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Archive-name: sgi/faq/misc

           SGI misc Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ)


This information is freely distributable and wide circulation is encouraged.
The contents are accurate as far as we know, but the usual disclaimers apply.
This FAQ contains errors! Finding them is an exercise for alert readers.

Please send additions and changes to sgi-faq@archone.tamu.edu.

This FAQ is one of the SGI FAQ series, which consists of:

     SGI Admin FAQ - IRIX System Administration
     SGI Apps FAQ - Applications & Compilers
     SGI Graphics FAQ - Graphics & Windowing
     SGI Hardware FAQ - Hardware issues
     SGI Misc FAQ - Introduction & Miscellaneous Information

Each FAQ is posted to each comp.sys.sgi.* group as well as the news.answers
and comp.answers newsgroups (whose purpose is to store FAQs) every two weeks.
If you can't find one of the FAQs with your news program, you can get it by
anonymous FTP from one of these sites:

 rtfm.mit.edu:pub/usenet/news.answers/sgi/faq/misc
 rtfm.mit.edu:pub/usenet/comp.sys.sgi.misc/SGI_misc_Frequently_Asked_Questions
 archone.tamu.edu:ftp/pub/sgi/faq/misc
 rtfm.mit.edu:pub/usenet/comp.answers/sgi/faq/misc

Note that rtfm.mit.edu is home to many other FAQs and informational documents,
and is a good place to look if you can't find an answer here.

Topics covered in this FAQ:
--------------------------
  -1- How can I quickly find the question I want in this FAQ?
  -2- What are the various comp.sys.sgi.* groups?
  -3- What are some related FAQ lists?
  -4- What number do I call for information about SGI products?
  -5- What is the latest release of..
! -6- What is the most current supported release of IRIX for my machine?
  -7- Is there an easy way to determine which release of IRIX 
      I'm running?
  -8- Can I get a list of known bugs?
  -9- Where can I get used SGI machines?
  -10- Where can I find software for my SGI?
  -11- Credits

----------------------------------------------------------------------

Subject:   -1- How can I quickly find the question I want in this FAQ?
Date: 27 May 93 00:00:01 EST

- This FAQ follows the RFC1153 recommendations for message digests and thus
  can be viewed easily with newsreaders that understand message digests.
- Each question has a Subject: line, so you can easily step through the answers
  with rn's ^G command.
- Each question is marked with a "dash number dash" so that you can find any
  answer with a simple search pattern.
- Questions marked with a '+' are new this posting; those marked with a '!'
  have significant new content since the last edition.

------------------------------

Subject:   -2- What are the various comp.sys.sgi.* groups?
Date: 07 May 93 00:00:01 EST

The active SGI newsgroups are

  comp.sys.sgi.announce  Announcements for the SGI community. (Moderated)
  comp.sys.sgi.admin     System administration on Silicon Graphics's Irises.
  comp.sys.sgi.apps      Applications which run on the Iris.
  comp.sys.sgi.bugs      Bugs found in the IRIX operating system.
  comp.sys.sgi.graphics  Graphics packages and issues on SGI machines.
  comp.sys.sgi.hardware  Base systems and peripherals for Iris computers.
  comp.sys.sgi.misc      General discussion about SGI's machines.

The original comp.sys.sgi newsgroup is obsolete. Please don't post to it, so
the rest of us won't miss anything.

To submit an article for posting in comp.sys.sgi.announce, send mail to
Matthew Wicks at sgi-announce-request@dcdmjw.fnal.gov.

