CCRMA

CCRMA User's Guide

Frequently asked questions (FAQ's), Tips and Tricks

How do I obtain a CCRMA account?

 Requests for accounts are made directly to the instructor of a CCRMA class or to a CCRMA faculty or staff sponsor. You will be asked to fill out a registration form which must be signed by you and your sponsor (it must also include an expiration date for the account). The form is then submitted in person to the sysadmin (unless the instructor has arranged otherwise) which will create the account and make an entry in the "People" database.

When the account is being created you will be asked to type a password for it. When you choose the password keep in mind you should not use any of the information in the registration form as a password! (specially your name or your login name). Good passwords have both uppercase and lowercase letters, digits and punctuation characters and should be reasonable easy to type. Don't use any word you can find in a dictionary. Two unrelated words separated by numbers or punctuation charaters is usually a good choice. If your password is guessed by the sysadmin your account will be immediately disabled... If that happens you will have to come and see the sysadmin to arrange for a new password. Accounts which have no password will be deleted without warning!

There is no such thing as a separate "mac" account for using our Macintosh computers. When you boot a mac and go to the chooser, you will find several servers that can be accessed by using your NeXT account name and password. You can store files on the "macfiles" volume there... it actually accesses your user area on our unix file server.

What are the CCRMA bulletin boards?

 Our bulletin boards are part of "netnews"...a gigantic hierarchy of bulletin boards from which you can get the latest news, weather, sports, and join in discussions about almost anything imaginable.

We currently have three bulletin boards at CCRMA. They are called "bboard", "gripes", and "220" respectively (or, more correctly, they are su.org.ccrma.bboard, su.org.ccrma.gripes, and su.org.ccmra .220). "bboard" is for annoucements, discussions, whatever you want. "gripes" is intended for lodging complaints, reporting equpment problems, building problems,and so on. "220" is for the use of the 220 class. Other news groups can be created if desired, though the volume of news on the existing bboards is pretty low, so there seems little reason right now for creating new groups.

How can I read the CCRMA bulletin boards?

CCRMA supports 2 programs for reading bulletin boards.

If you are using a NeXT machine at The Knoll, the most popular method is to run "/LocalApps/NewsGrazer.app". NewsGrazer has extensive online help which can be accessed by choosing the Info/Help... menu item.

If you are using a dialup line and therefore don't have access to the NeXTstep user interface, then you may use the program "rn". "rn" will require more investment of time to learn than NewsGrazer, but it is a very powerful and much-loved program. At CCRMA, you can get complete info on running rn by typing "man rn" in a terminal window.

If you have trouble...
The most common problem in getting these programs to run is making sure you contact the correct NNTPSERVER. The bulletin boards themselves don't actually "live" on our computers; they are kept on other campus computers, and our machines access them through a mechanism called NNTP (net news transfer protocal). Both "NewsGrazer" and "rn" need to be told the name of one of these computers in order to work correctly. At CCRMA, you should be using the NNTPSERVER called "nntp.stanford.edu". For most people, this all happens automatically. If you are having problems, however, you can set the server, in NewsGrazer, by choosing the Info/Preferences menu item, choosing "Configuration" from the Preference panel's pull-down menu, then entering "nntp.stanford.edu" in the box labelled Server:. If you are using "rn", then you need to set the environment variable NNTPSERVER to nntp. This is accomplished by typing, in a Terminal window, the line

setenv NNTPSERVER nntp If you do this often, you might consider putting the above line in your the file .cshrc in your home directory. Even better, if the line

source /Local/Admin/Machines/CCRMA.cshrc is not in your .cshrc file, add it: it will add the correct invocation automagically.

You can also post messages to the CCRMA bboards via mail. To post to su.org.ccrma.bboard, gripes, or 220, send mail to "ccrma.bboard", "ccrma.gripes", or "ccrma.220". Note: this mechanism only works with these three boards. You cannot, for example, mail to su.events and expect it to show up in that news group.

How can I log in remotely via a modem?

 This is the Stanford Distributed Computing and Commmunication Systems page about modems and remote logins

Or you can directly get to the FAQ's...

You can log in remotely, using a modem, by setting your modem to dial

498-1440 The connections through this modem pool are authenticated by using a Leland ID. That means you have to have a Leland account to be able to access the high speed modem pool. There is currently an alternative service for lower speed modems but it will be discontinued as from November 1st, 1995. If the line is busy, don't give up. There are currently about 60-70 connections available on this number, but they can get busy during peek hours.

After connecting you will then have to supply your Leland ID (login name) and password, and get by 2 prompts before you can log in. At the first, just enter

sunet At the second, enter the name of the computer you wish to contact. Normally, this will be

ccrma Then you can log in as usual. If you wish to run emacs while logged in remotely, you will need to issue the following two commands...

setenv TERM vt100 unsetenv TERMCAP This assumes that whatever software you are using to run the modem is also set to emulate a vt100 terminal. If you do this regularly, consider putting the above two lines in a file, say "remote", then making the file executable via the command

chmod +x remote Then you just have to type "remote" in order to get things working.

