SGI Freeware, Part 1 of 2 May 2001 Release Compiled by Ian Mapleson (mapesdhs@yahoo.com) Last Change: 28/Jan/2004 Key: In this document, the expression '' (an abbreviation for 'directory path') refers to your CDROM mount point. Usually, will simply be 'CDROM', ie. '//dist' would mean '/CDROM/dist', but sometimes one might have more than one CDROM present (/CDROM2, /CDROM3, etc.) or one may have copied the CD data to disk (eg. /var/tmp/cdromstuff/dist). [if you want to use the CDR selections files from this CD, see Appendix A] Summary Contents of this CD: Item Description ^^^^ ^^^^^^^^^^^ README This file you're reading now. bin Extras for using CDR tools. cdrbase.txt Selections file for basic CDR and ZIP tools. cdrfull.txt Selections file for full CDR and ZIP tools. dist Installable products which constitute Part 1 of the May 2001 SGI Freeware release. html HTML pages describing all freeware items. part1of2selections.txt Product selections file to aid installation. part1of2selections64.txt Product selections file for 64bit systems. productindex.txt Summary of items included with Part 1, given as short product name and product title. mysql_notes.txt Notes to read after installing mySQL. samba_notes.txt Notes to read after installing Samba. spiral.aifc Sound file used by CDR tools scripts. Details ^^^^^^^ This CD is Part 1 of the May 2001 freeware software distribution for SGI systems (IRIX 6.2 or later). To install any of the freeware products, use a source directory of: //dist or you can specify one particular product, eg. nedit: //dist/fw_nedit IRIX 6.5 allows one to specify multiple specific products, eg. nedit and PovRay: //dist/fw_nedit //dist/fw_povray The May 2001 release of freeware totals approximately 1.3GB of data, ie. far too much to fit on a single CD. Thus, I've split the freeware into two parts. Part 1 includes all those items which the vast majority of users will be interested in, for example (and this is only a tiny selection from the 178 products included in Part 1): GNU - C/C++ compiler development environment GIMP - General Image Manipulation Program xanim - multiformat animation/video/audio viewer/player PovRay - Persistence of Vision Ray Tracer cdrecord - record audio or data CDs ImageMagick - X11 image display/manipulation xmorph - image morphing program nedit - GUI style editor Xfig - Drawing Program a2ps - Pretty-print files in postscript abi - gtk+/gnome word processor fr - FileRunner file manager sc - Spreadsheet Calculator R - Statistical computation & graphics Part 2 includes those items which will likely be of less interest, eg. YACC, GNOME, Apache, Pine, etc. Note that all the main GNOME items are on the Part 2 CD. Apache is not included in Part 1 since most users are unlikely to want to setup their own web server (besides, IRIX include servers such as FastTrack and outbox anyway). The items chosen to be included in Part 1 were selected to reflect the likely interests of home users, and/or those interested in audio/image/video/3D graphics, other media applications (rendering/animation) and application development in general (GNU), plus a degree of home management, (spread sheet, database, calender/reminder tool, Postcript tools, web tools, 2D data plotting tools, etc.) and research support (geometry visualisation tools, statistical computation/analysis, arbitrary precision calculations, GNU Scientific Library, etc.) Some of the items from Part 1 may not at first sight appear to be of much interest (eg. tiff-v3.4beta037, Utah Raster Toolkit, etc.), but other items like ImageMagick and GIMP depend on them and so they must be included with Part 1. Thus, it is highly likely that if no items have been installed from Part 1, then trying to install items from Part 2 first will report conflicts, ie. many Part 2 items cannot be installed until some of the items from Part 1 have been installed first. Alternatively, open both distributions to resolve conflicts (not possible with IRIX 6.2; definitely ok with IRIX 6.5 though), or copy all the products from both CDs into a single distribution directory. For Part 1 Freeware items, a software subsystem selections file is included (part1of2selections.txt) which removes the need to manually resolve installation conflicts before beginning an installation. The file assumes that the path of the target CDROM is /CDROM, such that the distribution directory would be /CDROM/dist. Note that if you're using a 64bit system such as R8000/R10000 Indigo2, Octane, Onyx/Challenge/etc., then there is a different product selections file which also includes all relevant 64bit subsystems, called part1of2selections64.txt. The instructions below refer to the normal selections file; if you're using a 64bit system, then use the 64bit selections file instead. If your distribution directory is indeed just the normal /CDROM/dist, then simply read the CD in swmgr as normal, deselect all items, load the selections file and procede from there. However, if the target CDROM is elsewhere, or if the distribution files have been copied to a different location, then follow this procedure: - Copy the selections file part1of2selections.txt into /tmp - Using an editor such as jot: jot /tmp/part1of2selections.txt Change '/CDROM/dist' at the start of file to the correct path name and save the file. For example, the line might now read: from /CDROM2/dist or the CDROM contents might be on an NFS mounted file system, resulting in a different source path (this is just an example): from /depot/fwMay2001/cd1/dist - Run swmgr (Software Manager) from a shell or from the ToolChest. - Read the products list into swmgr from the new target directory, deselect all items (press CTRL+U), load the selections file from /tmp and proceed as normal. If you run swmgr from a shell, you can specify the software distribution directory on the command line using the -f option. Note that reading the selections file can take a very long time