This chapter tells you how to set up your IRIS Indigo workstation. It includes instructions on:
selecting a site
unpacking the pieces
putting all the pieces together
turning on your system
creating your login account
setting up your network software
shutting down and turning off your system
locking your workstation
If you've already set up your IRIS Indigo workstation and want to learn how to use the IRIX system software, go to “Using the Indigo Magic User Environment”.
If you want to mechanically secure your workstation, follow the instructions in “Locking Your IRIS Indigo Workstation” at the end of this chapter.
The IRIS Indigo workstation is designed to fit easily into your office. Its fan is quiet, and the system is small enough to fit under or on your desk, or on a bookshelf. Find a convenient site using these suggestions:
Place the workstation and the monitor within 6 feet of each other; you'll connect them with cables that are 10 feet long.
Place IRIS Indigo within 8 feet of a standard three-prong (grounded) electrical outlet.
Do not place the workstation in a small, enclosed area, such as a closet, as it may overheat. It is important not to block the front, side, or rear vents.
Do not drape anything, such as a jacket or blanket, over IRIS Indigo.
Your IRIS Indigo workstation came to you with the pieces shown in Figure 2-3. If you ordered extra memory or internal drives, they will be in separate boxes.
Follow these steps to unpack your system:
Unpack the workstation and its parts.
The first item in the main IRIS Indigo shipping container is a fold-out poster with pictorial instructions on how to unpack and set up the system. You can use the poster to set up your workstation, or, if you prefer, follow the step-by-step instructions below.
Lift both trays out of the shipping container and set them aside.
You'll find the workstation and keyboard in the bottom of the shipping container. The chassis has a sling for lifting it out, as shown in Figure 2-1.
Grasp the handles of the sling and pull the chassis straight out of the shipping container, as shown in Figure 2-1. Be sure to use your knees to lift, and keep your back straight.
Set the chassis down near the site you selected, then tip the chassis upright, as shown in Figure 2-2.
Lift the keyboard out of the shipping container.
Unpack the monitor from the monitor box.
Note: The monitor is very heavy. Have someone help you lift it out of the box.
Make sure you have all the parts shown in Figure 2-3.
You received one or more compact discs (CDs) with your workstation. The CDs include optional software that you might find useful, and a copy of the operating system and software installation tools that are already on your system disk. You don't need the compact discs to set up and use your system. Store them in a safe and convenient place so you can find them if you need to install new software, or if the system fails.
For more information on installing software, refer to Chapter 5, “Installing and Removing Software.”
To put your IRIS Indigo workstation together, you must install the system disk drive and any other drives into the chassis before connecting the monitor, keyboard, and mouse. Finally, after you've connected all the cables and installed the drives, you must plug the workstation in and turn it on.
Place the monitor and the IRIS Indigo chassis near the site you selected. Then follow these steps:
Remove the front plastic cover of the chassis.
Face the front of the chassis.
Two tabs on top of the front cover hold it in place.
Press down on the tabs and pull the cover away, as shown in Figure 2-4.
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The system disk contains the operating system software that makes IRIS Indigo run. It's labelled “SYSTEM DISK” and has a black front panel with a green light.
Note: If you plan to run the workstation as a diskless system, you did not receive a system disk. Skip ahead to step 3. Pick up the drive so the green lever is facing you and is on the bottom of the drive, as shown in Figure 2-5.
Slide the drive into the slot, making sure that the guides underneath the drive line up with the guides in the chassis, as shown in Figure 2-6. The green lever underneath the drive moves to the right as you do this.
Push the drive in firmly and then push the green lever underneath the drive all the way to the right. The green lever below the drive should line up with the green line on the front of the drive, and you should hear the lever click into place.
If the green lever does not slide to the right as you push in the drive, the drive may not be lined up with the guides in the chassis. Take the drive out and reinstall it, making sure the guides on the bottom of the drive line up with the guides in the chassis. Try pulling on the drive. The drive should not come out when you pull it.
Install any option drives you received.
An option drive is any drive other than the system disk. Option drives include floppy disk drives, secondary hard disk drives, or DAT drives.
Install option drives the same way you installed the system disk, but install them in the top or middle slot, as shown in Figure 2-7.
If you installed a drive in the top drive slot, you need to remove the top plastic blanking panel. If you installed a drive in the middle slot, remove the bottom black blanking panel.
Pick up the plastic front cover of IRIS Indigo and open the door on the front of the cover.
Push the black blanking panel out from the back of the cover. The panel falls out. Save the panel in case you ever remove and do not replace the drive.
Replace the front cover of the workstation.
Place the bottom of the front cover in the guides on the bottom of the chassis.
Tilt the cover up to the chassis, as shown in Figure 2-8. The cover snaps in place.
Connect the monitor video cable to the monitor and the IRIS Indigo chassis.
Pick up the monitor video cable. It is thick and beige, with large connectors on both ends.
Connect one end of the cable to the connector on the back of the monitor, as shown in Figure 2-9. Screw in the thumbscrews on both sides of the connector.
