Found a Silicon Graphics Octane in schools e-waste bin
Posted by LeadingAd4802@reddit | vintagecomputing | View on Reddit | 131 comments
Posted by LeadingAd4802@reddit | vintagecomputing | View on Reddit | 131 comments
wootybooty@reddit
Hey, if you wanna make like $30-$40 I’ll put the GPU and pay shipping, possibly CPU tray unless you want to keep that for your wall. I have the same Octane, but have never been able to play with it because the GPU is bad. Food for thought!
VTAndrew@reddit
I have one that I’m willing to sell. It worked when I originally got it but I hadn’t tried it for a really long time and now it won’t power on. I have the monitor keyboard and mouse.
dracosilv@reddit
They said they couldn't take it, and it's probably crushed by now.
wootybooty@reddit
Oh man that’s so sad, not that I didn’t get it but that that was crushed 😢 Need to update my icon to Clippy…
OrangeNood@reddit
It fell into the wrong hands.
LeadingAd4802@reddit (OP)
Yeah I'm very sorry but sadly the plastic was already broken and bruh my parents would've killed me if I took that thing with me
BurnThrough@reddit
Should have left it alone then.
adventurewithme26@reddit
It's been crushed. Whatever OP did to it doesn't matter. Idk why you're all so salty.
codeasm@reddit
I tooknthings like yhis home, and yeah, my parents dint like it, but i wasn't doing dr0gs. Do better, save those old machines.
Tell em you gonnan make some money aswell
KiloChonker@reddit
Your parents seem to be highly strung lol
ziplock9000@reddit
What a shame
LeadingAd4802@reddit (OP)
I did tell the teachers that they had thrown out a nice pice and could've made money from it but they just don't care, they just want it out of their view
TheThiefMaster@reddit
Unfortunately the teachers likely couldn't have taken it - it was school property, not theirs, after all, and probably legally belongs to an ewaste firm now.
Megaman_90@reddit
It likely belongs to the IT dept not the teachers. Ask them. I'm in charge of the IT department at a school, and if kids or staff want stuff out of the ewaste bin I let them take it. It's not like we make any money off of it, and it's better to see someone use it than it go to scrap I'd say.
randombits0110@reddit
IT BELONGS IN A MUSEUM! - Dr. Jones
KiNgPiN8T3@reddit
So do you!
Tells some other redditors to throw randombits0110 over the side
therocketsalad@reddit
YOU BELONG TO ME!
YOU BELONG TO THE CITY!
TONIGHT YOU BELONG TO ME!
thunderbird32@reddit
Yeah, I work at a university and we let student workers take home surplus pretty regularly. We just make sure to pull the hard disks and they're good to go.
socialcommentary2000@reddit
Even parting that out, it is not worth the time for an institution to try to sell that.
I recycle ten times the value of that kit every 3 months or so on much more current gear and it's still not worth it for us to actually setup a system to try to recoup from resale.
rkrenicki@reddit
My god yes.. That poor thing did not deserved to be manhandled like that.. Let's just yank these bits out.. and then just let gravity slam them back in..
*If* it did work before, the likelihood of it working now is much lower.
noob-combo@reddit
Sliding it across and slamming it carelessly on fucking sharp GRAVEL.
This is so offensive it's gross.
BigBagaroo@reddit
Should be marked NSFW!
2BR_0_2B@reddit
These were used in old and I mean old GE MRI systems for image reconstruction.
Squeezer_pimp@reddit
Can it be repurposed for AI???
GeekHabits@reddit
Yoink
Internal-Silver-8975@reddit
Ich check nicht warum das Teil zerstört werden muss.
Als bei uns in den 2000ern die alten Schul PCs ausgemustert wurde, hat der Hausmeister die vor der Schule abgestellt und gesagt, dass sich jeder Bedienen kann. Ich habe mir einen High Tower und einige Adapter genommen, die ich gut brauchen konnte, die Schule musste nix für die Entsorgung zahlen und alle waren happy.
