This chapter contains information on the tasks and tools that allow you to add or remove devices on your workstation. Devices include modems, MIDI devices, printers, mouse pointers, and tablets. It covers the following major topics:
You can use either the Printer Manager or the interactive Guides available through the System Manager to add, remove, or share printers on your system.
Click on one of the links below for more information on that topic:
The Printer Manager lets you set up software for a new local printer, access printers that are connected to other systems on the network, and set system-wide settings for printers. Each user can use the Printer Manager to view all available printers and to drag printers onto the desktop for convenient access.
If the Printer Manager is not already running, start it by choosing “Printer Manager” from the System toolchest or by clicking the words Printer Manager now. You can also access the Printer Manager from the System Manager in the “Hardware and Devices” category.
For further information on the Printer Manager, click one of these topics:
“How To” contains details on how to perform tasks with the Printer Manager
“Printer Manager Reference” contains details on the Printer Manager graphical interface
You can set up software for printers that are either connected directly to the system or are connected to other systems on the network. If the Impressario software is installed on the system, you can also set up software for printers that are connected directly to a network using a network adaptor.
Click on one of the links below to find out how to perform that task in the Printer Manager:
Follow these steps to set up software for a serial printer:
Physically connect the printer to a serial port on your system using the serial cable provided with the printer, then power on the printer.
If the Printer Manager is not already running, start it by choosing “Printer Manager” from the System toolchest or by clicking the words Printer Manager now.
Choose “Add” from the Printer menu or click the Add button.
In the Add Printer window, click in the New Printer Name field and type in a name.
You can choose any name you like. It can consist of up to 14 letters and numbers, and can include an underbar (_); it cannot include any spaces or special characters such as #, @, &, or /.
Next to Printer Connected To, click the Local Host box.
Complete the Location Code and Location Description fields.
In the Location Code field, enter a code that helps identify the printer location. For example, your network administrator might want you to enter the mailstop of the system the printer is attached to.
In the Location Description field, enter a description that helps you remember where the printer is located. For example, you might enter “Roger's cube at the back of building 1.”
In the Printer Type list, choose the type that best describes your printer.
Note: If the appropriate type of printer does not appear in the list, you may not have the correct printer driver software installed. Contact the printer's manufacturer. Specify the printer's serial connection, handshake, and baud rate; you can find handshake and baud rate information in the manual that came with the printer.
Next to Printer is Attached To, click Serial.
From the menu button next to Serial Port, choose the port number to which you connected the printer.
From the Handshake menu button, choose the printer's handshake. (A software handshake is the same as xon/xoff flow control.)
Choose the printer's baud rate from the Baud Rate menu button.
Have the system set up the printer, or cancel your request.
When the information is correct, click OK.
To cancel your request, click Cancel.
The printer appears in the Printer Manager window. You can drag the printer's icon onto the desktop for easy access.
Follow these steps to set up software for a parallel printer:
Physically connect the printer to a parallel port on your system using the parallel cable provided with the printer, then power on the printer.
If the Printer Manager is not already running, start it by choosing “Printer Manager” from the System toolchest or by clicking the words Printer Manager now.
Choose “Add” from the Printer menu or click the Add button.
In the Add Printer window, click in the New Printer Name field and type in a name.
You can choose any name you like. It can consist of up to 14 letters and numbers, and can include an underbar (_); it cannot include any spaces or special characters such as #, @, &, or /.
Next to Printer Connected To, click the Local Host box.
Complete the Location Code and Location Description fields.
In the Location Code field, enter a code that helps identify the printer location. For example, your network administrator might want you to enter the mailstop of the system the printer is attached to.
In the Location Description field, enter a description that helps you remember where the printer is located. For example, you might enter “Roger's cube at the back of building 1.”
In the Printer Type list, choose the type that best describes your printer.
Note: If the appropriate type of printer does not appear in the list, you may not have the correct printer driver software installed. Contact the printer's manufacturer. Specify the printer's connection.
Next to Printer is Attached To, click Parallel.
If you have more than one parallel port, click the port you connected the printer to in the list next to Parallel Ports.
Have the system set up the printer, or cancel your request.
When the information is correct, click OK.
To cancel your request, click Cancel.
The printer appears in the Printer Manager window. You can drag the printer's icon onto the desktop for easy access.
The software necessary to support SCSI printers is part of the Impressario product. If Impressario and a driver that supports a SCSI printer are both installed on the system, you will see SCSI as an option next to Printer is Attached To in the Add Printer window. To install the Impressario software, see “Installing and Removing Software” in Chapter 2.
Follow these steps to set up software for a SCSI printer:
Shut down your system by choosing “Shut Down System” from the System toolchest, then turning off the system's power.
Assign an unused SCSI address to the printer (see also “About SCSI Devices, Controllers, and Addresses” in Chapter 1), and physically connect it to a SCSI port on your system using the SCSI cable provided with the printer. Then power on the printer (see your owner's guide and the printer's manual for more information).
Power on your system.
If the Printer Manager is not already running, start it by choosing “Printer Manager” from the System toolchest or by clicking the words Printer Manager now.
Choose “Add” from the Printer menu or click the Add button.
In the Add Printer window, click in the New Printer Name field and type in a name.
You can choose any name you like. It can consist of up to 14 letters and numbers, and can include an underbar (_); it cannot include any spaces or special characters such as #, @, &, or /.
Next to Printer Connected To, click the Local Host box.
Complete the Location Code and Location Description fields.
In the Location Code field, enter a code that helps identify the printer location. For example, your network administrator might want you to enter the mailstop of the system the printer is attached to.
In the Location Description field, enter a description that helps you remember where the printer is located. For example, you might enter “Roger's cube at the back of building 1.”
In the Printer Type list, choose the type that best describes your printer.
Note: If the appropriate type of printer does not appear in the list, you may not have the correct printer driver software installed. Contact the printer's manufacturer. Specify the printer's connection.
Next to Printer is Attached To, click SCSI.
In the list of SCSI printers that appears, click one to select it. If no printers appear, click the Rescan button.
Have the system set up the printer, or cancel your request.
When the information is correct, click OK.
To cancel your request, click Cancel.
The printer appears in the Printer Manager window. You can drag the printer's icon onto the desktop for easy access.
This information applies to you if you want to access a printer that's connected to another workstation on your network.
