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SGI Visual Workstation 320 General Maintenance

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SGI Visual Workstation 320 interior (Owner's Guide Figure 2-3)
Inside the Silicon Graphics 320, from SGI's Owner's Guide: power supply top left, DIMM slots, processors and their fan, PCI slots

Routine care for the SGI Visual Workstation 320, from SGI's Silicon Graphics 320 Visual Workstation Owner's Guide (007-3701-001) and firmware guide (007-4225-001), with notes from the SGI320 community site.[1][2] SGI's datasheet describes tool-less access to the internals, and the Owner's Guide tells the owner how to change the memory, drives, PCI cards, processors, power supply and fan.[3][1] The DIMMs and the power supply are SGI-specific parts: SGI tells owners to fit only DIMMs qualified for the 320, and the supply has its own connectors.[4][5]

Before you open it

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SGI's maintenance tips for the 320:[6]

  • Shut down Windows, switch off, and unplug the workstation before any hardware work.
  • Touch the metal chassis to discharge static before handling DIMMs, processors, PCI cards or the system board, and wear a wrist strap clipped to the chassis if you have one.
  • Plug and unplug only audio, IEEE 1394 and USB cables while the machine is running.
  • Keep the vents clear and keep liquids away from the keyboard and system.

The voltage switch on the back is set at the factory for the local mains supply. Check it before you plug the system in, and check the switch on a replacement power supply before you fit it.[7][8]

Opening the case

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  1. Shut down and unplug the system.
  2. Push the latch on the back of the system to the left to unlock the side cover.
  3. Put your right hand inside the right edge of the cover and your left hand on its left edge, pull the cover about half an inch towards the back, tip it towards you and lift it off.
  4. To reach the removable-media bays, open the sliding front panel by pressing its lower half, then pull up the latch inside the top of the front cover and pull the cover away.
  5. To refit the side cover, set its bottom tabs in the notches in the chassis, tilt it up, slide it forward until it stops, and pull the rear latch towards you to lock it.

[9] Do not force the sliding front panel down by hand; SGI warns that this can damage it.[7]

Cleaning and airflow

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SGI's own advice is to vacuum dust from the vents periodically and to keep objects away from them.[6] The 320 is cooled by two internal fans and the fan in the power supply.[10] The internal fan beside the processors is held by a tab and comes out after its cable is unplugged from the system board; SGI warns that running the system without a working fan can overheat and damage the system board.[8] A replacement fan slides into the space to the right of the processors until it snaps in, and its cable plugs into the connector below the processors.[8]

Power supply

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The power supply is an SGI part rated at 485 W input, with soft power control and a power good output.[3] It sits at the top left of the chassis, close to the DIMMs.[11] SGI's removal procedure:[8]

  1. Unplug the system and remove the side cover.
  2. Below the power supply, disconnect the two cables from the system board: press down the tab on the larger left-hand connector, and press up the tab on the smaller right-hand one.
  3. Disconnect the power cables from the drives.
  4. Support the supply from below and remove the four screws at the back of the chassis.
  5. Lift the supply out without touching the DIMMs.

To refit it, check its voltage switch, slide it into the top left corner so that it rests on its tab, fit the four screws while supporting it, and reconnect the drives (the floppy drive connector is easier to fit before the screws go in). Plug the larger cable into the system board tab side up and the smaller one tab side down.[8]

Warning: the inside of the supply carries mains voltage, and its input capacitors can hold a dangerous charge after it is unplugged. Leave it unplugged and let it discharge before opening it. See SGI Visual Workstation 320 Capacitor Replacement Guide for what is known about the capacitors.

The SGI320 community site publishes the pinout of the two system board connectors and a method, contributed by Bob Skiles in 2002, for running the 320 from a standard ATX supply rewired to suit; see SGI Visual Workstation 320 Troubleshooting Guide.[5]

Memory

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The twelve DIMM slots are in two groups of six, A and B, each spread over three rows of two. Fit DIMMs in sixes of the same capacity, group A first, and only DIMMs qualified for the 320; if the two groups differ, put the larger DIMMs in group A.[4] Steady the workstation with one hand on top while pressing DIMMs in, push each one straight in with the notch towards the rear until the latch snaps up, and remove a DIMM by pushing its latch to the left.[4] A single faulty DIMM can be replaced on its own with one of the same capacity.[4] Windows NT Diagnostics (Memory tab) shows how much memory the system has found.[4]

Processors

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The primary processor goes in the lower slot. A single-processor system needs the terminator card in the upper slot, with the processor count jumper on its two left-hand pins; a second processor needs the jumper on the two right-hand pins and the voltage regulator that came with it, fitted in the socket above the processor.[12] The second processor's stepping must match the first; Windows NT's System control panel shows it (for example "x86 Family 6 Model 3 Stepping 4").[12] Set the speed jumpers to SGI's table, and reinstall Windows NT after adding a processor or upgrading.[12] If you remove a second processor and fit the terminator again, take the voltage regulator out as well; SGI's troubleshooting table lists a regulator left in with a terminator as a cause of a blinking LED and no picture.[12][6]

