The collected works of Vladio - Page 1

I just bought an Octane 2 and am very new to Irix but I'm learning.

first, thank you to everyone that's worked at getting a modern browser up and running on Irix/SGI. It's been 30 years since I used Unix and it's coming back, albeit slowly. I love the machine and am learning to love the OS as well.

My Octane had Mozilla 1.x.x that did work and was stable. It was relatively fast and really didn't have many issues when I used it. I just updated to FF 3.0.19 and have it running. I'm having some issues that are outside my knowledge with the OS and, as much as I hate to post, I really could use some help. 3.0.19 is running slow and erratic. I have areas that turn black when the cursor moves over them and data input boxes that will black out when I try to type something in. The browser is very slow as well. I assume I have either a conflict or outdated supporting file somewhere but, like I mentioned, I'm not up to speed at that level to fix it. I am a fast learner though.

If anyone has run into this and can offer up some help I'd appreciate it. My goal was to wipe the OS (which I just did) and install FF to use and get familiar with. This is the last piece of that puzzle and then I'll be doing more work at learning more about IRIS so I'm eager to fix this issue. Please keep in mind that I'm a base level newby.

Thanks so much!

Changing the color depth didn't work but fixpath did.

I assume I did this correctly... I uncompressed the neko_fixpath.tar.gz file that was on the desktop then dragged it onto the firefox icon. I guess that since I'm not getting these blacked out areas that it went as it was suppose to.

guardian452 wrote: Indeed.

Unfortunately, we are starting to get to the point where not only is some program abandonware, so are the cracks/keygens/serials necessary to get it running. I.e. I know it's out there somewhere, but finding it isn't as easy as it was even 2 or 3 years ago.

The Octane 2 I picked up a month or so ago came with a photo manipulating program that's been the standard for the last couple decades (After reading this thread I'm not sure I can say the name ). Of course it was an old version (3.1 circa 1995). I installed it thinking I was going down the same road as I have with all my MacPro's, PowerMac and, of course, PC's whereas I have all the documents in brand new, unopened packages with serial numbers... Upon reading the printed docs which came with it (being a man, reading the instructions always follows the install/assembly) I see there needs to be a flexlm license granted by the software manufacturer. They included a sheet to fax after the unit id's were generated and I figured this would of been long since shut down so I called and talked to a guy named "Frank" with a thick accent who was less than patient with my request for the license - totally expected this. He said that this was no longer supported and there's nothing he can do. I guess my point is if it's not supported on what he said was a "dead" system, why not offer a work-around so the software can be used?

Stoo wrote: Because without written approval from all the various software suppliers, it still puts the site at risk of a DCMA takedown/lawyer letter etc, which is expensive to deal with in any form.

If you want to go out and create a website SGILicenseWorkarounds.net, go nuts, and I'm sure a lot of people will value it, but it's then on your head if one software house/patent troll etc decide to send you expensive letters..

Nekochan doesn't want to entertain the hassle, so won't - it's a very, very common stance taken by forum administrators for all sorts of old "dead" platforms, as quite often the IP is sold on to other entities after the original developers/publishers close down.

I think you misread what I posted. I wasn't suggesting work-arounds for everything. What I meant was that this particular company, since they dropped both support and development for SGI, to allow the app that I have that was never installed to work.

Man, I'm starting to think I'm a jinx. I'm looking at about 25% success at anything I do sgi.

I installed the Neko version of BZflag and it's dependencies. If I double click the icon it does nothing. So I tried the command line and got:

bzflag: rld: fatal error: cannot successfully map soname 'libcurl.so.4 under any of the filenames /usr/nekoware/lib/lubcurl.so.4...........

I did search here and google but don't see anything sgi specific.

Any suggestions?

smj wrote: cURL isn't SGI specific, but I'm betting there is a Nekoware package for it. Perhaps you don't have it installed, or you may have found another version mismatch...

I initially installed the freeware version off a cd. Something like 1.0.14. It ran buggy with menu issues so I removed that install and did a Neko install. the first time I tried to run the app I got the error so I removed whatever curl I had on and installed the neko version. I take another look but that was the only version there.