------------------------------

Subject:   -3- What are some related FAQ lists?
Date: 15 Jun 93 00:00:01 EST

Silicon Graphics-specific lists:

  SGI Anonymous FTP archives
  Posted monthly to comp.sys.sgi, news.answers
  FTP from rtfm.mit.edu in /pub/usenet/news.answers/sgi
  Contact billh@hampton.sgi.com (Bill Henderson)

  Known SGI User Groups (SUMMARY)
  Posted monthly to comp.sys.sgi.misc
  FTP from archone.tamu.edu in /pub/sgi
  Contact syscrc@gsusgi1.gsu.edu (Randy Carpenter)

  Iris 2000 & 3000 systems FAQ (note that this refers to old SGI models, not
    MIPS R2000/R3000 chips)
  Contact jonathan@vort.cuc.ab.ca (Jonathan Levine). Jonathan may also start a
    mailing list for Iris 2000/3000 owners if there is interest.

  Explorer FAQ
  Posted ??? to comp.graphics.explorer
  FTP from swedishchef.lerc.nasa.gov in explorer/FAQ
  Contact explorer-request@castle.ed.ac.uk

  Inventor FAQ
  FTP from archone.tamu.edu in /pub/sgi/faq/inventor
  Contact gavin@sgi.com (Gavin Bell)

  Third-party hardware vendor lists (disks, memory, and magneto-optical drives)
  FTP from archone.tamu.edu in /pub/sgi/3rd-party
  Contact blbates@aero36.larc.nasa.gov (Brent L. Bates)

Other lists of interest to SGI users:

  comp.graphics Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ)
  Posted monthly to comp.graphics, news.answers
  Contact grieggs@jpl-devvax.jpl.nasa.gov (John T. Grieggs)

  comp.windows.x Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ)
  Posted monthly to comp.windows.x,news.answers,alt.answers,comp.answers
  Contact faq%craft@uunet.uu.net (X FAQ maintenance address)

  comp.windows.x: Getting more performance out of X FAQ
  Posted monthly to comp.windows.x, news.answers
  Contact art@cs.ualberta.ca (Art Mulder)

  Motif FAQ
  Posted monthly to comp.windows.x.motif,news.answers
  Contact jan@ise.canberra.edu.au (Jan Newmarch)

  Unix - Frequently Asked Questions
  Posted monthly to comp.unix.questions, comp.unix.shell, news.answers
  Contact tmatimar@empress.com (Ted M A Timar)

  All of these may be FTPed from various directories on rtfm.mit.edu.

------------------------------

Subject:   -4- What number do I call for information about SGI products?
Date: 07 May 93 00:00:01 EST

For product information, call SGI Express or your local SGI sales office.

SGI Express can be reached at: 1-800-800-SGI1 (1-800-800-7441).
For SGI Technical Support call 1-800-800-4SGI (1-800-800-4744).
Customers outside of North America must call their regional sales office.

------------------------------

Subject:   -5- What is the latest release of..
Date: 07 May 93 00:00:01 EST

This changes quite often. The best way to get up-to-date information
about SGI products is to call SGI Express.

------------------------------

Subject: ! -6- What is the most current supported release of IRIX for my machine?
Date: 05 October 93 00:00:01 CST

All machines have a "general" release, meaning the release that gets
shipped with the machine if you were to buy it today.

A few machines also have "optional" bug-fix releases that are
generally available on a fix-on-fail basis.

This list does -not- indicate releases only available via
the beta process or "special" support agreements.

                          Current General   Current bug-fix
Machine                      Release           Release
-------                   ---------------   --------------
Indigo R3000:              IRIX 4.0.5F      IRIX 4.0.5 IOP (Indigo-Only Patch)
Indigo R4000:              IRIX 4.0.5F      IRIX 4.0.5 IOP (Indigo-Only Patch)
Indigo2:                   IRIX 4.0.5H      none
RealityEngine (1):         IRIX 4.0.5G      none
RealityEngine w/ MCO (2):  IRIX 4.0.5H      none
Onyx RealityEngine:        IRIX 5.0.1       none
Onyx VTX:                  IRIX 5.0.1       none
Challenge:                 IRIX 5.0.1       none
Indy:                      IRIX 5.1.1       none
Personal IRIS:             IRIX 4.0.5A      IRIX 4.0.5C
Crimson (3):               IRIX 4.0.5A      IRIX 4.0.5C
all others (4):            IRIX 4.0.5A      IRIX 4.0.5C

*1:  NOT RealityEngine2 (which comes with Onyx)
*2:  MCO is Multi-Channel Option
*3:  Other than Crimson RealityEngine
*4:  All other CPU / Graphics types

------------------------------

Subject:   -7- Is there an easy way to determine which release of IRIX 
               I'm running?
Date: 20 May 93 00:00:01 CST

'uname -a' gives you all the kernel info; see 'man uname' for other
options.

