Understanding a few basic IRIX Interactive Desktop concepts and terms can save you time adjusting to the new environment. This is especially true if you are unaccustomed to IRIX-based systems.
The IRIX Interactive Desktop, Understanding the Basics booklet is a great visual walk-through of your desktop. This little book is shipped standard with most workstations.
For a bit more detailed information, check out Chapter 1, “Getting Started,” in the online book, Desktop User's Guide.
Other Tips:
Hints and Shortcuts gives you a good visual overview of ways to make the desktop environment work for you. To open it from the Toolchest, choose Help > Hints & Shortcuts.
You can install (and remove) software products on your system. Depending on the product, you may also need to install a license to use the software.
Use the Software Manager to install or remove software on your system.
To open the Software Manager, choose System > Software Manager from the Toolchest.
For instructions on using the Software Manager, see the Help menu in the Software Manager window.
Use the License Manager to install or remove a license for a software product.
To open the License Manager from the Toolchest, choose System > License Manager.
For instructions on using the License Manager, see the Help menu in the License Manager window.
When you add new hardware devices such as hard disk drives, input devices (such as a mouse or tablet), or floppy, CD, and tape drives, you may need to configure the software. If you want to add a modem see “Add a Modem”.
If the device is a printer, see “Configure the Software to Use Printers” for information.
If the device is a hard disk drive, use the Mount a Local Filesystem Active Guide to specify a directory from which your system can access the disk. From the Toolchest, choose System > System Manager > Files and Data > Mount a Local Filesystem.
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.
If the device is an input device, such as a mouse or tablet, or a terminal, use the Add a Serial Device Active Guide. From the Toolchest, choose System > System Manager > Hardware and Devices > Add a Serial Device.
Related Topic: For information about accessing devices connected to remote workstations on the network, see “Accessing Another System's Media Devices or Printers.”
Your system can use a modem to communicate with other systems over a phone line. To add a modem to your system:
Connect the modem cable to a serial port on the workstation, and connect the modem to a telephone jack.
Configure the modem by using the Add a Modem Active Guide, available from the Toolchest in System > System Manager > Hardware and Devices.
To remove a modem connection from your system, use the Remove a Modem Active Guide, also available in the Hardware and Devices category in the System Manager.
After adding a modem to your system, you can set up a PPP (point-to-point protocol) connection between your system and another system using the modem. See the Help menu in the PPP Manager (from the Toolchest, choose System > System Manager > Network and Connectivity > PPP Manager).
Your system can use ISDN to communicate with other systems over a phone line. (An ISDN connection is typically faster than a modem connection.)
To set up ISDN on your system, follow the steps in the Set Up ISDN Active Guide, available from the Toolchest in System > System Manager > Network and Connectivity. For more information, see the Help menu in the ISDN Manager, also available in the Network and Connectivity category.
 | Note: Make sure that you carefully review all of the prerequisites listed on the first page of the Active Guide. |
After setting up ISDN on your system, you can set up a PPP (point-to-point protocol) connection between your system and another system using ISDN. For more information, see the Help menu in the PPP Manager (from the Toolchest, choose System > System Manager > Network and Connectivity > PPP Manager).
Follow these steps to set up a connection via modem between your local workstation and an Internet Service Provider (ISP):
Contact the ISP and tell them that you want to use their services.
They will provide you with the information you need to set up your connection. This information may include a user name (or login name), password, phone numbers for the connection, an email account, the name of a mail server, and so on.
Use the Add a Modem Active Guide to set up your modem. From the Toolchest, choose System > System Manager > Hardware and Devices > Add a Modem.
Note: Make sure you connect the modem to your workstation and turn it on. Use the Add an Outgoing PPP Connection Active Guide to set up a connection to the ISP.
You can access this Active Guide from the window that appears after you set up the modem. Or, you can open it from the System Manager. From the Toolchest, choose System > System Manager > Network and Connectivity > Add an Outgoing PPP Connection.
Enter the information provided by the ISP in the Active Guide pages. Here are some hints:
If you have trouble with the dial connection when using a dialing prefix such as “1” or “9” to make a call, try adding a comma between the prefix and the rest of the phone number. For example, “9,5551212.”
If the ISP did not provide IP addresses for the connection, you should enter “0” in the local and remote IP address fields.
In most cases, you should select the Automatic Add Route option.
Drag the PPP Connection icon from the Confirmation dialog to the desktop background, so that you can easily open it for Step 5.
Click on any linked words in the various Active Guide pages for definitions and hints about entering information.
Use the Modify Network Settings Active Guide to make any additional settings required by the ISP.
You can access this Active Guide from the window that appears after you add an outgoing connection. Or, you can open it from the System Manager. From the Toolchest, choose System > System Manager > Network and Connectivity > Modify Network Settings.
If your ISP provided you with the name of a DNS server, this Active Guide provides a page on which you can enter it. If your ISP did not provide you with a specific piece of information requested in the Active Guide, use the default settings provided.