Follow these steps to access a printer that's connected to another system on the network:
If the Printer Manager is not already running, start it by choosing “Printer Manager” from the System toolchest or by clicking the words Printer Manager now.
Choose “Add” from the Printer menu or click the Add button.
In the Add Printer window, click in the New Printer Name field and type in a name.
You can choose any name you like. It can consist of up to 14 letters and numbers, and can include an underbar (_); it cannot include any spaces or special characters such as #, @, &, or /.
Specify that the printer is connected to another workstation, and specify the other workstation's hostname and local name for the printer.
Next to Printer Connected To, click the Remote Host box.
Click in the Remote Host Name field and type in the name of the workstation to which the printer is connected.
Click the List Printers button to see a list of all printers that are connected to the remote Silicon Graphics workstation.
Click a printer to select it; it appears in the Remote Printer Name field. (You can also type the name of a printer in the Remote Printer Name field. If you do, you must also type the printer name in the New Printer Name field; these names will typically be the same.)
Note: List Printers only works when the remote workstation is a Silicon Graphics workstation. If the remote workstation is not a Silicon Graphics workstation, you may need to get a list of valid printer names from the system administrator of the remote workstation.
Have the system set up the printer, or cancel your request.
When the information is correct, click OK.
To cancel your request, click Cancel.
The printer appears in the Printer Manager window. You can drag the printer's icon onto the desktop for easy access.
Impressario provides the software necessary to support printers that are directly connected to the network with a network adaptor. Impressario supports the HP JetDirect network card as well as other network adaptors that emulate the HP JetDirect card.
Follow these steps to set up software for a printer directly connected to a network:
Physically connect the printer to the network. See the owner's manual that came with the printer for instructions. Make sure that you set up the printer's network IP address using the instructions that came with the printer. Printers with built-in network cards must often be turned off and on after the network address is set.
If the printer is already connected to the network, ask the network administrator for the hostname or IP address of the printer. You need this information to complete the setup.
If the Printer Manager is not already running, start it by choosing “Printer Manager” from the System toolchest or by clicking the words Printer Manager now.
Choose “Add” from the Printer menu or click the Add button.
In the Add Printer window, click in the New Printer Name field and type in a name.
You can choose any name you like. It can consist of up to 14 letters and numbers, and can include an underbar (_); it cannot include any spaces or special characters such as #, @, &, or /.
Next to Printer Connected To, click the Local Host box.
Complete the Location Code and Location Description fields.
In the Location Code field, enter a code that helps identify the printer location. For example, your network administrator might want you to enter the mailstop of the system the printer is attached to.
In the Location Description field, enter a description that helps you remember where the printer is located. For example, you might enter “Roger's cube at the back of building 1.”
In the Printer Type list, choose the type that best describes your printer.
Note: If the appropriate type of printer does not appear in the list, you may not have the correct printer driver software installed. Contact the printer's manufacturer. Specify the printer's connection.
Next to Printer is Attached To, click Network. (If you do not see Network, then Impressario has not been installed.)
In the Printer's Name (or IP Address) field that appears, type the hostname or IP address that has been assigned to the printer.
In the Printer Attached to Network With list, select a printer network adaptor that best describes the printer's network adaptor.
Have the system set up the printer, or cancel your request.
When the information is correct, click OK.
To cancel your request, click Cancel.
The printer appears in the Printer Manager window. You can drag the printer's icon onto the desktop for easy access.
Once you've configured the printer, other workstations on the network can access the printer from the system that has just been configured because the system is now acting as a print server for the network printer. As a print server, the system accepts print jobs from multiple computers (other UNIX workstations, personal computers, and so on), queue them in the order received, prepare the files to be printed, and then print them on the network printer.
It is recommended that you configure only one or two workstations as print servers for any one network printer. The other computers on the network should then use the print servers to access the network printer. See “Accessing a Printer Connected to a Remote Workstation” for information about accessing a print server.
When you change the physical setup of a printer—for example, when you connect it to a different port on your system or when someone moves a printer from one system to another system on the network—you must use the Printer Manager to change the setup information. If you do not change the information, you will not be able to access the printer.
If the Printer Manager is not already running, start it by choosing “Printer Manager” from the System toolchest or by clicking the words Printer Manager now.
Follow these steps to change the setup information:
In the Printer Manager window, select the printer's icon, then choose “Change Connection” from the Printer menu.
In the Change Connection window, you can change all of the information about the printer except its name.
Note: If you want to change the name of the printer, you must delete the printer (see “Deleting a Printer”) then add it as if it were new (see “Adding, Removing, and Sharing Printers”). Have the system set up the printer with the new information, or cancel your request.
When the information is correct, click OK.
To cancel your request, click Cancel.
You can delete a printer from the Printer Manager. Typically you do this if the printer has been permanently removed from your system or from another system on the network.
Notify other users on your network before you delete a printer that is directly connected to your system. If other users have added your printer as a network printer on their systems, they will no longer be able to access the printer once you delete it.
If the Printer Manager is not already running, start it by choosing “Printer Manager” from the System toolchest or by clicking the words Printer Manager now.
To delete a printer, follow these steps:
In the Printer Manager window, select the printer's icon, then choose “Delete” from the Printer menu or click the Delete button.
If there are jobs in the printer's queue, a notifier appears that lets you either cancel all the jobs, or send them to a different printer; see “Canceling or Moving Print Jobs to a Different Printer”.
A dialog appears to confirm that you want to delete the printer; to do so, click the OK button.
If there are jobs in the queue of a printer that you are deleting, you can either cancel those jobs or move them to a different printer. (You can access the options below by selecting a printer's icon in the Printer Manager window and clicking “Delete.”)
To cancel all jobs, click the box next to Delete jobs from queue, then click the OK button.
To move the jobs to a different printer, click the box next to Move jobs to printer, select a printer from the list by clicking it, then click the OK button.
To cancel your request to delete the printer, click the Cancel button.
From the desktop, people can send files to a particular printer in two ways:
Select a file and choose “Print” from the Selected toolchest or menu. The system sends the file to the default printer for the system.
Drag a file onto a specific printer, or drag a file onto PrintPanel and specify a printer. The system sends the file to that printer.
PrintPanel is available in the Printing section of the Icon Catalog. Choose “Icon Catalog” from the Find toolchest and then choose “Printing.”