Connect the other end of the cable to the connector with the large monitor icon on the back of the chassis, as shown in Figure 2-9. Screw in the thumbscrews on both sides of the connector.
Connect the monitor power cable to the monitor and the IRIS Indigo chassis.
Pick up the monitor power cable. It is thick and beige and has a male and female end.
Connect the female end of the cable to the power connector on the back of the monitor.
Connect the male end of the cable to the monitor power connector on the back of the chassis, as shown in Figure 2-10.
Note: For voltage and frequency requirements, see the manual that came with your monitor.
Connect the mouse to the keyboard.
Connect the mouse cable to the connector on either side of the keyboard, as shown in Figure 2-11.
Connect the keyboard to the IRIS Indigo chassis.
Connect one end of the keyboard cable to the remaining connector on the keyboard, as shown in Figure 2-11.
Connect the other end of the cable to the connector designated by the keyboard icon on the back of the workstation, as shown in Figure 2-11.
If you are using a network, attach the Ethernet cable, as shown in Figure 2-12.
Get a cable (drop line) from your network administrator that reaches the back of your workstation.
Make sure the sliding bracket is pushed all the way up.
Plug the cable into the port labelled Ethernet.
Slide down the bracket to hold it in place.
Route the cable through the U-shaped bracket.
Connect the system power cable, as shown in Figure 2-13.
The system power cable is black.
Caution: Make sure the power switch is OFF before plugging in your workstation. The power switch is off when the “O” is pressed down. Connect the female end of the power cable to the power connector on the back of the chassis.
Plug the male end into a three-prong grounded electrical outlet, as shown in Figure 2-13.
Congratulations! You have finished connecting the IRIS Indigo parts and are ready to power up the system.
Once you've connected all the pieces, as described in the last section, power up IRIS Indigo by following these steps:
Turn on the power.
Turn on the monitor's power switch.
The monitor's power switch is on the front of the monitor in the lower right corner. The LED next to the switch lights up when you turn on the system's power.
Turn on the system's power switch.
The workstation's power switch is on the back of the chassis, as shown in Figure 2-14.
When you power on your system, you hear the boot “tune” and the LED on the front of the machine turns on. While the system is running power-on diagnostics, you see an orange light. Then you see the notifier shown in Figure 2-15.
If the system passes all of the diagnostics tests, the light turns green, the system continues booting, and you see the startup notifier shown in Figure 2-16.
After a few seconds, you see the notifier shown in Figure 2-17.
If you do not hear the boot tune or the LED does not turn green, you may have a problem with IRIS Indigo. Go to Chapter 6, “Troubleshooting,” to run some tests.
The system now boots the operating system and then you see the login screen.
Welcome to your new system. Once you create a user login account for yourself and set up networking software, your system has the basic information it needs to create a personal work area for you and to let you communicate with other systems and people on your network.
After the system boots, you see the login screen, as shown in Figure 2-18.
If you already have a login account, double-click the icon that's labeled with your login name. If you do not have a login account, double-click the EZsetup icon and go to the next section, “Creating Your Login Account and Network Connection.”
After double-clicking the EZsetup icon, you see the EZsetup screen shown in Figure 2-19.
Setting up your login account through EZsetup gives you administrative (root) privileges.
If you plan to connect to an existing network, contact your network administrator for a login name for yourself, a hostname and IP address for your system, and the IP address of another system on the network that has a master list of all systems on the network. Then go to Step 1 below.
If you don't have the network information, you can complete the login name and full name fields, and click the OK button to set up your login account. Your network administrator can set up your network connection later. Or you can set it up yourself by choosing “System Manager” from the System toolchest and double-clicking the Network Setup icon.
For more information on setting yourself up on a network, log in and select “On-line Books” from the Help toolchest. Then select the Personal System Administration Guide and look in Chapter 3, “Setting up Network, Peripheral, and Printer Connections.”
Follow the steps below to set up your login account and network connection.
| Note: If you change your mind at any time while entering the information, click the Cancel button. The system makes no changes, logs you out of the EZsetup account, and shows the login screen again. |
Type your login name (usually a shorter version of your name; for example, your first name or initials) in the field labeled Your login name.
Type your full name in the field labeled Your full name.
If your system is already physically connected to a network, and you have the necessary network information from your network administrator, go on to step 4.
If your system is not connected to a network, skip to step 5.
Move the cursor over the box next to Set up basic networking and click the mouse button. Enter the network information that your network administrator provided.
Type the hostname in the field labeled This system's name.
Type the IP address in the IP address field. Make sure it consists of two to four numbers, separated by periods, such as 192.0.2.2
The box next to Use default netmask is checked by default. Do not remove the check mark unless your network administrator wants to specify a custom netmask.
Click the box next to Turn on networking. The system will not turn on the networking software until you click OK.
In the field labeled Address of system with host list, type the IP address of a system on the network that contains a master list of all other systems on the network.
When all the information is correct, click the OK button.
The system sets up the software, logs you out of the EZsetup account, and shows the login screen displaying people who have accounts on the system.
When you see the login screen, log in to your new account by double-clicking the icon that's labeled with your login name.
