Lab FAQs

01) I'm having problems. How can I get help?

Access:

02) How can I get a login?
03) What hours are the lab open?
04) How can I get the secret door combination?
05) How can I get a key to the building?
06) What systems can I login to?
07) Can I schedule a workstation for a specific time?

How can I use the...

08) scanner?
09) color printer?
10) LCD panel?
11) laptop?
12) film recorder?
13) digital camera?
14) video camcorder?
15) TV/VCR cart?

General Stuff:

16) It's hot/cold in the GVU Lab. Can you change the temperature?
17) Can I check out a manual or a CD-ROM?
18) Can I run background compute jobs on GVU systems?
19) Why can't I connect to a GVU-Mac as guest over AppleTalk?
20) How do the IRIX Indigo Magic .desktops work in GVU?
21) How can I use the MBONE?
22) How can I preview a PostScript file before I send it to the printer?
23) How can I get a file restored?
24) How can I create my own WWW home page?

E-mail:

25) How does e-mail work here?
26) Why do I get multiple copies of some e-mail announcements?
27) What are the GVU e-mail lists and how can I get on one?

Video Lab:

28) How can I access the Video Lab?
29) What systems can we scan convert to video tape?
30) Can I get a VHS tape from GVU?

Usability Lab:

31) How can I access the Usability Lab?
32) How can I schedule the Usability Lab?

1. I'm having problems. How can I get help?

If your question deals with a problem with the systems in the GVU Lab or the OIT SciVis Lab, send your question via e-mail to help@gvu.gatech.edu. This help list is monitored by the GVU and OIT SciVis Lab Managers and all of the Lab Assistants.

If your question deals with a problem with a system in the College of Computing but not related to the GVU Lab, then send your question via e-mail to help@cc.gatech.edu. This help list is monitored by the entire CNS (Computing and Networking Services) group.

If you'd rather speak to a warm body, try to find one of the Lab Assistants. The schedule for the GVU Lab Assistants is posted in the GVU Lab and the schedule for the OIT SciVis Lab Assistants is posted in the SciVis Lab.

Or, you can often get help by posting your problem to an appropriate USENET newsgroup. Some of these are...

git.gvu	Questions about GVU Lab systems.
git.scivis	Questions about OIT SciVis Lab systems.
git.cc.help	Questions about CoC systems.

 

When submitting questions by e-mail or a newsgroup, please prepare with a well thought-out question with specific examples of your problem. Prior preparation can go a long way in getting a speedy answer to your question or a resolution to a problem.

If you have a specific question about a program on a UNIX system (e.g. elm(1) or nn(1)), try reading the on-line documentation. For example: % man elm

Or, try reading the respective Frequently Asked Question (FAQ) list on USENET news or post a question to an appropriate newsgroup. For example,

news.answers.newusers	FAQ listings for all of the newsgroups.
comp.mail.elm	Questions about the elm mail program.
news.software.nn	Questions about the nn newsreader.
comp.lang.c++	Questions about the c++ language.

 

The frequently asked question lists for some of these groups can be found on the WWW at http://www.cis.ohio-state.edu/hypertext/faq/usenet/FAQ-List.html. There is also a large collection of FAQ lists available by FTP from the node ftp://rtfm.mit.edu/pub/usenet.

Hands-on seminars are also available from the SciVis Lab for several packages. To register for a seminar call 894-4660.

There are different procedures for getting an account in the GVU Lab and the OIT SciVis Lab.

GVU Lab accounts require the sponsorship and signature of a GVU faculty member. You will be able to access all of the systems in the GVU Lab, including the OIT SciVis Lab systems. Specifically, you will be authorized to access all of the SGI, Sun, NT and Macintosh workstations. You will need to activate your NT account using the procedure outlined in the CoC CNS FAQ. The Macintosh systems do not require an account. To obtain a GVU Lab account, use the CoC Account Request Form available outside CoC 213 and check the GVU box in the Facilities section. Return the completed form to CoC 213 (slip the form under the door if it's closed).

OIT SciVis Lab accounts require the sponsorship and signature of a Georgia Tech faculty member. You will be able to access all of the systems in the OIT SciVis Lab and the GVU Lab, which includes all SGI, Sun and NT workstations. You will need to activate your NT account using the procedure outlined in the CoC CNS FAQ. To obtain a OIT SciVis Lab account, use the SciVis Account Request Form available in the Rich Building. The form includes information about where to turn it in.

