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RISC/6000 and NT workstation

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7 replies

by david__

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I have a PowerPC 43p-133 RISC workstation I need to put NT 4 workstation on. It boots up to the screen that displays POWERPC and shows post confirmation of various devices,last one is a speaker, and then the device pictures disapear leaving only the POWERPC on a white background. I have a SMS floppy, but can not get anything to boot, except the SMS floppy, or get an option to start any kind of setup. This is my first time touching a RISC system. It passes all the hardware tests useing the SMS floppy. Now what???

7 replies

by erikdr

Are you 100% certain you got the right NT version? I know NT for the PowerPC has been (close) to available, but presently has definitely been withdrawn by MS. And of course no way at all to run the standard Intel-version on NT on this powerful RISC beast...

Hope this helps,

- The Netherlands

by david__

My problem is not that the setup will not run. It is that I can not get to the point that I have the option to run setup. I do not get a command prompt or anything to even attempt a setup.

David

by pezzz

I've never tried this before, but its worth a try. To load AIX on an rs/6000 you need to put the machine in service mode. My guess would be for you to put the nt4 CD in, and press f5 when you start seeing the icons on the screen(the various devices you mentioned earlier). There is a chance that you may have a key on the workstation that will let you put the machine in service mode. Hope this helps.

by david__

I have 2 systems. A 43p-133 and a 250 RISC/6000 system. The 43p-133 is the one I have been working with, since the 250 does not have a way to plug a monitor in, that I can find. Here is what the 43p-133 does. After the icons start to appear, I press F5, as you suggested, the last icon to appear is the speaker and it beeps once, the icons disapear, then the monitor tells me it is no longer recieving a sigfnal, but the HD is still hitting, after a minuter the HD quits hitting. Now what. If Ipress F4 I can use the SMS floppy, but then what?? The 43p-133 does not have a service key, but the 250 does. Really hope you can provide more info.
Thanks,
David

by pezzz

I did some checking.... we were on the right track. Instead of pressing f5, try pressing f1 when the machine is booting. This will let you select the boot device. Of course select your CDRom and the after you do that it will either reboot or you might have to reboot it and then it should pickup the install from the cd. I'm not sure if your sms floppy will work since it will probably be connecting to an i386 version of NT. Your best bet will be to use an NT 4.0 cd.

by shanghai sam

Thanks for the reply. I have already been able to change the boot order and select the CD rom. I have tried 2 different CD's and even tired putting in another CD rom in. I managed to get into "debug" mode with a prompt, but only internal commandswere available. I did not see anything helpful, then again I dont know anything about PowerPC's. Do you know of a good place on the web or a news group that are experienced PowerPC users, or some good documentation? I will not be able to reply ortry anything till may 7th, Im going on a week class for the 2000 Accelerated exam.
Thanks again.

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