Follow these steps to designate a default printer for all users on the system:
If the Printer Manager is not already running, start it by choosing “Printer Manager” from the System toolchest or by clicking the words Printer Manager now.
Select the printer's icon, then choose “Set Default” from the Printer menu or click the Default button. A label appears above the list of printers that indicates which printer is the system default.
If the optional Impressario software is installed on the system to which a printer is connected, users can customize the way a printer handles individual print jobs by following these steps:
If the Printer Manager is not already running, start it by choosing “Printer Manager” from the System toolchest or by clicking the words Printer Manager now.
Select the printer's icon, then choose “Set Options” from the Printer menu or click the Options button.
The Options window for that printer appears.
Note: If “Set Options” is greyed out, the selected printer is not an Impressario printer.
When a user changes the settings, a notifier requests whether the setting is to be used for only that user or for all users on the system (All Users).
You can also use the PrintPanel to customize the way a printer prints a particular job, whether or not the optional Impressario software is installed. To use PrintPanel, follow these steps:
Choose “File QuickFind” from the Find toolchest and enter PrintPanel.
When the PrintPanel icon appears in the drop pocket, drag it onto your desktop.
To customize a print job, drag the file onto the PrintPanel icon; a settings panel appears.
Follow these steps to view a printer's queue:
If the Printer Manager is not already running, start it by choosing “Printer Manager” from the System toolchest or by clicking the words Printer Manager.
Select the printer's icon, then choose “Show Queue” from the Printer menu (or just double-click the printer's icon). The Printer Status panel for that printer appears.
You can also view the queue by double-clicking the printer's icon in your desktop, or by double-clicking the printer's name in PrintPanel.
For information on managing the queue, use the Help menu in the Printer Status panel.
Follow these steps to send a test page to a printer:
If the Printer Manager is not already running, start it by choosing “Printer Manager” from the System toolchest or by clicking the words Printer Manager now.
Select the printer's icon, then choose “Send Test Page” from the Printer menu.
The Printer Manager supports remote access to systems that support the BSD lpr protocol. To access an lpr printer connected to a remote workstation, see “Accessing a Printer Connected to a Remote Workstation”.
The Silicon Graphics print spooler can also accept print jobs from remote non Silicon Graphics systems that use the BSD lpr protocol. (Many personal computers and other UNIX systems use the BSD lpr protocol.) As a result, the Silicon Graphics print spooler can act as a print server for many non-Silicon Graphics systems. You do not have to perform any special configuration steps to enable a Silicon Graphics workstation to accept BSD lpr print jobs.
The Printer menu contains these choices:
“Add” lets you set up a new printer that's connected to either your own system or to another system on the network. This command is equivalent to the Add button.
“Change Connection” lets you change the setup information about the selected printer.
“Delete” removes the selected printer from the list of available printers. This command is equivalent to the Delete button.
“Set Default” makes the selected printer the default printer. This command is equivalent to the Default button.
“Show Queue” shows the Printer Status panel for the selected printer.
“Set Options” lets you set printer-specific options for the selected printer. This item is available only if the printer is connected to a system that has the optional Impressario software. This command is equivalent to the Options button.
“Send Test Page” sends a one-page print job to the selected printer.
“Exit” quits the Printer Manager.
The Arrange menu contains these choices:
“by Printer Name” sorts the list of printers alphabetically by name.
“by Hostname” sorts the list alphabetically by the hosts to which the printers are connected.
“by Printer Type” sorts the list alphabetically by the types of printers.
The Help menu contains a list of help topics. To view a topic, choose it from this menu.
The “Start Sharing Printers” guide allows you to start sharing your printers with other systems on the network. Once you click OK in the guide, other users on the network will be able to print files on your printers.
For further information on the Printer Manager, and other tasks that you accomplish with it, see “Printer Manager”.
The “Stop Sharing Printers” guide allows you to stop sharing your printers with other systems on the network. Once you click OK in the guide, no one on the network will be able to access and print to any printers connected to your local system.
For further information on the Printer Manager, and other tasks that you accomplish with it, see “Printer Manager”.
You can access a printer connected to a Macintosh computer running AppleShare. You can also access a printer connected to a PC running NetWare. By using the “Mount a Macintosh or PC Printer” guide, you can set up your system to send print jobs to a remote Macintosh or PC printer.
To open the guide, select the Hardware and Devices category in the System Manager and then click “Mount a Macintosh or PC Printer.” The guide appears and takes you through the necessary steps. Later, if you want to make the printer inaccessible, you can use the “Unmount a Macintosh or PC Printer” guide, also available in the Hardware and Devices category.
For further information on the Printer Manager, and other tasks that you accomplish with it, see “Printer Manager”.
This guide makes a Macintosh or PC printer inaccessible over the network. For additional information, see “Accessing a Macintosh or PC Printer Across the Network”.
You can also use the Printer Manager to unmount a Macintosh or PC printer; for further information on the Printer Manager, and other tasks that you accomplish with it, see “Printer Manager”.
Adding a new peripheral device such as a drive or an input device requires at least two steps:
Physically set up the device and connect it to a SCSI, parallel, or serial port on the system.
Note: With SCSI devices, you must also select an unused SCSI address. See your system owner's guide. Set up system software so it can communicate with the device.
If necessary, set up a software application so it can access the device.
The system can detect most SCSI devices and set them up automatically. When you connect a device to a serial or parallel port, the system usually cannot detect the device or set it up. Follow this general guideline: if you connect a device, turn it on, power up the system, and log in to the system and do not see either a configured icon or a notifier requesting information about the device, you must set up system software.
Click on one of the links below for more information on that topic:
The Serial Device Manager lets you view information about the serial devices currently configured on your system. Serial devices include input devices (such as a mouse or tablet), MIDI devices, and terminals. The Serial Device Manager also provides access to the various guides that let you manage serial devices.
To open the Serial Device Manager, select the Hardware and Devices category in the System Manager window, and then click “Serial Device Manager.”
You can use the Get Info button to view detailed information about a selected device, including the name of the device, the serial port it is attached to, the type of device, and any additional information available about the device.
For further information on the Serial Device Manager, see “Serial Device Manager Reference”, which contains details on the Serial Device Manager graphical interface.
The Task menu contains these choices:
“Add Modem” opens the “Add a Modem” guide, which lets you set up a new modem attached to your system. See “Setting Up a Modem” for more information.
