ReInstalling Irix and Flame

[softer_vb]

I Just replaced the internal harddrive on my old octane mxe flame (The old 9GB drive died, replaced it with a new 36GB) and when i try to boot up i dont get anything on my monitor, no bios no nothing …Anybody have an idea what the problems is?

[Anonymous]

try to check jumper settings on the HDD for “termination” and “termination power” settings… I don’t know how it’s correct but you can play with it to find right combination

[loops]

If you don’t even get a PROM screen then something more than the disk is wrong… try taking all the disks out and booting, you should still get a PROM screen, and then an error when it can’t find anything to boot from.

What colour is the lightbar on the front? Does it stay red, or turn white, or blink or anything?

Is the monitor even syncing? If not, maybe the graphics board got joggled whilst changing disks? You could try taking it out and reinserting it, but be very careful of the weirdo connectors which look like a grid of gold dots… do not touch them! A common problem with old Octanes is dust getting in these connectors. You can clean them with canned air if you’re careful… instructions in Appendix B of this: stupid long URL

If not that, it could be the same thing on the mainboard which is on the other side. That one has two connectors. You might be able to tell what’s up by looking at the green LEDs you can see at bottom left of the front with the skin off… details here: Another stupid long URL

Fixing Octanes is fun 🙂

[softer_vb]

I have try taking the drive out and its the same.

The Monitor power light is a constant green …(i have try two different monitors) so it like it gets some sort of signal.

[loops]

Sorry, I edited my last post after you replied. Do those little LEDs tell you anything?

If the monitor syncs I guess the GFX is okay.. the next step is trying a serial console but that’s a bit scary 😯

[softer_vb]

hey i fix it, bad bnc cables!
Now to my next task, creating a partition and formatting it, on a new system disc. I thought it would be a breese but it proofing a abit sticky.

How do u create a partition when i got no OS installed yet?

PS. I have got the Irix 6.5 install CD’s

[loops]

Installing Irix is serious fun. If you have the little booklet that comes with the CDs, that will tell you how to boot sash and fx off the first Overlay CD, to partition the disk.

It might well be in one of the Discreet manuals too.

Otherwise Ian Mapleson’s site has a great load of Irix info, here’s an install guide with the info you need: http://www.futuretech.blinkenlights.nl/6.5inst.html

Good luck: I would set aside like a whole day to get Irix and Flame installed from CDs and working as I like. Irix comes on so many frickin’ CDs (15 in my set and I’ve lost one!) that I’ve copied them all to a hard disk to make things go faster 🙂

[Author]

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