18 Dec
2001
18 Dec
'01
10:22 a.m.
-----Original Message-----
From: William Donzelli [mailto:aw288@osfn.org]
workstations.
Clipper based, and pre-clipper (were they
VAX?) Intergraph
> systems. The early big servers were VAX based. In fact, they
were mostly just
rebadged. RCS/RI has an Intergraph VAX 8550. It has some
really strange
custom hardware in the disk controllers - something about
these things
could do searches thru files on the disks for specific
graphics entities
(for CAD) without bothering the processor. Odd.
"Really-strange-custom-hardware" was Intergraph's middle name for the
longest time. That's what makes their systems so interesting.
> There's one CDC workstation that was a
re-badged Indigo, that's
> relatively common. It's the only CDC system I've seen for sale.
CDC was rebadging IRIS 3000 machines as Cyber 910s.
*Really*? What are my chances of finding one? I'd love to have an IRIS
3000, if I found that I could fit it in the house. :) Did they run the
early versions of IRIX?
Regards,
Chris
Christopher Smith, Perl Developer
Amdocs - Champaign, IL
/usr/bin/perl -e '
print((~"\x95\xc4\xe3"^"Just Another Perl
Hacker.")."\x08!\n");
'
18 Dec
18 Dec
10:37 a.m.
*Really*? What are my chances of finding one?
I'd love to have an IRIS
3000, if I found that I could fit it in the house. :) Did they run the
early versions of IRIX?
They are not too big - almost the same size as a Sun 4/370. I think they
tip the scale at about 200 pounds, but moving them is a pain because they
used really cheesy casters.
I have not booted mine for the longest time, but I think it is a very old
version of IRIX. I think the CAD package is called ElmCAD, or something
like that. Pretty bad, in my opinion.
William Donzelli
aw288(a)osfn.org
1:49 p.m.
On Tue, 18 Dec 2001, William Donzelli wrote:
They are not too big - almost the same size as a Sun
4/370. I think they
tip the scale at about 200 pounds, but moving them is a pain because they
used really cheesy casters.
The IRIS 3000 series aren't too heavy. My 3110 (fully loaded with boards
and disks) only weighs something on the order of 100 to 125 pounds. It's
an easy move with two people, unlike my Symbolics 3650, which at 160 or so
with disks and boards removed, takes some grunting to move with two
people. And yes, the IRIS doesn't have so much casters as it has
caster-signifiers. They suck. The bottom panel they bolt to tends to warp,
which compounds their cheesiness.
My Sony TV weighs in at 235 pounds. My roommate and I nearly killed
ourselves moving it, and nearly destroyed the TV (and the walls, and the
floor, and the front porch..).
My AS/400 9406/500 isn't much bigger than the 'bolix but tips the scales
at more than 250 pounds. I'm not looking forward to moving it.
I have not booted mine for the longest time, but I
think it is a very old
version of IRIX.
IRIX only runs on MIPS. Some other SVR3ish software I can't remember the
name of ran on the m68k boxes.
Do you know the proper syntax to boot an IRIS 3000 from cartridge tape?
ok
r.
11:10 a.m.
There was a box I got to play with a little bit in
85-86 by a company called MassComp (I think). It
was the first desktop machine I encountered that
really gave an impression of being powerful. I'm
not really desperate to get one, but I've never
seen another. Maybe they are common elsewhere and
not really as interesting as I remember?
8482
days inactive
8482
days old
4 comments
4 participants
participants (4)
-
aw288＠osfn.org -
bills＠adrenaline.com -
csmith＠amdocs.com -
red＠bears.org