“Add Input Device” opens the “Add a Serial Device” guide, which lets you set up a new serial device attached to your system. This command is equivalent to the Add Other button. See “Add a Serial Device” for more information.
“Add Terminal” opens the “Add a Serial Device” guide, which lets you set up a new serial device attached to your system. This command is equivalent to the Add Other button. See “Add a Serial Device” for more information.
“Add MIDI” opens the “Add a Serial Device” guide, which lets you set up a new MIDI device attached to your system. This command is equivalent to the Add Other button. See “Add a Serial Device” for more information.
“Remove Modem” opens the “Remove a Modem” guide, which lets you notify your system that you've disconnected a modem from your workstation. This command is equivalent to the Delete button. See “Remove a Modem” for more information.
“Remove Input Device” opens the “Remove a Serial Device” guide, which lets you notify your system that you've disconnected a serial device from your workstation. This command is equivalent to the Delete button. See “Remove a Serial Device” for more information.
“Remove Terminal” opens the “Remove a Serial Device” guide, which lets you notify your system that you've disconnected a serial device from your workstation. This command is equivalent to the Delete button. See “Remove a Serial Device” for more information.
“Remove MIDI” opens the “Delete a Serial Device” guide, which lets you notify your system that you've disconnected a MIDI device from your workstation. This command is equivalent to the Delete button. See “Remove a Serial Device” for more information.
“Printer Manager” opens the Printer Manager, which lets you add, modify, and delete printers from your system. See “Printer Manager” for more information.
“System Manager” opens the System Manager window, which gives you access to all of the system administration interactive guides.
“Close” closes the Serial Device Manager window. Any changes you made using the guides are saved. This command is equivalent to the Close button.
The Help menu contains a list of help topics. To view a topic, choose it from this menu.
For additional details about connecting a modem to one of your workstation's serial ports, click on one of the following links:
Silicon Graphics supports a number of modems including Hayes, Motorola, Practical Peripherals, Supra, and U.S. Robotics modems. Telephone lines cannot transfer data as quickly as Ethernet cables, so a modem connection is always slower than a direct Ethernet connection. If possible, purchase the highest-speed modem that the system can support.
You can set up a modem in two different ways:
As a dial-out modem, you use the modem to call another modem to log in to the system to which that modem is connected.
As a dial-in/dial-out modem, other users can call your modem and you can call other modems.
To set up a modem, follow these steps:
Physically connect the modem to a serial port on the system, and connect the modem to a telephone jack. See the owner's guide included with your system and the documentation included with your modem for instructions and cabling information.
Find out the modem type and the baud rate. (See the documentation that came with the modem.)
Contact your network administrator to
decide whether you should set the modem up for dial-out or dial-in/dial-out access
ask the network administrator set up the access software on the network so you can log in
obtain the telephone number and IRIX commands that you need to access the network
Install the eoe.sw.uucp software. It is shipped with every system on tape or CD, but is not necessarily installed on your disk. Check whether it's installed by opening a shell window and entering
versions eoe.sw.uucp
If it's installed, you see this line:
I eoe.sw.uucp UUCP utilities.
If the line does not appear, eoe.sw.uucp is not installed. See “Installing and Removing Software” in Chapter 2 to install it.
Check the documentation included with your modem to determine the modem's baud rate (the speed at which the modem can send and receive information).
Use the “Add a Modem” guide to configure a modem connection on your system.
Choose System Manager from the System toolchest, select the Hardware and Devices category, and then click “Add a Modem.”
Test the modem connection by calling up another modem. See “Testing a Dial-Out or Dial-In/Dial-Out Connection”.
For information about accessing the “Add a Modem” guide from the Serial Device Manager, see “Serial Device Manager”.
For information about using the modem to establish a PPP (Point-to-Point Protocol) connection with a computer at a remote location, see “Setting Up PPP Connections” in Chapter 5.
Use the cu utility to dial out to another modem. Follow these steps:
Make sure the modem is connected to both the system and a working telephone line.
Make sure the modem is turned on.
Dial out to another modem using cu and the telephone number.
To call another modem at 1-800-555-1212, for example, open a shell window and type
cu 18005551212
Then press Enter.
If everything is working, you hear the modem dialing. After a few moments you see this message:
Connected
Go on to Step 4.
If you do not hear dialing or see the Connected message, press Ctrl-C. Then try calling again, adding the -d (debug) option to the cu command line. For example, retry the connection by typing
cu -d 18005551212
Then press Enter.
The -d option reports all the activities of the modem. Look for error messages, and check the edits you made to turn on modem software. Also check all cable connections.
If you do not see the login prompt, press Enter.
If the login prompt is garbled or does not appear, press the Pause or Break key and try again.
When you see the login prompt, log in to the system.
When you have finished using the remote system, log out. Often this breaks the connection to the remote modem (that is, it hangs up the telephone). You know the connection is broken when you see these messages:
Lost Carrier
Disconnected
If logging out does not break the connection, try these methods:
Press Enter twice.
Press Ctrl-C.
Type ~.
You use the “Remove a Modem” guide to delete a modem from your system. Open the System Manager if it isn't already running. (Choose System Manager from the System toolchest.) Select the Hardware and Devices category and then click “Remove a Modem.” The guide appears and leads you through the necessary steps.
This section describes how to configure your system to use a serial peripheral. Once the peripheral is set up, the system automatically makes it public, that is, makes it accessible to all other systems on the network.
| Note: This section does not describe how to configure modems or printers. See “Setting Up a Modem” or “Printer Manager”. |
Before you configure your system for the peripheral, see your system's owner's guide for detailed information on how to
find or build a serial cable that can transfer data from the system to the peripheral
connect the serial peripheral to a serial port on your system
Turn on the peripheral.
If the System Manager window is not already open, open it now by choosing “System Manager” from the System toolchest.
In the System Manager window, select the Hardware and Devices category, and then click “Add a Serial Device.”
The “Add a Serial Device” guide appears and leads you through the steps to set up your serial device.
If you configured a terminal, you may want to test the setup.
Make sure the terminal is powered on and is connected to the system.
On the terminal's keyboard, press the Enter key and the Pause or Break key several times, until you see the login prompt.
If you cannot get the prompt, turn the terminal off and on again, then try again.
Log in to the system, then log out. The terminal is ready to use.
