I am happy to be the new owner of NeXT Dimension Turbo Cube. I'd be even happier if I could figure out how to connect it exactly.
I have the Cube, a mono MegaPixel N4000a display, non-adb keyboard and non-adb mouse connected to the cube mother board. I also have a 13w3 cable connected to a VGA monitor. I can boot up and move the mouse and hit "Control-C" because of my network (or the way the Cube is configured) but the final line says, "NeXTdimension server running (31)" and that's it. I don't see a log in prompt on either monitor. The MegaPixel monitor remains blank.
I, unfortunately, didn't get any manuals or anything to I'm not sure if there's a way to make the color VGA monitor the primary or if there is something I'm missing. Any help is much appreciated. I have a post with plenty of pics but the bottom has a picture of my VGA screen output.
http://vintagecomputer.ca/next-dimension-cube-turbo/I do apologize if this is a basic question. I definitely need to spend some time with my NeXT equipment and this sure is helping :)
P.S. What do you call this model of computer? I am assuming the words "NeXT", "Cube", "Turbo" and "Dimension" are in the model name but in what order?
Have you tried starting the cube without the dimension installed?
I just tried and same thing except the last line doesn't say "NeXTdimension server..." Could this have been run "headless"? Can I force a log in?
I, of course, have no idea what is on it so I don't know the history of it's installation.
Try booting into single user mode (-s at the boot prompt). I seem to recall seeing that behavior when the machine is configured to access a master netinfo server. You should get a login prompt in single user at least. If you get that far I'll try to dig out my info for resetting it.
This should reset the netinfo database:
rm -rf /etc/netinfo /etc/hostconfig
cd /usr/template/client/etc
cp -rp netinfo /etc
cp hostconfig /etc
(reboot)
I followed the instructions but no luck. There is also no network connection so I have to hit Control-C to continue without the network. It stops at the same line in both cases (mono or color).
That said, I did log into single user mode as root so I can edit things so that's good. If my vi skills were a little better, I'd have edited the hostfconfig file to match my network.
Is there a better command line editor?
I appreciate the help.
I set the /etc/hostconfig and /etc/resolv.conf. I see a way to remove this client from NetInfo but it's a graphical utility. Since I still don't get a prompt, I have to run this in single user mode and when I do that, the network card doesn't work.
Is there a script to change this from a client to a server in some way?
I'll keep reading...
I could re-install the software but I'm curious what might be on the drive so I'd like to try to keep it.
Maybe someone with more OS knowledge can step in. If for some reason this was set to boot only through the serial port you can check:
/etc/ttys
Another thing to try is using the HDD from your other cube to boot. Then I would mount the current disk externally and see if there is anything worth saving.
I suspect that the VGA monitor is not compatible with the dimension's output. pull the dimension board out of the cube. also remove the battery from the cube's main logic board for a few minutes. reassemble and try to boot without the dimension being installed in the cube.
I tried everything here and nothing. I did find the /usr/adm/messages log (it's in usr?) and the following message appears: "could not find windowserver port".
Various searches turned up various solutions but I think my NeXTStep Window Manager is messed up. Is it possible to do a "refresh" install or something that wont destroy the desktop?
Thanks again for the replies.
As a final update, I installed a new SCSi hard drive and installed NeXTstep 3.3. The original hard drive was set at SCSI ID 1. I installed the new hard drive at ID 0 so I could get them both running at the same time.
The Turbo Dimension had the origin 440MB hard disk so I'm not sure what happened exactly but the boot process would never finish. Installing 3.3 and booting from the new drive was no problem.
The old drive had Improv, WordPerfect and that was pretty much it. It had four user accounts with various documents and a couple of local apps for one user including pretty neat scientific calculator. It looked like it was used in an office environment. Seems weird but I will explore it more fully when I finish with it. I ordered some 3.5' to 5.25" brackets so I can install the second drive permanently.
Now I know why these are coveted. It is in pristine condition and looks like it had never been opened. It now sits as one of the prized items in my collection.
Thanks again for the help.