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What heaven would be like.

Author	Topic
redrouteone Junior Member USA 226 Posts	Posted - 29 Nov 2003 : 23:16:48 I was just surfing around on eBay and saw a NeXT monitor mouse and keyboard. I don't know why I go browse there as I have no money and let alone the space to put more stuff. I got to thinking that if only I had an infinite amount of resources and space I could get all the computer stuff that I missed out on being able to use when it was new. Then I thought but I still won't have the time to enjoy it. But with infinite resources I would not need to work or go to school. I could spend all of my time searching for and bringing back to life systems from the glory days of computing. Such a place would truly be heaven. --Eric ___________________________ I'm like the Pepsi employee that drinks Coke. I work on PCs at work but use a Mac at home
Fedorenko Junior Member Australia 463 Posts	Posted - 30 Nov 2003 : 02:20:21 Hmm....BeBox..... Good ideas usually are created by crazy people, go figure...
cory5412 68KMLA Comrade-in-Arms USA 4679 Posts	Posted - 30 Nov 2003 : 20:23:16 I wouldn't mind finding out what it was like getting a PowerBook brand new whenever the 180c and 5x0c and 190cs were being released I also wouldn't mind having a Quadra 840av brand new... and such and whatnot... Official 68k videographer Official MLA TourGuide Editor of the MLAgazine "I'm just a normal computer geek who somehow landed a social life"
redrouteone Junior Member USA 226 Posts	Posted - 30 Nov 2003 : 20:43:21 I think you hit it right on the head. Working with vintage electronic is just like having a time machine. You get feel what it was like back then. I have always felt that I was born 15 or 20 years too late and that I missed all of the cool stuff when it happened. But as long as I can mess with vintage systems I will at least now what it was like. --Eric ___________________________ I'm like the Pepsi employee that drinks Coke. I work on PCs at work but use a Mac at home
cory5412 68KMLA Comrade-in-Arms USA 4679 Posts	Posted - 30 Nov 2003 : 22:00:58 hitting nails is fun, no? Such a place as you described in the first post though, I have actually fathomed this concept as well. I call it "the white space" because it is like on the matrix where morpheus is like... 'prepping' neo for the truth. It is what you want it to be. Morpheus was able to populate his 'white space' with a television, and a few old chairs. In my own experiences fathoming this (it takes awhile, you see...)(sometimes)(depends on how comprehensive you are) you need to create your own floor. I often will create an entire town of FakePeople™ and buildings and places and streets and computers and such in my head. One such FakeTown™ had all localtalk lines instead of phonelines. In another, I composed the entire infrastructure and communications network on Beige PCI powermacs unsupportedly running Mac OS X 10.1 (isn't that quite the innefective network design eh?) It would be an interesting element to a sci-fi world project that I'm doing now in my Sci-Fi class, to include that... I think that now that I know how to describe it, I will thanks Official 68k videographer Official MLA TourGuide Editor of the MLAgazine "I'm just a normal computer geek who somehow landed a social life"
maclover5 LC Doctor/Hot Rodder Australia 5830 Posts	Posted - 01 Dec 2003 : 00:31:05 quote: I think you hit it right on the head. Working with vintage electronic is just like having a time machine. You get feel what it was like back then. I agree. Especially if the equipment is all cleaned up and running well, and you cannot see any equipment beyond that era while around the system. "**** em" - Jobs in regards to customers Warrior maclover5 68kMLA Official 68kMLA Detective Number of 68ks Liberated: 7 Number of Contraband (PPC) Liberated from the Dumpster: 1
Alien Junior Member Netherlands 269 Posts	Posted - 01 Dec 2003 : 00:44:47 quote: I wouldn't mind finding out what it was like getting a PowerBook brand new whenever the 180c and 5x0c and 190cs were being released I'll tell you what it was like: A 540C, in standard config, cost four months' income. Of course, I was a student back then, and hence poor as hell, but still. Then again, the machine I was dreaming about at the time was the SiliconGraphics Indy, starting price, oh, about $10,000, with no disk and 0 MB RAM. (I have three of them, now ) ,xtG .tsooJ -- who \| grep -i blonde \| date cd ~; unzip; touch; strip; finger mount; gasp; yes; uptime; umount sleep