When you physically disconnect a peripheral from your system, you should also remove the peripheral's icon from the list of serial ports in the Serial Device Manager. The system cannot detect a disconnected serial peripheral, so this is the only way the Serial Device Manager can display an accurate list of available ports.
| Note: The “Remove a Serial Device” guide does not allow you to delete modems or printers. See “Remove a Modem” or “Deleting a Printer”. |
You use the “Remove a Serial Device” guide to disconnect a serial device. You can open the guide from the System Manager window by selecting the Hardware and Devices category and then using one of two methods:
Click “Remove a Serial Device” in the righthand column of the System Manager window.
Click “Serial Device Manager” in the righthand column of the System Manager window. In the window that appears, select the device you want to disconnect by clicking its icon and then clicking Delete.
Note: If you attempt to delete a printer, a message appears telling you to use the Printer Manager. See “Printer Manager” for more information.
After you disconnect the device, the icon disappears from the Serial Device Manager window, and the port is available for use.
Before connecting a device to a SCSI port, make sure you power off the system. (See “Shutting Down or Restarting the System” in Chapter 1 for instructions.) After the system has been powered off, connect the device to a SCSI port, turn on the device, and restart the system; the system detects and recognizes most new devices.
If the device is a printer, you must use the Printer Manager to set up printing software; see “Setting Up a SCSI Printer”.
If the device is a hard disk drive, the system automatically places an icon for the device on your desktop. You need to use the “Mount a Local Filesystem” guide to specify a directory from which the system can access the disk; this process is called mounting a filesystem.
You can open the “Mount a Local Filesystem” guide from the Filesystem Manager or the Disk Manager.
Choose “Filesystem Manager” from the System toolchest. Click the Mount Local button in the window.
Choose “System Manager” from the System toolchest. Select the Hardware and Devices category and click “Disk Manager.” Choose “Mount Disk's Filesystem” from the Task menu.
If the device is a removable media device, such as a floppy, CD, or tape drive, the system automatically sets up the system software for you, and places an icon for the device on your desktop. For more information about removable media devices, see “Removable Media Manager”.
Note: To let other people access your CD drive to install software across the network, see “Allowing Remote Users to Install Software From Your CD Drive”. This list shows the names that the system assigns to devices:
tape drive An icon for each tape drive appears on your desktop. Each tape drive is labeled DAT or QIC, depending on whether it's a DAT or QIC format drive (see also “About Tape Formats and Capacities” in Chapter 6). If you have more than one DAT drive, each subsequent drive will include a number in its label. For example, a second DAT drive will be labeled DAT2.
CD drive An icon for each CDROM drive appears on your desktop. The first CD drive that you connect is labeled CDROM and has a mount point of /cdrom; the second is labeled CDROM2 and has a mount point of /cdrom2.
floppy or floptical drive An icon for each floppy or floptical drive appears on your desktop. The first floppy or floptical drive that you connect is labeled floppy and has a mount point of /floppy; the second is labeled floppy2 and has a mount point of /floppy2.
SyQuest drive An icon for each SyQuest drive appears on your desktop. The first SyQuest drive that you connect is labeled syquest and has a mount point of /syquest; the second is labeled syquest2 and has a mount point of /syquest2.
Zip drive An icon for each Zip drive appears on your desktop. The first Zip drive that you connect is labeled zip and has a mount point of /zip; the second is labeled zip2 and has a mount point of /zip2.
Jaz drive An icon for each Jaz drive appears on your desktop. The first Jaz drive that you connect is labeled jaz and has a mount point of /jaz; the second is labeled jaz2 and has a mount point of /jaz2.
PCcard drive An icon for each PCcard drive appears on your desktop. The first PCcard drive that you connect is labeled pccard and has a mount point of /pccard; the second is labeled pccard2 and has a mount point of /pccard2.
For information on formatting and using floppy and floptical disks, see “Format Removable Media”. If you encounter problems using removable media, see “Troubleshooting Problems With Removable Media” in Chapter 8.
You need to edit an IRIX file to allow remote software installation from a CD that's connected to your system. If you do not edit this file, remote users will be able to view the release notes on a software distribution CD, but will not be able to install the software that it contains.
To allow remote software installation, follow these steps:
Log in as root through a shell window.
Choose “Open Unix Shell” from the Desktop toolchest.
Position your cursor within the new window and type
login root
Then press Enter.
If a prompt for a password appears, type the password then press Enter. If a prompt appears but the root account has no password, just press Enter.
Edit /etc/inetd.conf.
Open the file with a text editor such as jot by typing
jot /etc/inetd.conf
Then press Enter.
Find the line that begins with “tftp”:
tftp dgram udp wait guest /usr/etc/tftpd tftpd -s /usr/local/boot /usr/etc/boot
At the end of this line, add the full pathname of your CD drive, for example, /CDROM. The last part of the line (note that this is not the complete line) would then look like this:
tftpd -s /usr/local/boot /usr/etc/boot /CDROM
Save your changes and quit the text editor.
Inform the system of the change by typing
killall -HUP inetd
Then press Enter. It may take a few minutes for the change to take effect.
Log out of the root account by typing
logout
Then press Enter. The shell window disappears.
The serial device guides available in the System Manager do not support parallel peripherals. To set up a parallel printer, see “Setting Up a Parallel Printer”. To set up other parallel devices, see the documentation that came with the device.
You can use either the Disk Manager or the interactive Guides available through the System Manager to initialize, create, or extend disk drives and logical volumes on your system.
Click on one of the links below for more information on that topic:
The Disk Manager provides information about all disk drives connected to your system, including the drive address number and the total size of the disk (in megabytes or gigabytes). The Disk Manager does not provide information about removable media devices such as CD-ROM, floppy, floptical, tape, and SyQuest drives. See “Removable Media Manager” for more information.
To open the Disk Manager, select the Hardware and Devices category in the System Manager window and then click “Disk Manager.”
To view more detailed information about a disk, you can select a disk in the Disk Manager window and click the Get Info button. The Disk Panel for that disk appears and displays the following information:
The drive's type (SCSI or VSCSI), its drive address number, its drive controller number and type, and its size (in megabytes or gigabytes); see also “About SCSI Devices, Controllers, and Addresses” in Chapter 1.
The number of partitions on the disk, and the free space that is available on each partition with a filesystem.
