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System History The Iris Indigo is a graphical UNIX workstation produced by Silicon Graphics Inc. during the early 90's. Many think of it as the best
designed SGI until recently when the O2 arrived. During the Indigo's development at SGI it was known by the codename BlackJack, it was a replacement to the 4D series of workstations. SGI's model number for the Indigo is CMNB003. Their are some reviews of the Indigo at Ian Mapleson's site. SGI's online Indigo Manual at the SGI TechPubs site. |
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Espressogo During the Indigo's launch rumor has it they gave away several espresso machines in Indigo cases as a promotion. These were fully working espresso machines with the spout
insde the Indigo's drive door, and were know as the Espressogo. Anyone know anything else about this? Maybe I should start hacking that old extra case :) Thanks to Ray Muno for this rumor. |
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System Overview The Indigo like the Crimson gets its name from its color, obviously in this case dark blue. It is a desktop system in a mini-tower configuration. The front
right of the unit is a door that hides the reset button, lock bar slot, and three 3.5" drive bays. The reset button does just that, gracefully restarts the system. The lock bar slot accepts a steel bar that
goes through the system keeping users from removing the cover or option drives. A padlock may used in the rear to secure the system. Many used Indigo's are missing their lock bars, too bad. The rear of
the unit has a plethora of ports including SCSI, audio, ethernet, keyboard, serial and parallel. Not to mention video to view those sexy graphics :) The system is based on a RISC architecture with a
266MBytes/sec. throughput and the advanced graphics system that is SGI's is famous for. In other words alot of power in a small package |
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Where to Get an Indigo Ok so your looking at getting one of your own little Blue Boxes. Where do you look? SGI no longer makes them, and a refurbished model from them is likely to cost as much as an O2. So your other,
more sensible options are to look on cop.sys.sgi.marketplace Ebay
online auction where SGI's show up from time to time. Used Indigo's make a good first time Unix or SGI box. They still work well as web servers, email servers and Blender Boxes. |
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System Physical Specs |
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Height |
Width |
Depth |
Weight |
15" |
9.5" |
10.9" |
25lbs |
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The Indigo was shipped in two processor architectures, the first was the R3000 and later the R4000 family. The R3000 is a 32bit RISC processor made by MIPS Inc. which was later bought by SGI. It
is known as the IP 12 processor to the system. The R3000 is about as fast as a Intel 486 DX2-66 running Linux, but with better FPU performance. The other architecture used in the Indigo is the 64bit
R4000 or R4400 processor. The R4000 came in a 100mhz version and the R4400 came in a 100 or 150 mhz versions. These are clock multiplied 50mhz and 75mhz chips. The R4K processor family is a 64bit chip,
optimized for graphics performance and rendering. It is much faster than the R3K, and is comparable to a Pentium class processor running Linux with faster graphics and FPU performance. More MIPS processor information |
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Processor |
HINV IP |
Architecture |
Speed MHZ |
Primary Cache |
Secondary Cache |
R3000 |
IP 12 |
RISC 32 bit |
33MHZ |
32K |
32K |
R4000 |
IP 20 |
RISC 64 bit |
100MHZ |
16K |
1MB |
R4400 |
IP 20 |
RISC 64 bit |
100MHZ |
16K |
1MB |
R4400 |
IP 20 |
RISC 64 bit |
150MHZ |
16K |
1MB |
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R3000 |
R4000 |
MHZ |
33 |
100 |
MIPS |
30 |
85 |
MFLOPS |
4.2 |
16 |
SPEC 89 |
26 |
70 |
SPEC 92 INT |
22.4 |
59 |
SPEC 92 FP |
24.2 |
61 |
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Memory The processor motherboard for the two architectures are different. The R3K does not have an upgradeable CPU, and uses proprietary 64pin SGI memory. The R4K board
uses true-parity 72pin SIMMS. Both boards have 12 slots divided into 3 banks of 4slots. These groups can be filled in any order. Memory must be installed in groups of 4 identical memory modules. Not
that filling a bank with 4x32MB memory for a 128MB bank will cause the wrong amount of memory to be reported if you are using a revision B memory controller. Revision C controllers don't have this problem.