We maintain, currently, 2 versions of the popular communications program called "kermit". For historical reasons, the more up-to-date version is called "wermit" (recommended) , while the older one is called "kermit" (not recommended unless wermit doesn't work for you).

How do I use electronic mail at CCRMA?

 Most people send and read mail using NeXT's Mail app (note the capital "M" in Mail). It is simple to use, and has many nice features. You can also use the "mail" program (note the small "m" in mail) from a unix shell. Indeed, if you are logged in via a modem, this is almost your only choice, because the Mail app requires that you be logged in at a NeXT machine. It is also possible to read and write mail directly from emacs, though we won't discuss that here (see the gun emacs manual for details).

Your email address is your login name plus "@ccrma.stanford.edu"... in other words, if your login is jsbach, your email address is jsbach@ccrma.stanford.edu. If you address a letter to another user at CCRMA, you can omit the "@ccrma.stanford.edu" part. If you address a letter to a user with an account anywhere on the stanford campus, you can omit the ".stanford.edu" part.

The NeXT mail app is capable of sending files (called "attachments") and recorded sound data (called "lip service"). Moreover, you can use multiple fonts, underlining, and so on, in your post. Be aware, however, that if the person you are sending mail too will not be reading it using a NeXT machine, the use of these features will make your message look like gibberish to them. Unless you are sure your recipient will use a NeXT to read the mail your're sending, you'd best avoid these frills, which are often called "NeXT" mail. You can tell if you mail is "NeXT" mail by looking at the Mail app's "Deliver" button. When a triangle appears around the mail-box icon, then you are about to send "NeXT" mail. Hitting the "NeXT Mail" icon will remove all the frills from your message, turning it into "ordinary" mail again.

At CCRMA, we are connected to the so-called "internet". We are not directly connected to either bitnet or uucp, though we can access both these networks through "mail gateways"...computers which have multiple network connections and can pass mail from one system to the other. This often makes for some complicated addressing schemes, however: if you don't know how to contact an address, your best bet is to ask for help. If you intend to use both the Mail app and mail, there are a number of things you need to be aware of.

If you intend to use both the Mail app and the mail program, you need to be aware of how the mail receiving process works. When mail is received, it is kept by the system in a special file called your mail spool file. Both the Mail app and the mail program look in this file to see if you have any new mail. When the Mail app sees mail there, it removes it from the spool file and saves it in a special area within your home directory. The mail program, on the other hand, as configured at CCRMA, does not remove mail from this spool file unless you explicitly tell it to do so with a w (write) command or a d (delete) command. If you want to use the mail program to read mail which you previously read using the Mail app, you'll need to tell it exactly where to look to find it, because it will no longer be in your spool file. The proper incantation is...

% mail -f ~/Mailboxes/Active.mbox/mbox for your default mailbox. If you've created other mailboxes using the Mail app, then substitute the name of those boxes for "Active" in the above command.

How do I use mailing lists?

 We maintain a number of "mailing lists" ... these are lists of users which can be mailed to. Mailing to a list is equivalent to mailing to all the users on the list. The lists themselves are kept in "/dist/maillists" and "/Local/Admin/MailLists". You can view this lists, but please don't edit them or change them in any way.

The "users" mailing list mails to all users with an active account at CCRMA. The list was created for administrative uses, concert announcements, and so on. Please don't use the list for personal notices, discussions, and so on, as there may be users who don't wish to receive these notices. If you mail to "users", they will receive them, whether they want to or not...it is impossible for anyone to take their name off of this list. An "active user" is defined as a user who has logged-in into the account during the last 100 days.

Mail to "users" is also automagically sent to the netnews group su.org.ccrma.bboard. News groups do not understand the Mail app's format for including attachments, changing fonts, and so on. It follows that if you mail to everyone and use one of these features, your mail will show up as gibberish in bboard, and you can expect your colleagues to flame you.

If you have an announcement of local nature, the proper mailing list to use is "local-users". It does not include accounts that have only been used remotely during the last 100 days. Free cookies in the lobby, for example, should be advertised on "local-users" as it is highly unlikely that anyone will travel from France, Japan or wherever to pick up said cookies...

Due to a bug in NeXT's mail software, if there is a name on a mailing list which is not a current valid user account, the list will not function correctly, and you will get a bounced letter. When this happens, please main the bounced letter to the sysadmin so he can delete the name from the list. You can create your own "private" mailing lists using the Mail app. The Mail app calls these "private groups"...refer to the app's on-line help item "3. Sending Mail -> 4. Addresses" for the details.

Can I run jobs in the background?

 The NeXT machines at CCRMA are primarily for the use of whoever happens to be sitting in front of them. In general, you shouldn't start up jobs in the background (niced or not), then log out. Please don't fire up remote shells on other machines, unless you are absolutely sure that noone is logged in to them.

