upgrading the SGI O2 PROM

FAQ

Memberlist

Usergroups

Profile

Preferences

· nixdoc.net

· man pages

· Linux HOWTOs

· FreeBSD Tips

· Forums

Forum index » *nix » SGI/IRIX

upgrading the SGI O2 PROM

Page 2 of 2 [22 Posts]

View previous topic :: View next topic
Goto page: Previous 1, 2

Author

Message

igor@nospam.invalid
*nix forums addict

Joined: 17 Aug 2005
Posts: 81

Posted: Fri Jul 07, 2006 7:03 am Post subject: Note

Re: upgrading the SGI O2 PROM

Benjamin Gawert <bgawert@gmx.de> wrote:

Quote:

Well, the disks used in these desktop workstations usually don't contain
any special firmware. The only thing that differs from the generic disk
is the identification string and the much shorter warranty. There is
absolutely no advantage on a desktop workstation like an O2 to have a
disk with SGI firmware. More contrary, newer standard disks are usually
noticeably faster than the ancient drives that were sold with these
machines...

Same happens with Solaris and the Sun HDDs. It is a nice feature being
able to identify the HDDs from the SPARC OBP, but certainly not required
for a workstation.

Cheers,
Igor.

igor@nospam.invalid
*nix forums addict

Joined: 17 Aug 2005
Posts: 81

Posted: Fri Jul 07, 2006 7:08 am Post subject: Note

Re: upgrading the SGI O2 PROM

josehill <josehill@canada.com> wrote:

Quote:

Igor Sobrado wrote:

Another reason for manually upgrading a firmware would be fixing a
known issue on a production system were an OS upgrade is not possible,
even if IRIX has not been installed by cloning a hard disk drive.

Yes! Good point -- I forgot about that.

Your point was certainly more important! :-)

I have just upgraded the SGI O2 PROM to release 4.18. I will look for
a list of changes on this release (my goal was upgrading from 4.3 to
4.12, as it was the latest firmware release provided in a patch for
my old IRIX release, but I finally installed IRIX 6.5.22). I changed
the SCA drive to a mostly noisy 4GB Sun SCA drive. I really do not
want to remove the HDDs from the MultiPack enclosure, as these drives
are currently set up as a RAID-5 with two hot spares.

I am just curious about the improvements from 4.12 up to 4.18. I will
look for some information at sgi.com.

Thanks to all for helping me on this issue!

Best regards,
Igor.

Walter Roberson
*nix forums Guru

Joined: 19 Feb 2005
Posts: 1300

Posted: Fri Jul 07, 2006 4:15 pm Post subject: Note

Re: upgrading the SGI O2 PROM

In article <e8l19l$92e$1@string1.ciencias.uniovi.es>,
Igor Sobrado <igor@nospam.invalid> wrote:

Quote:

I changed
the SCA drive to a mostly noisy 4GB Sun SCA drive. I really do not
want to remove the HDDs from the MultiPack enclosure, as these drives
are currently set up as a RAID-5 with two hot spares.

Note that sometimes drives that are part of a RAID are formatted
with a slightly larger sector size... ummm, 520 bytes per sector
is what floats to mind.

Ian Mapleson
*nix forums addict

Joined: 29 Apr 2005
Posts: 54

Posted: Wed Jul 12, 2006 1:55 am Post subject: Note

Re: upgrading the SGI O2 PROM

Igor Sobrado wrote:

Quote:

As this machine is currently EOL'd, I suppose that 4.18 is the latest
firmware release. ...

If 4.18 is the latest, how come I've seen O2s that report V4.3 and in
one
case V4.7?

Btw, a default install of 6.5.26 *will* fit onto a 2GB disk. Just. Uses
1.8GB.

Quote:

is dangerous and an unsupported configuration. I will install a new
SCA drive on that machine and install a newer IRIX relase then. It
is a very good advice. Thanks a lot.

Btw, if it's of any help, my site has an installation guide for 6.5:

http://www.futuretech.blinkenlights.nl/6.5inst.html

Feel free to ask any other questions you may have.

Cheers! :)

Ian.

SGI Depot: http://www.futuretech.blinkenlights.nl/sgidepot/
Email: mapesdhs@yahoo.com (eBay ID: mapesdhs)
Backup email (send copy to this too): sgidepot@blueyonder.co.uk
Home: +44 (0)131 476 0796 (best to call this number first)

igor@nospam.invalid
*nix forums addict

Joined: 17 Aug 2005
Posts: 81

Posted: Wed Jul 12, 2006 7:07 am Post subject: Note

Re: upgrading the SGI O2 PROM

Walter Roberson <roberson@hushmail.com> wrote:

Quote:

In article <e8l19l$92e$1@string1.ciencias.uniovi.es>,
Igor Sobrado <igor@nospam.invalid> wrote:
I changed
the SCA drive to a mostly noisy 4GB Sun SCA drive. I really do not
want to remove the HDDs from the MultiPack enclosure, as these drives
are currently set up as a RAID-5 with two hot spares.

