IRIX 6.5.4 Released

The fourth intermediate release of the IRIX 6.5 release family has released and is shipping with new systems from Silicon Graphics, Inc. manufacturing. The IRIX 6.5.4 release contains updates for both the maintenance (6.5.4m)and feature (6.5.4f) streams.

This release is being distributed to designated primary contacts representing each customer site. IRIX 6.5.4m and 6.5.4f images are also available for download off SupportFolio.

The IRIX 6.5.4 maintenance path delivers approximately 120 bug fixes that were customer reported. In addition to the bug fixes, the IRIX 6.5.4 maintenance path delivers several hardware features, software enhancements and additional installation improvements. These changes are also available in the IRIX 6.5.4 feature path.

The new hardware features implemented by IRIX 6.5.4m are:

  • 270 Mhz processor for Silicon Graphics® O2® and Silicon Graphics® Octane®
  • HDTV XIO Board for Silicon Graphics® Onyx2™, SGI™ Origin® 2000
The software enhancements delivered by IRIX 6.5.4m are:

Support for the Miser queue repack policy. When a job finishes execution prior to the end of its schedule, the system resources it was using are released. This policy attempts to reschedule the jobs using earlier start and end times in order to take advantage of these released system resources. The order of the scheduled jobs will be maintained. This feature can be used by all Miser users running IRIX 6.5.4m or f. For more information, see the miser(4) and miser(5) man pages, and the IRIX Admin:

System Configuration and Operation, Chapter 7
"Managing User Processes."
Distributed Computing Environment (DCE) Client for accessing shared resources in distributed computing DCE/DFS serving environments.
  • Kernel libraries only
  • Requires installation of DCE/DFS 1.2.2a software for full functionality

Included in the IRIX 6.5.4 release package is an update to the layered applications. The Applications CD includes changes to the following software:

  • Upgrade to Netscape Communicator 4.51
  • CosmoPlayer 2.1 release
  • SGImeeting Collaboration Environment, 1.1, Net-based data-conferencing, application-sharing software (SGImeeting Collaboration Environment, 1.0 was added in 6.5.2)
  • SGImeeting Extensions, 1.1, offer additional whiteboard tools as "plugins" that appear on the whiteboard tool palette. These tools are ideal for group discussions in CAD and image intensive industries. A 90-day evaluation license is included. The following extensions are available:
    • A screen capture tool for dynamic or still whiteboard input
    • A video capture tool for dynamic or still whiteboard input
    • Customizable arrows and dimension markers for easy discussion pointing
    • Symbol palette for drag and drop images
    • SmartClear for clearing annotations when captured images update
    • WebViewer Library Execution only Environment 3.2 release

You may query the installed release level information by using standard commands. The following examples show the available commands and options. The response that is returned is shown between the quote marks:

uname -a
"IRIX <hostname> 6.5 <inst #> <#> systemtype"

uname -R

"6.5 <inst #> 6.5.3m"

versions

Provides a detailed list of installed software information such as the image name, creation date, product name, and version.

With the recent release of IRIX 6.5.4 and the 7.3 MipsPro Compilers, GSBU SW Solutions Operations announced the distribution of combined 6.5.4 and 7.3 MipsPro Compilers update kits to all software support customers. Developers at the Artisan Plus membership level will receive a priority distribution with shipments going out on May 20th and 21st.

The 6.5.4 update kit (013-2478-004) is the same for both Workstation and Server class systems. All Artisan Plus developers will receive one (1) copy of this 6.5.4 update kit per membership.

There has been some confusion over when customer availability occurs relative to various IRIX 6.5.x release announcements.

General availability occurs when manufacturing completes the First Customer Shipment (FCS) process. This takes approximately two weeks from the time software completes its development cycle and meets all criteria for release to manufacturing. During the two weeks leading up to FCS, customer ready media is produced and scheduled for distribution. In responding to inquiries, future articles will include additional insights to our processes.

As a look ahead, IRIX 6.5.5 is currently in the development phase. It is tentatively planned to FCS early-August, 1999.