Drives

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The system disk must be set to master and fitted in the lower internal bay; a second IDE disk is a slave on the same channel. The CD-ROM is master on the second channel and an optional drive in the lower 3½-inch front bay is its slave.[13] SCSI disks hang off a PCI SCSI card, and the system disk must be SCSI ID 0.[6] The SGI320 site reports IDE drives of up to 120 GB working, and Compact Flash cards on an IDE adapter in place of a hard disk.[14][15]

Keep the small FAT partition that holds the firmware's boot files (arcldr.exe, hal.dll and arcsetup.exe); the 320 cannot start Windows without it. SGI's minimum size for it is 20 MB.[16]

Firmware

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Press Esc within a few seconds of the first start-up messages to reach the firmware screens.[2] Record the Startup Settings (the boot configuration) before changing anything, since a wrong path or partition stops Windows booting.[16] SGI's procedure for updating the firmware copies a PROM image from Recovery CD 2 to a floppy disk and flashes it from Run System Utilities, Upgrade System Firmware; SGI suggests keeping that floppy safe for later use.[2] If the boot fails part-way, the firmware can switch itself from Quick Boot to Extensive Tests, and it has to be set back by hand.[2]

A forgotten firmware password is cleared with the password jumper just above the PCI slots: move it to the two right-hand pins, power on and set a new password, then return it to the two left-hand pins.[6]

Maintenance checklist

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  1. Check the voltage switch matches the mains supply.
  2. Open the case and vacuum dust from the vents, fans and heat sinks.
  3. Check that both internal fans and the power supply fan turn.
  4. Check that the two power supply connectors and the front panel power button and LED cables are fully seated on the system board.
  5. Reseat the DIMMs, the processor or processors, and the terminator or voltage regulator.
  6. Note the firmware Startup Settings and keep a PROM floppy from Recovery CD 2.
  7. Back up the FAT system loader partition along with your data.
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References

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  1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 Silicon Graphics, Inc., Silicon Graphics 320 Visual Workstation Owner's Guide, 007-3701-001, 1999, "About This Guide" (File:SGI Visual Workstation 320 Owner's Guide (007-3701-001).pdf). Parts the guide covers installing and removing.
  2. ↑ 2.0 2.1 2.2 2.3 Silicon Graphics, Inc., Silicon Graphics Visual Workstations System Firmware User's Guide, 007-4225-001, 1999, pp. 1-14 (File:SGI Visual Workstations System Firmware User's Guide (007-4225-001).pdf).
  3. ↑ 3.0 3.1 Silicon Graphics, Inc., Silicon Graphics 320 Visual Workstation datasheet, 1999 (File:SGI 320 Visual Workstation Datasheet (1999).pdf). Tool-less access, 485 W input supply, soft power, power good.
  4. ↑ 4.0 4.1 4.2 4.3 4.4 SGI, 007-3701-001, pp. 23-28. DIMM groups, installation and removal, verification.
  5. ↑ 5.0 5.1 Bob Skiles (2002), "PSU", SGI320 community site, sgi320.wordpress.com. Proprietary supply, connector pinouts, ATX conversion.
  6. ↑ 6.0 6.1 6.2 6.3 6.4 SGI, 007-3701-001, pp. 89-95. Troubleshooting table, maintenance tips, password jumper.
  7. ↑ 7.0 7.1 SGI, 007-3701-001, pp. 3-10. Voltage switch caution, sliding front panel caution.
  8. ↑ 8.0 8.1 8.2 8.3 8.4 SGI, 007-3701-001, pp. 79-87. Power supply and fan removal and installation.
  9. ↑ SGI, 007-3701-001, pp. 15-21. Removing and replacing the side and front covers.
  10. ↑ SGI, 007-3701-001, p. 97. Cooling by two internal fans and the power supply fan.
  11. ↑ SGI, 007-3701-001, p. 19, Figure 2-3. Interior view.
  12. ↑ 12.0 12.1 12.2 12.3 SGI, 007-3701-001, pp. 65-77. Processor installation, terminator, jumpers, voltage regulator, stepping.
  13. ↑ SGI, 007-3701-001, pp. 31-33. EIDE cabling and master/slave settings.
  14. ↑ Milton Adamou, "Upgrades" FAQ, SGI320, sgi320.wordpress.com. IDE drives up to 120 GB reported working.
  15. ↑ Milton Adamou, "Hard Drive", SGI320, sgi320.wordpress.com. Compact Flash on an IDE adapter.
  16. ↑ 16.0 16.1 Silicon Graphics, Inc., Silicon Graphics Visual Workstations Software Installation Guide, 007-3703-003, 1999, pp. 32-33 (File:SGI Visual Workstations Software Installation Guide (007-3703-003).pdf). System loader partition and boot files.


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