Hard Hat and Tandem.

I have a Tandem model number CMN B006S that I'm trying to get Hard
Hat up and running on. This is a machine build for Tandem by SGI and, based on the descriptions I have read, I believe it is a close cousin to the Challenge S.

For instance an hinv returns:
Syestem: IP22
Processor: 150 Mhz R4400, with FPU
Primary I-cache size: 16 Kbytes
Primary D-cache size: 16 Kbytes
Secondary cache size: 1024 Kbytes
Memory size: 256 Mbytes
SCSI Disk: scsi(0)disk(1)

When I try to boot off of the 2.1.100 kernel distributed with Hard Hat I get this:

wd33c93-0: chip=WD33c93B/13 no_sync=0xff no_dma=0scsi0 : SGI WD 93 scsi : 1 host.
sending SDTR 0103013f0csync_xfer=2c Vendor: SGI Model:
SEAGATE ST31230N2
Type: Direct-Access ANSI
SCSI revision: 02
Detected scsi disk sda at scsi0, channel 0, id 1, lun 0
scsi : detected 1 SCSI disk total.
SCSI device sda: hdwr sector= 512 bytes. Sectors= 2070235 [1010 MB] [1.0 GB]
sgiseeq.c: David S Miller ([email protected])
eth0: SGI Seeq8003 08:00:69:08:db:dd
Sending BOOTP requests....Got a bus error IRQ, shouldn't happen yet $0 : 00000000 88190000 97f8bd68 fffffff5
$4 : 97f8db84 00000000 00000000 00000040
$8 : 0000001c 881095b4 00000001 00000000
$12: 00000000 97f8476c 97f84600 a8617000
$16: 00000040 97f43f78 00000000 97f8bdb0
$20: 0000016c 9fc56934 00000000 9fc56394
$24: 00000000 97f8bce8
$28: 97f8a000 97f8bd50 9fc4be88 880923cc
epc : 880923cc
Status: 1004fc03
Cause : 00004000
Spinning...

Now I have spent a some time browsing the archives and I know this
was a common problem some time ago on certain models of Indys.

I can get the system to boot by replacing the Hard Hat vmlinux image
with the vmlinux-indy-initrd-990313.gz image found in ftp.linux.sgi.com/pub/linux/mips/test. But that leaves me with a crippled RAM disk image and a root prompt. I can NFS mount my Hard Hat file system, but that doesn't help me run the installation.

My question is: Can I get a precompiled vmlinux replacement for the
Hard Hat distribution which will allow me to continue with the
installation? Or, since Tandem is not officially supported, do I
spend the next couple of months hand assembling a root partition on the machine from the bits I currently have working via NFS?

Any advice anyone could give me would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks.

Could you send me a the full hinv output, just to verify that this system is really an IP22 with no Tandem specific specials?

Further, what is the product name under which this Tandem was marketed? Is it CMN B006S? I'd like to document the fact that this machine is (un?)supported in the Linux/MIPS docs.

Yep, but it's fixed.

That particular kernel was on there for testing the initrd functionality, so you're experiencing exactly what is supposed to happen.

There are several kernels in exactly the directory you got the initrd image from.

I have never heared about these Tandem machine but I assume that it it identical to the Indy rsp. Challenge S.

Ralf

Well the above is all that comes from a straight hinv. I do get more if
I do an 'hinv -t' or 'hinv -t -p' though. Half of the 'hinv -t -p' scrolls off the screen and the information seems to be redundant anyway (4 lines to describe serial port 1 for instance).

Here is the output of an 'hinv -t'.

system ARC SGI-IP22 key 0
processor CPU MIPS-R4400 key 0
processor FPU MIPS-R4400FPC key 0
cache primary icache 16 Kbytes (block 1 lines, line 16 bytes) cache primary dcache 16 Kbytes (block 1 lines, line 16 bytes) cache secondary cache 1024 Kbytes (block 1 lines, line 128 bytes) memory main 256 Mbytes
controller network ec0 key 0
peripheral network key 0
adapter SCSI WD33C93B key 0
controller disk SGI SEAGATE ST31230N key 1
peripheral disk unit 0
controller serial IP22 tty key 0
peripheral line key 0
controller serial IP22 tty key 1
peripheral line key 0
controller keyboard pc kbd key 0
controller pointer pcms key 0
peripheral pointer key 0

Now I don't know what it means by keyboard and pointer. The machine has
no keyboard or mouse port. It does have two serial ports that look like PS/2 mouse ports though. I'm running the dumb terminal off one right now.

I don't know to both questions. The only identification the outside of
the box is the above model name/number affixed to the bottom panel. The box is jet black and says TANDEM in the lower right corner. I've opened it up and it has a copyright 1993 Silicon Graphics on one of the circuit boards, but the machine is absent of any obvious identification.

