Overview

This page generally represents a howto on getting IRIX to install on a SGI Indy from a Fedora server.

Linux/Fedora Server Setup

Kernel Parameters

Since SGI's IP stack has issues with MTU and 65k port ranges the following lines are required to be added to /etc/sysctl.conf:

• net.ipv4.ip_local_port_range = 2048 32767
• net.ipv4.ip_no_pmtu_disc = 1

Or if you don't feel like changing the /etc/sysctl.conf file, just execute as root:

• # echo 1 > /proc/sys/net/ipv4/ip_no_pmtu_disc
• # echo 2048 32767 > /proc/sys/net/ipv4/ip_local_port_range

Services: bootparamd/dhcpd/tftpd

Execute as root yum -y install bootparamd dhcp tftp-server. These files are necessary to get the boot process working from the SGI machine.

Setup the /etc/bootparams file. The SGI Indy has been setup using the IP 192.168.5.200, so the cooresponding bootparams file has the line 192.168.5.200 root=192.168.5.1:/share. The bootp protocol is executed with rpc.bootparamd -s -l -d -r 192.168.5.1 to force syslogging, disable DNS, debugging, and make 192.168.5.1 the default router so that bootp won't look for any other routers.

Setup the /etc/dhcpd.conf file. During our setup, it was easier to have a dedicated crossover for network configurations. References will use eth1.

TFTP is relinked to point to /share, the command to start is in.tftpd -s /share/ -L -v.

CDs into tftp directory

For simplistic purposes, all CDs were copied into a directory called /share.

Dropping the Firewall

Pay close attention to the iptables stack on the Linux server. If you receive ICMP Admin Prohibited messages, drop the firewall and you should be good to go.

IRIX Booting

Once the SGI has booted, you will be presented with several options. Select Start Command Monitor and enter boot -f bootp()192.168.5.1:/o1/stand/fx.ARCS --x to enter the interactive disk partitioning command menus.

Drive Initialization

Now with a sucessful boot, you may be presented with an invalid volume header. If this is the case, you'll need to initialize the drive. The simplest way is to just select [a]uto from the menu and type yes to destroy all of the data on the disk.

Installing IRIX 6.5

Since Linux's NFS didn't work properly, a rcp was necessary to move the appropriate discs onto the host Indy for installation. From the Indy command line:

• cd /root/
• mkdir inst
• cd /inst/
• rcp -rpv 192.168.5.1:/share/Overlay1 .
• rcp -rpv 192.168.5.1:/share/Foundations1 .
• rcp -rpv 192.168.5.1:/share/Foundations2 .
• rcp -rpv 192.168.5.1:/share/Apps1 .

exit back into the installer menu. Select option "2" to for additional repositories and type in the directory /root/inst/Foundations1/dist, then repeat for /root/inst/Foundations2/dist and /root/inst/Apps1/dist.

Begin the Install

For the base system, we've selected to just keep it simple. Use the following options:

• keep *
• install standard
• install prereqs
• go
  Note: You might have to clarify some conflicts. To do this just enter conflicts 1a and press enter and then type go again to see if there are any additional conflicts. If there are none, IRIX should begin installing.

Installation of the above sets takes roughly 2 hours on an Indy R4400.

After IRIX has completed its install procedure, type quit and it will begin its process of Requickstarting ELF files (see rqsall(1)) ...

• Installing IRIX
• Scratch install of IRIX 6.5 Base + 6.5.3 Intermediate Release
• SGI IRIX
• SGI IRIX Patches