Now that you have a login account, go to the next section to learn about the desktop management system called the Indigo Magic User Environment.
Once you're logged in, you are in the Indigo Magic User Environment. Before learning about the environment, however, you may be interested in learning a few tips and shortcuts for using the mouse.
To get started, you need to know a few basic techniques for using the mouse and working with icons.
To select an icon, place the cursor over the icon and then click the left mouse button. Icons turn yellow when they are selected.
To select several icons, press the <Shift> key while selecting the icons, or press the left mouse button in the background and drag the mouse. A box is created as you drag the mouse. All icons touched by the box you create are selected.
To open an icon, place the cursor over the icon and then double-click the left mouse button. When you open an application icon, you run the application; when you open a folder icon, you open a window that shows the contents of that directory.
To drag and drop icons, place the cursor on an icon, press the left mouse button, and move the mouse. Release the mouse button to drop the icon.
This drag-and-drop technique lets you copy icons from one directory to another and launch applications with a particular file.
To display a pop-up menu that contains commands from the Selected menu, place the cursor over a window and then press the right mouse button.
Now you are ready to use the desktop management system called the Indigo Magic User Environment.
Reading the following sections will give you a quick overview of the new environment and help you become productive rapidly.
The fastest way to become familiar with the Indigo Magic User Environment is to look at the online System Tour. The tour introduces you to the features and functionality of the system and teaches you how to use many of the tools available in the environment.
To start the System Tour, double click the System Tour icon (shown in Figure 2-20) on the desktop.
When you log in, a collection of windows and icons (small pictures), called a desk, appears on your screen by default. Examples of icons are shown in Figure 2-21. If there are no items on your desk, contact your system administrator to see if the desktop has been disabled.
The default desk, or working desk, contains:
the console window
the toolchests
the desktop and the icons that appear on it
The screen background is called the desktop. It's a place for you to set frequently used icons so you have quick and easy access to them. In this way, the desktop is similar to an actual office desk. For example, on your desk you might have a telephone, a container of pens and pencils, and a stack of folders or notebooks related to the projects on which you're currently working. Other, less frequently used items are stashed away in desk drawers. Your online desk mimics this arrangement using icons.
By default, several icons (small pictures) appear on the desktop: a folder icon representing your home directory, a dumpster icon, and icons for peripherals you have installed.
The peripheral icons show the current state of the devices they represent. For example, if you place a music CD into the compact disc player, the icon changes to display a few musical notes. (See Figure 2-22.) When you double-click the icon, it opens CD Manager, a utility that lets you play and record from a compact disc.
The small box next to the stack of toolchests is the console window. It looks like a small box because it has been minimized. Many of the error messages that the system generates appear in this window. You can open it to its full size by clicking on it with the left mouse button.
Clicking on the console brings up the IRIXTM shell where you can type IRIX commands. For information on IRIX commands, from the Help toolchest, choose “On-line Books.” Select IRIS Essentials and look for “Using IRIX Commands.”
The stack of toolchests in the top left hand corner of the screen provides a listing of most of the system functions and programs. Under the System toolchest is the System Manager, which provides hardware information about your workstation. From the Help toolchest you can access the library of online documentation and online help.
To pop up a menu, move the cursor over a label on a toolchest, and then press the left or right mouse button.
The IRIS Indigo workstation includes IRIS InSight, a library of online documentation and extensive online help that is available from the desktop and from most Silicon Graphics application. From the desktop, you access the online help and documentation from the Help toolchest as follows:
From the Help toolchest, choose “On-line Books” and the IRIS InSight Document Library appears. Once the IRIS InSight Document Library is open, you can type in a word or phrase and quickly find and open the books that contain the information you need. See the IRIS InSight online help for instructions.
From the Help toolchest, choose “Desktop Help.” A listing of system-level help appears. Additionally, each application provides a Help button or Help menu so that you can get help on a particular application.
To shut down the operating system software, follow these steps:
Choose “System Shutdown” from the System menu in the toolchest. The Toolchest is shown in Figure 2-26.
Place the cursor over the word “System” in the toolchest in the upper left corner of your screen, as shown in Figure 2-26.
Press the left or right mouse button so that you see the menu.
Place the cursor over the words “System Shutdown” and click the mouse button.
After a few seconds you see the notifier in Figure 2-27.
If you wish to shut down and restart the system without powering off, click the Restart button.
If you wish to power off the system, press and release the power button, as shown in Figure 2-28.
A lockbar came with your workstation. It is a long piece of metal that shows a lock icon on the end. To lock your workstation, follow these steps:
Open the front drive door.
The drive door is on the front of the chassis. It swings out to the right.
Install the lockbar.
Locate the lockbar slot. It is labelled with a lock icon and is above the top drive slot, as shown in Figure 2-29.
Hold the lockbar so the lock icon faces you and is upright, as shown in Figure 2-30. Slide the lockbar all the way into the slot.
The lockbar passes through the back of the workstation, revealing a hole for a lock. You can then attach a lock and a locking cable to the other end of the lockbar, as shown in Figure 2-31.
Close the drive door on the front of the chassis.