cory5412 68KMLA Comrade-in-Arms USA 4679 Posts	Posted - 01 Dec 2003 : 06:34:45 but that's 64bit POWA!!! I personally wouldn't mind having an SGI, but I don't think that the Indy is what I'd go for... I'm closer to the kind of person who would get an IRIX/IRIS workstation (Or whatever the purple smurf-lookin' thing was?) Or an SGI Crimson! (HUGE-REAR system) Official 68k videographer Official MLA TourGuide Editor of the MLAgazine "I'm just a normal computer geek who somehow landed a social life"
Alien Junior Member Netherlands 269 Posts	Posted - 01 Dec 2003 : 06:57:29 They're all Irises, and they all run IRIX, since that is what Irises run. Indy is an ideal enrty solution if you want to get started with SiliconGraphics equipment; you can get an Indy for next to nothing these days. The one you mean is probably an IRIS Indigo. Nice, but any but the lowest-end Indies will run circles around it without working up a sweat. Although higher-end graphics on Indigo are more powerful than Indy's options, but that is where Indigo2 starts to shine, and Indigo2 systems aren't all that expensive anymore, either. As for IRIS Crimson, that certainly is a nice system, not very powerful at general processing (150 MHz R4400, max.), but it can be equipped with some rather powerful graphics subsystems (up to RealityEngine). But Crimsons are usually overpriced because they are these big, heavy, red deskside racks that make the impression of being incredibly powerful. For a budget SGI, I'd go with a cheap Indy, for graphics work, an Indigo2, for general computing, maybe an O2. IRIS Indigo and IRIS Crimson are mostly of interest to collectors only, really. ,xtG .tsooJ -- who \| grep -i blonde \| date cd ~; unzip; touch; strip; finger mount; gasp; yes; uptime; umount sleep
q950 Junior Member USA 135 Posts	Posted - 01 Dec 2003 : 09:03:56 From what experience I have with SGI's I would recommend an Indigo^2 Impact. It is about the same vintage as the Indy's but is generally more powerful and more expandable. They can be had on ebay for around $60 plus shipping (they're heavy). Mine is a Indigos^2 Solid Impact with 256 MB and 2x 4GB SCSIs and fast ethernet. The Indigo^2 is well supported, is genuine 64 bit, and uses standard parts like memory and peripherals. Earlier models like the original Indigos and personal Irises used proprietary memory and keyboards and I think they were 32 bit. The Crimsons are cool, but they haven't been supported since IRIX 6.2 which was phased out in 1998 by IRIX 6.5 My SGI seems to be capable of most tasks so far, but I havent tried pushing it yet. Someday I will open it up to the net for a virtual open-house over SSH so everyone can experience the IndigoMagic as I have. logan Quadra 950, Workgroup Server 9150, Performa 6400, Powerbook 2300c, 4x Quadra 700's, iBook
Alien Junior Member Netherlands 269 Posts	Posted - 01 Dec 2003 : 13:50:25 quote: From what experience I have with SGI's I would recommend an Indigo^2 Impact. It is about the same vintage as the Indy's but is generally more powerful and more expandable. They can be had on ebay for around $60 plus shipping (they're heavy). Mine is a Indigos^2 Solid Impact with 256 MB and 2x 4GB SCSIs and fast ethernet. That's a pretty sweet deal. Fast Ethernet is an add-on on Indigo2, BTW, not a built-in feature. Still, for someone just starting out in the world of SGI, an Indy is still a fine machine. Like I said, they can be had for loose change, almost, and make nice servers. If you get a recent one, with a Sony PSU, it'll also be dead quiet, since the fans in those systems will hardly ever kick in. quote: The Indigo^2 is well supported, [...] The Indigo2, like the Indy and all older desktops, are no longer supported. But that issue is just about moot for the hobbyist, anayway, since one look at the prices for SGI's support is enough to give anyone a heart attack. No cutting hobbyists any deals, either. quote: [...] is genuine 64 bit, and uses standard parts like memory and peripherals. Earlier models like the original Indigos and personal Irises used proprietary memory and keyboards and I think they were 32 bit. R3000 IRIS Indigo is 32 bit, but R4x00 models are genuine 64 bit. They use the same memory as the Indigo2 and the Indy. The keyboard interface is proprietary, but keyboards are abundantly available at very reasonable prices. quote: The Crimsons are cool, but they haven't been supported since IRIX 6.2 which was phased