SGI Indy R5000 (yes, this is actually mine)

March 30th, 2008 | Categories: Computers



Specifications
CPU: MIPS R5000 180MHz w/512KB L2 cache (MIPS4)
Memory: proprietary FPM 256MB (maximum for the Indy)
Video: Newport XL 24bit
Haven’t booted it up yet, but it does have IRIX on it. I need a monitor with the 13W3 plug and a keyboard and mouse. I’m going there again next week to get the real objective – an Octane. See? If I actually go out and find stuff I’ll actually find it! I got this Indy for 15CAD… the guy says I can get dually Octanes for only 20-30CAD, in contrast with those online stores which ask up to 2600UKP for one, and on eBay where that hovers around 200.

And this is why I woke up in the morning and didn’t feel in the least bit refreshed. I had been lugging this thing through the rain all night (actually walking it on my bike, which really hurt my back… I don’t like walking bikes) and once I got home I slept immediately. Sleeping with a wet body doesn’t do wonders for your health, as you can see. And I found out this morning that I’m also out of soap. Gah. The lengths I go to for computers. Well, at least this one can actually play mp3s. There were a few SPARCstation LXes, IPCs and IPXs… very cute, but in the end just 486-class. Probably can’t play mp3s anyway, and the latest Solaris that runs on those sun4c machines is Solaris 7. Just not worth it, I think.

EDIT: Linux runs on the Indy, but XOrg doesn’t. Well, there is a driver, but it doesn’t have 2D acceleration, so it’s pretty much the same thing, and it only runs in 1280×1024. At least it has 24bit colour… I’m sticking with IRIX. Thank lord the R5000 is a MIPS4 processor.
EDIT2: Well at least I didn’t have to pay for the Octane ;)

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  1. rollchan
    March 31st, 2008 at 07:44
    Reply | Quote | #1

    vintage stuff. cool man. :D

  2. ritchan
    April 1st, 2008 at 07:47
    Reply | Quote | #2

    More where that came from… hopefully.

  3. rollchan
    April 2nd, 2008 at 01:25
    Reply | Quote | #3

    hey, uhm, can you provide me the link on your current wall, the kohaku + hisui, so I can download it.

    thanks. :)

  4. ritchan
    April 2nd, 2008 at 01:30
    Reply | Quote | #4
  5. rollchan
    April 2nd, 2008 at 03:04
    Reply | Quote | #5

    thanks for the link. :P

    oh yeah, since you’re a real computer whiz, you ever used Slackware Linux before? :D

  6. ritchan
    April 2nd, 2008 at 03:11
    Reply | Quote | #6

    Nah. Can’t be bothered with some OS that doesn’t simplify my job/actually makes my job harder than it should be (taking care of package dependencies). Honestly, I don’t know why anyone would bother with Slackware unless they had all the time in the world downloading random packages to satisfy GMPC or resolving circular dependencies.
    Now Gentoo’s portage system is a good dependency resolver. Arch’s pacman does it too, but it does only binaries, so I don’t have to deal with compilation errors like with portage. Thus, pacman is better.
    Heck, I’d prefer even Red Hat over Slackware!
    Why do you ask?

  7. rollchan
    April 2nd, 2008 at 04:40
    Reply | Quote | #7

    well, I’m downloading it for the time being. halted the current download and I’ve finished 1GB+ and 2GB to go. well, since you had a badtime with it, I guess I’ll just discontinue from downloading. I’m currently d/lng Vixta. :)

    next up, after Vixta, I’ll download Mandriva 2008 Powerpack. hehe. I’m just playing around with linux on my test machine (desktop). ehehe. :P

    oh yeah, am also trying out PC-BSD. :D

  8. ritchan
    April 2nd, 2008 at 09:55
    Reply | Quote | #8

    BSD Unix is very different from Linux. Have fun, man. I used Mandrake back in 2003 or something, man that was different. You must provide a root password or bad things will happen.

    Oh, and I never actually did use Slackware. I just read ‘no package management system’ and went okay, that’s off.