I was just looking for a game. No pref for bz at all, really. Any suggestions for a game semi-entertaining?

I search mame and went through a few threads but the links were all dead. Did that not work, was there a prob....?

viewtopic.php?t=178

vishnu wrote: Ah, that's a ten year old topic I'd be surprised if any of the links weren't dead!

When you're trying to get shared objects to work on Linux, you have to rerun ldconfig every time you add an object or change an object file's name, or the system can't find the new/renamed file. I suppose I should know if something similar is the case on IRIX, but I don't, anyone? Anyone? Bueller? Bueller?

Fair enough...

...and mame is dead on IRIX? I did a bunch of searches and don't see anything new on mame. It's not a biggie either way. I was hoping for something to get my boys interested in the machine. We do play Thieves on it but it would be nice to load up some old-school ROMS and play as well.

vishnu wrote: How old are your boys? I've got Super Tux Kart completely compiled but I can't link it because for reasons that have completely defeated me I cannot get nekoware SDL to install on my system. So if someone with a working SDL (and a working compiler) wants to do the linking I'd be happy to supply the object files. Kids love Tux Kart right?

The boys are 12, 9 & 5. I'm not familiar with Tux Kart but if it's anything like Mario Kart I'm sure they'll love it. I doubt, with my luck and record on the sgi, that I'll get it to work though. lol.

As far as Mame, not available for IRIX I guess?

I found a Tempest ROM that I'd love to play but would have to run it on either on the Mac Pro or Wintel box which are in the family room and not here in "The Cave".

hamei wrote:

Vladio wrote: The boys are 12, 9 & 5.

I knew I had this somewhere ... most of the old SGI ftp sites seem to be dead

Boys, 5, 9, 12, sounds perfect ... should play good on an Octane.

graveyardshift.tar.gz

Thanks, Hamei! We'll give it a try.

I'm new to SGI, just bought an Octane 2 dual 300mhz. I like it and find it interesting to play around with. I just recently got Maya 6.5 installed. My regular 3d machine is a dual/quad Mac Pro which I laid out for heavy graphics use. It's a fast machine, no doubt, but the sgi isn't difficult to work on at all. It's hard to compare 2 300mhz processors to 8 xeon cores running at 3.2ghz but the sgi holds its own. I like to see how a modern MIPS processor with technology that was kept up with would compare to Intel's fast processors. I guess we'll never see that. I started "rendering" as my wife calls it in '92 on a 485DX2-50 so I vividly remember setting up a scene and letting it render overnight. I did a lot of cgi static images back then, thankfully. I couldn't image rendering out a long animation on that 486.

Have you ever seen this:

http://www.futuretech.blinkenlights.nl/perfcomp.html

There's a bunch of speed tests done using Maya on a bunch of sgi's and some new machines as well.

Vlad

I've been playing around with a little side project and have hit a minor roadblock, so to speak. I have an emitter emitting blob particles onto an ocean surface in Maya 2013 that are getting clipped out on the higher parts of the ocean. Take a look at the pic. I've posted this on a couple maya forums but it seems like no one replies on them anymore so I figured I'd check in here. As always, I appreciate any input you can offer. Thanks in advance!




Joe

Sorry for any problems or stress! The image dropped into a library that had a bunch of other stuff that I didn't want "out there" so I moved it. I figured it would kill the link but I tried it and it was still there. Might of been cached though. Again, my apologies.

On my end I'll leave that image there for anyone that comes across this issue in the future. I agree it sucks when these images disappear - I'll do my best to keep it available going forward.

Thanks again, fella's.

hamei wrote: Anyway, if anything, Maya is doing you a favor. Your wake doesn't much resemble the real thing. By clipping off your particles in the middle it looks closer to the way a bow wave actually appears.