out in 1998 by IRIX 6.5 IRIX 6.2 still makes for a fine OS, though. Apply the patches and learn the ropes, and it'll treat you well. quote: My SGI seems to be capable of most tasks so far, but I havent tried pushing it yet. Someday I will open it up to the net for a virtual open-house over SSH so everyone can experience the IndigoMagic as I have. That's a great idea. FWIW, any R4400 or newer SGI will pull its weight just nicely. A Crimson may be old, but the graphics subsystem is what todays GeForce cards are based on. In fact, the graphic power of a VGXT or Realityengine Crimson will still hold up nicely against a fairly recent PowerMac G4. Not on CPU-intensive stuff, but certainly in the graphics department. Pretty schweet for a machine from 1993. ,xtG .tsooJ -- who \| grep -i blonde \| date cd ~; unzip; touch; strip; finger mount; gasp; yes; uptime; umount sleep
foetoid Full Member USA 554 Posts	Posted - 01 Dec 2003 : 18:58:46 quote: I was just surfing around on eBay and saw a NeXT monitor mouse and keyboard. I don't know why I go browse there as I have no money and let alone the space to put more stuff. I got to thinking that if only I had an infinite amount of resources and space I could get all the computer stuff that I missed out on being able to use when it was new. Then I thought but I still won't have the time to enjoy it. But with infinite resources I would not need to work or go to school. I could spend all of my time searching for and bringing back to life systems from the glory days of computing. Such a place would truly be heaven. i agree... a nice idea for heaven... missing just a few things... women, coke, and the times when you go out and blow stuff up with friends... ________________ foetoid, that's (fee-toy-duh) http://www.foetoid.doesntexist.com da band: http://www.burningabbey.com
Fedorenko Junior Member Australia 463 Posts	Posted - 01 Dec 2003 : 19:15:17 quote: i agree... a nice idea for heaven... missing just a few things... women, coke, and the times when you go out and blow stuff up with friends... Make that some Cherry Coke....and not the cheap scam from Pepsi 'Wild Cherry Pepsi". Why are Pepsi such copying bastards.... Good ideas usually are created by crazy people, go figure...
foetoid Full Member USA 554 Posts	Posted - 01 Dec 2003 : 20:22:35 any kind of coke other than diet works for me, so ya... coke is so open ended these days... ________________ foetoid, that's (fee-toy-duh) http://www.foetoid.doesntexist.com da band: http://www.burningabbey.com
Alien Junior Member Netherlands 269 Posts	Posted - 02 Dec 2003 : 02:26:51 Heaven looks like this, only bigger. ,xtG .tsooJ -- who \| grep -i blonde \| date cd ~; unzip; touch; strip; finger mount; gasp; yes; uptime; umount sleep
cory5412 68KMLA Comrade-in-Arms USA 4679 Posts	Posted - 02 Dec 2003 : 06:20:01 I want the purple one on the top and to the right!!!! THAT'S IT!!! (Also, ever seen an SGI SkyWriter?)(it's a big brown mammoth bigger than ML5's Uni dorm room ) I think that heaven has a projector in it... that's almost a must... what resolution do most of you usually run your SGIs at? If 1024 by 768 or 800 by 600 is even within the acceptable range (I know that 'workstation' grade machines often go with much higher resolution than consumer grade machines would ever think of trying to do ) I also have much wanted an SGI o2, but those are usually more expensive than the big purple ones (Indigo?) and you just have to love that short, wide and not too deep purple tower of power Official 68k videographer Official MLA TourGuide Editor of the MLAgazine "I'm just a normal computer geek who somehow landed a social life"
Alien Junior Member Netherlands 269 Posts	Posted - 02 Dec 2003 : 07:26:54 quote: I want the purple one on the top and to the right!!!! THAT'S IT!!! Yeah, that's IRIS Indigo, alright. quote: (Also, ever seen an SGI SkyWriter?)