TexasTokyo@reddit
Legalities and government regulations.
LeadingAd4802@reddit (OP)
Verstehe ich auch nicht. Die Schule ist auch noch so blöd dabei und bezahlt für die Abholung anstatt Geld mit dem Schrott zu machen aber viele wollen es einfach weg haben und gut ist
Internal-Silver-8975@reddit
Ja, heute reden alle von Umweltschutz und dann wird euch sowas vorgelebt... Und es ist einfach schade, sowas wird nicht mehr hergestellt und wieder ist ein Teil für immer verschwunden.
Aber vielleicht hat eure Schule Auflagen, die unsere damals nicht hatte (oder einfach ignorierte), und darf wirklich nichts verschenken.
ArtemisInSpace@reddit
r/HardwareGore
Beautiful-Meaning601@reddit
Why did you destroy it?
Grass_roots_farmer@reddit
I have like 20 of these at work mainly used in PET and CT scans….. what am I missing here?
therocketsalad@reddit
Stop yanking on it
randombits0110@reddit
Yeah, the front fell off!
itsasnowconemachine@reddit
The reference
Clarke and Dawe - The Front Fell Off
Starryguy76@reddit
Jason X in space, where he holds a pretty blonde's head into liquid nitrogen. Then he slams it down onto a table. Her face shatters.
FriendExtreme8336@reddit
Well it’s not very typical, I’d like to make that point
LeadingAd4802@reddit (OP)
Yeah it was already off when I found it. It broke when it was tossed in by a teacher
Disastrous-Border-58@reddit
Nobody's talking about the plastic front. It's how your handling the interface boards.
LeadingAd4802@reddit (OP)
Understood but I thought he meant the plastics since he said the front fell off. I know that these are sensitive now. At that time I was pretty new to like these really old PCs. As I said, when I find one like that again I'll handle it with care.
MakzSedens@reddit
For the record: don't handle a new computer like this either. Those parts are fragile, vintage or modern. It doesn't take a lot to make them inoperable, and then it's an expensive fix, if it can be fixed at all.
But I'm sure you get it now, so, cool find regardless.
Disastrous-Border-58@reddit
Right on. Learn from your mistakes and be better next time. Feel lucky you got to touch hardware not many of us did.
042376x@reddit
Momma warned me about this
rezwrrd@reddit
Better take it outside the environment for e-waste recycling!
therocketsalad@reddit
This hardly ever happens
Morty_A2666@reddit
You definitely know how to handle old equipment... I guess holding phone to make video for clicks was more important.
LeadingAd4802@reddit (OP)
Bro the school didn't allow to take anything and I didn't know what it was at the time so sorry for that but I didn't intend that. The computer is crushed anyway by now, nothing I could do
SBInCB@reddit
This is you excusing yourself? You gave a reason, not an excuse.
Ignorance (not knowing what it is) is not an excuse. Not intending to do something wrong doesn’t make it not happen.
Just admit you were being dumb and move on. Saying “Sorry, but…” is worse than saying nothing at all.
LeadingAd4802@reddit (OP)
Thank you but I do have an English teacher. I know I was dumb and should've done things differently so I'm sorry.
probably_platypus@reddit
One question: What were you expecting when you posted this to a sub that intends to preserve vintage computing gear?
My youngest is 17. I call him 'Ready, Fire, Aim.' when he acts before thinking something through.
SBInCB@reddit
LOL. Ok. Good luck little buddy.
LeadingAd4802@reddit (OP)
Bruh I'm 17 but okay 👍
harglblarg@reddit
Alter Schalter
dan_cycl@reddit
Take it home
Whipitreelgud@reddit
I bought one of those in 1997 while working in R&D. It cost $100,000 and when I showed my boss the problem it solved he said it was better than science fiction right before his eyes. The problem it solved paid for it on the first project it completed
DubberRuckus@reddit
You should cross-post this to r/vfx - the old guys in there would get a kick out of seeing one of these in the wild.
