The collected works of dc_v01 - Page 1

regan_russell wrote: isnt no logging/monitoring dangereous..?

Do you click on the "Send Error Report to Microsoft" button, too?

regan_russell wrote:

dc_v01 wrote: Do you click on the "Send Error Report to Microsoft" button, too?

Yes, especially when the code that caused it was mine.

Oh, wow, that's impressive! (Ever help you out?)

Anyway, I always turn esp off 'cause it seems to speed things up so dramatically. I'm not going to get any support from sgi, and there's pretty much zero security risk on my boxes so it's not "dangerous" not to have added logging/monitoring from that perspective.

tjsgifan wrote: I think all you have to look out for is the Sync On Green capability of the display.

Sort of. Depending on the 13W3 to HD15 adapter you have, you may not need a SOG capable display. You will need at least a SOG tolerant display. Octanes and most other later SGIs do put out separate H/V sync signals on the 13W3 pins, enabling these to be routed to conventional HD15 input displays. However, the SOG signal is still in the green channel, so your display needs to filter this out - several displays seem to do this, or better KVMs (I guess any of them that puts a label like "Computer 1" on the display as you switch). So, if you have a 13W3 adapter which routes/outputs the H/V sync signals, all you need is a SOG tolerant display. Unfortunately, this capability is not advertised. I think most newer displays should work, but some people seem to have issues. The key is to have the adapter which enables this. These adapters tend to be more expensive. You can check with an ohmmeter - 13W3 pins 4 & 5 should route to HD15 pins 13 & 14 respectively, I think. There are cheap Sun adapters which do not route the H/V sync signals from SGIs - these will require a SOG capable monitor. If you are sure you have a SOG monitor and the adapter doesn't work, break off all the other pins in the 13W3 connection except for the 3 big coax connections - something else is being routed wrong and messing things up, but all you need are the RGB channels for a SOG system to work.

Grummz wrote: Oh great! Thanks for replying to this thread. I reposted the question to the other thread...oh well.

Didn't SGI have a 19 inch LCD that was 4:3 aspect ratio?

Yes, F190

unixmuseum wrote:

Timberoz wrote: For one it might see some new software come to the platform. Or better still support stay for some of the older products that left. Maya, Discreet apps just to name a few.

Or see ongoing development for existing ports.

Timberoz

You'd get all this by porting IRIX to x86?!?!?! How??? I know IRIX is pretty magical, but it will be able to turn old MIPS binary into shiny new x86 code?

Porting IRIX to x86 was a good idea. Like in the late nineties, when it was obvious that they wouldn't be able to continue to compete with Intel/AMD on performance. They then could have been first out of the block with 64bit Opteron machines. Software vendors were still supporting them, Linux hadn't yet established as strong a foothold. Apple has successfully managed these types of transitions twice - and that's what has kept them alive today. If SGI had done this.......

But it's too late now.....

Frapazoid wrote: So they went for the workstation market head on specifically. That's like attacking a walled city; not recommended.

They should've went the other route and got into consumer graphics. .

What makes you think that if they couldn't compete with commodity workstations they could compete with commodity graphics?

The company fundamentally isn't capable of competing in commodity anything - their business practices and model just won't support it. IRIX on x86, if done at the right time, could've kept people buying professional workstations. Some people still do - IBM, HP, SUN all offer some form of professional workstation, but the market isn't really big and they aren't that much better. The whole problem with the commodity vs. professional workstation wasn't the price - it was the fact that the commodity worksations were actually faster ! Now, plenty of people wiould have been willing to pay for the advantages of professional gear if they had kept pace with the commodity hardware, never mind if the prof. kit was even faster.....

cybercow wrote:

Indy is good only for non-textured games like Battalion and the SGI flight simulator demo

anybody knows is the SGI flight simulator demo downloadable from somewhere ? url or something ? i googled the web and not found anything about it. it maybe comes with Irix installation ? (i still not have cd`s)

I haven't seen it downloadable anywhere. It is on the early 6.5 applications CDs - at some 6.5.x it was moved to a separate demo CD, buy I'm not sure when that happened.

squeen wrote: Man I'm been batting zero lately with this Tzero!

Sounds like you need someone to take it off your hands, cheap.

Rid yourself of these problems...

dj wrote: Couple of notes:
* Graphics hardware with texturing is now required to run the flipbook player.

Is there a way to download the older version so you could run it on hardware without texturing? I didn't find it on the site...

nekonoko wrote: Sure, the previous versions are all on the Sourceforge downloads page . If you scroll down to the bottom of the page, you'll see '+' next to 0.6.1 Beta and 0.6.0 beta - just click on the '+' to show the download list for that version.

Hmm, so, is my excuse that my monitor is locked to 800x600? Or the default "open in new window" is 640x480? Or that in either case, I'm incapable of seeing/using a scroll bar? I swear it wasn't there before!

Thanks for pointing out the obvious, neko, some of us seem to need it sometimes...

nekonoko wrote:

shyouko wrote: my first programming language learnt was LOGO.

Yep, that's a pretty good one to start with too - an easy to read structured language based on Lisp. I can package Berkeley Logo 5.5 for IRIX if anyone wants to try it.