(it's a big brown mammoth bigger than ML5's Uni dorm room ) Here ya go. Technically speaking, SkyWriter is the name of the VGXT graphics subsystem that is also available in IRIS Crimson. But the name was only ever used on Power IRIS 4D/380 and Power IRIS 4D/480. I like Onyx XL better, though; same fridge, but sleek black with purple. quote: I think that heaven has a projector in it... that's almost a must... what resolution do most of you usually run your SGIs at? If 1024 by 768 or 800 by 600 is even within the acceptable range (I know that 'workstation' grade machines often go with much higher resolution than consumer grade machines would ever think of trying to do ) 1280x1024 is pretty much standard, sometimes falling back to 1024x768 on small monitors or LCDs. Higher-end systems can do muc (MUCH) higher resolutions. quote: I also have much wanted an SGI o2, but those are usually more expensive than the big purple ones (Indigo?) and you just have to love that short, wide and not too deep purple tower of power O2 is aimed more at A/V authoring, while IRIS Indigo is a 3D modeling workstation. You have to appreciate that different SiliconGraphics machines are usually made with a different purpose in mind. As such, Indigo2 can sometimes outperform an O2, while in some tasks, a lowly Indy can match the mighty IRIS Crimson. it all depends on the task at hand. But, for just playing around and learning UNIX (proper), IRIS Indigo, Indy, Indigo2 and O2 are all fine machines. ,xtG .tsooJ -- who \| grep -i blonde \| date cd ~; unzip; touch; strip; finger mount; gasp; yes; uptime; umount sleep Edited by - Alien on 02 Dec 2003 07:34:25
cory5412 68KMLA Comrade-in-Arms USA 4679 Posts	Posted - 02 Dec 2003 : 20:27:52 That's one of the reasons I wanted an o2, was because of it's AV stuff, and it's 'recentness' other than that, alot of the reason I like the idea of an Indigo at all, is because of it's appearance. Apearances are nearly everything, and that's one of the reasons SGI machines appeal to me so much. Another is the thought that most of them are 64bit, so that is another thing to consider, the age of these machines compared to the performance that they could get is amazing... Official 68k videographer Official MLA TourGuide Editor of the MLAgazine "I'm just a normal computer geek who somehow landed a social life"
Alien Junior Member Netherlands 269 Posts	Posted - 03 Dec 2003 : 02:59:58 quote: That's one of the reasons I wanted an o2, was because of it's AV stuff, and it's 'recentness' Indy is pretty good at A/V stuff, too (S_video and composite inputs standard, IndyVideo I/O board is fairly common), a lot cheaper, and uses standard (read: much cheaper) RAM. But O2 is killer compared to Indy, in the way of pure processing power. An O2 can do animated live video texturing (e.g. mapping live TV pictures onto the sides of a rotating cube) right out of the box. There aren't many machines that can do that, even today. quote: other than that, alot of the reason I like the idea of an Indigo at all, is because of it's appearance. Apearances are nearly everything, and that's one of the reasons SGI machines appeal to me so much. All of the Irises look good to me. But of course, we all have our favourites. My favourite is Onyx. quote: Another is the thought that most of them are 64bit, so that is another thing to consider, the age of these machines compared to the performance that they could get is amazing... Yeah, most Indigos you'll find nowadays are R4x00 (64-bit) models. The R3000 ones are getting rarer and rarer. That reminds me, I must snap one up somewhere before they disappear from the market altogether. ,xtG .tsooJ -- who \| grep -i blonde \| date cd ~; unzip; touch; strip; finger mount; gasp; yes; uptime; umount sleep
Jobf Junior Member United Kingdom 162 Posts	Posted - 03 Dec 2003 : 03:38:21 You can pick up a reasonable R5000k O2 now for under $100 on Ebay. If you pay a little more, you can get a decent Octane.. I'm running an Octane R10K 195, 384mb/9gb, SI graphics, running 6.5.19m. It rocks! I've also got an Indy R4600 133, 64mb/2gb running 6.2 quote: 1280x1024 is pretty much standard, sometimes falling back to 1024x768 on small monitors or LCDs. Higher-end systems can do muc (MUCH) higher resolutions. Yes, I run my Indy at 1024x768. (It's also capable of 1280x1024) Remember, most older SGIs have 13w3 monitor connections. You can get a VGA adaptor, but your monitor must be able to sync on green, or it won't work. The O2 has a VGA port built-in however. Even older machines such as the Personal Iris use an RGB connection. Jobf.
cory5412 68KMLA Comrade-in-Arms USA 4679 Posts	Posted - 04 Dec 2003 : 22:05:12 Cool, I'm looking a bit on eBay for SGI stuff too now, If I get one, it'll have to be "THE PERFECT ONE" because It'll probably be my only chance at an SGI, so the newer and the faster, it'll be the better. It'll be in a few months before I could get one, probably Official 68k videographer Official MLA TourGuide Editor of the MLAgazine "I'm just a normal computer geek who somehow landed a social life"

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