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SGI IRIS 3000 General Maintenance

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SGI IRIS 3000 power compartment (Differences course Diagram 14)
The IRIS 3000 power compartment: AC module and the four-channel supply, with its output terminals and the OL, OVP and VOLT adjusters for each channel (SGI, Differences course Diagram 14)

Care of the SGI IRIS 3000, from SGI's IRIS Series 3000 Owner's Guide, its field-service courses for the 68020 machines, and Jonathan Levine's 1993–94 IRIS FAQ.[1][2][3] The same procedures apply to the IRIS 2000 Turbo models, which use the same processor, memory and graphics boards; the differences are on SGI IRIS 2000 General Maintenance.[4]

Site and handling

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IRIS 3000 site requirements (SGI Table A-2)
Item Specification
Temperature 10 to 30 °C (50 to 86 °F) operating; 0 to 50 °C (32 to 122 °F) not operating
Relative humidity 20 to 80%
Clearance At least 3 in (7.6 cm) on all sides
Mains Single phase; 93–132 V AC (115 V configuration) or 186–264 V AC (220 V configuration), 47–63 Hz
Consumption Cabinet 1250 VA / 1000 W; 19-inch 60 Hz monitor 225 VA / 150 W
Heat Cabinet 3412 BTU per hour

[5]

  • The mains voltage range is set at the factory.[6] Do not connect the cabinet to a switched outlet.[7]
  • Handle boards with an ESD wrist strap and keep spares in the bags they shipped in, and do not touch the card-edge connectors.[2]
  • When the system is shut down the disk heads are moved off the recording surface, so no separate park command is needed.[8]

Opening the cabinet

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SGI's sequence from its field-service course:[2]

  1. Shut the system down with a reboot command, switch it off and unplug the power cord from the back.
  2. Front panel: push a thin screwdriver into the seam between the front panel and a side panel and twist it slightly; the panel pops off.
  3. Top panel: grip its front edge firmly and lift; it is held by snap-in fasteners.
  4. Card cage panel, on the front: loosen its Phillips screws; they do not have to come right out.
  5. I/O compartment panel, the larger of the two panels on top: loosen its Phillips screws.
  6. Power compartment panel, the smaller top panel: undo its Phillips screws.

Card cage

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Before moving or replacing a board, note its switch and jumper settings. SGI's rule is that a replacement board must have every jumper set as on the board it replaces. SGI's own boards carry a part number, serial number and revision along an edge; boards bought in (the DSD and Storager disk controllers and the Ethernet board) do not.[2]

The CPU side of the backplane is slots 1 to 9 and the graphics side slots 10 to 20.[3]

CPU-side slots without the FP1 (Levine's FAQ)
IM1 boards 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9
One IM1 IP2 Ethernet Disk (IEEE-488) (CG1)
Two IM1 IM1 IP2 Ethernet Disk (IEEE-488) (CG1)
Three IM1 IM1 IM1 IP2 Ethernet Disk (IEEE-488) (CG1)
Four IM1 IM1 IM1 IM1 IP2 Ethernet Disk (IEEE-488) (CG1)

[3] With the FP1 fitted it goes between the last IM1 and the IP2, and everything after it moves up one slot. On the graphics side the BP3 bitplane boards are in slots 10 to 17, the DC4 in 18, the UC4 in 19 and the GF2 in 20. The two BP3 boards of a minimum eight-bitplane system go in slots 16 and 17, and further boards are added from right to left.[3]

IM1 address switches by board position (O = open, C = closed)
Switch Board 1 Board 2 Board 3 Board 4
SW1 C C C C
SW2 C C C C
SW3 C C O O
SW4 C O C O

[3] The last IM1 in the chain needs an IM1 terminator.[9] The BP3 switches are set by slot; Levine's FAQ gives the full table, with SW1 open on every board.[3]

Configuration switches

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The rear-panel DIP switch selects the boot device (switches 1 to 4), automatic or manual boot (5), quiet mode (6) and the primary or secondary monitor (7); switches 8 and 9 are reserved and left closed.[3][9] The IP2 has its own switch S1 wired in parallel with the rear-panel switch, so a closed switch on either wins. Levine recommends setting all of IP2 S1 open so that the rear-panel switch controls the machine.[3] The IP2's second switch, S2, sets the processor as master or slave, the speed of serial ports 1 to 3 and the pair of video modes the DC4 was built for; Levine's FAQ gives its table.[3]

Disk drives

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The disk drive screws are partly hidden by a flange in the cabinet sheet metal; SGI's course calls for a long-necked screwdriver, which reaches them through access holes in the flange.[2] Check the address (drive-select) jumpers on the drive's logic board when changing drives.[2]

Disks are formatted with SGI's stand-alone fex programs: mdfex for ST-506 drives on the DSD controller, sifex for ESDI drives on the Storager and ipfex for SMD drives on the Interphase 2190. They are on the bootable mkboot tape and in /stand, and are booted from the PROM monitor, for example b ct0:sifex from tape.[3][10] The full command set is hidden behind a password prompt; Levine's FAQ lists the passwords. A system tape must come from a machine with the same type of disk controller, or the kernel will have the wrong disk driver.[3]