Open the PPP Connection you created in Step 3.
Click PPP Manager in the Network and Connectivity category of the System Manager.
Double-click the name of the Outgoing Connection that you created in Step 3.
In the window that appears, click the Open Connection button.
Your modem should begin making noises; when it stops, your connection should be open. To access the Web, choose Internet > Open Web Browser from the Toolchest.
You can now set up access to and use the various services offered by your ISP, such as e-mail, news, and the World Wide Web. See the browser application's Help for instructions; you will probably need to enter additional information provided by your ISP.
You can set up a network connection in a number of ways:
If there is an existing Ethernet network available, and you can connect your workstation to it using an Ethernet cable, use the Set Up and Start Networking Active Guide. Choose System > System Manager from the Toolchest, select the Network and Connectivity category, and click Set Up and Start Networking.
If there is an existing Ethernet network available, but you cannot connect your workstation to it using an Ethernet cable, you can either:
Use a modem over a telephone line and set up a PPP (point-to-point protocol) connection.
To access the Active Guide for adding a modem to your system, from the Toolchest, choose System Manager > Hardware and Devices > Add a Modem.
To access the Active Guides for setting up PPP connections, from the Toolchest, choose System Manager > Network and Connectivity, then click Add an Outgoing PPP Connection or Add an Incoming PPP Connection.
Use ISDN over a telephone line and set up a PPP connection.
Open the System Manager and then select the Network and Connectivity category. Open the Set Up ISDN Active Guide and the PPP Manager Active Guide. Use the Help menus for more information.
If there is not an existing Ethernet network available, you can set up a new Ethernet network. See the Help menu in the Network Interface Manager for more information. (From the Toolchest, choose System Manager > Network and Connectivity > Network Interface Manager.)
To connect to an existing FDDI, Token Ring, or Sync Serial network, you must purchase optional communication boards. After installing them, open the System Manager, select the Network and Connectivity category, and click Set Up and Start Networking to set up the connection to the network. Use the Help menu for more information.
To print documents, you must configure the software so that it recognizes the printer you want to use. For UNIX-compatible printers that are connected directly to your workstation or connected to other systems on your local network:
Use the Printer Manager . If you are not going to connect the printer directly to your own system, you will need to know the name of the remote system that the printer is connected to (the printer server). In Printer Manager, click Add... to bring up the window that allows you to connect to new printers. The Add window contains dynamic help text that guides you. You can also refer to the Printer Manager Help.
To open the Printer Manager, choose System > Printer Manager from the Toolchest.
Use the Mount a Macintosh or PC Printer Active Guide to access a remote printer connected to a Macintosh or PC-compatible computer running the AppleShare or NetWare software.
To open the Mount a Macintosh or PC Printer Active Guide, choose System > System Manager from the Toolchest. Select the Hardware and Devices category and then click Mount a Macintosh or PC Printer.
For information about using a printer once its been set up, see “Print Documents”.
Once a printer has been set up for your system, you can print files. Most applications have a print command. Here are some other methods you can use:
Drag the file onto a printer icon.
Select the file or directory, then choose Selected > Print from the Toolchest, or choose Selected > Print from the Icon View menu.
Drag the files onto the PrintPanel icon to customize the print job.
To access printer icons, from the Toolchest choose System > Printer Manager. To access the PrintPanel icon, from the Toolchest choose Find > Printing. You can drag any of these icons to your desktop background.
You may find that you need additional disk space at some point. Before you add a new disk to your system, you may want to try freeing existing disk space using one of the following methods:
Empty your dumpster by choosing Desktop >Empty Dumpster from the Toolchest.
Use the Software Manager to remove unnecessary or outdated software products. For instructions on using the Software Manager, see the Software Manager Help. Here are some suggestions for removing files:
Remove dev subsystems if you are not a developer.
Remove man(reference) pages and release notes if you do not use them.
Remove *.books.* if you use a remote InfoSearch server for your online books.
Note: Some software products are essential to your system or to other programs on your system. If you select one of these products to be removed, Software Manager alerts you with a conflict dialog.
Look for and delete large files that you do not need:
in /var/tmp and /tmp: These public directories often become full; delete unwanted files or directories you find here. You can probably delete files ending in .bak and .sav.
in /var/adm/crash: When the system has a serious failure, it places information in two files: vmcore.number and unix.number. You may want to back up these files to tape before deleting them in order to save them for your local support group.
in /var/adm/SYSLOG: If this file seems very large (over 200KB) remove all but a few lines of it; do not remove the entire file.
From the Toolchest, choose Find > Search for Files to open the Search tool. Use it to search for and delete files containing the strings listed below:
*.bak
*.sav
Click on the Name menu button in the Search tool to choose “matches pattern” instead of “contains string,” then search and delete files named core.
If your system is on a network, and you want to access or copy files and directories to or from another system on the local network, you can do so with the Access Desktop tool.