Shit it's been almost 20 years since I've seen an octane2 and at one point I had 6 Octane2's and 6 Indigo 2's in my house!
Mat867@reddit
Maaan why so rough.. id treat it like my firstborn and it would do cool things
jtsiomb@reddit
Why would a school have an octane in the first place?
LeadingAd4802@reddit (OP)
Had it probably since the 90s, as I know it was used for graphics design and stuff but also got CAD, my school is a Vocational college mainly in area metal, technics and electronics
T_am04@reddit
Hey so you should send it to me!
LeadingAd4802@reddit (OP)
School didn't allow to take things out of the bin, we were allowed to look but not take anything, snuck out the 4x 16 meg ram sticks and the 9gb HDD tho
jtsiomb@reddit
If I found an octane going to e-waste, I'd like to see them try to stop me from taking it.
T_am04@reddit
thats so boring of them, did u try to negotiate?
LeadingAd4802@reddit (OP)
Yeah I did try at first but they firmly said no but when the next bin of e-waste is there I'll try harder when it means taking something like that home.
Flash_fan-385@reddit
Snag it at night if it's outside
AffectionateToe9937@reddit
I found a Picasso and look how I step on it.
LeadingAd4802@reddit (OP)
TO ANYONE WHO IS MAD AT ME FOR HANDLING IT LIKE THAT: when I find another vintage PC in the next bin I will handle it with care and try to convince the principal to allow me to take it
atechmonk@reddit
Does that mean you didn't take it? WHYYYYYY?!! 😭
LeadingAd4802@reddit (OP)
Sadly I couldn't, school didn't allow it. I'm really sad too and to be honest, if I could've taken it I would've been way more careful
Emperor_Zombie@reddit
Back in the day I worked for an E-cycling and easily could have convinced my boss that an SGI was was worth reselling, infact we had a long literal wait list of people looking.
Only thing I saw come through for the few years I was there that looked worth saving were a few Sun Microsystems Ultra 5 Workstation.
ShirtTucker@reddit
It’s a UNIX system. I know this.
itsasnowconemachine@reddit
https://old.reddit.com/r/itsaunixsystem/
F_ThisS@reddit
IRIX was SGIs flavor
NotAMotivRep@reddit
woosh
WeakSherbert@reddit
Idiot. Those are worth good money on eBay.
LeadingAd4802@reddit (OP)
That's what I know. Read the comments below please
Royal_Stay_6502@reddit
Hahaha.. 30$K machine.
BroughtMyBrownPants@reddit
Well, if it wasn't broken before, if definitely is now.
Strike_Alibi@reddit
I would never treat mine that way... oof.
But I understand in this case you were not allowed to bring it home ... so it was a lot like examining an already dead body.
DominBear@reddit
many recycling centers will put items like that on ebay.
DrSFalken@reddit
Why are you bashing it around like it owes you money?
KoneCat@reddit
Read further down that you were not allowed to take the entire machine, which sucks. These are super neat machines, and I dislike seeing anything getting scrapped just because. I know the laws are very likely different there, but man that stings as I'd love to get my hands on one of these, even if it were not working. In my humble opinion, I've always had the mindset of 'If it can be fixed, or is functional, then it could be useful to someone'. Heck, I have a lot of old machines myself, and some are just not worth much at all, but I save them because they work, and they are cool.
That, and I love fixing stuff.
Ok-Bug5206@reddit
das is krank
lol
würd den restaurieren und testen
ScudsCorp@reddit
Case design with the heavy chassis and sleds is VERY not PC. also - I’d seen an “assembled in Ireland” stamp, so yeah, this ain’t a frickin’ Gateway
NotAMotivRep@reddit
You are correct. Gateway never shipped 25kg worth of metal with their circuit boards.
metzger28@reddit
Do you just go around to pretty much everything you interact with and just absolutely beat the shit out of it like you did this computer?
Next time you find something like this, leave it alone. Save it the indignity of being abused like that.
