RJ45 wrote:
> 
> hello,
> sorry for the off-topic question.
> I just bought a Octane R12K 400MHz on ebay and I Still have to receive it
> so that In my life I never touched a SGI machine neither I used IRIX, I Am
> complitely new to it. I am used to alphas, sun, Vaxens but not to SGI.
> 
> The guy who sold me the machine told me the machine has a pre installed
> version of IRIX.

Are you getting installation media with it? ie. are you getting install
CD-ROMs?
If not, you can get various Irix versions on Ebay for a few tens of
dollars.
I would definitely try and get the original install media off this guy,
since
IIRC the Irix license comes with the machine. If the machine is sold,
both the
install media plus the license should go with it. (Correct me if I'm
wrong
here, guys, but I'm reasonably sure that that's right).

> so I Ask to you gurus who surely know IRIX much more than me.
> IRIX is usable without a license or the OS is locked if u have no license?

No, the OS isn't locked. You can use it without any problems. However,
what I
*definitely* recommend doing once you have the machine is to try and get
into the
PROM monitor to see whether the password has been enabled. When the
machine boots,
it shows a screen with options for you to do various things such as do
diagnostics,
probe for hardware, install another OS or boot the system.
Try getting into the diagnostics. If it asks you for a password,
IMMEDIATELY phone
your seller and MAKE SURE YOU GET THE PASSWORD!
This happened to me with my Octane and I was lucky: the guy was still
around and 
could still remember the password.

> how much costs mroe or less a license for IRIX  for a personal development
> or educational use ? IS it forbiddenly expensive ?

Well, if your name is William F. Gates III I suppose that won't be too
much of
an issue, but I think you're looking at mucho dollars here. I wouldn't
bother.

> I asked a quotation to SGI but they did not reply me in 1 week...

That's probably because you didn't order 100 fully-equipped Origin
servers :-)
Here again, I wouldn't hold your breath. Just start hacking :-)

> 
> thanks really
> 
> Rick