Note: Many disks have only one partition (only one file folder appears below the picture of the disk). If you have more than one partition, each one is allotted a certain portion of the disk space. Whether the disk (or partition) is accessible (is mounted) or inaccessible (is unmounted).
The icon for the disk. You can drag it onto the desktop for easy access to the data on the disk. You can also drag it into drop pockets in various guides that let you act on the disk.
Several guides that you can use to manage the disk, available in the “Common Tasks” field.
For further information on the Serial Device Manager, see “Disk Manager Reference”, which contains details on the Disk Manager graphical interface.
The Task menu contains these choices:
“Initialize a Disk” opens the “Initialize a Disk” guide, which erases all the data on a filesystem. See “Verifying and Initializing Filesystems on a Hard Disk” for more information.
“Mount Disk's Filesystem” opens the “Mount a Local Filesystem” guide, which lets you make a hard disk available to your system. See “Setting Up a New Hard Disk” for more information.
“Unmount Disk's Filesystem” opens the “Unmount a Local Filesytem” guide, which lets you notify the system that you no longer need to access the filesystem located on a disk. See “Remove a Disk From the System” for more information.
“Verify a Disk” opens the “Verify a Disk” guide, which erases all data on the disk and isolates bad blocks so they will not be used. See “Verifying and Initializing Filesystems on a Hard Disk” for more information.
“Remove a Disk” opens the “Remove a Disk” guide. See “Remove a Disk From the System” for more information.
“Create Striped Logical Volume” opens the “Create a Striped Logical Volume” guide. See “Creating Logical Volumes” for more information.
“Create an Extendable Logical Volume” opens the “Create an Extended Logical Volume” guide. See “Create an Extendable Logical Volume” for more information.
“Extend Logical Volume” opens the “Extend a Logical Volume” guide. See “Extend a Logical Volume” for more information.
“Remove Logical Volume” opens the “Remove a Logical Volume” guide. See “Remove a Logical Volume” for more information.
“System Manager” opens the System Manager window, which gives you access to all of the system administration interactive guides.
“Close” closes the Disk Manager window. Any changes you made using the guides are saved. This command is equivalent to the Close button.
The Help menu contains a list of help topics. To view a topic, choose it from this menu.
For more complete details about verifying a disk, click on the link to the topic that you're interested in:
When you physically connect a new hard disk, you use the “Mount a Local Filesystem” guide to mount the filesystem located on the disk. By mounting the filesystem, you inform your system that a new disk is available. In addition, you determine the directory (mount point) on your system that you want to use to access that new disk.
After you connect the new disk, open the “Mount a Local Filesystem” guide using one of these methods:
If the System Manager is not running, start it by choosing “System Manager” from the System toolchest. Select the Files and Data category and then click “Mount a Local Filesystem.”
Choose “Filesystem Manager” from the System toolchest. Select the new disk in the window and then click the Mount Local button.
The “Mount a Local Filesystem” guide leads you through the steps necessary to mount the filesystem located on the new hard disk.
You may find the need at some point to initialize a filesystem on a disk. The System Manager provides the “Initialize a Disk” guides, available in the Hardware and Devices category. (You cannot use these guides on a system disk.) The “Initialize a Disk” guide erases all the data on a filesystem and cleans up fragmentation. This guide collects all usable space on a disk and puts it in a single filesystem.
| Note: If you have an extra system disk that you want to format as an option disk, change its physical drive address number to a free address other than 1, install it in a system that already has a system disk, and then use the “Initialize a Disk” guide. |
 | Caution: Both the “Initialize a Disk” and “Verify a Disk” guides destroy all data on the disk or filesystem that you select. If the data is important, back it up onto another system or onto a tape (see “Back Up Files” in Chapter 6) before you use one of the guides. |
If you have more than one fixed (hard) disk drive, you can create a logical volume. In effect, creating a logical volume lets you make one large disk out of several smaller ones. In doing so, you can increase your system's efficiency as it reads and writes files to disk. You can also use a logical volume to provide storage for a new filesystem or to allow an existing filesystem to grow onto a newly added disk.
You can create several different types of logical volumes; this section describes how to create a striped logical volume and an extendable logical volume. For more information about logical volumes, see IRIX Admin: Disks and Filesystems , which is provided online.
For more complete details about verifying a disk, click on the link to the topic that you're interested in:
The “Remove a Disk” guide outlines the steps necessary for physically removing a hard disk drive from your system. It lists the filesystems that you need to unmount, the swap space that you need to remove, and the logical volumes (which are using the disk) that need to be removed. It also provides access to the guides that you'll use to accomplish these tasks: “Unmount a Filesystem,” and “Remove a Logical Volume.”
| Note: If you do not unmount the necessary filesystem(s) before removing the disk, you will not compromise any data, but your system may start up more slowly as it spends time looking for missing filesystems. |
To open the “Remove a Disk” guide, use one of these methods:
Choose System Manager from the System toolchest. Select the Hardware and Devices category and then click “Disk Manager.” Select the disk that you want to remove and choose “Remove Disk” from the Task menu.
If you ever reconnect the drive, you'll need to use the “Mount a Local Filesystem” guide to mount its filesystem again.
To open the “Create a Striped Logical Volume” guide, open the System Manager if it is not already running. Select the Hardware and Devices category and then click “Create a Striped Logical Volume.” The guide appears and leads you through the necessary steps.
| Caution: Creating a striped logical volume erases all the contents of the disks being used for the logical volume. If you want to keep any of the files and directories on the disks you're selecting, make sure you back them up first. See “Backing Up and Restoring Data” in Chapter 6 for instructions. |
To open the “Create an Extendable Logical Volume” guide, open the System Manager if it is not already running. Select the Hardware and Devices category and then click “Create an Extendable Logical Volume.” The guide appears and leads you through the necessary steps.
| Caution: Creating an extendable logical volume erases all the contents of the disks being used for the logical volume. If you want to keep any of the files and directories on the disks you're selecting, make sure you back them up first. See “Backing Up and Restoring Data” in Chapter 6 for instructions. |
This guide takes you through the process to extend an already-existing logical volume. For further information on creating these logical volumes, see “Creating Logical Volumes” and “Create an Extendable Logical Volume”.