The GVU Lab and the OIT SciVis Lab are open 24-hours-a-day but the building doors are only open on weekdays during daytime hours (usually 8 AM to 6 PM).

The secret door combination can only be given to you in person. Due to security reasons, we don't give out the combo over the phone or e-mail. Please see one of the following people for the combination:

Name	Room
Josh Reiss	CCB 259 (GVU/SciVis Lab)
Eric Schmenk	CCB 259 (GVU/SciVis Lab)
Zrinka Bilusic	CCB 209 (Video Production Lab)
Keven Haynes	CCB 210 (GVU Lab Manager)
Joan Morton	CCB 244 (GVU Front Office)
Chrissy Hendricks	CCB 244 (GVU Front Office)
Leisha Stewart	CCB 244 (GVU Front Office)

We'll need your name, signature, account name and department. In case we don't recognize you, please be prepared to show proof of ID (e.g. GT ID card). Remember to keep the combination to yourself.

You'll need to fill out a Key Access form which is located in the CoC Mail Room (CoC 161). If you are a student, have the form signed and authorized by your faculty advisor. If you are a SciVis user, you will need your form authorized by the OIT SciVis Lab Manager (Markus DeShon, deshon@cc.gatech.edu). Then, take the form to the CoC front office and ask for Carolyn Maddox. Each key requires a $10 deposit.

If you have SciVis access, you are able to login to any SGI or DEC workstation in the lab. If you have GVU access, you are able to login and use any computer resource in the lab. The only systems that you will not be able to login to are ALPHA2 and ALPHA10. These two systems are major file server and are not available for interactive use.

Yes, you can schedule systems in the GVU lab using the WWW-based, GVU/SciVis Lab Scheduler. You'll need to provide your GVU/SciVis account and password to successfully schedule a system.

Currently, there are three scanners in the GVU Lab:

Scanner	Connected to...
HP ScanJet 4c	GVU-MAC1
MicroTek ScanMaker IISP	GVU-MAC4
MicroTek ScanMaker 600 ZS	MIRACLE (SGI)

Use Photoshop to scan images (or just gscan on the SGI) and OmniPage for OCR (Optical Character Recognition). The HP ScanJet 4c is the highest quality scanner that we have.

There is an HP Color LaserJet 5M laser printer named rainbow in the GVU/SciVis Lab. The printer has 36MB RAM, prints at 1200 dpi, 2ppm color, 10ppm black and white. All printing is free however you must provide your own transparencies (and glossy paper if desired). YOU MUST BUY TRANPARENCIES SPECIFICALLY FOR THE HP COLOR LASERJET. You can get HP Color LaserJet transparencies from the GT Computer Store.

The Infocus 7600 WS LCD panel is available to College of Computing and GVU Faculty for check-out in the CoC front office, Room 157 CoC. See Carolyn Maddox or someone in the front office to check-out the panel. Make sure to reserve the panel well ahead of time since it's a popular item! The panel is stored in the CoC A/V closet and you will need to check out the key to this room to obtain the panel. The panel requires a very bright (e.g. a two-lamp) projector and the 3M projector in the A/V closet works well.

Lia McElroy is available for setting up (or demonstrating the setup of) the LCD Panel.

The LCD projection panel was purchased with funds from both the College of Computing and the GVU Center and is intended for use in classes, presentations, etc.

GVU has three laptops (2 Macs and a PC) that are available to GVU faculty, staff and students for presentations and travel. The laptops can be reserved and obtained in the GVU Front Office (Room CoC 242, 894-0075).

The Focus Graphics film recorder is available to GVU and SciVis Lab users for creating 35mm slides of computer images and is located in the Video Lab (Room 210 CoC). The film recorder is hooked up to an SGI Indy and you use commands to send your image to the film recorder to be snapped. If you need assistance, make an appointment with one of the GVU Lab Managers in CCB 210. You must provide your own film. The film recorder has been calibrated for Fujichrome Velvia slide film. NOTE: Some users have had luck making large prints with AGFA Ultra 50.

The Kodak DC40 digital camera is available to GVU and CoC faculty, staff and students. The camera can be reserved and obtained in the GVU Front Office (Room CoC 242, 894-0075).

The Panasonic SVHS Camcorder is available to GVU faculty, staff and students. The camcorder can be reserved and obtained in the GVU Front Office (Room CoC 242, 894-0075).

The GVU TV/VCR cart is available to GVU faculty, staff and students and includes a 30" Color ... and a JVC SHVS player/recorder. The cart can be reserved in the GVU Front Office (Room CoC 242, 894-0075). The cart is located in the GVU Lab (Room CoC 259).