To open the Access Desktop tool from the Toolchest, choose Desktop > Access Files > By Remote Login.
Type in the name of the remote workstation.
Type in a user name and password (when applicable).
You need to type in the account name of a user who has a login account on the remote system. If you do not have an account on the remote system or do not know another account name on the system, enter guest.
Select Directory and type in the pathname for the directory you want to open.
Click the Apply button.
An icon view of the remote directory appears on your desktop. You can now navigate through other directories on the remote system, as long as the user name you specified has read permission on the directories you want to view.
You can copy files and directories from your system onto the other system and vice versa by dragging the icons from one directory to the other.
Consider the following if the icon view does not appear:
Does the user account name you specified have read permission on the directory? If not, the owner of the directory must change the permissions so that you can access the directory. See “Make Directories and Files Available to Other Users”.
Is the workstation name correct?
Does the user you specified have an account on the remote system?
Did you type in the correct password?
Is the directory pathname correct?
To let users on remote systems access files on your system:
If you want users on your local network to be able to view and copy certain files, use the Permissions Manager to assign “read” permission to Others for those files, and assign “search/execute” permission to Others for the directories that contain those files. To open the Permissions Manager, select the file or directory icon and choose Selected > Change Permissions... .
If you want users on your local network to be able to edit certain files on your system, use the Permissions Manager to assign “write” permission to Others for those files, and assign “search/execute” permission to Others for the directories that contain those files.
If you want people to be able to view a list of the files in a particularly directory, use the Permissions Manager to assign “read” and “execute” permission to that directory. (Note that read and execute permission on the directory allows users to read and edit the files in that directory.)
To let users on remote systems access directories on your system:
If you want users on your local network to be able to access directories on your system, use the Start Sharing a Directory Active Guide.
To open this Active Guide: Select the directory folder icon in an Icon View window and choose Selected > Share > Share With Network... . If the icon is on the desktop background, select it, hold down the right mouse button and choose Share with Network... .
To share files on the same system:
To share your files with other users on the same system (for example, to let user “tanya” access a file in a directory owned by user “joe”), you need to set the appropriate access permissions on the files you want to share using the Permissions Manager. To use the Permissions Manager, select the file icon and choose Selected > Change Permissions... .
You can use an Active Guide to set up permanent access to your Mac or PC. The Active Guide steps you through the process of NFS-mounting file systems via AppleShare or NetWare. From the Toolchest, choose System > System Manager > Network and Connectivity > Mount an AppleShare or NetWare Filesystem.
| Note: If you have a floppy drive attached to your system, you can copy files back and forth from a Macintosh or PC disk. For information, see “Copying Files to and From a Floppy Disk” in the Desktop User's Guide. |
See the following topics in the Desktop User's Guide:
“Accessing Applications On Remote Systems”
“Accessing Another System's Media Devices or Printers”
You can use the Backup and Restore Manager to archive (back up) files on your system. You can archive individual files or directories, or your entire system. You can store the archived files on a tape, filesystem, or disk. You can also copy the contents of your entire disk to another disk.
To open the Backup and Restore Manager, choose from the Toolchest, System > System Manager > Files and Data > Backup and Restore Manager.
For more information, see the Help menu in the Backup and Restore Manager window.
Instead of using the Backup and Restore Manager, you can choose an Active Guide like Backup Files, Restore Files From Backup, and Unschedule a Backup. These guides step you through the task.
The User Manager lets you add new users and modify, remove, and view information about user accounts on your system. You can also use the User Manager to set or change the password on an existing user account.
To open the User Manager, from the Toolchest, choose System > System Manager > Security and Access Control > User Manager.
For more information, see the Help menu in the User Manager window.
To access the contents of a floppy, CD-ROM, DVD, or tape drive, double-click the device's icon, which appears on your desktop background. An icon view appears for floppy drives, from which you can access and manipulate files and directories. When you double-click a CD-ROM drive icon, the result depends on the type of CD in the drive. For example, if it is an audio CD, the CDPlayer tool launches. If the CD is installable software, Software Manager appears. Double-click the tape drive icon (labeled with the type of tape drive you have—for example, DAT) and follow the instructions on the dialog that appears.
If the icon for your device does not appear on your desktop background, you may need to configure your software for the device. See “Configure the Software for New Hardware Devices”. If this is the first time you have used the device, simply restarting your system may make the device icon appear.
You have several options for improving your system's security in order to control access to it by unauthorized users.
Use the Permissions Manager to limit access by other users to a specific file or group of files. You can access the Permissions Manager in one of these ways:
Select the file or directory and choose Selected > Change Permissions... . Refer to the Permissions Manager Help menu for additional information.
From the Toolchest, select System > System Manager > Security and Access Control > Permissions Manager.
From the Toolchest, choose System > System Manager > Security and Access Control > Improve System Security to make several different changes to how your system can be accessed.