If you have an existing logical volume and you decide you want to use its disks for other purposes, you can use the “Remove a Logical Volume” guide to delete the logical volume.
| Caution: Removing a logical volume erases all the contents of the disks being used for the logical volume. If you want to keep any of the files and directories on the logical volume, make sure you back them up first. See “Backing Up and Restoring Data” in Chapter 6 for instructions. |
To open the guide, open the System Manager, if it is not already running. Select the Hardware and Devices category and then click “Remove a Logical Volume.” The guide appears and leads you through the necessary steps.
You can use either the Removable Media Manager or the interactive Guides available through the System Manager to manage removable media devices on your system.
Click on one of the links below for more information on that topic:
The Removable Media Manager displays information about the removable media devices connected to your system. It also provides access to the removable media guides, which let you format floppy or floptical disks, eject disks, and share your removable media devices with other users on the network. A removable media device is a storage device, such as a tape drive or floppy disk drive, from which you can remove the medium upon which the data is actually stored.
To open the Removable Media Manager, choose System Manager from the System toolchest, select the Hardware and Devices category, and then click “Removable Media Manager.”
You can use the Get Info button to display detailed information about a selected device. Select a device in the Removable Media Manager window and click Get Info. A Removable Media Panel appears and displays the name of the device, the workstation it is attached to, the type of device, the type of media, and where you can access it (mount point).
For further information on the Removable Media Manager, click one of these topics:
“How To” contains details on how to perform tasks with the Removable Media Manager
“Removable Media Manager Reference” contains details on the Removable Media Manager graphical interface
Click on one of the links below to find out how to perform that task in the Removable Media Manager:
When you physically connect a new tape, CD-ROM, floppy, floptical, SyQuest, Jaz, or Zip disk drive, the system automatically mounts the drive so it is ready to use the next time you start the system (for details on each mount point, see “Setting Up SCSI Peripherals”).
You typically remove a floppy, floptical, SyQuest, or CD-ROM disc by selecting the drive icon and choosing “Eject” from the Selected toolchest. If the icon doesn't appear on your desk, you can choose “Eject Media” from the Desktop toolchest. You can also eject a disk from the Removable Media Manager window by selecting the disk in the window and clicking the Eject button.
| Caution: The manufacturer does not recommend ejecting removable media using the hardware eject button on the device; you may lose data if the removable media is writable. |
This section describes how to use CDs and floppy (or floptical) disks in two ways:
You can view the data on CDs or floppy disks by inserting the media into a drive, then double-clicking the desktop icon that corresponds to the drive. When the media contains standard directories and files, this opens a standard Directory View window. When you double-click a CD drive icon whose CD contains a distribution directory, the Software Manager starts. (If you double-click a CD drive icon when a music CD is inserted in the drive, you launch the CD player application.)
You can copy information to and from a writable floppy disk by dragging icons between Directory View windows. You can copy information from a CD onto your system by dragging files from its Directory View window to another Directory View window.
You can use the same desktop methods to view and copy files between your system and CD and floppy drives that are connected to other systems on the network. To locate and access remote CD or floppy drives, follow these steps:
Choose “Shared Resources” from the Desktop toolchest and then choose “On a Remote Workstation” from the rollover menu.
The Find Remote Resources window appears.
Enter the name of the remote workstation that has the CD and floppy drives you want to access.
Icons for all the available resources on the remote workstation appear in the window, including CD and floppy drives.
Drag the icon(s) for the drive(s) that you want to use onto your desktop.
CDs are very useful for storing large amounts of information that you want to access but do not want to change. The manufacturer of your system uses CDs to distribute software products and associated IRIS InSight libraries of online books.
You typically use the CD one time to install software; you may want to use the library of books daily. You could install all the books on your system's disk(s) for convenient access, or you could install a few, frequently-used books on your disk and set up your system so it can access the remaining books directly from the CD.
Each product CD that has associated online books stores those books in the directory named insight. Once you set up your system, you can access the books on any product CD by inserting the CD in the drive, then choosing “Online Books” from the Help toolchest. As long as the CD is in the drive, the books are accessible.
| Note: The manufacturer recommends keeping the standard end-user books installed on your system, because the online help system accesses those books to provide context-sensitive help for each tool; see also “About Online Help” in Chapter 5. |
The example in this section assumes that you have one CD drive, and that it's mounted at /CDROM (for more information on the mount point, see “Setting Up SCSI Peripherals”). Follow these steps to set up the system to access the books on a CD:
Log out, and log in to the root account.
Insert the CD into the drive.
Double-click the root (/) folder on the desktop to see its Directory View window, then double-click the /usr folder. You should now have two open Directory View windows, one for / and one for /usr.
In the / Directory View window, edit the pathname (text entry) field so it reads
/CDROM/insight
In the /usr Directory View window, edit the pathname (text entry) field so it reads
/usr/share/Insight
Now the two Directory View windows show the contents of /CDROM/insight and /usr/share/Insight.
Press and continue to hold down the Ctrl and Shift keys, then drag the SGI_bookshelves folder icon from the /CDROM/insight Directory View window into the /usr/share/Insight Directory View window. After dragging the icon, release the Ctrl and Shift keys.
In the /usr/share/Insight Directory View window, rename the SGI_bookshelves folder CD_bookshelf.
Drag the CD_bookshelf folder onto the library folder that is also in the /usr/share/Insight Directory View window.
Choose “Online Books” from the Help toolchest. The IRIS InSight viewer shows the same set of bookshelves that were there before you accessed the CD, but now the bookshelves contain both the books that are installed on your disk and those that are on the CD.
When you eject the CD, the books that are on the CD will not appear the next time you start IRIS InSight.
When you insert another product CD that contains a different set of books, the new books appear on the appropriate bookshelf the next time you start IRIS InSight.
For alternate ways to access IRIS InSight books, see “Accessing an IRIS InSight Document Server” in Chapter 5 and “Storing Applications or Support Files on a Second Disk” in Chapter 6.
If you have books installed on your system that you can now access from the CD, you may want to remove them from your system to free some disk space. Remember, however, that the books are available to you only when the appropriate CD is in your drive.
It's best to keep the books you use most frequently, along with the standard end-user books, installed on your system.
| Note: If you decide to remove the standard end-user books, you will remove the book you are now using. Please print out this section before you continue. |
To remove the standard end user books and access both the books and their associated online help from the CD, follow these steps:
Log out, and log in to the root account.
Remove all the books that contain help.
Start the Software Manager by choosing Software Manager from the System toolchest, or by clicking the words Software Manager.
