Console Cable & Software Configuration

If you wish to connect another SGI, a PC or a terminal (Such as a Wyse 50) to your SGI then you need will need a serial cable. Most SGI's have a 9-pin male connector on them for this purpose which is identified as either "1", "tty_1" or "Console" or a combination of the above.

A null modem cable bought off the shelf should work OK for this, but if you prefer to make your own cable, then this pin layout is tried and tested on :

Fuel
Octane
Onyx2 / Origin 2000 (Connected to Base I/O board, or with addition of a MINI-DIN connector to connect to the MMSC console port)
Origin 300 / 350 / 3000 Series
L2 Controller
Tezro

Console Cable Pin-Outs

Assuming your using a 9-pin serial cable, wire the cable as follows :

1 - 4
2 - 3
3 - 2
4 - 6
5 - 5
6 - Not connected
7 - 8
8 - 7
9 - Not connected

Software Configuration

Most older generation systems, pre-IP35, such as O2, Octane, Origin 200, Origin 2000 and Onyx2 will need your terminal emulator set with the following options :

9600 (Baud Rate)
8 (Data Bits)
N (Parity)
1 (Stop Bits)

Newer systems, from IP35 onwards, such as Fuel's, Tezro's, Origin 300's, Origin 350's, Origin 3000's and Altix systems will require :

38400 (Baud Rate)
8 (Data Bits)
N (Parity)
1 (Stop Bits)


If connecting from a Linux PC in a terminal window or from an SGI you can use the "cu" command. An example of this would be "cu -l /dev/ttyd1 -s38400". Use the man page for CU on your system to verify this.

If using a Windows PC most have HyperTerminal built in which will function perfectly well for infrequent use, but if you are a regular user you may wish to use something like SecureCRT (http://www.vandyke.com/products/securecrt/index.html) which is a bit more flexible and reliable.

If using a Macintosh, an easy to use terminal emulator is ZTerm (http://homepage.mac.com/dalverson/zterm/), which has versions available supporting System 7 all the way through OS X. For newer Macs that lack serial ports, any Macintosh compatible USB-Serial adapter should work.