Power supply

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SGI sets the supply with a load board that simulates a normal system load, and asks for the outputs to be checked from time to time at the supply's terminal block:[11]

Power supply settings (SGI 68020 course, lesson 8)
Channel Wire colour Setting
1 Orange/white +5.00 V
2 Grey +12.10 V
3 Yellow −12.10 V
4 Purple −5.24 V

[11] Each channel has OL (current limit), OVP (over-voltage protection) and VOLT adjusters.[12] SGI's two courses describe OVP differently: the Differences course calls it protection against the AC input voltage, while the 68020 workbook describes it as the channel's output shut-down voltage.[12][8] SGI's course does not cover taking the supply out; it only asks trainees to find its fixing screws and leave the harness in place.[2] Levine had no documentation on the supplies beyond an old telephone number for their maker, LH Research.[3]

If the keyboard's +12 V or −12 V supply is missing, Levine says to take off the power compartment cover and check the two fuses along the top edge of the I/O panel board. He warns that a fuse can look intact and still be open inside its base, so test them with a meter.[3]

Battery

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The IP2's clock is backed by an Eagle-Picher Keeper II LTC-7P lithium battery (BT1 on the IP2 schematic).[3][13]

Keyboard, mouse and media

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  • SGI's mouse-cleaning procedure for all IRIS models: remove the two screws under the mouse, press the three buttons while holding it upside down to free the base, take out the circuit board taking care of the contact arms, clean the three balls, the centre ball washer and spring washer and the two red contact wheels with isopropyl alcohol, and put one drop of light instrument oil on each of the three shaft bearings.[14]
  • For tape and floppy drive heads, SGI passed on Cipher's 1985 advice to use only trichlorotrifluoroethane (Freon TF), to avoid freon and alcohol blends, which leave residue on the roller guides and take-up hub, and to use plastic foam swabs, because cotton swabs can leave fibres in the head gaps.[15]
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References

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  1. ↑ Silicon Graphics, IRIS Series 3000 Owner's Guide, version 3.0, 007-5220-030, 1987 (File:SGI IRIS Series 3000 Owner's Guide (007-5220-030).pdf).
  2. ↑ 2.0 2.1 2.2 2.3 2.4 2.5 2.6 SGI, IRIS 3000 Series Workstation Differences, lesson COMP1, section 1, steps 1 to 9, pp. 4 to 7, and Diagram 13, p. 21.
  3. ↑ 3.00 3.01 3.02 3.03 3.04 3.05 3.06 3.07 3.08 3.09 3.10 3.11 3.12 3.13 Jonathan Levine, "Silicon Graphics IRIS 2000/3000 FAQ", revisions of May 1993 to June 1994, sections 4.1.2, 4.1.4.2, 4.1.5, 4.2.3, 4.3.1, 4.4.2 and 4.4.3, bitsavers.org/pdf/sgi/iris/IRIS_FAQ.txt.
  4. ↑ SGI, 007-5220-030, section 1.2, p. 1-2. IRIS 2000 Turbo products.
  5. ↑ SGI, 007-5220-030, Appendix A, Table A-2, p. A-15.
  6. ↑ Silicon Graphics, IRIS 3000 Series Workstation Differences (field-service study guide), lesson PROD10, pp. 6 to 8 (File:SGI IRIS Series 3000 Workstation Differences Course.pdf).
  7. ↑ SGI, 007-5220-030, section 2.6, p. 2-17.
  8. ↑ 8.0 8.1 Silicon Graphics, IRIS Workstation Course, 68020 Based, Student Workbook part 2, lesson 5 (component location), lab 5.1 step 7 and the 3000 power compartment drawing (File:SGI IRIS Workstation Course 68020 Based Student Workbook Part 2.pdf).
  9. ↑ 9.0 9.1 Gerhard Lenerz, "IRIS 3000", sgistuff.net, sgistuff.net/hardware/systems/iris3000.html (retrieved 22 October 2026). IM1 memory and DIP switches.
  10. ↑ SGI, IRIS 3000 Series Workstation Differences, disk formatting lesson: booting sifex from tape.
  11. ↑ 11.0 11.1 SGI, Student Workbook part 2, lab 8.1, section 5 "Power Supply Adjustments", p. 31.
  12. ↑ 12.0 12.1 SGI, IRIS 3000 Series Workstation Differences, lesson COMP1, Diagram 14, p. 22.
  13. ↑ Silicon Graphics, IP2 PCB schematic, 5000-556 revision C, 1985, sheet 1, discrete legend (File:SGI IRIS IP2 processor board schematic (5000-556).pdf).
  14. ↑ SGI Field Engineering, Technical Aid GEN-003, "Mouse Cleaning Procedure", all IRIS models, in Student Workbook part 2.
  15. ↑ SGI Field Engineering, Technical Aid GEN-034, "Tape/Floppy head cleaning", 18 December 1985, in Student Workbook part 2.


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