The max memory the Indigo can address is 384MBytes. The groups are labeled on the motherboard as follows, S1A-S4A, S1B-S4B and S1C-S4C on the R4K. The R3K is labeled A1-A4, B1-B4, C1-C4. |
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System Boards Physical The front cover of the Indigo is removed by pushing down and pulling forward on the two buttons on the front top of the case. This will expose the drive
bays, reset button, lock rail slot and speaker along the right side of the case. All but the speaker are also accessible through the drive door without having to remove the front cover. On the left side is a
cover protecting the system and graphics boards. To access the boards you must turn the black lock switch at the left top of the front. It may requite a screw driver or a coin to turn the switch as it can be
stiff. The cover will then swing down from top to bottom.The left board is the system board, the right is the graphics board. Both boards lock into the case with two flip switched at the top and bottom of
the vertically arranged boards. Flipping them both will let you slide out and remove the boards. |
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System Bus and Backplane The system boards insert into a back-plane in the system chassis that runs at 266MBytes/sec, the bus is a VME based system, and is proprietary. Some of
the graphics boards will fit and work in the Crimson, and the Indigo shares the same mouse and keyboard as the 4D/35 systems. The two GIO-32 upgrade slots interface on the same 266MBytes/sec bus. A
list of knows Indigo GIO-32 boards.. |
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Indigo Drives The Indigo has three drive bays, they should be filled from bottom to top, the bottom drive being reserved for the system drive. The other two bays can accept
additional hard drives, DAT drives and 21MB Flopptical drives. Stock Indigo's shipped with 420MB Seagate ST1480N narrow SCSI drives. Later Indigo's shipped with 1 and 2 GB IBM, Seagate and Quantum
drives. Any 3.5" standard SCSI drive with a 50 pin SCSI interface should work fine with the Indigo. The DAT drive shipped with the Indigo by SGI was a OEM version of the Archive Python 4320 with firmware
support for audio over the SCSI bus. It uses standard DSS DAT tapes and holds 2GB native and 4GB compressed. Archive has since been bought by Conner who was later bought by Seagate. They also shipped a
21MB SCSI Flopptical drive, it is backward compatible with standard 1.44MB floppy disks. All internal drives must be mounted on a drive sled, sleds are used as a easy way to remove or swap drives. Sleds
screw into the bottom of drives, and have SCSI and power connectors. Sleds slide into the rails on the Indigo and are then secured by pushing the locking bar to the right, or left for removal |
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Ports The back of the Indigo is arranged in sections. The upper right is the power supply and fan. The system power switch is here along with both male and female power
connectors for system and monitor power. There is one screw that holds in the power supply in the back, this lets the module slip out the front when the cover is removed. Directly below this is where the
lock bar would come out the back to accept a lock. The next section to the right is the graphics board, depending on which graphics option you have you will have some of the following ports. A BNC and
Mini-DIN connector for stereo goggles sync, this would let you use optional 3D goggles with your monitor. A 13W3 connector for workstation monitors, or a SVGA 15pin D-sub port for Pee-Cee monitors. The
Processor board may also house and option for a second monitor, video I/O or third party options. There are two option slots stacked vertically, in most Indigo's filler panels would be in place since there were few
GIO-32 expansion boards
made for the Indigo. The right most section is the system boards back. It has audio I/O, serial ports, the keyboard/mouse port and then a AUI networking port. The audio I/O ports use standard phono mini-plug devices. Serial ports
are the older 8-pin mini-DIN style ports, a Mac serial to 25 pin serial cable should convert it to a more usable from for attaching a modem or terminal. Other serial devices include drawing tablets and dial and button boxes. There is a single mini-DIN port for a keyboard, the mouse then plugs into the keyboard like a Mac. the Indigo's keyboard and mouse are not Pee-Cee, Mac or Sun compatible, so SGI or a reseller will have to help you find replacements. The AUI port can be used as is, or using a cheap transceiver can be adapted for use in 10-T or 10-2 ethernet networks, at 10 mega bits per second speeds. Below these sections are a Centronics 50pin external SCSI port connected to the same single-ended internal SCSI channel as the drive bays. A parallel port for plotter and printer support is placed on the lower right of the Indigo.
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The Indigo's graphics came in four flavors. From low end 8 bit graphics to 24 bit high end solutions for 3D applications. Below is a chart of the different graphics types available in the Indigo. |
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Name |
HINV |
Geometry Engines |
Hardware Z-Buffer |
15 Pin D-Sub |
13W3 and Goggles Sync |
Entry |
LG1 |
Software |
Software |
Yes |
Yes, No Sync |
XS |
GR2 |
One |
Software |
No |
Yes |
XZ |
GR2 |
Two |
Hardware |
No |
Yes |
Elan |
GR3 |
Four |
Hardware |
No |
Yes |
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Indigo graphics are compatible with both Iris-GL and Open-GL. Since the Indigo has no hardware texturing capabilities at any graphics level, Open-GL is very slow in most situations on the
Indigo. The older Iris-GL system is faster on the Indigo than Open-GL, but is SGI proprietary and obsolete. |
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1024X768 @ 60HZ |
1280X1024 @60-72HZ |
Entry |
Yes |
No |
XS |
No |
Yes |
XZ |
No |
Yes |
Elan |
No |
Yes |
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Any monitor capable of the resolution of your graphics type and supporting sync on green will work with the Indigo. Look here for Ian Mapleson's info on the Elan and XZ graphics systems. |
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GR2 Graphics Upgrades If your graphics are based on the GR2 board, aka XS, XZ and Elan, it is possible to upgrade your board using GE7 chips. The only differences between the the
three graphics options are the number of GR7 chips and Z buffer board. If you have an extra or broken GR2 board you can steal it's GR7 chips to build a better graphics board. The GE7 chips are under the
