[blacksmith]

Hello there,
I've got some questions regarding the Indigo 2 Impact upgrading procedure:
1. Is there a way to upgrade the graphics (Solid to High Impact)  and the CPU (175 to 195 MHz) in Indigo2 without reinstalling the OS? 
2. How can I duplicate the booting hard drive to a bigger drive keeping the OS?

Thanks a million,
Blacksmith

[jirka]

1. Should be OK
2. http://www.sgidepot.co.uk/disksfiles.html#CLONE ;-)

[Trippynet]

I think upgrading the CPU and graphics is fine without a reinstall as both are from the same family (MGRAS for the graphics, both R10k for the CPUs). Now going from Extreme to IMPACT might involve a bit more work, but to my knowledge you can just upgrade different versions of IMPACT via a simple swap. Of course, I stand to be corrected here?

Cloning the OS wise, use the xfsdump method from jirka's link. I use this process (automated via a script - there's one at the bottom of Ian's site that does most of it) to duplicate drives regularly for backup purposes. I have 3 clones of various ages of the system drive in my Indigo2 and Fuel that I refresh periodically. Going larger or smaller via this method works fine.

[blacksmith]

Thank you guys.
I will try next weekend, if I'll find some time, and I will post the results.

[jan-jaap]

I think upgrading the CPU and graphics is fine without a reinstall as both are from the same family (MGRAS for the graphics, both R10k for the CPUs). Now going from Extreme to IMPACT might involve a bit more work, but to my knowledge you can just upgrade different versions of IMPACT via a simple swap. Of course, I stand to be corrected here?

99.9% correct.

The very first Impact systems were Indigo2 High Impact, and came with "IRIX 5.3 for Indigo 2 Impact (09/95)". Three months later Solid and MaxImpact were introduced and with them "IRIX 5.3 for all Indigo 2 Impact". So if you were to swap a HighImpact for another Impact in this one version of IRIX, then it's not going to work. Guess who had that happen to him ...

Of course all of this information is 100% irrelevant for R10K systems because they run IRIX 6.2 or newer.

[blacksmith]

Thank you guys.

Both changes were great. Now I have an Indigo2 with R10000 at 195 MHz, highImpact graphics and a whooping 512M Ram.  The next step is a bigger HDD. I tried several HDD with SCA 80 and a 50->80 adapter but without success. I cannot tell if my adapter is not working or I am doing something wrong (more likely). Any advice much appreciated.

[Trippynet]

Toughy. I've had around 30-40% success with using SCA drives in my Indigo2. Some of them fail to fall back to earlier protocol levels and hence refuse to work, others work fine. Both drives in my Indigo2 (see sig) are SCA drives, but I've tested plenty that don't work (I mark these for use in my Fuel). Might be worth mentioning which models you've tried so we can see if it is the adapter at fault, or if you've used incompatible drives.

I do also recall some SCA adapters having an incorrect pin-out and so not working...

@jan-jaap I knew someone would have experience here

[gijoe77]

Thank you guys.

Both changes were great. Now I have an Indigo2 with R10000 at 195 MHz, highImpact graphics and a whooping 512M Ram.  The next step is a bigger HDD. I tried several HDD with SCA 80 and a 50->80 adapter but without success. I cannot tell if my adapter is not working or I am doing something wrong (more likely). Any advice much appreciated.

I made a post about it a while ago here https://forums.irix.cc/thread-485-post-3...ml#pid3746

I might have been lucky and every 50pin to 80pin adapter I used worked fine, not sure what problem you were having with it

[jan-jaap]

I've heard that some adapters fail to terminate the upper 16 bits of the SCSI bus causing the disk to malfunction.

Also, the soldering side of the adapter can touch the metal of the disk. Better put some thick tape or cardboard in between to avoid shorts.