[geeks] 13w3 adapters [was NEC FE1250 on SGI]

[Rob Fielding]

Hi,

Further to my FE1250 -> SGI problem, I have a question about 13w3 adapters.

I have two 13w3 adapters, one with the 10 internal pins broken off.

Neither will work with my NEC monitor on my SGIs (Indy, Octane and I2). I do 
have an old Sony 15sf monitor, which works with these adapters. My plan is to 
kick the old Sony back to my mum after I pinched it off her 5 years ago :)

I have a question regarding the differences between the SUN and SGI 13w3 
wiring standards and will blatantly show only partial understanding by my 
question, so sorry if the answer is obvious :

If these 13w3 adapters were SUN specific, I would imagine they wouldn't work 
with my SGI + my Sony 15sf monitor at all, correct ?

 From this, the fact that they do, suggests to me that they are infact the 
correct type of adapters and that if my NEC monitor had the same sync 
capabilities of Sony monitors then it should infact work ?

FWIW the NEC maintains a green light and blank screen with the 13w3 adapter 
with all pins and maintains an orange standby state with the 13w3 adapter with 
all the pins removed. Additionally when connected to my linux PC, when the 
console blanks the NEC maintains a green light and blank screen suggesting 
it's in full-power-with-no-signal state.

I'm going to carry on reading. I may even get down to maplin and see if I 
can't hack up myself a converter, however given the caveats on blowing things 
up I am a little hesitant. So, I can either buy a new SGI certified 13w3 
adapter from somewhere or save myself the extortion and buy a better monitor 
to serve me in the long run. The FE was a gimmie from a mate moving house, and 
it's on a lend with possible purchase for a 100quid which is reason enough to 
buy it ;)


-- 


Rob Fielding	
rob at dsvr.net	Development	www.dsvr.co.uk