<snip, snip>

Cool. Any idea which one I should use? Or should I try them all until I
find one that works?

Well I could give you a bastardized history lesson. Bastardized in the
sense that I think I know the story, but could be wrong since I'm repeating info that has been passed to me through multiple sources.

Tandem was a company situated in Texas that was in the business of
selling business servers. At the time this box was purchased, Tandem was repackaging SGI hardware and selling them as Tandem servers. Since then Tandem has been bought by Compaq, which I believe where more or less bought Tandem in order to acquire the brand name. Currently I believe Compaq sells industrial computers under the Tandem name. I do not think those machines have a MIPS chip set though.

Keep in mind everything or anything I said in the above paragraph may be
wrong. 8-) I'm just repeating hear say.

I actually have a second Tandem box which is still a mystery box since it
requires a 220 outlet and the power grid in my apartment needs to be customized to support it. 8-) Once I get that monster up and running I'll have to run an hinv to see what it has for guts.

Thanks.

Cory

This looks indeed very much like an Indy, less a Challenge S. A Challenge S usually has an additional WD33C95 SCSI controller as well as an extra Ethernet. Also, afaik the keyboard controller has been removed from the Challenge. So your machine looks like an Indy with the GFX removed.

Too bad. Guess for now I'll just use that ``CMN B006S'' ...

Sorry, offhand I don't know which one is working. Most of these kernel binaries have been uploaded by others and since I roll my own kernels ...

I think it's called rumour ;-)

Tandem has a very interesting program of HA machines and software. They have more or less the only UNIX systems that guarantee like 99.99999% availability.

220 everywhere here. But I fear that I'll soon need a 400V connector for my next machine ...

Ralf

Actually it does have the second SCSI, but it is not showing up in the hinv
for some reason.

I've opened up the box again to have another peak at the boards. The top
board says this:
Silicon Graphics Inc. Copyright 1994
SCSI-MEZZ CHALLENGE-S 030-8221-002 REV: D

This board has the WD33C95 SCSI controller chip on it. This board has two
wide SCSI ports out the back and an RJ45 which should be an ethernet. It has the little network symbol by it. I initially tried that RJ45 port for bootp, but had no success. The main board below it has a female DB15 connector that I connect a ethernet transceiver to in order to run bootp.

The bottom board additionally has the two PS/2 like serial ports, one DB25
female (don't know what it is), and a thin SCSI port.

It has no keyboard or mouse port even though the hinv claims it does. I
wonder if this machine could be loaded with the incorrect boot prom?

<snip, snip>

<snip, snip>

Yeah it looks like Tandem is still around. And it looks like you can still
buy MIPS based systems from them, although the sticker shock would probably kill most of us mere mortals. 8-) I think the claim they make is more spectacular than the hardware they sell. They were making this claim back when my Tandem was made, and as you can see it is basically a Challenge S or Indy.

Thanks.

Cory

Cory Jon Hollingsworth writes:
...

...

The keyboard and mouse hardware is in the ASIC set, just not attached
to connectors. This is definitely a Challenge-S. The mezzanine card (which plugs into the GIO connectors where the Indy graphics card would be) is probably not being recognized by the drivers you have configured, both for the WD33C95 SCSI controller and the extra Ethernet controller. That is, you see the base SCSI and Ethernet, not the extras on the mezzanine card.

* > > Tandem was a company situated in Texas that was in the business of

Texas? Headquarters was Cupertino, California.

* > > selling business servers. At the time this box was purchased, Tandem was
* > > repackaging SGI hardware and selling them as Tandem servers. Since then
* > > Tandem has been bought by Compaq, which I believe where more or less bought
* > > Tandem in order to acquire the brand name. Currently I believe Compaq sells
* > > industrial computers under the Tandem name. I do not think those machines
* > > have a MIPS chip set though.
* >
* > Tandem has a very interesting program of HA machines and software. They
* > have more or less the only UNIX systems that guarantee like 99.99999%
* > availability.

Tandem had 2 computer lines: the fault-tolorant Himalaya line running their own OS called Non-Stop built with MIPS CPUs, and the Integrity line which was OEM'ed SGI Challenge servers running IRIX.

Looks like new Himalaya servers are built around Alpha CPUs.

Tandem had more lines than that. They sold the S/3, which was
a triple-modular-redundant UNIX box, with MIPS processors and a hardened version of MIPS RISC/os, mainly sold to telephone companies. The S/3 was designed and built in Texas. They also OEMed various SGI servers and
workstations, notably Indy and Challenge/S systems. The Tandem versions
of the latter were identical to the SGI versions, except that the plastic covers were black with a Tandem logo.

Hey I said my history was bastardized. If that is the only fact I got wrong I
feel quite happy.

So I can confidently say I have a Challenge S with a Tandem cover. The machine
was running IRIX prior to me acquiring it.