LeadingAd4802@reddit (OP)
If you would've read comments I already excused myself, told that I wasn't allowed to take anything and I didn't know what it was at the time. It's already crushed by now but if I wouldve been allowed to take anything I would've handled it with care. Also when I see something like that in the next bin I will be careful.
whoknewidlikeit@reddit
i'd want it at least for the case.
many years ago a bro and i shoehorned a pentium into an SGI Indigo 2 case. was awesome on his desk, tripped people out. required modding the interior a bit, but this was a bare skin, we didn't mangle any computing parts.
LeadingAd4802@reddit (OP)
Half oh the case was missing, the front also cracked so wasn't even good for that even if I wouldve been allowed to take it
Expensive_Shallot_78@reddit
Are they crazy. Why do they dispose this??
Megaman_90@reddit
Unfortunately, In the eyes of most people it's just an old ass computer. Corporations and businesses toss stuff like this regularly.
LeadingAd4802@reddit (OP)
They simply don't care. They just want it out of their sight and don't care about the value, moneywise or agewise
Cold_Stress7872@reddit
THAT BELONGS IN A MUSEUM!
WatTambor420@reddit
You should post the video of it being crushed to really bother the people on here lol.
It belongs in a museum!! (so do you)
Shaner9er1337@reddit
Huh might as well put it back with the way you are handling it.
ceramicsaturn@reddit
Are you a gorilla? Caveman, perhaps?
LeadingAd4802@reddit (OP)
If I could've somehow taken it home and the plastic was Intact AND I knew someone didn't throw it in with full force (which someone did) I probably would've touched it with gloves or something XD
xplosm@reddit
Your obsession with the plastic is disturbing...
NetFu@reddit
I imagine the iMac scene in Zoolander...
dnabre@reddit
Great find.
Becareful with what kind of keyboard you use with it. SGI keyboards are different than PC keyboards, but both use same PS/2 connector (or the SGI one is very close to it). Connecting a PC keyboard to the ps/2 port with a proper adapter can burn out the keyboard, and potentially damage the SGI. (I'm going by pretty old memory, if I'm forgetting/mixing up details please correct me)
Not sure if it is only when video/keyboard is not connected, or always but you should get a serial console on one/both ports. Using that port and tftp network boot is easiest way to install an operating system.
Kumba42@reddit
This was only an issue on the IRIS Indigo system (and maybe some of the systems from that era and older). Starting from the Indy and Indigo² machines, and also on O2, Octane, Origin, Onyx2, etc, SGI switched to using standard PS/2 ports for both mouse and keyboard. As for serial on the systems with graphics hardware, it's the lack of a keyboard that should cause it to switch over to the first serial port @ 9600bps 8N1.
dnabre@reddit
Thanks for the corrections!
Knew I guys that burnt out half dozen keyboards with some SGI (why he though keyboards after the first might work is beyond me)
Kumba42@reddit
Ehh, it's a guy thing. If it didn't work the first time, surely it'll work if I try it enough...
Appropriate-Fish2374@reddit
No dust.
tecplush@reddit
What are you doing, spd fck?!
Kinky_No_Bit@reddit
Welp, its certainly junk now.
acetaminophenpt@reddit
In a coming future one can only hope to find a working rtx 6000 on a e-waste bin
weslav8008@reddit
Call ionic1k
DecentlySpaghetti@reddit
Get it
joeljaeggli@reddit
Somebody stole the ram out of that back in 2001 to put in a pentium 3 xeon
LeadingAd4802@reddit (OP)
Well actually it hat 4X 16MB RAM inside of it alongside with a 9 GB SCSI HDD. My school didn't allow to take anything but that's what I snuck out. It lays safely in a display in my room. Sadly I couldn't take the PC or the school would've nerfed me
Electronic-Country63@reddit
STOP HURTING IT, IT’S ALREADY DEAD…
dracosilv@reddit
Op said elsewhere it was eWaste they couldn't take.