Of more general use, since kernels don't always reflect installed
software, is the 'versions' command.  'versions' with no arguments
lists all the installed software subsystems.

------------------------------

Subject:   -8- Can I get a list of known bugs?
Date: 15 Jun 93 00:00:01 EST

Yes.  In addition to known bugs that are documented in Product
Release Notes, the IRIS InSight Support Library includes a collection
of customer reported software, document problems, and requests for
enhancements in the Software Status Update (SSU) binder.  The IRIS 
InSight Subscription Service (SC4-INS-2.0) is an annually renewed
service which can be purchased from SGI.

------------------------------

Subject:   -9- Where can I get used SGI machines?
Date: 26 May 93 00:00:01 CST

The SGI Systems Remarketing group makes used SGI machines available
to sales representatives.  If you want to buy a used SGI machine, ask
your local sales rep or call SGI Express at 1-800-800-7441.

wgbhres@world.std.com (Boris Levitin) writes,
     Sun Valley (408)224-6261 Joe Ferris
     Minicomputer Exchange (408)733-4400
     XS International (404)874-1212
     Security Computer Sales (612)227-5683

------------------------------

Subject:   -10- Where can I find software for my SGI?
Date: 15 Jun 93 00:00:01 EST

Silicon Graphics can tell you about their own and third-party
commercial software.  Call SGI Express (800-800-SGI1) for more
information.

The best general reference for finding sources on the Internet is
Jonathan Kamens' "Finding Sources" document. It can be FTPed from
rtfm.mit.edu in /pub/usenet/news.answers/finding-sources. Read it
carefully before you post a question about finding software ...
because half of your answers will be "look in Archie" anyway, and
"Finding Sources" tells you how to do that.

Useful general archive sites include export.lcs.mit.edu for X
software (and X itself), aeneas.mit.edu for GNU software, and
wuarchive.wustl.edu and ftp.uu.net for nearly anything, including
archives of many Usenet sources newsgroups and mirrors of the
aforementioned GNU and X archives.

The best SGI-specific reference is Bill Henderson's
<billh@hampton.sgi.com> SGI anonymous FTP list. Good places to look,
if you just feel like looking, are ftp.sgi.com, where are kept any
number of freebies from the folks at SGI and
swedishchef.lerc.nasa.gov, a particularly well-stocked SGI site.

Bill Henderson's list is a good place to look for compiled software
if you've had trouble compiling it yourself or don't have a compiler.
However, many of these binaries won't be the latest version, and it's
worth checking the latest version to see if SGI support has improved.
SGI's presence has increased markedly in recent years and the trend
is definitely toward better IRIX support.

------------------------------

Subject:   -11- Credits
Date: 6 May 93 00:00:01 EST

The comp.sys.sgi FAQs are the collective effort of

  Dale Chayes		dale@ldeo.columbia.edu
  Steve Rikli		steve@archone.tamu.edu
  Allan Schaffer	aschaffe@sgi.com
  Dave Schweisguth	dcs@neutron.chem.yale.edu

Special thanks are due to

  Tom Davis		Author of 'zip'
  Harry Mangalam	Maintainer of the comp.sys.sgi.* WAIS database

Finally, much thanks to all of the SGI employees on Usenet, all of whom have
provided gigabytes of help and information.

Credits for individual contributions are given in the answers.

------------------------------
-- 
Allan Schaffer
Silicon Graphics
aschaffe@sgi.com
-- 
Allan Schaffer
Silicon Graphics
aschaffe@sgi.com