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Hi all,
I inherited an old SGI Indigo2 Impact R10k from an old workplace. Currently it's serving as the world's most expensive coffee table (a sin, I know!) but I'd like to put it to some proper use. The IRIX install on it is broken and I don't have original install media to reinstall it. Anyone got any ideas for a half-decent Linux distro or a free UNIX-like that can be installed on it?
TIA,
8bit
the only UNIX that'll go on it is IRIX - and you can't legally get the media. that & IRIX is nasty as all hell.
best option is Debian MIPS.
The Gentoo Mips build would probably work and is a tad more active than the debian project.
You may want to look in general at the linux-mips project and see what they are saying. They are a good group and contribute to a lot of projects.
BSD's a reasonable enough idea
it all comes down to what you want to be able to do with the machine
I'll paypal you 10 quid if you can get windows to run on it :)
Edit: NATIVELY! Not virtualised!
will you be providing him with the several million lines of windows source code?Quote:
Originally Posted by MSIC
I have Windows NT4 on Alpha CD rom if anyone wants to run it on an alpha
Hehe I love BSD - it will run on almost anything :)Quote:
Originally Posted by directhex
Ah man I love those Silicon G's You should polish the old girl up, put her on a pedestal and feed her caviar and pink champagne!
Pure "vintage" comuter pron.
Oh yeah, and I'm with MSIC. I'll send you a £10 cheque if you get that NATIVE windoze install running without hanging yourself after 5 minutes!
linux passed netbsd for number-of-platforms a while backQuote:
Originally Posted by Spud1
Really? I thought that BSD varients were still king when you consider the number of embedded systems running it..but Linux could easily have taken over in recent years I guess, I don't have any up to date info really.Quote:
Originally Posted by directhex
If you're talking about freely-available, user installable distros/variants then no, NetBSD can be got and installed on about 40 or 50 different architectures. Most linux distros are available to support a handful of different architectures only, some only on x86 and x86-64.Quote:
Originally Posted by directhex
However, if you're talking about specifically built, customised versions for embedded applications like mobile phones, set-top boxes, ePOS devices etc. etc. then it becomes a slightly different story. Montavista Linux has been customised for hundreds of different devices covering a range of archs just for starters. Things like NetBSD can often be installed on these as well but not without very detailed technical knowledge of the target device.
Back on-topic, my search for an alternative to IRIX for my Indigo2 goes on. NetBSD and OpenBSD don't seem to cover the IP28 architecture (R10k CPU). Gentoo is looking like a possibility but the chances are it won't support any of the framebuffer cards in the machine. I'm now toying with the idea of scooping out its innards and modding the case to take an ATX PC motherboard :)
if you could get some media you can get trial keys from sgi's site.
imho it would be a travesty for any piece of working sgi gear to be scrapped for a X86 puter
Just found some media for sale in the us. if you still have it.
http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/ws/eBayISAPI.d...LanguageToggle
Edit: found some in ireland http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/SGI-IRIX-6-5-8...QQcmdZViewItem