Welcome to Thor.
-
Thor.ms.nwu.edu is a server primarily intended for instructional
computing for Prof. Greg Olsons's course, "Systems Design
of Materials," 750-390.
This system hosts the ThermoCalc® and
Dictra® software, as well as the "mdplot" custom
user interface from QuesTek Innovations LLC. If you are a
regsitered student in 750-390, then you automatically have
an account on this machine.
Accounts:
-
Student accounts are now enabled. Your login ID is the same
as your Northwestern University NetID. Passwords will be issued
in the lab session. Since the original passwords are systematically
generated, you should change your password to something memorable
but secure the first time you log on. Use the passwd command from
a terminal window. Here are some tips on
password selection.
Connecting:
- FROM THE LAB:
You can connect to this machine using the
X-win32
program on the machines in the NT lab, room MG45 of the
Tech building. Use XDMCP in "Query" mode, and
select "switch to single window."
With the default account configuration, this will give you a
KDE desktop from which to run the graphical interface for
ThermoCalc®.
- FROM THE DORM:
The X-win32
software is site-licensed to Northwestern University. If
you have a dorm room with a high-speed internet connection,
you can use Xwin32 to connect to the server the same way as
in the lab.
- DIALUP:
The XDMCP protocol is a fairly heavy user of bandwidth.
If you insist on using it over a dialup link, it will probably
work, but this is not recommended. Instead, you should connect
to Thor via telnet, set the DISPLAY environment variable to
your local host, and then run a minimal set of
selected X-window applications.
- OFF-CAMPUS HIGH-BANDWIDTH:
Currently, XDMCP requests from outside of the nwu.edu domain
are blocked. If you have DSL or a cable modem connection to
a commercial ISP, and you have a fixed hostname, then
access can be arranged for you. See the system administrator
in MLSB 1161.
Printing:
-
The system has access to two printers, one using the
"Pharos" print service in MG45 and another
in MLSB 1161, where the machine itself is located. Student accounts
are configured to automatically use the printer
in MG45. Remember this if you log in from elsewhere!
Mdplot, ThermoCalc, and Dictra:
The software packages are accessible from the command line of a
terminal window. Web-based documentation is available
for mdplot.
- mdplot runs the Materials Design graphical
interface, which can be used to automatically launch ThermoCalc and Dictra
with options set by the various controls on the mdplot control
panel. Check the on-line documentation
for details.
- tcvl runs ThermoCalc Version L manually
from the command line. This is the usual thing you are familiar
with from using ThermoCalc on the bird machines in MG45. Optionally,
you may wish to use tcm, which runs Version M of
ThermoCalc. This version is more recent, but has a few known
bugs, you should check with the instructor or TA before
doing this.
- dictra manually runs version 20 of Dictra, for
users who need to take on diffusion problems.
System Administrator: Andrew Reid, reida@nwu.edu
Version 1.1, posted April 24, 2000.