Regulating the temperature in the GVU Lab during seasonal changes is not a trivial task. The GVU Lab temperature is controlled by an A/C unit in the machine room (CoC 247), which pulls in air from the huge vent opening on the wall near the Software Visualization cube and blows it underneath the raised floor. I'm sure you've felt the cool wind from the vent openings in the floor. Some students cover these openings with whatever they can find to keep the drafts from going up their pant's leg. It has been mentioned that this may adversely affect the airflow in the room and cause the A/C unit to not regulate properly. The A/C unit is set to keep the temperature at 74 degrees, but observations indicate the room is being kept at 71 degrees.

Manuals and books in the GVU Lab may not be removed without special permission. Most of the books in the lab belong to the lab whereas some belong to students. However, there are many manuals available in GVU Lab's Library Collection in Room CoC 210. There are also many interesting CD-ROMS available for check-out. You can also check-out items in the GVU Conference Room Library Collection.

It is improper to run background jobs on GVU workstations during prime time lab hours, however running them overnight (10pm - 8am) is acceptable. We do require permission to run compute jobs overnight, so let us know that you will be running jobs. It isn't necessary that you tell us every time you start a program, but just that you will be starting and how long you'll be running the jobs.

Feel free to drop by the Lab Manager's office (CoC 210) to discuss your computing needs.

We prefer that guest access be turned off. If it's on, that means anyone with access to a Mac in the CoC can connect to the system, which is a serious security problem. Please do not turn on guest access on the GVU Lab Macs!

However, you can connect as yourself, which is the other user in the users and groups control panel. When you login as yourself remotely you have all the privileges as you would on the console. To give these privileges to someone else, not only do you have to do what you did, but you have to go through your folders, and give them permission to see the files & Folders inside. Start with the hard drive and work down. To change the privileges click once on the folder and then go to File/Sharing in the menu bar and set the options appropriately.

If you are giving a user or a group access to most or all of your hard drive there is an option in the sharing panel that sets the permissions on all folders to be just like this enclosing one.

Here's how it works: The standard IRIX behavior has been modified. The standard IRIX behavior allows you to completely control individual desktops. The CoC IRIX 5.2 behavior, by default, only allows one desktop configuration and it is used for any CoC IRIX system that you login (i.e. you have the same desktop whereever you login). Only one directory (.desktop) is managed and subsequent systems that you login to are symbolically linked to this directory (e.g. .desktop-foo -> .desktop). This behavior was chosen for ease-of-use reasons. When you login to a CoC IRIX 5.2 system for the first time, a link is created for you automatically and you get your usual desktop. This behavior can be bypassed by removing the symbolic link, creating a directory for the system (.desktop-foo), and copying the files from the .desktop directory there.

All CoC nets are set up to receive and multicast MBONE traffic. The MBONE software is installed on Sun SunOS 4, Solaris 2 and SGI IRIX systems. Type "sd" to start an MBONE session directory.

On the Suns, use ghostview(1).
On the SGIs, use ghostview(1) or xpsview(1).
On the DECs, use ghostview(1) or dxpsview(1).

Nearly all of the UNIX disk drives are backed up by the CoC CNS folks. The Macintosh and Windows 95 drives are not backed up at all. The Windows NT drives are not backed up currently but we are now designing a backup system.

So, if you need a UNIX file restored, send a request to help@cc.gatech.edu and indicate the complete filename (e.g. /net/hg965/joeblow/.cshrc) and the last date you know the file existed.

If you are a GVU Lab user, you can create your own WWW home page by using the following script on a Sun system (coming soon to platforms near you): $ mkwwwhome

This script will create a personal home page under the CoC WWW directory and will ask you several simple questions. The script will tell you the URL of your home page when finished. By default, you will receive a 1 MB quota on these home pages. You edit your home page data in a directory under your home directory called ~/.www-home and these files are copied over to your real home page on a nightly basis. So, updates take a day to propogate.

Alternately, you can request a home page on GVU's WWW directory by sending a note to help@gvu.gatech.edu. These personal home pages do not have a quota (however take only what you need but no more!) and your updates are live and take place immediately.

You can only read your e-mail from one system called your "mail home". By default, your e-mail is sent to GVU1.cc.gatech.edu (if you first applied for a GVU account) or SGI4.cc.gatech.edu (if you first applied for a SCIVIS account). You can change your e-mail home by using the "mailhome" command. We recommend that you do not use .forward files unless you are forwarding your mail to a non-CoC system.