Look at some photos of a real sailboat. A wake is actually a v-shaped wave, centered on the bow. At the top of this wave is froth, visually extending in a v shape back from the point of entry. Behind the crest of this wave is a trough . A water-colored trough, with no froth or foam. Then farther behind that there will be another crest extending outward in a v shape, but also without any foam or froth. The distance for this secondary wake aft of the bow will depend on the boat length and the speed. Then at the very rear of the boat where the ass end of the hull meets the stern, there will be another small crest as the flow along the side meets the disturbed water coming up from under the boat. In power boats you will see foam or a froth here, generally in sail boats only bubbles and disturbed water. Some vortexes.

If you want it to look correct, you first need to work on the physics of solid objects moving through a fluid ....

Your shadows are doing a very odd thing as well, by the way. Is this a planet with two suns ?

To be fair, you are just seeing a small part but I would agree the lack of realism. Although I've yet to see a realistic wake that's true to your pics using a couple emitters in Maya - I've seen a lot that look good but lack the secondary nuances and realism of real-life.

As the splash coming off the bow is a half second part of the animation and it's just something I'm playing around with, I see no reason to spend the time redoing the wake in RealFlow to achieve an honest representation of what you pictured. But thank you none the less.

I did use maya's wake emitter on the rear of the ship but, again, it lacks the realism of real flow. It's fine for this though.

My question was why some particles were not showing and I think we got off topic a bit.

As far as the lighting, again, you aren't seeing the whole thing. Not sure what "two suns" you're seeing but there's one directional light that's casting a ray-traced shadow. Unless MentalRay has gone bonkers you're seeing a true shadow. As I'm looking at the video I have no idea what you're talking about.

I've searched through a half dozen pages looking for what Octane 2's sold for. Anyone know? I'd love to know both msrp and street but would take either.

Just curious. Thanks.

robespierre wrote: 'Street' is not a simple calculation: they were only available through authorized resellers, and the amount of discount you got depended a lot on who you were and which system you ordered.

in 2005, an SGI reseller would have listed these prices for refurbished Octane2s:

$10,995 WT5-2P600V12-536 - Ref SGI Octane2 V12, R14K 2x600MHz, 512MB, 36GB
$3,495 WT5-1P400V12-536 - Ref SGI Octane2 V12, R12K 400MHz, 512MB, 36GB
$1,995 WT5-1P360V6-518 - Ref SGI Octane2 V6, R12K 360MHz, 512MB, 18GB
$1,295 WT5-1P300SE18 - Ref SGI Octane SE, R12K 300MHz, 512MB, 18GB
$400 WT5-BASE-004 - Ref SGI Octane2 Base System

But the system was discontinued at the end of 2004, so these were stock-clearing prices.

Thanks, I'm just looking for an idea of what an Octane 2 would of cost me when it first came out and was new. I have a printing company and have a good idea of pricing between consumer and commercial, authorized retailers and online seller... knowing the average Octane user wasn't an average computer user, by street I mean what I would of paid to have one in my design department. Let's not over complicate things. Heck, and msrp would be fine.

jpstewart wrote: According to my sources, Octane2 prices in late 2001 ranged between the following:

Octane2, V6, 1x360MHz, 256MB RAM, 9GB 10K HDD, 21" monitor for $17,495 MSRP.
Octane2, V12, 2x400MHz, 512MB RAM, 18GB 10K HDD, 21" monitor, DMedia options for $71,445 MSRP.

Without DMedia, the price of the last one dropped by about $30,000!

Wow, 40 grand! Thanks for the info!

vishnu wrote: There's a full price list from 2006 posted (as a pdf) here: http://forums.nekochan.net/viewtopic.php?f=3&t=16728414

No Octane systems in the list because Octanes were discontinued after 2004, but there are prices for the Octane accessories that they were still offering. Some of those numbers are a bit out there...

Awesome, Vishnu! We're camping this weekend but I have cell service. Can't wait to make a hotspot and look over those prices tonight on an ipad (my eye sight isn't what it used to be ).

vishnu wrote:

Pontus wrote:

vishnu wrote:

Pontus wrote: gosh.. what a whining lot you are..

Us? So you're not one of us now?

