My SGI 4D/35

[Jeremy112]

Hello everyone,

I am a new member to this website, I was searching for vintage computer information and I came across this website.

I don't really know if this would be considered a Vintage computer but it is rather old nonetheless. I happen to actually love the machine and it still amazes me to this day.

It is a Silicon Graphics Inc. 4D/35 Graphical workstation. I have the entire system, cables, software, hard drives etc... I did have the original monitor, however it died and the picture tube was beyond use. It perished on July 1st of this year.

The computer however and its peripherals work. I had a NEC 18" Flat panel that took the BNC Connections, its much easier to view my SGI now.

I have 1 seagate 1.2GB Hard drive that is the size of 3 5.25" Drive bays and a 700mb seagate that is also the same size.


Now I will be honest, I got this system from a friend who got it from someone he knew who gave it to him only if he promised to never sell it and if he did get rid of it had to give it to someone who would appriciate and learn from it.

Im the one who enherited it! :-D

I spent a few days when I originally got it trying to get into the IRIX 5.3 OS that was already installed on the 1.2GB drive. However I dont know the original owners password (neither did my friend) so i could only do so much.


Do any of you own one of these systems? and also does anyone know how "rare" this system is? I plan to keep it and take it to my grave!

The SGI is one of my many PC's, unfortunately I do not have many classics like some of you have (I envy you all!), but the SGI and my HP Alpha are also quite interesting peices.

Most of my PC's consist of newer P3 and up systems. unfortunately at the temporary dump site from our summer flood of 2008, there werent many people that had collectable computers. (out of the 300+ computers I saw from the time the flood happened, I saw about 2 "old" computers ).

Any input Welcome

 

[barythrin]

Everyone starts somewhere right? Lots of systems I have weren't vintage or collectible at the time I had them, they just were worth more to me using them for different OSes/testing than selling.

Anyway, value of servers is hard to say. But hold on to it and it's bound to end up worthwhile especially if you keep it in working condition.

- John

 

[paul]

Hi, and welcome. It should be relatively easy to bypass the root password on that machine, and it could be worth it for the software installed. Why not update your profile so we know your location, etc?

 

[per]

Everyone starts somewhere right? Lots of systems I have weren't vintage or collectible at the time I had them, they just were worth more to me using them for different OSes/testing than selling.

Anyway, value of servers is hard to say. But hold on to it and it's bound to end up worthwhile especially if you keep it in working condition.

- John

I started off with a 486 with Windows 3.11, because that's the first OS I learned to use (kindof, it was actually 3.1, but that's close enough). I learned to use the computer in ~1998 (maybe 1999), and for some reason, Windows would no longer boot in ~2002. I missed the interface for years*, until I got my 486 in 2005.

*(Windows 95+ cutted a lot of functionality out of programs like Paint[brush]).

 

[Jeremy112]

Wow, Thank you guys for the warm welcome and quick response.

I agree, everyone has to start off somewhere. I dont know much about the SGI Personal Iris 4d/35's history much, but from what I have gathered it is almost 20 years old.

Doesnt that make it officially an antique?

It is in excellent working condition too if your all curious. Also in good cosmetic condition. One of the hard drives did take a 4 foot fall to my deck when I received it, my friend dropped it while handing it to me. Miraculously it appears to work excellent still.

I will update my profile as you requested. thank you again all.

also do any of you know what the original MSRP was on this beast? I see one on ebay missing some plastics and its just the tower for $200, but I want to know its original retail value!

Thx again all:mrgreen:

 

[NeXT]

Hurrah! another PI!

I have a 4D/20 with pretty much the graphics system maxed and a whopping 64Mb of ram installed however my monitor also seems a little iffy (seems to be some dried out caps) and I'm missing the special mouse pad for the optical mouse.
To make things worse the scsi system is acting funny and is completely unbootable unless you netboot it but once I can find a few spare parts I'll try using a different IP6 board.
If you need any help, either ask me or talk to the others at the nekochan forums. We all have SGIs
Also, my 4D/20 cost around $15 000 CDN when it was new and the 4D/30 is a bit newer and faster (and sound support is WAY better).
Another thing is that if Irix was installed on an XFS partition, you can mount the drive on pretty much any linux box and reset the password there however if it's EFS you will require another sgi or a very old linux kernel for an ancient release of EFS support (I can't find it no more).

 

[pontus]

I'd say a 40/35 is vintage and it is definitely more rare than other SGI boxes (such as indy and indigo).

Welcome to the forums and congratulations on getting a such a machine in working condition

 

[Jeremy112]

Thank you for the welcome Pontus!

Yes I too think it to be of the more rare systems from SGI. Its in great shape and the inside has no damaged or corroded parts, so I expect it to keep on truckin!

If any of you are curious btw, there is a 4D/35 that is on E*ay for $199 starting bid, not a bad price for a machine like this I think.

I hope to get IRIX working correctly and surf the net on it for my very first time, soon :D

I know I havent updated my info also, but today I have to do a lot of work so I dont think I will get that done, at least until tonight, I am attempting to aqquire a HP 1050C Wide format printer , and I have 26 hours from now to do it!

Again thank you all for the welcome, I am proud to be a member

:mrgreen:

 

[wmmullaney]

Do you have some pictures we could see? That is rare and definitely vintage.

 

[Jeremy112]

Hello wmmullaney!

I will try to get some pics up today. Ill get it setup and running too.

Thx!

 

[Jeremy112]

Ok, I did get some pics taken, Just took them now, i loooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooove the sound of the SGI PI, sounds like a jet engine getting ready for take-off!

Enjoy the pics!

Apparently have to do this 1 to 2 more times lol

 

[Jeremy112]

More pics

 

[Jeremy112]

Last one!

 

[pontus]

That looks pretty schweet to me A bit of corrosion on the back, but no biggy.

Have you seen the nekochan.net forum? definitely a nice hangout for us SGI-geeks

 

[wmmullaney]

Nice, one thing, you may want to consider looking into removing the yellowing from your keyboard/mouse.

 

[Jeremy112]

wmmullaney,

If there is a way to do it, I am all for it! How would I go about doing that?

 

[NeXT]

That is odd.
According to the back tag it's in a server configuration however the fact that you have video says that you at least have entry graphics.
The other thing is that it uses the same drive sleds as my Crimson and those sleds are next to impossible to find.

 

[wmmullaney]

Look in here, then look in part 1 if needed.

linkage

 

[Jeremy112]

Thank you Mullaney!

I can dip the CD Cases as well because a few of them are also yellowed and yellowing, I may also try it on the CD Drive.

Also you guys, I cant get the CD Drive to work with the PI, any ideas? I checked out a compatibility sheet and it is compatible with it, I was told that the drive needs to be modified from 2mb to 512kb sectors?

if you guys know, id VERY much appriciate it!

 

[barythrin]

On the bright side you can watch the feebay system and see how many people go for it and what it ends up going for. It's not necessarily a good price guide, but still lets you know who's out there. Some auctions go by due to lack of exposure or lack of people being aware of the system/rarity, or just a lack of folks who collect that type of system.

Anyway, thanks for the pics. Makes me want to get my SGIs out.