Does it support turtle graphics? This is fun info - I had no idea I had learned "an easy to read structured language based on Lisp." It's a toss up whether I encountered LOGO or BASIC first - really too long ago for me to remember much about either.

nekonoko wrote: Yes, it supports turtle graphics. The project page is here:
....
Here's a shot of it running on my Fuel:

Cool! But hazy memories come back - I'm sure I must have learned some BASIC first, on a Commodore Pet (with a membrane keyboard!) or maybe a TRS-80, before LOGO (C-64/AppleII era, maybe a Vic20)

It sucks the same as all the other versions. I'm not 100% sure if I've used 13, but I think 12 on IRIX. Maybe 13. I don't think "AutoCAD" and "modelling" belong in the same sentence. That said, it has its place, it's very handy for some kinds of drawings, determining angular relationships, laying out optics, for example. I don't really remember any significant differences between platforms for AutoCAD, pc/unix were fairly equivalent.

cybercow wrote:

It sucks the same as all the other versions.

humm ... i don`t think so, because it`s an industrial cad standard indeed ...

hehe, was, was an industrial standard - well, ok, it's still used for 2D. Look, when it came out in the early '80s, it was revolutionary, became a standard. And if you learned that version, you can still use the program today, in the same way. See the problem?

It's quite capable for a lot of 2D tasks, which there are still many. But when they first added 3D, it was basically allowing you another dimension to draw your lines, there weren't any primitives or other features. I wouldn't wish that on anyone. But I'm biased from my engineering background, where having parametric capabilities is a big advantage. For other applications, that's not as important, and it's lasted longer there - architecture is apparently one.

Also, sucking is not incompatible with being a standard. Happens all the time.

I don't think "AutoCAD" and "modelling" belong in the same sentence

? constructing wired 3D architectural objects from plain views, before exporting them to some powerful animation / rendering tool it`s a quite standard task for acad ...

I still basically stand by my statement, although your right that it is a task done by acad. But if your used to another 3D "modelling" package, I think you'll be disappointed. You're looking for experiences, right? 3D is not the forte of 12, or 13. But generally, Autodesk has add-ons that will make your task at hand easier - whether it is architectural or mechanical or electrical, and those make a difference. However, all the unix versions I came across were "vanilla" autocad, or maybe had some 3D mechanical extensions. I don't know if any architectural versions were there for unix. If your modelling background was 3D "graphics" (surfaces, Maya, etc), you'll probably find acad a bit more livable than if your background was 3D mcad, where solids, parametric features are more essential. But I still don't think you'll like 13 that much for 3D. Later versions add more 3D capabilities. But I haven't used it's 3D features in years, it's strictly a 2D package for me.

TeeTylerToe wrote: what advice doe people have on recording uncompressed? 720x486? the default is 640x480. should I use quicktime, or .mv? interlaced? 422 rather then apple24, or what not?

If I recall, you should record NTSC at 640x480 or PAL at 720x512. There may be a spec you see that shows more "lines" for NTSC, etc, but that's to accommodate overscan in the signal, you don't need to digitize it. If someone wants to pipe in otherwise, they may actually have experience - I'm just going from reading. Note that NTSC and PAL have aprox. the same bandwidth, the higher res in PAL is offset by a lower field rate.

Certainly a nice, well done job - but I've never really understood the huge objection to the roller balls. Sure, you gotta clean them every so often. I only used these until a month ago, when I got this nice MS optical piece of crap. The optics doesn't bother me, but the middle mouse button (under the wheel) only functions 20-30% of the time. I'm not sure if this is a design flaw (feels like it could be the driver) or if this is a problem just with this unit. Right now I manage by programming the two side buttons to be a middle mouse button, but it'll take a while to undo years of training (my main app makes extensive use of it).

FWIW, one of the earlier Logitech MouseMan designs used a very lightweight ball. I thought these functioned much better, with the lighter weight they didn't seem to pick up the dust and put them on the rollers - you could go years without cleaning. But I guess they thought people liked the feeling of heavier roller balls....

QuicksilverG4 wrote: There is no SGI solution that's as easy and no where near as cheap.

Well, I've bought the A/V modules for that O2 for $15, so you could do it on the SGI, but the "easy" part would be a matter of opinion. (And the A/V module is supposed to be pretty sensitive to the tape quality). The Mac is a better solution just from the availability of more modern software tools. But if you like a retro feel....

yungjoon wrote: Many thanks for your replies.

I have an adapter I used formerly with my sun ultra30. Strangely, I used it with my Octane/19"CRT without any problem.

Sometimes, I see adapters on ebay but I can't know if they can do with my LCD monitor.

Yes, it's very difficult to find the proper adapters, and know what you're getting for sure.

yungjoon wrote: Hey, if someone has a spare adapter to sell, I am interested !

International shipping might be an issue, but Greg Douglas at Reputable Systemes http://www.reputable.com sells them. http://store.ultraspec.us/1395-sgi.html also appears to be the right one.

cybercow wrote: http://www.deepspacecables.com/models/octane.html

Great to see their website back up! This used to be the place I recommended most highly. I had great results with their adapters (solved all my KVM problems) and bought in bulk. However, other people here had complained that their service was non-existent and never got the adapters they ordered. The website had been down for more than a month. I would email and confirm that they are back in business before ordering anything (and they operate an eBay store where the prices are cheaper!), or order from the other sites I listed earlier.

Backrupt and bought..
25 million? Should've bought them myself.
http://www.theregister.co.uk/2009/04/01/sgi_rackable/

They had seemed like they might make a move back towards workstations - but being bought by Rackable...

Unfortunately the "on board Ethernet" support project for Octanes and Origins makes it sound substantially less useful than it could be.....

foetz wrote: mips3?

Maybe you were out too long. SAQ does MIPS3 nekoware builds.