Well! I'm... Uhm.. it's actual... OK! I'm a whiny internet forum poster as well

At my place of employ we call it BMWC, bitch moan whine and complain...

"BMWC", gotta borrow this!

uunix wrote: I've got 3 dead octane power supplies, maybe he do our nekochan collective (at a massive discount).

I've got two and would like to have at least one repaired. Since mine exploded I've noticed there's a few out there that have died. I just posted I was looking for someone to repair them to my FB account - might as well pee in the wind. Electronics repair is becoming a thing of the past in our disposable society.

hamei wrote: The O2 is a very strange computer. It's like a girl who's really hot in the sack but loses her car keys every five minutes and can't boil water. Half the time you can't wait to get home and play with it, the other half you want to throw it out the window.

Old thread but one of the best analogies I've read in a while. Well done, hamei!

I'm shopping a CPU upgrade for my Octane 2. I currently have a dual 300 and am thinking of upping it to a dual 600 MHz CPU. Pm me if you have one for sale. Thanks.

I just popped the seal on an unused/unopened Illustrator cd and installed. Of course it works but only functions as a trial without activating. There's a form to fill out and fax and a 1-800 number but since it's copyright 1994 I'm going to assume there's no way to "activate" my copy. Just wondering if that's the end-game or if there's a way to legally activate (which I'm guessing there's probably not) to use it.

Just to be clear - I'M NOT ASKING FOR A COPY OF ANYTHING AND I'M NOT TRYING TO RIP ADOBE OFF IN ANY WAY. I ASSUME THERE'S NOTHING I CAN DO OTHER THAN USE THE TRIAL VERSION but thought I'd ask in case I'm wrong. I have spent thousands of dollars on legitimate Adobe software and am currently using their wares on my Mac Pro. Just thought it would be fun to play around with it on the SGI.

Someone somewhere paid for both the Photoshop and Illustrator that I have and neither have been open till today.

Thanks in advance

armanox wrote: If the license is good, why not call Adobe and see what happens? If nothing else it could give you a good story to share.

I tried a while back. I dug up an Adobe sales number and called with the included activation paperwork in hand. The girl was totally without words when I said "Irix" to her asking "What operating system is it for?". They abandoned it a long time ago in terms of technology so I didn't expect to get anywhere.

Well, I just spent 48 minutes on hold and was told that if I goto their website and select my product then select to online chat that they'll give me the activation code. It sounds too easy but I'll try.

SAQ wrote:

Vladio wrote: Well, I just spent 48 minutes on hold and was told that if I goto their website and select my product then select to online chat that they'll give me the activation code. It sounds too easy but I'll try.

If that works I'll be pleasantly surprised. I suspected they'd offer you a year of "Creative Cloud" instead.

If they won't help I've heard rumors of people who have put jump instructions in via a hex editor...

Twenty bucks says I'm going to end up going with option number two.

I'm thinking it's time to add a new-old computer to my collection, I like the old RISC machines. I picked up an SGI Octane 2, dual 600, a couple years ago and really enjoy using it. Next up on my list is something running either a Sparc, PA-RISC or Alpha processor(s). In reading up on the different DEC personal workstations that were made I saw that some were designated with an "a" for Windows NT or "au" for Digital Unix. My question is: can a box with an "a" designation be loaded with Digital Unix?

My wife was diagnosed with cancer last October, we're up to about $400,000. And that's without reconstruction which starts at the end of summer. We'll have a half million when it's over but we have really good insurance.

duck wrote: My understanding is that SRM is for Unix and VMS while ARCS boots NT. Some firmwares include both, you just have to flip modes. So as long as an appropriate firmware is available, there's no real difference?

Not too sure though, please verify this independently, but if noone else steps up with better info perhaps this gives you some leads to start looking.

Great, thanks Duck! I'll look into this.

uunix wrote: How old do you want to go, my SUN BLADE 2000 was an excellent machine, Dual 900 MHz CPU, a PC Card, 4 Port Ethernet & XV500 Card. I may obtain a another one day (when I have the space) and rebuild it all.

