Workgroup Server 8150/110

[pl212]

I recently purchased a bulk lot of crushed ABS plastic:



and realized the seller had accidentally included a Workgroup Server 8150/110





In all seriousness, even knowing what I was in for, it's pretty impressive seeing what condition these are in nowadays. The SGI community has a similar problem with the plastic skins shattering -- the O2 in particular has been described as "a bowling ball in an eggshell". The Quadra 800 structure is different, but leaves you with the same problem of trying to figure out just how much plastic you can remove and still have things hold together.

I'd been looking for a 8100/110 model for a long time, so having this turn up in WGS guise was a bonus. (Anyone want to make an offer on the tape drive? ) I have a collection of various NuBus cards that I'd been interested in hosting in one machine all at once; my 660av was a one-at-a-time affair. I'll be interested in how the Radius SpigotPro AV performs in this machine versus the 660, for example.

Something the seller didn't seem aware of was this sticker on the front:



Sure enough, this was inside:



(Check that capacitor on the lower left — — luckily it was not electrically disconnected, nor was the pad torn).

Anyway, boots up without a problem; will do some investigation and recapping as necessary. Not 100% sure I'll keep the Sonnet card as my main interest is System 7.1-era software, but I guess the 300 model is one of the faster ones?

 

[macuserman]

I recently purchased a bulk lot of crushed ABS plastic:

View attachment 79309

and realized the seller had accidentally included a Workgroup Server 8150/110

View attachment 79311

View attachment 79310

In all seriousness, even knowing what I was in for, it's pretty impressive seeing what condition these are in nowadays. The SGI community has a similar problem with the plastic skins shattering -- the O2 in particular has been described as "a bowling ball in an eggshell". The Quadra 800 structure is different, but leaves you with the same problem of trying to figure out just how much plastic you can remove and still have things hold together.

I'd been looking for a 8100/110 model for a long time, so having this turn up in WGS guise was a bonus. (Anyone want to make an offer on the tape drive? ) I have a collection of various NuBus cards that I'd been interested in hosting in one machine all at once; my 660av was a one-at-a-time affair. I'll be interested in how the Radius SpigotPro AV performs in this machine versus the 660, for example.

Something the seller didn't seem aware of was this sticker on the front:

View attachment 79312

Sure enough, this was inside:

View attachment 79313

(Check that capacitor on the lower left — — luckily it was not electrically disconnected, nor was the pad torn).

Anyway, boots up without a problem; will do some investigation and recapping as necessary. Not 100% sure I'll keep the Sonnet card as my main interest is System 7.1-era software, but I guess the 300 model is one of the faster ones?

The 300 is bettter than the 266 but not an especially fast one the really good ones are 400 or even 500mhz although they are quite uncommon.

 

[eharmon]

and realized the seller had accidentally included a Workgroup Server 8150/110

In all seriousness, even knowing what I was in for, it's pretty impressive seeing what condition these are in nowadays. The SGI community has a similar problem with the plastic skins shattering -- the O2 in particular has been described as "a bowling ball in an eggshell". The Quadra 800 structure is different, but leaves you with the same problem of trying to figure out just how much plastic you can remove and still have things hold together.

I too was tempted by that listing! All that plastic broke off in shipping?

As the owner of an O2, I can attest to how horrifically brittle they are now. I have to lift it a specific way to support the bottom after the back partially cracked off under its own weight. If I dropped it I'm sure the entire plastic shell would let loose. Sad because mine was mint (besides scuffs) when I got it...

 

[chiptripper]

Nice find, even with the ABS confetti. At least you can swap much of the case with bits from a Q800. I’ve found that those earlier models often have much better plastics.

The whole case comes apart to so many panels and pieces, it’s probably possible to 3D print a good amount of the structural parts. A few of the pieces are already available, matter of fact.

 

[pl212]

Here’s a question for those familiar with the 8100/110 and similar: is there a safe way to remove the Peltier cooler without damage? Scribe65’s video mentions the Service Guide warns against it.

I’ve done a pretty good ultrasonic clean of my motherboard by putting it in edge-first on all four sides, so the liquid doesn’t reach the cpu/cooler complex. I’d love to do a more comprehensive clean, including the CPU.

Reasons to not submerge the board with the Peltier cooler attached:

1) There's a power cable between the cooler and the motherboard that liquid will capillary-action into
2) The cooler itself is surrounded by styrofoam, allegedly to hinder condensation. Getting liquid out of that would be also challenging.

 

[pl212]

Ok, seems like replacing the thermal paste was a good idea:

 

[Unknown_K]

I had issues with plastics on the 8500 (1 generation newer then the 8100) 15 years ago so things will be getting worse.

At least now you can probably 3d print anything that needs replaced and somebody probably has a model made for it by now.