I highly recommend not only checking out http://freeware.sgi.com but also pages on the Other Sites page for other software.

FSN – the 3D File System Navigator

Download: fsn.tar.Z

Not one I’ve written myself, but this is the ELF binary of the famous FSN, which featured in Jurassic Park. You can find out more by reading this post.

All the other applications on this page have been compiled using GCC under IRIX 6.5 on my Octane

Root disk cloning script

Download: clone_root_disk.ksh

The XLV/XVM plexing option is expensive – very expensive. Yet everyone needs a backup of their root disk. This korn script can be run nightly from cron, and will clone your root disk. All you need is another disk in the machine, which has already been partitioned by fx, and away you go!
The script is pretty straightforward, so can easily be modified to clone other important disks in your machine.

Quake, Quake2, and mods

Version: Quake2 3.20

Download: SGI Quake local mirror

Dug out from an old backup tape, here’s my mirror of the SGI Quake pages from SGI’s website. Quake, Quake2, plus some entertaining mods like Action Quake 2.

Allegro

Version: 4.1.9 (unstable branch)

Download: allegro-4.1.9.tardist

Allegro is a cross-platform gaming library – similar to SDL. Off the top of my head, you’ll need ESD installed to get sound. There’s an ESD tardist on the SGI Freeware website.

The Allegro homepage can be found at http://sunsite.dk/allegro

Elite:TNK

Version: 1.0

Download: elite-tnk.tardist

Elite is the greatest computer game known to man. Ever. Elite:TNK is the result of a project by Christian Pinder to reverse-engineer Elite from the original BBC disk version.
This requires Allegro, and runs splendidly on my Octane. It installs in /usr/local/elite-tnk, and the binary (newkind) must be run from within there.

The Elite:TNK home page used to be found at http://www.cjpinder.clara.net/elite.html, but this site now appears to be dead.

ActX

Version: 1.2.1

Download: actx-1.2.1.tardist.gz

ActX is a collection of anime window sitters (Active X Window System).

The home page can be found at http://kurumi.sakura.ne.jp/~chimari

AkaneClock

Version: 0.31

Download: akaneclock-0.31.tardist

AkaneClock is an excellent anime clock. Lots more fun to have sitting on your desktop than the normal clock.

The home page can be found at http://kurumi.sakura.ne.jp/%7Echimari/ActX

aterm

Version: 0.4.2

Download: aterm-0.4.2.tardist

aterm is my preferred terminal. It allows background transparency, and with the Buffy GTK theme fits right in with the Indigo Magic desktop.

The home page can be found at http://aterm.sourceforge.net/

PRNGD

Version: 0.9.24

Download: prngd-0.9.24.tardist

PRNGD is the Pseudo Random Number Generator Daemon – a source of entropy. You’ll need a decent source of entropy for any cryptographic applications – OpenSSL, for example. PRGND saves any entropy it has when it’s shutdown – this means you have a strong source of entropy right from when your machine boots. It also doesn’t generate a ‘pool’ of entropy, so, unlike EGD, it can’t be drained and won’t block.

The home page can be found at http://www.aet.tu-cottbus.de/personen/jaenicke/postfix_tls/prngd.html

GnuPG

Version: 1.0.6

Download: gnupg-1.0.6.tardist

GNU Privacy Guard is an OpenPGP compliant Open Source replacement for PGP. Personally, I’ve used PGP 2.6.3i for donkeys years, but more and more software appears to be written to use GnuPG specifically – hence this tardist. This version isn’t the most recent, but works fine for me. I may build a newer tardist sometime if there is enough demand.

The home page can be found at http://www.gnupg.org/

zlib

Version: 1.1.4

Download: zlib-1.1.4.tardist

zlib is a compression library. Pretty much anything that will use compression will need this. This version fixes some potential security flaws with previous versions. Note that any applications statically compiled against older versions will need to be re-compiled against this new version to use the fixes.

The home page can be found at http://www.gzip.org/zlib/

Silicon Graphics’ 1600SW TFT display is a unique piece of kit. Due to it’s strengths it’s still sought after today, despite dating from 1998. However, like everything SGI produce, it looks very nice indeed, but is far from ‘normal’. Yes, even their monitors are a bit odd. Don’t expect to buy one and just plug it in.

This page is a collection of FAQs and information about this excellent display.

SGI’s 1600SW FAQs

SGI have a collection of 1600SW FAQs on their site. These are a bit outdated, as they refer to issues from when the monitor was in production, but they still have some useful information.

They can be found at http://www.sgi.com/products/legacy/1600sw_faq/

A local mirror can be found here.

FAQs

What’s so good about the 1600SW anyway?

You mean, apart from the usual stylish SGI design? :-)

The two main things it has going for it are an incredibly fast pixel update – which means none of the using streaking or blurring you get from a TFT – even when playing games.

It’s also the only TFT (still!) to support a native 16:9 resolution. Not only does this mean that content creators can fit two full screens of work on, side by side (ie. two screens worth of 800×600 resolution) but it is also very handy for working with digital video.

Check this HotHardware review from December 2001: http://www.hothardware.com/viewarticle.cfm?articleid=473

What’s the connector on the 1600SW?

It’s OpenLDI, which was a (superior) alternative to DVI. Back in the day, there were two emerging digital formats – OpenLDI and DVI. Think Betamax and VHS. SGI went for the technically superior OpenLDI, and everyone else went for DVI.

