Institute for Mathematics and its Applications

Common Computer Questions

Welcome to the IMA! The purpose of this Common Computer Handout is to answer most common computer questions for IMA visitors. For more detailed information, check http://www.ima.umn.edu/systems/.

How to change your Password:

Use yppasswd from any Linux workstation.

How to read your mail:

There are few unix mail reader programs; pine, elm, mail, Mail, etc.

Netscape/Mozilla/Thunderbird Mail:

You can use mail.ima.umn.edu or other mail server as incoming mail server. To use mail.ima.umn.edu as outgoing mail server, you have to use IMAP and SSL.

Web Mail:

You can read your IMA e-mail from any web browser. Use http://webmail.ima.umn.edu.

How to connect other machine:

Please use ssh/slogin instead of telnet/rlogin.

How to connect to the IMA from outside:

Please ssh to shell.ima.umn.edu.

How to transfer your file back to your institute:

Use scp to transfer your file(s). If you are not at the IMA, please use shell.ima.umn.edu to connect.

How to connect your Laptop:

Use DHCP to configure network setup. IMA provides an internet connection to a visitor thru DHCP on ethernet and wireless connection. Contact systems to get help.

Ethernet:

Each Office has an extra ethernet jack to connect your laptop. Please DO NOT UNPLUG IMA workstation. If you need any help, please contact systems.

Wireless at IMA area:

You can use IMA wireless during your visit. Select IMA-Wireless from Available Networks and run any web browser. You will be asked to enter IMA login ID and password. Please don't block popup windows from www.ima.umn.edu.

You can borrow a wireless card from the workshop front desk or Lind Hall front desk.

Wireless at Radisson:

If you stay at the Radisson Hotel, you can have a wireless connection from your own room. Radisson Hotel's wireless network ID is ``GlobalSuiteWireless''. You can get the daily password from the hotel front desk.

Printers:

We have 8 public printers.

Name	Loc.	Type
north	400	HP LJ 4000TN, duplex
north1	400	HP LJ 4000TN, simplex
a4	400	HP LJ 4000TN, A4
single-a4	400	HP LJ 4000TN, A4
color	407	HP CLJ 5500DN, duplex
color1	407	HP CLJ 5500DN, simplex
central	407	HP LJ 8150N, duplex
central1	407	HP LJ 8150N, simplex
open	407	HP LJ 2420DN, duplex
open1	407	HP LJ 2420DN, simplex
sys	430	HP LJ 4000N, duplex
sys1	430	HP LJ 4000N, simplex
3rd	3 Fl.	HP LJ 2300DN, duplex
3rd1	3 Fl.	HP LJ 2300DN, simplex
2nd	2 Fl.	HP LJ 2300DN, duplex
2nd1	2 Fl.	HP LJ 2300DN, simplex
conf	3-176	HP LJ 2300DN, duplex
conf1	3-176	HP LJ 2300DN, simplex

Printing from IMA Workstation:

To print to a specific printer, type

lpr -Pprinter filename

To check the printer queue for a particular printer, type lpq -Pprinter. To remove a job from the printer queue, first use lpr to determine the job number userid@machine+num of your job, then type

lprm -Pprinter userid@machine+num.

Printing from Laptop:

You can add a printer to your laptop as your local printer.

Here are the steps for Windows XP.

1.

Start$\rightarrow$Printer and Faxes.

2.

Double Click Add Printer and Click Next.

3.

Check for Local printer .. and UnCheck Automatically detect .. then Click Next.

4.

Check Create a new port and Select Standard TCP/IP Port then Click Next.

5.

Click Next for TCP/IP Printer Port Wizard.

6.

Enter a printer name for example central.ima.umn.edu then Click Next.

7.

Click Next as Standard Generic Network Card.

8.

Click Next to complete TCP/IP Printer Port Wizard.

9.

Select correct printer description and follow the rest of instructions.

Here are the steps for OS X.

1.

Run SetUp Printers

2.

Click Add

3.

Select LPD/LPR and enter a printer name.

4.

Select correct printer description.

Three of our public printers ( color, central and north ) have their own parallel printer cable for direct printing from your laptop.

Printing from Mozilla:

If you want to print to specific printer from Mozilla Web browser, you have to change your setup. You can set the Mozilla Printer Name environment veriable ( MOZ_PRINTER_NAME ) in your $HOME/.cshrc.

setenv MOZ_PRINTER_NAME printer_name

Or you can change directly from browser. When you click print option, you can change ``PostScript/default'' printer properties. One of the properties is ``Print Command''. So, you can specify any printer you want to print to with ``-P'' option from lpr command.

Printing from OpenOffice:

You have to run the ``oopadmin'' utility and follow these steps:

1.

Click ``New Printer''

2.

Choose ``Add a Printer'' (Default) and click ``Next''

3.

Choose ``Generic Printer'' (Default) and click ``Next''

4.

Enter ``lpr -Pnorth'' in the command line prompt and click ``Next''

5.

Give the printer a descriptive name, and click ``Finish''

Printer Control Center:

We have a printer control center web page to control printer queue after hours and on the weekend. The URL for the printer control center is http://bronze.ima.umn.edu/control-center

MS Office:

Use OpenOffice for MS Word file (.doc). Type ``ooffice''.

Use gnumeric for MS Excel file (.xls). Type ``gnumeric''.