Note that sometimes drives that are part of a RAID are formatted
with a slightly larger sector size... ummm, 520 bytes per sector
is what floats to mind.

Indeed! But this drive was never added to the MultiPack enclosure. The
Sun StorEdge MultiPack has six 9 GB SCA drives on it. This drive was the
system disk on an Ultra 2 Creator workstation attached to the RAID.

Thanks for the advice!

Igor.

igor@nospam.invalid
*nix forums addict

Joined: 17 Aug 2005
Posts: 81

Posted: Wed Jul 12, 2006 7:15 am Post subject: Note

Re: upgrading the SGI O2 PROM

mapesdhs@yahoo.com wrote:

Quote:

Igor Sobrado wrote:
As this machine is currently EOL'd, I suppose that 4.18 is the latest
firmware release. ...

If 4.18 is the latest, how come I've seen O2s that report V4.3 and in
one
case V4.7?

Mine had 4.3 before upgrading too. I think that 4.18 is a recent
firmware release (i.e., 4.18 is not 4.1.8, 4.18 > 4.3). In fact,
it was releases at some time at 2002, if I am not wrong. PROM 4.3
was on this machine. And it was never updated since it was adquired
in the mid-90's.

Quote:

Btw, a default install of 6.5.26 *will* fit onto a 2GB disk. Just. Uses
1.8GB.

Quite sure, but it does not allocate a lot of space for user files! :)

Quote:

is dangerous and an unsupported configuration. I will install a new
SCA drive on that machine and install a newer IRIX relase then. It
is a very good advice. Thanks a lot.

Btw, if it's of any help, my site has an installation guide for 6.5:

http://www.futuretech.blinkenlights.nl/6.5inst.html

Feel free to ask any other questions you may have.

Are you Ian Mapleson??? I printed a lot of information you provide
on SGI's systems some years ago. An *excellent* reference for SGI
users!!!

Best regards,
Igor.

Ian Mapleson
*nix forums addict

Joined: 29 Apr 2005
Posts: 54

Posted: Wed Jul 12, 2006 9:27 am Post subject: Note

Re: upgrading the SGI O2 PROM

Igor Sobrado wrote:

Quote:

Mine had 4.3 before upgrading too. I think that 4.18 is a recent
firmware release (i.e., 4.18 is not 4.1.8, 4.18 > 4.3). In fact,

Whoops! Indeed, I was misreading that as decimal...

Quote:

Quite sure, but it does not allocate a lot of space for user files! Smile

True, but I meant as in enough for testing, etc. Afterwards, if all
is well, you could clone onto a larger drive and proceed from there.

Quote:

Are you Ian Mapleson??? ...

Er, yes. :D

Quote:

... I printed a lot of information you provide
on SGI's systems some years ago. An *excellent* reference for SGI
users!!!

Thanks!

So much more to add, so little time...

Cheers! :)

Ian.

Google

Display posts from previous:

Page 2 of 2 [22 Posts]

Goto page: Previous 1, 2
View previous topic :: View next topic

The time now is Wed Dec 03, 2008 8:11 pm | All times are GMT

Forum index » *nix » SGI/IRIX

Jump to:

Topic		Author	Forum	Replies	Last Post
Similar Topics
	Upgrading oracle db 10.1.0.5 to 10.2.0.2 java issues	dugmcgee@gmail.com	Server	2	Tue Jul 18, 2006 9:35 am
	"Upgrading" from 5.4 to 6.1	Tamas Gal	FreeBSD	2	Mon Jul 17, 2006 9:04 am
	Octane doesn't powering up while upgrading CPU module...	Eric Belhomme	hardware	10	Tue Jul 11, 2006 6:16 am
	Backing up before upgrading	Wu-Kung Sun	Debian	0	Mon Jul 10, 2006 3:50 pm
	Upgrading squid 2.5.14-1 to 2.6.1-2	nx13464a	Debian	0	Mon Jul 10, 2006 3:10 pm

Loans | Mobile Phones | Home Loan | Gas Suppliers | Loans

Other DeniX Solutions sites: Unix/Linux blog | electronics forum | medicine forum | science forum |

[ Time: 0.1466s ][ Queries: 16 (0.0289s) ][ GZIP on - Debug on ]