TheBalconySitter@reddit
Rare find! That looks awesome
Torkum73@reddit
This hurts physically seeing this... the delicate connectors which break, if you only touch them, slammed in by gravity. If he knew for how much these machines sell, even without shell, he would be weeping and kicking his own ass.
No_Group5174@reddit
"spares only"
zmttoxics2@reddit
Those boards use compression connectors that are easily damaged if I remember right. Watching it slam home made me wince.
LeadingAd4802@reddit (OP)
Yeah sorry to tell you but sadly it's now crushed in the e waste center. We were allowed to look but not take anything. If the plastic wouldn't have been broken I might've tried to smuggle it out but it was broken anyway
IHeartBadCode@reddit
Understood. Some people will see that machine, know what it is, and how truly rare a treat they are to find in the wild. Then there's people like your administrators that just see it as a paperweight and want it gone. Such is the comedy of this world that the same thing can be seen in such different ways.
Once of my first gigs in technology right after college was building a Beowulf cluster to do calculations on, and I'm sorry if this is wrong because I'm not exactly the chemistry major here, modelling atomic structures and doing something with energies in bonds or something. The result of the calculations were then modeled on a set of SGI workstations.
I remember setting them up and it was a unique experience because I had not worked with IRIX before then. But I remember their workstations unique look and how they were put together. I remember watching professors do presentations with 3D models of chemicals from these things. Flying around atoms in ways I've never seen before and it literally felt like the future. So whenever I see them I think back to those times.
But for you all, you likely just see some old computer. And that's fine, I'm glad you got to see one of those machines. They were in a wholly different class back in the day and did things that few other computers could do. They were something else, I hate that you didn't get to see one in full swing and just how really cool a machine they were, but it is cool that you all got to see the physical device.
I don't know, maybe chalk it up to nostalgia, but those machines occupy a space for a lot of us that's very special. They were very unique, and so for a lot of us they're slightly magical devices in that sense. But seeing one as it is in the video is the stark reminder of what usually happens to these machines. No matter how special a place they occupy in our mind, it's not the same for everyone and eventually time wins its prize even for the things that are still dear to our hearts. Eventually the future just becomes legacy.
Kumba42@reddit
Those compression connectors might've actually survived that, if that was the only time it happened (multiple drops would have definitely destroyed them). They were strange little things, because you can easily damage one by running a finger over the contacts on the connector itself, which were made up of very fine, tiny gold "hairs", and the oils on your finger would get in between those hairs and reduce the conductivity. I knew a guy once on IRC who actually fixed one by cleaning it in a carbon-graphite bath they had access to at MIT many years ago.
spilk@reddit
someone keep this dude away from computers, jesus christ
Cwc2413@reddit
I’m glad you saved it but dang! Why so rough!
LeadingAd4802@reddit (OP)
Well sadly I couldn't save it. I'm really sad I couldn't. We were allowed to look but weren't allowed to take anything. Man I would've saved it but the plastic was already broken and stuff. Really sad to see
NullPointerJunkie@reddit
What if you started a side hustle as an e-waste recycler and this was your first gig?
LeadingAd4802@reddit (OP)
Yo that would be gold, the school even is so dumb and PAYS to get that container driven away and those people probably make money from it but they probably don't care about those things
CarrDaPorice@reddit
This hurt me on a spiritual level.
Kumba42@reddit
As someone who used to work on running Linux on these machines, it is sad to see this and hear that it's been crushed for eWaste. Luckily, I still have two working Octanes, one w/ an R14000 dual CPU and the other w/ an R12000 dual CPU. A third one might work, but I need to hunt down a new power supply for it at some point. They're mostly museum pieces now, but I occasionally turn them on to make sure they still run and sometimes for extra heat, lol.
FluxChiller@reddit
I think you are posting this as rage bait on many levels.
referefref@reddit
What a waste
LeadingAd4802@reddit (OP)
Sadly yes
DoctorExtra9060@reddit
SGI gear was beautiful. And I really liked Irix. Good old days. :)