The client for setting your mail home is 'mailhome' in /usr/local/bin. Running this client will list where the system thinks your mail is going (if you've set a destination before), and also lists the contents of your .forward. It then gives you the opportunity to change your alias in the YP map; if you choose to change your alias, it will ask if you wish your mail to go to the current system (therefore you must be logged into the system on which you wish to receive mail before running this client; this will prevent most people from pointing their mail to someplace where they can't read it). If you choose to change your mail delivery host, 'mailhome' will then ask for your YP password so that it can validate you. Once it has set your alias, it will ask if you wish to remove your .forward. If you aren't running 'vacation', 'filter', or 'procmail', you should probably let it delete your .forward for you.

Delivery Details:A YP mail alias map (type "ypcat -k aliases" to see what it looks like) consists of aliases from the files burdell:/etc/aliases and burdell:/etc/cc.gatech.edu/aliases are rewritten so that mail to "name" goes to "name@cc.gatech.edu" (e.g. "joeblow" gets rewritten as "joeblow@cc.gatech.edu"). The latter map is modified by an RPC-based daemon, rpc.aliasd, which runs on burdell and services requests to either list someone's alias or to change their alias. Since aliases are evaluated just before local delivery, this will allow mail to be directed to the desired system first before .forward is evaluated. This means that the .forward will not be run twice any more after everyone hops on the bandwagon.

Occasionally, a single e-mail item is cc'd to several lists at once. If you are subscribed to more than one of these lists, then you will receive a copy for each subscription.

A lot of communication at the GVU Center is accomplished with e-mail lists. There are several GVU e-mail lists (all of which end with @cc.gatech.edu or @gvu.gatech.edu):

E-mail List	Description
gvu-grad	GVU Graduate Students working with GVU Faculty
gvu-coc	GVU Faculty members in the College of Computing
gvu-fac	GVU Faculty and Staff members (including non-CoC)
gvu-all	All people involved with the GVU Center (sends to gvu-fac, gvu-grad, gvu-others and gvu)
gvu-bag	GVU Brown Bag Lectures announcements (sends to gvu-fac, gvu-grad, gvu and faculty@eedsp.gatech.edu)
gvu-others	Faculty/Students with GVU lab accounts but not on SciVis machines
scivis-users	OIT Scientific Visualization Lab users

If you would like to receive e-mail from one of these lists or think you should be on one, just send e-mail to majordomo@cc.gatech.edu and request a subscription. For example, if you want to subscribe to the gvu-grad@cc.gatech.edu list, then send the following text to majordomo@cc.gatech.edu:

Joan Morton processes the majordomo request.

All GVU and SciVis users are able to use the Video Lab. First time Video Lab users should schedule an appointment with one of the GVU Lab Managers in CCB 210 before accessing the equipment. SciVis users should schedule the appointment with one of the SciVis Lab GRAs. Experienced Video Lab users can use the equipment without scheduling assistance. The Video Lab door key is not available for check-out, so ask one of the GVU Lab Managers for unmonitored access.

We have a VideoLink 1600U Scan Convertor setup in the Animation Lab which can scan convert the Sparc 2, ansley, in the Usability Lab. We can also scan convert the Reality Engines in the GVU Lab (havana and dunwoody), since they have built-in scan convertors. We can also scan convert the SGI Indy as well as the Digital PC in the Video Lab. Finally, we have a couple of TrueVision VIDI/O boxes that can turn an SGI RGB signal into a composite video signal.

GVU doesn't order video tapes for individual users. However, we can tell you where we order from. We generally order 30 minute tapes because they are cheaper.

Tape Warehouse
2688 Peachtree Square
Doraville GA 30360
(770) 458-1679

Directions to Tape Warehouse: I-285 to exit 23B (Peachtree Industrial Boulevard, North). Take Tilly Mill Road exit (1st exit) and cross over Tilly Mill Road on the access road. Turn right on Peachtree Square (just before Liberty Mortgage). They are in building 2688, 1/5 mile on the left.

All GVU users are able to use the Video Lab, however only for Usability experiments. The Usability Lab is available 24 hours a day to those with the secret door combination. The secret Usability Lab door combination code can be obtained from any of the people listed in FAQ question #4. Refer to the next FAQ question for informatin about scheduling the Usability Lab.

The Usability Lab may be scheduled using the Now-Up-To-Date package on GVU-MAC2.