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:

• 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.