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gargle...@my-deja.com

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Jan 16, 2001, 9:53:38 AM1/16/01
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i just got an indy which i want to run headless. there is advice on
how to run headless, but all of it says i need to plug a monitor in
first. i would do that, but space is at a premium here in japan, and
the lcd display i do have (an eizo l350) doesn't seem to want to play
ball with the indy's video signal. i suppose i could lug the indy to
a monitor that will cooperate, but barring that, does anyone have any
ideas on how to get this thing going?

thanks in advance,

g.m.


--
gargle...@my-deja.com

Gee, I feel kind of LIGHT in the head now, knowing I can't make my
satellite dish PAYMENTS!

Brent Casavant

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Jan 16, 2001, 10:48:41 AM1/16/01
to gargle...@my-deja.com
[posted and replied]

On 16 Jan 2001 gargle...@my-deja.com wrote:

>
> i just got an indy which i want to run headless. there is advice on
> how to run headless, but all of it says i need to plug a monitor in
> first. i would do that, but space is at a premium here in japan, and
> the lcd display i do have (an eizo l350) doesn't seem to want to play
> ball with the indy's video signal. i suppose i could lug the indy to
> a monitor that will cooperate, but barring that, does anyone have any
> ideas on how to get this thing going?

Sure.

Connect some sort of terminal equipment to the Indy's serial port. During
boot hit the Escape key, and you will be dropped into the 5-option menu.
From there you can choose option 5 to get the PROM monitor.

At the PROM monitor prompt, make sure to set the console to the serial
line with the command:

setenv console d

This will cause the console to appear on the serial port by default
from that point forward (even across power-downs). If you ever wish to
switch back to the graphics console you can "setenv console g" instead.

From this point the system will basically behave exactly as if you were
sitting at the console on the graphics display. There really should be
no discernable difference (apart from not having graphics of course ;).

If you can currently boot to IRIX, you can achieve the console switch
by using:

# nvram console d

Hope that helps,
Brent Casavant

--
Brent Casavant bcas...@sgi.com
Kernel Engineer http://reality.sgi.com/bcasavan
Silicon Graphics, Inc.

Scott Henry

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Jan 16, 2001, 5:37:37 PM1/16/01
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>>>>> "B" == Brent Casavant <bcas...@sgi.com> writes:

B> [posted and replied]


B> On 16 Jan 2001 gargle...@my-deja.com wrote:

>>
>> i just got an indy which i want to run headless. there is advice on
>> how to run headless, but all of it says i need to plug a monitor in
>> first. i would do that, but space is at a premium here in japan, and
>> the lcd display i do have (an eizo l350) doesn't seem to want to play
>> ball with the indy's video signal. i suppose i could lug the indy to
>> a monitor that will cooperate, but barring that, does anyone have any
>> ideas on how to get this thing going?

B> Sure.

B> Connect some sort of terminal equipment to the Indy's serial port. During
B> boot hit the Escape key, and you will be dropped into the 5-option menu.
B> From there you can choose option 5 to get the PROM monitor.

Important: Make sure that you have no keyboard or mouse plugged in!
The PROM by default (it can be overridden) assumes that without a
keyboard that you want to use the serial port as console.

B> At the PROM monitor prompt, make sure to set the console to the serial
B> line with the command:

B> setenv console d

B> This will cause the console to appear on the serial port by default
B> from that point forward (even across power-downs). If you ever wish to
B> switch back to the graphics console you can "setenv console g" instead.

B> From this point the system will basically behave exactly as if you were
B> sitting at the console on the graphics display. There really should be
B> no discernable difference (apart from not having graphics of course ;).

B> If you can currently boot to IRIX, you can achieve the console switch
B> by using:

B> # nvram console d

B> Hope that helps,
B> Brent Casavant

B> --
B> Brent Casavant bcas...@sgi.com
B> Kernel Engineer http://reality.sgi.com/bcasavan
B> Silicon Graphics, Inc.


--
Scott Henry <sco...@sgi.com> / Help! My disclaimer is missing!
IRIX/Linux MTS, / http://reality.sgi.com/scotth/
Silicon Graphics, Inc / SGI-One step ahead

Strafe

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Jan 16, 2001, 7:19:40 PM1/16/01
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Scotts got it right man. I run my R4000 Indigo and my Personal IRIS
4D/25 this way. Use the Indigo2 to pull windows over to it from the two
headless machines. Works great. I use an old 386 laptop and a simple
terminal program to connect to the two headless machines when I'm
installing the OS (cause I did something stupid, do this a lot, it's
fun).
-joe-

--
Joe Aycock (joe...@my-deja.com)
http://go.to/joeaux
Lover of all things Macintosh, SGI or Unix.
Subaru SVX --- The Beauty Of All Wheel Drive.


Sent via Deja.com
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Norm Dresner

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Jan 16, 2001, 8:13:58 PM1/16/01
to
Another answer which I got which allows the machine to boot with no keyboard
or monitor or mouse is
"Set nogfxkbd to 1 in the PROM command monitor (look up the FAQ if
you can't guess the syntax using "help" in tha command monitor ;) )."

This has worked on both an Indy and an older Indigo. But the procedure for
setting the PROM environment variable is the same as below. And no, I don't
really know what the differences are, I simply use the first reasonable
answer to the same question.

Norman Dresner
Fellow Systems Engineer & SGI Laboratory Administrator
Radar Systems Engineering Department
Electronic Systems and Sensors Segment
Northrop Grumman Corporation
Baltimore-Washington International Airport
7323 Aviation Boulevard
Baltimore Maryland 21240

Voice: (410) 993 - 2096 Mornings; all-day voice-mail
(410) 969 - 8068 Afternoons with answering machine
FAX: (410) 993 - 8084 On-site
(410) 969 - 8068 Afternoons; call first to arrange
E-Mail: Mornings: Norman_A...@mail.Northgrum.com
Afternoons: nd...@att.net

Scott Henry <sco...@sgi.com> wrote in message
news:yd88zob...@hoshi.engr.sgi.com...

gargle...@my-deja.com

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Jan 19, 2001, 7:17:15 AM1/19/01
to

hey, thanks everybody, worked like a charm.

by the way, nvram says dbaud is 9600 -- can i get any higher than
that? i'm a little a nervous about changing that value and screwing
things up so i can't get into irix. of course, i can use ethernet
once the thing is going, so it's not crucial.

thanks again.

g.m.

--
gargle...@my-deja.com

It's OKAY -- I'm an INTELLECTUAL, too.

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