So, can it plug into a DVI card then?

No, the connector and the signal are completely different.

What cards natively support the 1600SW then?

There are only 3:

• 3D Labs Oxygen VX1-1600SW
• Number Nine Revolution IV
• Formac ProFormance 3 (Mac card)

What machines natively support the 1600SW?

Again, there were only 3 – all SGIs:

• SGI 320
• SGI 540
• SGI O2/O2+

These machines will only support the 1600SW when they are fitted with a small credit-card sized adapter card. It fits onto the motherboard via a custom connector, and provides an LVDS connector for the on board graphics. These adapters occasionally pop up on Ebay, and will only work with the 1600SW.

So how can I use the 1600SW with my modern machine?

You’ve got a few choices here. The original is the MultiLink Adapter (MLA) from SGI. This takes HD15 analogue or DVI input, and provide LVDS output. They are obviously sought after, and often cost as much as the 1600SW itself.

The other, newer, option is the PIX Link adapter from PIX Solutions – their web site is http://www.pixsolution.com/ The PIX Link is a DVI->LVDS converter. There is a Pro version which offers various extra options for choosing resolution, colour temp, etc.

I have a PIX Link and it works very well indeed.

You can also buy a PCI-based pass-through adapter. It’s PCI based so that you don’t need another external box – it takes power from the PCI bus and requires no OS drivers to function. The card has been developed by Dan Evanicky (head of the engineering team responsible for the 1600SW) and Oscar Medina. The card is distributed as the GFX-1600SW by UltraFlex and the EP-1600 by Sharper Technology.

UltraFlex also sell 1600SW displays with the GFX-1600SW mounted inside the flat-panel. The relevant power lines exist in the monitor to make this possible. They will also mount a converter inside an existing panel, and carry out repairs.

More details can be found at http://www.ultraflexinc.com/monitor.html

As of December 2008, the only adapter available from new is the GFX-1600SW, which is available from Sharper Technology and Niktec. I’ve an updated post showing fitting a GFX-1600SW into my Fuel.

Now I’ve got the 1600SW working with my machine, but the display is funny?

The 1600SW’s native resolution is 1600×1024 @ 60Hz, which provides a true 16:9 display. Anything else is going to look odd – you’ll have letterbox blank spaces at the top or the side of the screen.

Also note that LCD displays, unlike CRTs, operate at a set resolution. Try to drive them at anything else and they will scale the image. This means it may not look in proportion, or the fonts look odd. With an LCD screen, you should always try and drive it at it’s native resolution.

What’s this about Super Wide Savvy cards?

It’s marketing fluff. It basically means a graphics card which can support 1600×1024 resolution. Most modern cards should be able to do this.

What’s this ColorLock thing?

The ColorLock is a widget that hooks over the top of the screen, and plugs into the back. You can then calibrate the colours using the display drivers on your host machine.

Note display drivers being the key phrase here – the ColorLock will only work with those machines that natively support the 1600SW. It’s useless on anything else.

What are the specs. of the 1600SW?

How else can I mount the screen?

The 1600SW has a standard 75mm VESA mounting at the back. Two hex bolts secure the display to it’s pedestal. Lift the screen up to the top of the pedestal and they should be easy to get to.

As well as standard 75mm VESA mounts, you can also use 100mm VESA mounts with an adapter.

Ah, the trusty Challenge S.

bash-2.04$ uname -a
IRIX thumper 6.2 03131015 IP22

bash-2.04$ hinv
1 133 MHZ IP22 Processor
FPU: MIPS R4600 Floating Point Coprocessor Revision: 2.0
CPU: MIPS R4600 Processor Chip Revision: 2.0
On-board serial ports: 2
On-board bi-directional parallel port
Data cache size: 16 Kbytes
Instruction cache size: 16 Kbytes
Main memory size: 64 Mbytes
Integral ISDN: Basic Rate Interface unit 0, revision 1.0
Integral Ethernet: ec3, version 1
Integral Ethernet: ec0, version 1
Integral SCSI controller 5: Version WD33C95A, differential, revision 0
Integral SCSI controller 4: Version WD33C95A, differential, revision 0
Integral SCSI controller 0: Version WD33C93B, revision D
CDROM: unit 6 on SCSI controller 0
Tape drive: unit 5 on SCSI controller 0: unknown
Disk drive: unit 1 on SCSI controller 0

bash-2.04$ uptime
12:03am up 1075 days, 3:06, 1 user

As software developers the world over prepare to mark the 25th anniversary of the GNU System, Silicon Graphics, Inc. (Nasdaq: SGIC) today announced it is releasing a new version of the SGI Free Software License B. The license, which now mirrors the free X11 license used by X.Org, further opens previously released SGI(R) graphics software that has set the industry standard for visualization software and has proven essential to GNU/Linux(R) and a host of applications.

Today’s announcement affects software created by SGI that forms the building blocks of many elements of today’s gaming, visual computing, and immersive experiential technologies, including a wide range of proven visualization solutions provided by SGI.

More

SUNNYVALE, Calif., Aug. 13 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ — As more
organizations look for ways to battle soaring energy costs, SGI (Nasdaq:
SGIC) today announced that all its blade-based servers incorporate 80
PLUS(R) certified power supplies. The certification signifies that all SGI
blade servers meet aggressive efficiency and power factor criteria across
the full range of operating conditions.

More