Click the Manage Installed Software button. After several seconds or minutes, the list of installed software appears in the Software Inventory pane.
Choose “Find and Mark” from the Selected menu.
In the Find and Mark window, remove the check mark from the Ignore Case check box, then click in the Find field and enter
Help
Click the Search button; once all matches are found, click the Mark Matches button to mark for removal all books that contain help.
Click the Help button in the Find and Mark window for more information.
When all appropriate books are marked for removal, click the Close button in the Find and Mark window.
In the Software Manager window, the Conflicts button is active; click this button.
In the Conflicts window, specify that you do not want to remove insight.sw.sgihelp; the window closes automatically after you resolve all conflicts.
Click the Start button in the Software Manager window.
For more information, see “Removing a Product” in Chapter 2.
When all the books have been removed, choose “Quit” from the File menu in the Software Manager window.
Insert the standard system software CD into the drive.
When the CD drive icon shows the inserted CD, double-click it to see a Directory View window that shows the contents of the CD (/CDROM).
Open the / directory on your desktop to see its Directory View window, then edit the pathname (text entry) field so it reads
/usr/share
You should now have two open Directory View windows: one shows the contents of /CDROM, and the other shows /usr/share.
In the /usr/share Directory View window, select the help folder, and choose “Remove” from the Selected menu.
Press and continue to hold down the Ctrl and Shift keys, then drag the help folder icon from the /CDROM Directory View window into the /usr/share Directory View window. After dragging the icon, release the Ctrl and Shift keys.
The /usr/share Directory View window now contains a folder named help, which is a linked copy of the directory on the CD.
Try the online help by choosing a help topic from the Help menu in the /usr/share Directory View window.
The Task menu contains these choices:
“Eject” lets you eject a disk from the selected removable media device. This command is equivalent to the Eject button. See “Ejecting a Removable Media Disk” for more information.
“Format” opens the “Format Removable Media” guide, which lets you create a Macintosh, PC, UNIX (Extent File System, or EFS), or XFS filesystem on a floppy, floptical, Zip, or Jaz disk. This command is equivalent to the Format button. See “Format Removable Media” for more information.
“Share” opens the “Share a Removable Media Device” guide, which lets you share a removable media device with other users on the network. This command is equivalent to the Share button. See “Start Sharing Removable Media Devices” for more information.
“Stop Sharing” opens the “Stop Sharing a Removable Media Device” guide, which lets you prevent other users on the network to access a removable media device. This command is equivalent to the Unshare button. See “Stop Sharing Removable Media Devices” for more information.
“Monitor” opens the “Monitor Removable Media” guide, which lets you instruct the system to monitor the selected device to see if media has been inserted into the device.
“Stop Monitoring” opens the “Stop Monitoring Removable Media” guide, which lets you instruct the system to stop monitoring the selected device to see if media has been inserted into it.
“Schedule Backup” opens the “Back Up Files” guide, which lets you perform a backup or schedule a backup for a later date. The guide lets you choose between performing a full system backup or selecting specific files or directories to back up. See “Backing Up and Restoring Data” in Chapter 6 for more information.
“Restore Files” opens the “Restore Files From Backup” guide, which lets you restore files to your system from a previous backup. See “Restore Files From Backup” in Chapter 6 for more information.
“System Manager” opens the System Manager window, which gives you access to all of the system administration interactive guides.
“Close” closes the Removable Media Manager window. Any changes you made using the guides are saved. This command is equivalent to the Close button.
The Help menu contains a list of help topics. To view a topic, choose it from this menu.
When you format a new floppy or floptical disk or change its existing formatting information, you remove all data from that disk. The format window lets you create PC, Macintosh, or UNIX (EFS) disks.
| Note: Files that you plan to copy onto PC disks must follow DOS naming conventions; they can contain no more than eight characters, a period (.), and a three-character extension (for example, projects.exe uses the maximum filename length). If your file names are too long, or are in an incorrect format, you will not be able to copy files onto the floppy or floptical disk. You will see an error message that reports an “I/O Error.” |
To use a disk that you have previously formatted, insert the disk in your drive and double-click the drive's icon to access the disk. You can then freely copy files back and forth between your system and the disk. To eject the disk, select the drive's icon and choose “Eject” from the Selected toolchest.
| Note: The floppy drive cannot read or format 800 KB Macintosh diskettes. It can both read and format 720 KB diskettes. |
To format a disk, use one of these methods:
Open the Removable Media Manager, if it isn't already open, and click the Format button. A guide appears and takes you through the necessary steps.
Open the Removable Media Manager, if it isn't already open. Insert the disk into the drive, click the icon to select it, and then, when the Desktop Access icon in the Removable Media Manager changes to show that it contains the disk, click the Format button. A guide appears and takes you through the necessary steps.
You can now access the formatted disk by double-clicking the drive icon on your desktop or in the Removable Media Manager window.
If you ever experience problems with the system not recognizing floppy or floptical disks, or not allowing you to write to them, see “Troubleshooting Problems With Removable Media” in Chapter 8.
You can instruct your system to monitor a removable media device (attached to your workstation) to check whether media has been inserted.
To monitor a device, follow these steps:
Open the Removable Media Manager, if it isn't already open.
Select a device.
Choose “Monitor” from the Task menu.
The “Monitor a Removable Media Device” guide appears; follow the instructions in the guide.
To tell your system to stop monitoring a device, follow these steps:
Open the Removable Media Manager, if it isn't already open.
Select a device.
Choose “Stop Monitoring” from the Task menu.
The “Stop Monitoring a Removable Media Device” guide appears; follow the instructions in the guide.
You can share a removable media device attached to your workstation with other users on the network. You may want to do this to let other users take advantage of the extra storage provided by the device.
To open the “Share a Removable Media Device” guide, use one of these methods:
Open the Removable Media Manager, if it isn't already open, select a device, and click the Share button.
Open the System Manager, if it isn't already open. Select the “Hardware and Devices” category and click “Share a Removable Media Device.”
When you stop sharing a device, users on the network no longer have access to the drive or to the media that may be inserted in it.
To open the “Stop Sharing a Removable Media Device” guide, use one of these methods:
Open the Removable Media Manager, if it isn't already open, select a device, and click the Unshare button.
Open the System Manager, if it isn't already open. Select the Hardware and Devices category and click “Stop Sharing a Removable Media Device.”