[billfish]

I purchased 17 IBM 7043-150's at a NASA auction. I was not really sure if they had any value or not. I got these reasonably cheap. After a little research I have found places that sell these computers for a decent amount of money. I would like to sell these computers, but I also would like to keep a few of them for myself. My question is what kind of value do these computers have and will they run linux? I have tried to sign up at the IBM website so that I can down AIX operating system, but so far I have been unsuccessful. I have a user ID and password, but when I go to download it says user ID not valid. I realize that these systems are old but would really like to put them to use. With only a 375mhz processor will they run very fast compared to a windows system? Does anyone have an alternate site where I can download the operating system for these computers? The hard drives were wiped clean before the auction. I really appreciate any and all responses. Thanks for reading my post, Bill.

[duke900ssd]

You cannot download AIX, you have to contact IBM sales and buy a copy.

[billfish]

Thanks, but what about the value of these computers? Are these computers worth spending money and time on to load AIX and also what version of AIX do I need?

[duke900ssd]

With up to date firmware they can run up to AIX5.3 but will not support AIX6.

Firmware / microcode updates for the 150:
http://www14.software.ibm.com/webapp...1&mtm=7043-150

Check / google Ebay for prices.

You might get more money for them if you sell them as parts, maybe to an IBM reseller or non-IBM service provider, because some parts can be used in other systems.

Because of the age and not being able to run AIX6 you won't get a lot of money for them.

[billfish]

Thanks for the reply. I was not expecting to get a fortune for these computers. I wonder if it is even worth putting the operating system on these computers before trying to sell them. I called IBM to see about purchasing AIX for them only to be told it would cost 2000.00 for a single license. Does that sound correct?

I have attempted to install SUSE Linux and have not been successful. I get to the screen where it says to choose install location, then I choose the scsi cd drive, it gives me the option for SUSE Linux, I choose SUSE Linux the computer boots to a new screen with a boot prompt then I get the following error:

Instantiating rtas at 0x0ffe5000....done
Copying OF device tree
Building dt strings
Building dt structure
Devicetree strings 0x03e4e000-> 0x03e4eed7
Devicetree structure 0x03e4f000-> 0x03e53000
Calling quiesce
returning from prom_init

After that nothing happens, it has stayed like that for hours without anything else going on. Can anyone give me a suggestion on how to install Linux on these computers or advice on how to obtain AIX for a more reasonable price?

[pTech]

This thread is probably dead, but in case billfish is still wondering about his questions I thought I'd reply.

A legal copy of AIX can only be obtained from IBM, and yes that $2000 does sound about right. I don't think you'll be able to install Linux on a 7043-150 unless there's a specific linux distro out there made for these older IBM machines.

You're not going to get a lot of money for them. I work for a reseller company and looking through our Purchase history for them, we buy them for an average of $250 if they're working.

If you want to just test and verify that they work, you can download a Standalone Diagnostics CD from IBM's website. Boot to the CD, run Advanced Diagnostics and then select Problem Determination.

In the reseller world, they don't need/require an operating system installed when being sold. It's the end-user's responsibility to purchase a license of AIX from IBM. Chances are, the people who would purchase these already have some deployed in their environment and would already have a copy of AIX.

Hope this helps!