I like old but something that still has functionality. Something I can install some apps to play around with. The Octane 2 I have is a lot of fun. I have Maya on it and am working to get around the activation issue with a new install of Photoshop and Illustrator. I'm just starting the looking process so I'll have to weigh age with functionality on the Dec's - I've been looking at a bunch of UltraSparc machines too. Gotta say, I do like them and, spec wise, one can really find something with a lot balls in it in terms of CPUs.

I downloaded neko_hexedit-1.2.10.tardist and installed it on my octane 2 running irix 6.5. I've never used it so I'm starting from scratch...it's a 57k file. Could that be all?

No, doesn't do anything. Just says it's a "generic command".

Sure...

in a shell I go to /usr/nekoware/bin and type it... says "command not found". On the desktop, I double click it and it does nothing.

Instead of working this way I cheated and downloaded and installed Hex Editor Neo on my pc and emailed the file to myself to get it over there. I opened the file and see I'm going to need to do more research to make the changes that I need to make. First time hexeditor so I need to go back to school for a bit.

Not sure about Hexedit here though. I thought it would be a straight-forward install but I guess I need some schooling here too.

You're right about that! I did type out the full path but must'a had a typo.

I am able to goto the offset but am unsure what to do next. I'm going to put it on hold while I read up on what I need to do. Thanks for your help!

foetz wrote:

Vladio wrote: I like old but something that still has functionality. Something I can install some apps to play around with.

that's the main problem with everything but irix. for desktop use it's just nothing there with the exception of maybe some rather specific things you might have by accident such as cfd visualizers or some cad stuff.
for more common use solaris is your best bet. there you can have a quite recent firefox, openoffice and gimp but that's about it. with all others you're out of luck as far as the desktop goes unless you're fine with just a text editor and compiler i.e. a pure dev box.

I had a feeling that was how it was going to be and have been leaning toward Sun. I could swear Alias had 3d software that ran on the Alpha but I'm sure that's a tough find (if I'm right about it being available).

Welcome aboard!

Man, the prices of used Sun Ultra's! Making the DEC look like a more attainable machine but I think the Sun's are a better machine for what I'm looking for. Off to play the lotto...

I'm trying to place an image in illustrator but the place dialog box is being centered on a dual head system. As you can see its half on the left and half on the right. The prob is the drop downs aren't being filled, I get the drop down box but they're empty. This happens on the shut down system box and most other boxes/windows. In illustrator I can't move it either, It snaps back.

I spent some time tonight with the iPad and found this. This is what I was looking for - can't wait to make the change.

To launch an application in a specific location, add the “-geometry” option to the command line. For example, the following command opens a window with the upper left hand corner of the window 30 pixels from the left of the screen and 200 pixels from the top of the screen.

xterm -geometry +30+200

To place a window on the second display, add 1024 to the second number. For example:

xterm -geometry +30+1224

You can also set this X resource in $HOME/.Xdefaults. For example, the following command forces all xwsh windows to open with the upper left hand corner of the window 30 pixels from the left of the screen and 200 pixels from the top of the screen.

XWsh*geometry: +30+200

XWsh is the application's Classname.

Also, you can use the Window Setting Control Panel to set window locations explicitly or to their last (continuous) positions before logout. To do this, from the Toolchest choose Desktop > Customize > Windows.

I remember seeing the previews for the first season and remember wanting to watch it. I did, about the first 15 minutes and fell asleep. Never watched it again till a couple months ago when the second season started. I watched it (second season) and got hooked which made me go back to season 1 and start over. Season two is better. My gripe with season one is what u guys said - everything was over the top. I got really irritated when they finally finished the computer then burned the first shipment. Just too much. Second seasons much better and I'm into it a little.

Anyone watching Mr. Robot?

sgifanatic wrote: I did go back and watch a few more episodes. Still hate the drama. Still hate the burning of shipments - actually, the mindlessness of *most* actions by the main characters. It just makes the whole thing stupid and unreal. That said, I am in it to watch the damn computer being built

Have not seen Mr. Robot. Will check it out.

Mr. robot - USA Network