larger daughter card on the GR2 graphics board, carefully using a chip puller or screwdriver pry the GE7 chip off, You will want to lift a little at at a time from all four sides to avoid bending the pins. Then
place the GE7 on your target GR2 board matching up pin one on the GE7 with the pin one of the pin array. Pin one of the array is marked on the board, pin one of the GR7 is marked by an triangle arrow in one corner
of the chip. Unless you are going to an Elan GFX you will need a three or two slot jumper to terminate the two or three unused GE7 slots, they can be hard to find. Elan has 4 GR7's, XZ has 2 and XS has
one. This will not work for 8bit GFX. |
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Irix The Indigo runs a flavor of UNIX called Irix. The last version of Irix that the Indigo R3K can run is 5.3, the IDO or Iris Development Option will be required to compile even
basic programs. The Indigo R4k can run versions 5.3, 6.2 and 6.5. Irix versions 6.2 and 6.5 have the correct headers and lib's to compile basic programs and install the GCC compilers as well. Freeware
for several Irix versions are available at the following locations. |
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Freeware
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GIMP or GNU Image Manipulation Program is a great free alternative to Photoshop. It supports plug-ins, filters and many file formats. |
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Finding Irix media Trying to find a copy of Irix can be hard, check the SGI news groups at comp.sys.sgi.marketplace or contact SGI |
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CD-ROM Drives Like all SGI systems the Indigo needs a CD drive capable of reading 512K sectors, most new Toshiba SCSI drives with standard fermware can do the job. For a more
complete listing see Brent Bates site. A external case with a Centronics 50pin cable will let you hang the
drive along with any other SCSI drives off the external SCSI port on the back of the Indigo. Don't forget to use a good active terminator to avoid SCSI errors. |
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Tablets Drawing tablets are available for SGI systems, the Indigo requites and Mac to SGI conversion cable that is extra.
Wacom is currently the best choice for drawing tablets for SGI systems.. |
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Dials and Button Boxes The are used in CAD/CAM applications and attach via the serial port . |
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Indigo Video Option SGI offered two rare video I/O option for the Indigo called Galileo Video and Indigo Video. It contains a GIO-32 upgrade board
that attached to the graphics board taking up one of the two upgrade slots. As well as a break-out box and software package. The break-out box had S-Video, Composite and Componet video in and video out ports
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Zip and Jaz Both Zip and Jaz drives work fine with the Indigo and Irix, just make sure you get the right SCSI cables and terminate the drives.
Tom Shield's has some good software for Zip drives here.There is a Zip and Jaz Irix guild here, by Clayton Baum. |
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NVRAM | MAC Address Problems |
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Lost Root Password |
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Drives Well alot can go wrong here. First make sure if you are getting a SCSI error or failure that the drive is terminated right, Active termination for
external drives. No internal termination, nor a terminator on the back unless you have a drive attached. No excessive length on the SCSI cable, double termination or poor cable quality. The controller
ID is 0 and not 7 like on Pee-Cee's and Mac's. System drive should be 1, the others don't matter. Make sure internal drives have power, SCSI connection and the SCSI ID cable attached, this provides
termination and SCSI ID for the internal drives. Sleds don't really go bad, but cleaning the contacts with Alcohol and checking for damage doesn't hurt. The Indigo supports up to 7 devices, Single ended, not
fast, not wide, not differential. Use the hinv command or fx to view drive info and format drives. |
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Booting Off a External Drive The Indigo automatically attaches a SCSI ID to the internal drives as long as they are properly configured on sleds; BTW you can't
hard jumper or terminate the internal drives, you have to hook it up to a sled and have the Indigo do it, sorry but that's life. The best way though to boot off an external drive is to remove the system drive and
put it in another one of the drive slots, you can then mount it later if you need it. Just place an external drive to SCSI ID 1 and hook it up, should all work fine. The internal SCSI ID's of the
Indigo are 1, for the bottom/system slot drive. 2 for the middle drive and 3 for the top drive. |
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Irix Install's Installing Irix isn't very user friendly or intuitive. The basic process is drive formatting and partitioning, followed by the install of the
base OS. Then the subsystems. The following links have step by step instructions on installing different Irix versions.
Irix 6.5 by Ian Mapleson
Irix 6.2
and disk administration by Ian Mapleson
Irix 5.3
and earlier by A.J. Corda
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NVRAM | MAC Address Problems The MAC address for SGI systems
is stored on a NVRAM or nonvolatile RAM chip on the backplane of the Indigo. It is a 93C46 EEPROM, 8pin mini-DIP. The data is clocked in and out at 1bit at a time. It keeps the MAC address for networking. If you get an error message like 'bad ethernet address
ff : ff : ff : ff : ff : ff' the NVRAM has most likely died. The only real solution is to open a support call to SGI and have them replace the NVRAM. Other options for the brave could include using a chip programer or burner and another Indigo to burn a new NVRAM chip, but I haven't heard of anyone doing so. other than that you could just go without networking. The R3K and R4K EEPROM's are not compatible. The TOD is kept by the battery, the R3K battery's are socketed, the R4K battery is soldered in. Thanks to
Greg Douglas for clarification. |
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Lost Root Password If you have lost your root password, or have picked
up a used SGI somewhere that has you locked out you have a few options. If you have a CD drive and a copy of the OS you can boot into the command console and erase /etc/passwd or look on RootShell
for a hack. . |
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