SGI graphics Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ)

• Introduction
• -1- DISPLAYS AND DGL
• -2- How can I run a program on one machine and display it on another?
• -3- Does the DISPLAY environment variable work for GL applications?
• -4- Why doesn't the DISPLAY environment variable seem to work?
• -5- Why do I get DGL errors when I try to run a GL program?
• -6- CUSTOMIZING
• -7- What tools does SGI provide to help with the customization process?
• -8- What are the important login and resource files for IRIX 4.0.x?
• -9- What is the sequence of events that occur at login time in IRIX 4.0.x?
• -10- What is the difference between .xsession and .sgisession in IRIX 4.0.x?
• -11- Why do 4Dwm, toolchest, Workspace, etc. not recognize an environment variable I set in my shell's startup files in IRIX 4.0.x?
• -12- How can I save my screen layout in IRIX 4.0.x?
• -13- How can I turn off the IRIX 5.2 Magic user environment?
• -14- How can I display my own background image under Indigo Magic?
• -15- Where is the default value of PATH set?
• -16- Why can't I log in after copying /usr/lib/X11/xdm/Xsession to .xsession?
• -17- How can I find out what fonts are available?
• -18- How can I use the Alt key as a Meta key in an xwsh window?
• -19- How can I configure my keyboard like a VT100?
• -20- Can I put a single large picture in the 'clogin' display?
• -21- How can I change clogin's background to an image?
• -22- RESOURCES
• -23- What are resources?
• -24- How can I set resources?
• -25- How can I use resources to run the same program twice with different attributes?
• -26- Does the GL recognize resources?
• -27- How can I know what resources I can set for an application?
• -28- What is a good approach to take in looking for resources?
• -29- What is the precedence for resource files?
• -30- Why do long resources cause X to crash mysteriously in IRIX 5.2?
• -31- 4DWM
• -32- Where can I learn more about the Window Manager?
• -33- What files affect the window manager and what is their relationship to each other?
• -34- Do I need my own .4Dwmrc file?
• -35- Can I run a different window manager?
• -36- How can I choose a different window manager as the default?
• -37- How can I recover from a failed window manager customization attempt?
• -38- Why is an extra 4Dwm burning CPU in IRIX 4.0.x?
• -39- Why doesn't the window manager's "Log Out" routine work in IRIX 4.0.5?
• -40- ADMINISTRATION
• -41- How can I log into pandora/clogin without bringing up graphics?
• -42- How can I restart the console?
• -43- How can I start and stop the graphics system?
• -44- How can I restart the X server?
• -45- How can I run 'xinit' manually, rather than automatically from 'xdm'?
• -46- How can I start X on a remote host with no users logged in?
• -47- IMAGE FILES
• -48- How can I convert images to and from other formats?
• -49- How can I convert models to and from other formats?
• -50- What is the format of SGI's RGB files?
• -51- How can I compress RGB bitmaps?
• -52- How can I make a screen dump?
• -53- Why does the IRIX 5.3 desktop recognize but not deal with JPEG files?
• -54- PROGRAMMING
• -55- Can I use 4Dgifts code in my application?
• -56- What does ERR_WMANIPC mean?
• -57- How can I translate screen (x,y) coords into world (x,y,z) coords?
• -58- How can I translate world (x,y,z) coords into screen (x,y) coords?
• -59- Why does nothing happen when I call mapcolor(index, R, G, B)?
• -60- What's wrong with blink() in IRIX 4.0.x?
• -61- Why can't 'cc' find some standard Xwindows functions?
• -62- Where is the library /usr/lib/libgl_s.a for my R4000 Indigo running IRIX 4.0.5F?
• -63- What is a GL widget?
• -64- I'm using the GlxMDraw widget and it doesn't seem that colors are being installed correctly. Overlays in the GlxMDraw widget are displayed in red and gray instead of the colors I specify. What's wrong?
• -65- Is there a way to switch between single and double buffering within a GL widget on the fly?
• -66- Why doesn't my X server use backing store? How can I turn it on?
• -67- What is "/dev/tport" used for?
• -68- Why is OpenGL's glDrawPixels slower than IrisGL's lrectwrite?
• -69- BUGS AND PROBLEMS
• -70- Why do I get a "Broken Pipe" error when I close an X client window?
• -71- What do the errors in my 'xdm-errors' file mean?
• -72- Why doesn't SGI's xlock lock my screen?
• -73- Sun XView applications like "mailtool" hang my X server in IRIX 4.0.5. They come up fine, but when I click on them the server freezes.
• -74- Why can't I log into Pandora in IRIX 4.0.1?
• -75- Pandora won't come up, and /usr/adm/SYSLOG says "helvetica font missing"
• -76- After running a few programs, the colors change as the cursor moves. The colors are usually all wrong in other windows.
• -77- How can I make my X Server use a 12-bit PseudoColor, 12- bit TrueColor or 24-bit TrueColor visual by default?
• -78- When I try to run UIM/X uxserverd, I get an error message saying, "license file has been modified, cannot start the UIM/X license server".
• -79- I just upgraded from IRIX 5.2 to 5.3. Why does my PI or VGX say "extension GLX missing on display :0.0"?
• -80- Why does my X server (Xsgi) grow inexorably?
• -81- MISCELLANEOUS
• -82- What books about the X Window System and OSF/Motif do you recommend?
• -83- Does the IRIX 5.2 Magic user environment display on an X terminal?
• -84- What about OpenGL?
• -85- Which SGI machines can run OpenGL now? Which will in the future?
• -86- What's this about a copyright dispute over virtual desks in Indigo Magic?