Indigo Versions FAQ
From Iris Indigo
THE INDIGO VERSIONS FAQ Last modified: 12. April 2001 Maintained by: mail@g-lenerz.de URL: http://www.g-lenerz.de/sgistuff/documents/indigo-versions-faq.txt
Contents |
Part 1: Overview
1.1 CPU types
The Silicon Graphics IRIS Indigo has been available with two completely different versions of CPU boards and a total of three different Mips RISC CPUs. CPU clockspeed CPU module CPU board Mips R3000A 33 MHz *----- HP1 -----* Mips R4000SC 50/100 MHz PM1 HP2 Mips R4400SC 75/150 MHz PM2 HP2 In the rest of this document "Indigo" will be used if the type of CPU installed does not matter. "R3K Indigo" is the term used for Indigos based on R3000 processors and "R4K Indigo" will be used when machines using R4000 or R4400 processor are meant.
1.2 GFX options
There are two entirely different types of graphics options. One is called "Entry-Level-Graphics" or "Starter-Graphics" (LG1/LG2) and is a simple 8bit framebuffer. The second type is actually a complete family of graphics options built from the same components and is called "Express Graphics".
name color z-buffer GEs connectors LG1 8bit none none 13W3, HD15 LG2 8bit none none 13W3, HD15 GR2-XS 8bit none 1 13W3, BNC, minDIN GR2-XS24 24bit none 1 13W3, BNC, minDIN GR2-XS24Z 24bit yes 1 13W3, BNC, minDIN GR2-XZ 24bit yes 2 13W3, BNC, minDIN GR2-Elan 24bit yes 4 13W3, BNC, minDIN
1.3 Markings
All Indigos have/had markings that showed the configuration the machine was sold with. It is not recommended to rely on this information because parts may have been swapped or the machine could have been upgraded.
R3K Indigos have the name of the graphics option printed on the drive door. Possible values are "Elan", "XZ", "XS24", "XS" and "Data Station". On R4K Indigos plastic badges are used to denote the type of graphics option: "Elan 4000" (yellow), "XZ 4000" (green), "XS24 4000" (green), "XS 4000" (green), "Entry 4000" (red) and "Server 4000" (grey). Again: Do *not* rely on the badge or the words on the drive door!
Part 2: How to determine CPU type...
2.1 when IRIX is running
Open a UNIX shell and run 'hinv'. Among other things the command shows the type of CPU that is installed in the machine. The following is an indented and abbrevated output of 'hinv' on an R3K Indigo: 1 33 MHZ IP12 Processor FPU: MIPS R2010A/R3010 VLSI Floating Point Chip Revision: 4.0 CPU: MIPS R2000A/R3000 Processor Chip Revision: 3.0
Both of the following parts show an R4K Indigo:
1 100 MHZ IP20 Processor FPU: MIPS R4000 Floating Point Coprocessor Revision: 0.0 CPU: MIPS R4000 Processor Chip Revision: 2.2
1 150 MHZ IP20 Processor FPU: MIPS R4000 Floating Point Coprocessor Revision: 0.0 CPU: MIPS R4400 Processor Chip Revision: 5.0
2.2 from the PROM monitor
In the PROM monitor you can also use the 'hinv' command to determine the CPU that is installed in the Indigo. The output looks slightly different and there is a special issue with the R4K Indigo. On an R3K 'hinv' shows as expected an IP12 System and an R3000 processor running at 33 Mhz.
The following excerpts are again from an R4K Indigo (the same
machines as the R4K Indigo examples from 2.1).
System: IP20
Processor: R4000 50 Mhz, with FPU
System: IP20
Processor: R4000 75 Mhz, with FPU
Note that the R4400 processor is not recognized in the PROM monitor. Additionally the 'hinv' command from the PROM shows always the external clockspeed of the system. The 'hinv' command in IRIX has later been changed to show the internal clockspeed.
2.3 when the machine does not boot
You can determine the type of Indigo just by looking at the CPU or the CPU board. The R3000 processor on the R3K Indigo board is placed directly on the board itself. It carries *no* heatsink. The processors on R4K Indigos is in a small module that is placed above the CPU board. The R4000 models carry a dark black/blue heatsink and the R4400 processors a huge heatsink that covers the whole module. The heatsink of both models is visible in the space between the CPU module and the case of the Indigo. Additionally you can try to locate the part number of the boards. The one frome the R3K Indigo is called HP1 and the one from the R4K models HP2.
Part 3: How to determine the GFX option...
3.1 when IRIX is running
As usual you can use 'hinv' in the UNIX shell to determine the type of graphics option that is installed. The output lists the name of the graphics option as "Graphics board". The following list shows some example outputs (for further reference see 1.2): Graphics board: LG1 Graphics board: GR2-XS24 with Z-buffer Graphics board: GR2-XZ Graphics board: GR2-Elan Additionally you can use '/usr/gfx/gfxinfo' to get detailed information on the parts of the graphics subsystem.
3.2 from the PROM monitor
Again 'hinv' is the solution to determine the type of graphics option from the PROM monitor. The output is similar to the 'hinv' output shown in 3.1.
3.3 when the machine does not boot
The first thing to determine is if the board is an "Entry-Level" or "Express" graphics board (Confused? Read 1.2). This can be done without even opening the computer. When you look on the back of the machine look for the femal 13W3 monitor connector (the one with 3 big and 10 small pins). If you find below that one just an HD15 VGA style connector the installed graphics option is "Entry-Level". If you see a BNC (Genlock) and a miniDIN (3D) connector than it is one of the "Express" graphics boards. In case of an "Express" board the next step is determining the actual type. The table in 1.2 shows that the various versions differ in 3 aspects: 1) color: 8bit vs. 24bit 2) Z-buffer: hardware or none (calculations done in software) 3) geometry engines: number of GEs All "Express" boards are built of the following parts: GR2: main graphics board GE7: geometry engine (processor offering 32 MFlops) VB1.1: video buffer board (includes RAMDAC) ZB4: z-buffer board (includes z-buffer memory) VM2: proprietary SIMM module (3 required for 24bit color) Every "Express" board consist of 1 GR2, 1 VB1.1, at least 1 GE7 and 1 VM2. The VB1.1 is a daughterboard that is placed on the left half of the GR2 board just above the VM2 SIMMs and the ZB4 daughterboard is placed on the right half. For the GE7 processors the GR2 board as 4 sockets at its center. Knowing the variations of "Express" boards that exist (1.2) and the various parts and their functions it is easy to determine the type of an "Express" board. Example: The board in question has an empty space on the right half (i.e. no ZB4), 3 VM2 modules and 1 GE7 (of course it has also 1 VB1.1 and 1 GR2). This boardset offers 24bit color, no hardware z-buffer and has 1 geometry engine. According to the table in 1.2 that makes it a GR2-XS24 graphics option.
Legal
The entire document is an unofficial resource written by SGI users for other SGI users. All information is presented AS IS and comes without any warranties (although there should be no big mistakes) The trademarks used herein are property of Silicon Graphics, Inc. (SGI) or Mips Technologies, Inc. Permission granted to distribute this document on Usenet, Internet or other nets in two cases: 1) As a complete document including its header and this legal note. 2) Parts of it including proper citatation (i.e. Title and URL)
