SGI Onyx 4 General Maintenance

Inside an Onyx4 G2N-brick with the cover removed: graphics board on its riser, node board under its duct, power supply bay (SGI User's Guide, Figure 1-3)

Routine care, set-up and owner-replaceable parts of the SGI Onyx 4 graphics bricks, from SGI's Silicon Graphics Onyx4 UltimateVision User's Guide (007-4634-002). The host compute modules are those of the SGI Origin 350; see SGI Origin 350 General Maintenance and SGI Onyx 350 General Maintenance for them.

Safety

• Power the host system off and let the brick cool for about five minutes before working inside it; SGI warns that components may be hot.
• Wear an earthed wrist strap, and keep parts in their antistatic bags until you fit them.
• The bricks are heavy. On a table, make sure they cannot slide off; use two people to lift a brick out of a rack that has no slide rails.

Environment

G2-brick and G2N-brick limits (SGI User's Guide, Table B-2)

Item	G2-brick	G2N-brick
Operating temperature, below 1500 m (5000 ft)	5 to 35 °C	5 to 35 °C
Operating temperature, 1500 to 3000 m	5 to 30 °C	5 to 30 °C
Non-operating temperature	−40 to 60 °C	−40 to 60 °C
Input	90–132 or 180–264 V AC, 50–60 Hz	90–132 or 180–264 V AC, 50–60 Hz
Power, maximum	150 W	350 W
Heat output, maximum	512 BTU/h	1194 BTU/h

Rack positions and L1 numbering

Where each brick sits in the rack decides which brick the system boots from and the order of the graphics pipes, so a preconfigured system should go back in its original order. Each L1 controller must know its brick's rack and slot. The L1 display shows a string such as 001c12: rack 001, module type c, unit 12 counting from the bottom of the rack. To correct it, connect a terminal to the brick's console port and use:

001c12-L1> brick
rack: 001 slot: 12 partition: 0 type: C source: EEPROM
001c12-L1> brick rack 1
001c12-L1> brick slot 7
001c12-L1> brick

Powering on

• From the L1 of the master compute module: * pwr u, then Ctrl+D to see the IRIX console. If an error appears, type reset.
• From an L2 controller: pwr u, then Ctrl+D.
• Then run hinv and count the lines reading Graphics board: SG2; there should be two for each graphics brick.

Host PCI slots

SGI's preferred slots in the host's base compute module are: the IO9 card in bus 1 slot 1 (the bottom slot), the ImageSync card in bus 1 slot 2, a sound card in bus 2 slot 1 and the USB card in bus 2 slot 2.

Graphics configuration

The graphics are configured in /etc/X11/XF86Config-4. After a graphics brick is added or removed, IRIX normally regenerates it at boot, writing a new file as XF86Config-4.N when it finds new hardware, and replacing the file (keeping the old one as XF86Config-4.O) when listed hardware has gone. To regenerate it by hand:

# /usr/gfx/stopgfx
# mv /etc/X11/XF86Config-4 /etc/X11/XF86Config-4.bak
# /etc/X11/gen-XF86Config
# /usr/gfx/startgfx

SGI recommends IRIX 6.5.24, or 6.5.22 or 6.5.23 with patch 5448; versions patchSG0005448 shows whether the patch is installed.

Owner-replaceable parts

SGI's guide gives owner procedures for the power supply, memory, L1 display and graphics boards of the G2-brick and G2N-brick.

Opening the chassis

Power off, disconnect the rear cables, remove the two rack screws and pull the brick out to its safety latches; then remove the ten Phillips screws and lift the hinged cover.

Power supply

Each brick has one sled-mounted supply at the front right. Open the bezel door, remove the two screws of the screen cover and swing it aside without snagging the supply fan's ribbon cable, press the release button and lift the green handle, and slide the supply out. Fit the new one with its handle open, press the handle down to lock it, and close the screen cover without pinching the ribbon cable.

Memory (G2N-brick only)

The G2N-brick has eight DIMM slots; the G2-brick has none.

• DIMMs go in pairs, and the first pair must be in slots 0 and 1. Slots 2 and 3, 4 and 5, and 6 and 7 form the other pairs; both DIMMs of a pair must be the same size.
• SGI listed 1 GB and 2 GB kits with integrated directory memory.
• The DIMMs are the ones used in the Origin 300 and Origin 350 compute modules and the MPX module; those of the Origin 200, 2000 series, Onyx2 and Octane do not fit.
• Remove the plastic air baffle over the DIMMs, open the ejector latches, line up the three notches with the socket and press the DIMM down until the latches snap shut. SGI warns that too much pressure can damage the socket.

Graphics board

1. Power off, disconnect the cables, take the brick out of the rack and remove its chassis rail (five screws) and cover.
2. Remove the lower PCI/PCI-X support bracket (four screws) and the two screws holding the board to the back panel.
3. Pull the board gently out of the riser. A 7-pin synchronisation cable runs from the riser to the underside of the board, so do not pull it far: turn the board over and unplug the cable first.
4. Fit the new board in reverse, plugging the keyed 7-pin cable into its underside before seating it, and take care not to trap the cable between board and riser.

L1 display

Power off, disconnect the cables, pull the brick out to its safety latches and open the chassis, then lift out the plastic air baffle over the DIMMs. Remove the front bezel (two screws) and the L1 display cover (one screw), take out the two screws holding the display to its cover, and unplug its cable. Fit the new display with the cable's red stripe to the left and reassemble in reverse order.

Related pages

• SGI Onyx 4
• SGI Onyx 4 Troubleshooting Guide
• SGI Onyx 4 Capacitor Replacement Guide
• SGI Onyx 4 Documentation
• SGI Onyx 350 General Maintenance
• SGI Origin 350 General Maintenance