SGI O2 boots and plays chime but VGA output is all black

[Tommy]

Hi

So finally got a SGI O2 a machine some when i was young.. ;)
the issue is that the machine i have does boot and playes the little chime after boot but the no matter the screen i plug it in to shows an output.
the monitors i have tried it on does register that there is a signal but the screen is black

what am i missing ? or is there something special regarding screens i have to be aware of.

Thanks

[John-Paul Stewart]

Hi
So finally got a SGI O2 a machine some when i was young.. ;) the issue
is that the machine i have does boot and playes the little chime after
boot but the no matter the screen i plug it in to shows an output. the
monitors i have tried it on does register that there is a signal but the
screen is black
what am i missing ? or is there something special regarding screens i have to be aware of.

The system might be set to use a serial console. Try connecting a null
modem cable between the O2 and another machine (PC, Mac, Linux, whatever
you have handy) running a terminal emulator and see what that says. You
may find an error message about failed graphics causing it to fall back
to a serial console or maybe that it's configured for one regardless.

If you haven't already, check out both http://forums.nekochan.net/ and
the wiki there for more info about diagnosing and fixing SGI systems.
Those forums are much more active than this newsgroup. I have several
SGIs but I don't have any hands-on experience with an O2. So,
unfortunately, I can't offer any more advice than that.

Good luck!

[Tommy]

So after looking around a bit. I found that yes i need to remember to have a keyboard plugged in as well as have an ethernet cable plugged in.

All working now just have to find a PS2 mouse ;)