Occasionaly, however, people do need to run long, compute-intensive jobs. For these purposes, log in at the console, and leave a note on the machine, such as "big job in progress, please don't disturb until tomorrow morning, thanks, Peer." (Be sure to leave your name!). If you want to do this remotely, send mail to sysadmin and I'll post the notice for you. Around here, machines get moved, rebooted, etc. etc., and few are going to take the time to check if you left a background job running. So without a note, don't be surprised if you job has disappeared.

How long should I wait until I can claim a terminal someone left while logged in?

 Ten or fifteen minutes max. If you are going to be away from a terminal for more than 15 minutes, please log out. Obviously, if its 2 o'clock in the morning, and there are 15 unused machines, we can stretch this point a little. On the other hand, if its the last week of the quarter, and people are roaming the halls looking for a free machine, even 10 minutes is too long.

How can I access Socrates?

 Socrates, the university's on-line library catalog, is accessible to anyone with a CCRMA account. Actually, socrates is part of a much larger database called "folio"...it includes the complete inventory of the Stanford Bookstore, faculty bios, campus housing, and much more. More information about folio and socrates can be found by picking up information sheets at virtually any campus library. The following describes how to access folio from your next account.

1) Launch a Terminal window, and type the following line at the prompt

telnet forsythetn 2) After a few seconds, you will be asked for a login and password. We have a "shared" account at CCRMA...to obtain the account and its password, send mail to sysadmin.

There is one caveat to all this: only one person at a time can use the account, as Socrates will not allow multiple connections to the same account (last time I checked, at least). But anyone can get their own account. Just go to the music library and ask for one, they will take care of you there.

Here is a sample dialog, using the CCRMA account...

cmn9:/user/grd/admin> telnet forsythetn Trying 36.54.0.12... Connected to forsythetn. Escape character is '^]'. Connecting to port ELF-00326 Welcome to the Stanford Data Center (SYSA), Forsythe Hall. 08:47 Type HELP SERVICE OUT for information about unscheduled service changes. Account? ee.v29 Password? Please wait a moment for your Folio session to begin... (Type END to leave Folio.) Welcome to Folio Through Folio you have access to: - Socrates, the online catalog of the Libraries of Stanford - Other information files of interest to the Stanford community - Library and information systems at other universities Use the HELP command to learn how to search Folio. Type SELECT to choose from a complete list of files available in Folio. *--------------------------------------------------------------------------* | To choose a file for searching, type SELECT. | | Type HELP now for more introductory information. | *--------------------------------------------------------------------------* For introductory information: type HELP and then press the RETURN key To see a list of files: type SELECT and press the RETURN key To search Socrates: type FIND and press the RETURN key For COMMAND mode: type COMMAND and press the RETURN key YOUR RESPONSE: sel books -Books selected This file contains over 1.4 million citations for books and monographs in the collections of the Libraries of Stanford. For more information on this file: type HELP. To search this file: type FIND. To select a different file: type SELECT. To see all your options: type OPTIONS. YOUR RESPONSE: find a diener Books / Search: Find AUTHOR DIENER Result: 43 citations 1) Hampe, Karl. KARL HAMPE, 1869-1936 (Heidelberg, C. Winter, 1969) LOCATION: Green Library Stacks 063.H465p 1969 v.3 2) MATHEMATIQUES FINITAIRES & ANALYSE NON STANDARD (Paris : UFR de mathematiques, [1989]) LOCATION: Math & Comp Sci QA299.82 .M37 1989 (Library has c.1:v.1-2) 3) Diener, Karl. THE ANTHRACOLITHIC FAUNAE OF KASHMIR, KANAUR AND SPITI (Calcutta, Geological Survey, 1915) LOCATION: Stanford Auxiliary Library 560.954.I39 n.s. v.5 no.2 4) Diener, Karl. THE TRIAS OF THE HIMALAYAS (Calcutta, Office of the Geological Survey of India; [etc., etc.] 1912) LOCATION: Green Library Stacks 555.4.I39m v.36:3 _______________Citations continue; press RETURN to see next page_______________ To see a full citation: type DISPLAY FULL followed by a number. To begin a new search: type FIND or BROWSE. To select a different file: type SELECT. To get more information: type HELP or OPTIONS. YOUR RESPONSE: quit -You are leaving Folio You were logged on for 27 seconds. Good-bye. Connection closed by foreign host.

How can I select which App launches when I click a file?

 Many programs know that they are a 'tool' for files with specific extensions. Files with extensions like .ps .tiff and .snd are such files. There may be more than one tool for a given extension, so there is a default tool for each extension. The default can be set by each user, by using the following procedure:

Select any file in the Browser with the extension of interest, in this case, any .snd file.

Select the 'Tools' cell in the browser menu, and select the 'Inspector' sub menu cell. This causes the file inspector window to come up. Here you can view the size of a file, the protection bits, and compute the size of folder contents. Select the 'Tools' cell on the button at the top of the Attributes Inspector window (you can also get this by using command 3). The inspector window will change, and you will see all of the icons of the possible tool applications for the selected file. Select the one you want and hit the 'Set Default' button.