Getting Started, Documentation, Tips & Tricks

Hello-

5 years ago I came into possession of an O2 while I was working in IT and I occasionally played around with it from time to time. Firing it up now, I've troubleshooted that some of the memory modules have gone bad, but it still seems to boot- I just get no video.

Going through the flowchart i've seen posted around, I'm basically at no video displayed. I get a startup solid amber, chime, then solid green light- just no video.

I'm assuming I have a compatible monitor- the last time I used this thing I had a CRT- now I have a 20" Dell widescreen (2005FPW).

If it's indeed the video chip or out- are there any simple fixes. If not- is their a cheap drop in for the empty PCI slot on the riser card?

Thanks!

Hi and welcome.

A green light and chime sounds like "All good" to me... Is it possible for you to try a null modem cable on the serial port and hook up a machine with HyperTerm/CU/Kermit/whatever.. See if you get a response on serial and then "set console g". The O2 might have just decided to go "headless" (See nekochan wiki howTo). If you know the IP address can you ping it if its on a LAN..? ssh or telnet might get you in.

SGIs require sync-on-green monitors.. I googled the monitor you mentioned it seemed prone to faults from what I read. Could you test the monitor on another machine just to rule that out... or try another monitor on the O2...?

you wrote: the last time I used this thing I had a CRT- now I have a 20" Dell widescreen (2005FPW)

It might just be that the O2 doesn't like the monitor or the mode of the monitor, newer monitors have all kinds of modes and menus. If you flick it back and forth between analog and digital a few times..?

Also I have had problems with DVI/VGA adapters in the past..

R.

O2 shouldn't need SOG, as it is a fully-capable HD15 "VGA" port.

Make sure you have a working keyboard plugged in to the keyboard port (though most of the time there's still something on the screen even without one). If that doesn't work check the serial port.

Just a thought....there's a little jumper that IIRC is near the CPU that will force it to boot if it's closed....sometimes if the O2 ends up in a funky state this will snap it out of it. It certainly shouldn't hurt anything to try it.

-Jesse

SAQ wrote: O2 shouldn't need SOG, as it is a fully-capable HD15 "VGA" port.

It's slightly more complicated than that. The O2 outputs both a Sync-on-Green signal and a standard PC H/V sync signal via the HD15 port. Apparently, some/many non-Sync-on-Green monitors --even high quality ones-- fail to filter out the sync signal from the green channel , so while the display is basically usable, the output has a heavy green tint (not a gamma issue). True SOG monitors are probably the safest choice for an O2.

josehill wrote:

SAQ wrote: O2 shouldn't need SOG, as it is a fully-capable HD15 "VGA" port.

It's slightly more complicated than that. The O2 outputs both a Sync-on-Green signal and a standard PC H/V sync signal via the HD15 port. Apparently, some/many non-Sync-on-Green monitors --even high quality ones-- fail to filter out the sync signal from the green channel , so while the display is basically usable, the output has a heavy green tint that cannot be fixed through gamma adjustment. I've seen it with several different O2s with various "PC" monitors. True SOG monitors are probably the safest choice for an O2.

before going too far with that monitor issue i'd take the serial road and check the box first