on IRIX 6.2 systems - the process is not very efficient for some unknown reason. Sometimes it takes several minutes. IRIX 6.5 deals with selections files much faster (presumably, SGI changed how swmgr deals with selections files at some stage). You are now ready to begin the installation - click on 'Start'. If any conflicts are still shown, resolve them in the normal manner; some freeware items will give conflicts if SGI products they depend on have not yet been installed, eg. items from the Development Libraries CD (see 'NOTES' below). The amount of disk space used by installing Part 1 based on the normal selections file is approximately 650MB (an extra 120MB on a 64bit system). If you do not have enough disk space to install all the selected items, the disk usage pie chart in swmgr will turn red, and will indicate the amount of extra space required - you can then deselect any items you don't want in order to fit into the available space. Be careful which items you deselect though since some are required by other products. If deselecting an item creates a conflict, reselect it again (and if that creates a conflict, then just unselect all and reload the selections file once more). Part 2 of the Freeware does not include a selections file since most users will likely just want to install a handful of items from Part 2, compared to installing just about everything from Part 1 (assuming there's enough spare disk space). See the file //productindex.txt for a complete list of all software subsystems included with Part 1. An HTML index to _all_ of the freeware products that constitute the May 2001 release can be found in the subdirectory named 'html'. This index is included on both Freeware CDs so that one can see, after examining productindex.txt, which items are on the other CD without having to switch CDs. To access the html pages, enter this command: netscape file://html/ and then just click on the desired item given in the directory listing. The actual installation will take a very long time to complete on something like an R4600PC/133 Indy since there are dozens of software products to install. If you can, install a better CPU to help speed up the installation (having some L2 cache makes a big difference), and if a better CPU is present then using a faster CDROM also helps (copying the data to disk or installing across a 100Mbit network link is also a good move if possible). NOTES: - The selections file includes extra items from certain subsystems which one would normally wish to install if one knew they were present, eg. the optional fonts and brushes for GIMP. This saves the need to install them later. In general, everything from every product is selected for installation apart from source code, archive libraries and static/benchmark libraries. - Before installing any freeware items, always install the following CDs first: - IRIX Development Libraries - IRIX Development Foundation - MIPS Pro All-Compiler CD (May 1999) This ensures that any prerequisite subsystems have already been installed. - Make sure all N32 libraries are installed, especially the IRIX Base Execution Libraries N32. Many products depend on them. - It is common for people to remove Fortran products because few people need them. However, some of the freeware products need the Fortran Execution environment. Thus, even if you remove any Fortran development components, do not remove the Fortran Execution products. For example, the 'R' statistical analysis package needs them. - The installation can take a long time, especially on a slow system. This is because Part 1 contains 178 different software packages, ie. alot of data to install. - During installation, some products attempt to alter the /usr/freeware/relnotes directory in an incorrect manner. When this happens, swmgr will report an error and give you the following options: - Retry the operation, - Cancel the installation, - Ignore the error and continue. Thus, when you see these errors, select ignore and continue. At the end of the installation, swmgr will report a summary saying that errors occured during installation - just ignore this message. - After the installation has completed, some packages may require further configuration, eg. Samba and mySQL. Extra chkconfig flags will be installed, the states of which you may wish to change before continuing, eg. the network time protocol daemon (ntp), sharity and samba. In the cases of Samba and mySQL, notes are placed in the swmgr log, but most users will not have the log panel visible when using swmgr, so they won't see the notes. Thus, I have included copies of these notes in the files samba_notes.txt and mysql_notes.txt - please read them after the installation has finished if you install Samba and/or MySQL, even if your intention is merely to turn off the samba service and disable mySQL (the latter requires the setting of an access password for security reasons). - If you're not sure whether you really should install a particular product you're interested in, perhaps because of security reasons, then a safer method is to only install the release notes and documentation for a product. Then you can read the documentation and decide what to do next. If you have any questions about this freeware CD I have constructed, feel free to email me. However, if you have questions about specific freeware products and their use, please email the authors concerned, not me. Cheers! :) Ian. SGI Depot: http://www.futuretech.blinkenlights.nl/advert/ian.html Email: mapesdhs@yahoo.com Home: +44 (0)131 477 1142 Mobile: 07743 495403 (usually off; leave a message and I'll call back) SGI/Future Technology/N64: http://www.futuretech.blinkenlights.nl/ Doom Help Service (DHS): http://www.gamers.org/dhs/ BSc Dissertation (Doom): http://www.gamers.org/dhs/diss/ ************************************************************************* Appendix A: CDR Authoring Tools Introduction ^^^^^^^^^^^^ The SGI Freeware includes some useful tools for CDR authoring. For basic essential functionality, these consist of command line tools such as cdrecord and mkisofs. Other tools are also present to provide a GUI interface to these tools and to aid the creation of CD label inserts. To aid installation, use the appropriate product selections file, either cdrbase.txt or cdrfull.txt. The 'base' file selects cdrecord, mkisofs, mkhybrid, zip and unzip for installation. The 'full' file selects the same products as the 'base' file, but in addition also selects gcombust (the GUI interface to cdrecord and other tools), cdlabelgen and various prerequisite libraries (glib, gtk+ and perl). Basic functionality for CD authoring can be done with the 'base' selections of products; however, I recommend installing the 'full' selection, especially if you intend to author any audio CDs. This is because although it's easy to create ordinary data CDs with cdrecord, I find it much more convenient to use gcombust when creating audio or other types of CD, especially if one intends to extract data from an existing audio CD. Installation ^^^^^^^^^^^^ Double-click on the CDROM icon. Dismiss the README file, allow any CD reading to occur, then click on Customise Installation. From the 'Selected' menu, click on 'Unmark All'. From the 'File' menu, select 'Load Selections'. Use the file browser to choose either cdrbase.txt or cdrfull.txt and then click on OK. The data may be read from the CD again. Now click on Start to begin installation. After installation, errors may be reported but these can be ignored. They refer to something perl is trying to do during installation. I have included some extra items on this CD to make using the command line tools even easier. To install them, do the following: Create a 'src' directory under /usr/local (if it does not already exist): mkdir /usr/local/src Copy the sound file into the directory: cp /CDROM/spiral.aifc /usr/local/src Create a 'bin' directory under /usr/local (if it does not already exist): mkdir /usr/local/bin Copy the files from the CD's bin directory (note that these scripts are designed for CDRW units which can write at either 8X or 16X speed; you MUST edit them if you wish to write CDs at some other speed): cp /CDROM/bin/* /usr/local/bin Edit your .cshrc file to include the following alias command: alias mk 'mkisofs -hide-rr-moved -R -o' Also edit your .cshrc file to ensure the /usr/local/bin path is included in the user path defintion. For example, add this line at the end of the file: set path = ($path /usr/local/bin) Logout and log back in again. You are now ready to use the tools and extras. Usage ^^^^^ Feel free to examine the scripts I have provided. Their purpose is to save you having to manually type the typical options one must include in order to use cdrecord or mkisofs. Thus, for example, here is how to use the scripts to create a typical data CD. This assumes that you have a CDRW unit on SCSI channel 0 at SCSI ID 3, for example an internal unit for Indigo2, which can write CDs at 8X speed, eg. a Yamaha 8/8/24 model. Suppose there is a directory under /var/tmp called 'project' which contains various files. To create the CD image file, enter: cd /var/tmp mk project.raw project The file name of the image file can be anything. I normally just add '.raw'. The important point is that the name of the raw CD image file to be created comes first and the name of the target directory containing the files is specified comes second. NOTE: in this example, when the CD is written, the contents of the finished CD will *not* contain a directory called 'project', ie. listing /CDROM will just show the files inside the project directory. If one wanted to create a CD which did show a top level subdirectory instead, then move the target directory into some temporary directory and then create an image file from the temporary directory. I usually just create a directory called 't', eg.: mkdir t mv project t mk project.raw t Either way, to write the CD, do this: cdr project.raw And that's it! The cdr script, which is designed to write at 8X speed, will write the CD, then play a sound file when finished and lastly eject the CD automatically. When using these commands, remember the use of the TAB key to fill in file names automatically, though you must be using the tcsh (as defined in /etc/passwd) in order to use the TAB key in this way. If your CD can write at 16X speed, then use the cdrf script instead - the 'f' just stands for 'fast'. Alternatively, just edit the 'cdr' script so that it writes at a different speed. However, please note that writing at 16X speed is very close to the maximum performance of the internal SCSI bus. I recommend deactivating the system web server if you wish to write at 16X speed, and make sure any other CPU-draining applications are also closed, eg. the desktop clock program. To stop the web server, enter: /etc/init.d/sgi_apache stop If you intend to deal with audio CDs, I recommend using gcombust instead. Read the online help to learn how to use the application. Lastly, I have included two scripts for erasing a CD. These are both designed to erase (ie. rewrite) at 8X speed - edit the scripts if your rewrite speed is different, or if other options such as the target SCSI channel/ID need to be changed. To fully erase a CD, enter: cdba This stands for 'CD Blank All'. Examine the script to see what it does. As with the cdr scripts, the CD will be ejected once the erasure has finished. To do a quick CD erase, ie. just to wipe the basic structures (which is often sufficient), enter: cdbf This stands for 'CD Blank Fast'. See the cdrecord man page for full details of the options used by the scripts: man -M /usr/freeware/catman cdrecord Full details of these scripts can be found on my site at: http://www.futuretech.blinkenlights.nl/cdtips.html If you have any comments or suggestions, feel free to email me. END