SGI Visual Workstation 320 Documentation

Rear panel of the Visual Workstation 320, from the Owner's Guide (SGI, 007-3701-001 Figure 1-2)

SGI Visual Workstation 320 Documentation describes the Silicon Graphics manuals and papers for the SGI Visual Workstation 320, with the PDF of each. All five are SGI's own electronic editions with searchable text, not scans. The firmware guide, the software installation guide and the architecture white paper cover the SGI Visual Workstation 540 as well.

Silicon Graphics 320 Visual Workstation Owner's Guide (007-3701-001)

SGI's hardware guide for the 320, document number 007-3701-001, copyright 1999, 152 pages, written by Karin Borda and illustrated by Kwong Liew.

Contents: 1 getting started (shipment, set-up, rear panel ports in Figure 1-2, the voltage switch, the sliding front panel, power on and off, reset); 2 opening the system (covers, internal parts in Figure 2-3); 3 memory (DIMM groups and Table 3-1 of configurations); 4 internal drives (EIDE cabling and master/slave settings, removable media, hard drives, the SCSI option card cable); 5 option cards (PCI slots, the display option card); 6 processors (installation, terminator card, processor count and speed jumpers in Tables 6-1 and 6-2, the voltage regulator, stepping); 7 power supply and fan; 8 maintenance and troubleshooting (Table 8-1 on pp. 90-93, LED blink codes and maintenance tips on p. 94, the password jumper on p. 95); appendices A technical specifications (AC power Table A-2, system board Table A-3), B port pinouts, C SCSI devices, D regulatory information.

The guide works down to replaceable parts. It has no schematics, no component lists and no repair procedure for the power supply or system board.

Download: SGI Visual Workstation 320 Owner's Guide (007-3701-001).pdf

Silicon Graphics Visual Workstations System Firmware User's Guide (007-4225-001)

SGI's guide to the graphical firmware of the 320 and 540, document number 007-4225-001, 1999, 21 pages.

Contents: configuring the system firmware (p. 2); startup settings (p. 4); system settings (p. 6) covering the system time, advanced settings (power-on diagnostics level, recovery from electrical power loss, CPU serial number), password, keyboard language, parallel port mode and L2 cache error correction; updating the firmware by copying a PROM image from Recovery CD 2 to a floppy disk (p. 12) and flashing the PROM (p. 14).

It does not document the firmware's command monitor or any firmware error messages.

Download: SGI Visual Workstations System Firmware User's Guide (007-4225-001).pdf

Silicon Graphics Visual Workstations Software Installation Guide (007-3703-003)

SGI's guide to installing and reinstalling Windows NT and the SGI software on the 320 and 540, document number 007-3703-003, 1999, 50 pages.

Contents: setting up Windows NT for the first time (p. 5); the SGI CDs (p. 9); reinstalling Windows NT, the SGI software and other software (pp. 11-30); installing Service Packs (p. 30); partitioning the system disk, including the FAT system loader partition the firmware needs (pp. 32-33); configuring graphics memory (pp. 35-38); the System Properties control panel (p. 39); and the SGI entries on the Start menu (p. 40). The earlier revision 007-3703-002 is hosted as File:SGI Visual Workstation 320 and 540 Software Installation Guide (007-3703-002).pdf.

Download: SGI Visual Workstations Software Installation Guide (007-3703-003).pdf

Silicon Graphics 320 Visual Workstation datasheet (1999)

SGI's four-page sales datasheet for the 320. It lists the Pentium II processor options (350, 400 and 450 MHz), the memory system, the Cobalt graphics features and display resolutions, the 485 W input power supply, the disk drive options, integrated audio, video and IEEE 1394, PCI slots, dimensions (20 × 9.25 × 18.75 inches) and weight (34 lb maximum), bundled software, warranty, and the mechanical, safety and EMC specifications. The input power figures differ from the Owner's Guide: the datasheet gives 90-132 V or 176-264 V at 9 A maximum, the Owner's Guide 100-120 V at 4.7 A or 200-240 V at 2.5 A.

Download: SGI 320 Visual Workstation Datasheet (1999).pdf

Integrated Visual Computing Architecture white paper (1999)

SGI's 15-page white paper on the architecture of the 320 and 540. Sections: 1 introduction and comparison with the conventional PC architecture (pp. 3-9); 2 memory, multiprocessing, graphics, digital media, I/O, 64-bit PCI and super I/O (pp. 9-11); 3 the silicon, including the Cobalt chipset of three ASICs (p. 11); 4 communications, peripherals, monitors and packaging (pp. 11-14); 5 applications (p. 14). It describes the design, not service procedures.

Download: SGI Visual Workstations Integrated Visual Computing Architecture White Paper (1999).pdf

Pages that cite these documents

• SGI Visual Workstation 320: specifications, architecture, ports, power and firmware.
• SGI Visual Workstation 320 General Maintenance: opening the case, the power supply, fans, memory, processors and firmware updates.
• SGI Visual Workstation 320 Troubleshooting Guide: SGI's symptom tables and LED codes.
• SGI Visual Workstation 320 Capacitor Replacement Guide: removal of the supply and board.