blaster can do 18/11 mb/s read/write speeds.

As for installing IRIX, I know I could load ISOs off the Zulu, but for that and just software in general, would a scsi cd drive be recommended?

[Raion]

ZuluSCSI and others are quick but they cannot necessarily be faster than some other drives. The biggest benefit is reduced heat output, which if you have read at all, can kill Indy systems. If you have not yet had your power supply overhauled I would reach out to weblacky, he overhauled my power supplies and I have had no problems since.

To install and handle software we usually recommend using network installs (e.g. using LOVE or Reanimator) and for transferring files, ftp and/or NFSv3 (though, IME, this only works well for Solaris, BSD targets. MacOS and GNU/Linux require a ton of fiddling and windows doesn't support it)

[Anonymoose]

Awesome! Thanks, I’m thinking longevity is more important than read/write speeds.

[legodude]

The Indy SCSI bus is 10MB/s, which is likely the limiting factor in any comparison of fast HD vs ZuluSCSI.

[Anonymoose]

Oh! Didn’t take that into account, good to know.

Another question. I’d like to try out Alias PowerAnimator 7.0 (last version that supports the Indy on IRIX 5.3?) but I can’t seem to find it. Any help on that end? I’m a beginner on browsing FTP’s, apologies if it’s there. And what about licensing keys? I know that’s iffy when it comes to registering IRIX software.

Regarding that, it turns out I’m being given 3 Indy’s, which is nice. Would it be possible to connect them together to make a render farm of sorts?

[Raion]

We don't openly discuss piracy on the forums but if you use the commercial software request thread, many people have their own software caches.

It's too much liability for me to risk DMCA or worse.

[Anonymoose]

Whoops, apologies. Thanks for pointing me there.

[Raion]

No problem! I'm not here to throw the rules at you more so just letting you know the culture here. Nekochan didn't allow any discussion or sale of commercial software, even if you had a license and proof of it being okay to resale.

We upgraded to allowing resale of all commercial software regardless of whether the license is transferable, we just asked that if you were going to discuss piracy or cracking that you keep it in private channels. I know that goes against the spirit of many types of software preservation people out there, but I'm also trying to play the long game here: the fewest controversies that I can embroil us in and the fewest legal battles that I can get involved in the longer we will stay around.

[Anonymoose]

Here’s a thought I had, are there any ways to help cool down the system? Besides running the computer caseless, would something like a fan over the heat sink help? Or what about a laptop cooling pad? A simple fan pointed directly at the internals (caseless) could help too I presume.

[weblacky]

No, please, No....SGIs have throttling fans for cooling!

There is no SGI system made that was designed to run without its skin/case on! SGI spent countless amounts of money and hours designing their systems to be as quiet as they could back in the day by maximizing the airflow mechanics inside the case. If you take the case off your Indy you will have zero nearly % cooling (only convention) instead of having cooling you used to have.  Same with Indigo2, 02, Octane2, etc...

The power supply's fan is not to cool just the power supply, more so, it actually intakes air from the inside of Indy. I mean I assume you noticed where all the vents are, they're between the Indy and the power supply and then exhausted out the power supply. So the power supply's fresh cooling air is the hard drive and CPU's hot air!

The power supply's data cable directly interfaces to the temperature sensor (thermistor) on the CPU card in the Indy. As the Indy CPU gets hot the power supply fan increases speed because that's what cools the inside of the case. Cool air is pulled in from the outside under low pressure as the power supply produces a higher pressure to pull the warm air from inside the Indy, then through itself, then expelled out the back of the power supply.

Please do not ever recommend to somebody that they need to modify the airflow mechanics of an SGI nor should you be running an SGI for any length of time other than a few minutes of troubleshooting without its case on!

The CPU is literally right next to the power supply fresh air intake, so that is the amount of cooling that they are designed to need.  You need to understand that the Indy cost like $5,000+ USD back when it was made. It's not a 486 Intel PC. They figured all the stuff out because you were paying for it. It does exactly what it's supposed to do and has been successfully doing it for almost 30 years. Don't put a fan where there isn't one and don't fool with the fans that are there unless you know you can get a fan of equal or better static pressure at the same CFM values.

The variable speed fan in the power supply that is actually pretty powerful, if you're not running a hard drive in it then all you're dealing with is CPU heat. It can handle that in its sleep. Let it do its job.

Here’s a thought I had, are there any ways to help cool down the system? Besides running the computer caseless, would something like a fan over the heat sink help? Or what about a laptop cooling pad? A simple fan pointed directly at the internals (caseless) could help too I presume.